for us with God and then what kind of help should we receive from him But then Secondly The Spirit is said to make intercession for us with groans which cannot be uttered Now though we should grant that groaning may in a metaphorical sense and unproperly be attributed unto the Spirit yet how any groans or groaning of his should be unutterable unto him who is the Lord of all Language and Speech is not easie to conceive Thirdly Whereas the Argument insisteth so rigidly upon these words in the end of ver 27. The Spirit it self maketh intercession for us according to the will of God As if they argued a distinct will of the Spirit from the will of God I reply that the words do not signifie according to the Will of God here is no word which signifieth Will But according unto God and they answer these words by way of Antithesis in the former verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we ought Thus the Apostle had there granted that the Saints did not indeed of themselves know how to pray as they ought here he tells them for their comfort that the Spirit will enable them to pray as they ought i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according unto God or the mind or will of God i. e. as they ought and as it becometh them to pray And here is a direct answer relating to those infirmities which our Apostle had expresly affirmed to be in the Saints Fourthly That the work of the Spirit on the behalf of the Saints doth not lie in this to pray for the Saints a part in heaven which is the sense of the Author of this Argument is evident from Joh. 14.16 where our Saviour saith that when he should go away he would pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth c. So that the work which the Spirit hath to do for the Saints is not in heaven since the Ascension of Christ into Heaven Heaven is not the Stage or Theatre where the Holy Ghost acteth and bestirs himself on the behalf of the Saints but now he is come down upon the earth and his great business which he hath to do lieth in the earth even with the hearts minds understandings and wills of men stirring and moving there But Fifthly and lastly Remember the Rule that we delivered unto you in the former Argument which will fully give you the sense wherein the Holy Ghost is said to intercede with groans we gave you many instances when we delivered this for a Rule that in many places Actions are ascribed unto him that doth assist and direct and help men in the performance of them and not unto him that is the formal and immediate Agent So here the Holy Ghost doth intercede with groans because he doth fill the Saints with his Wisdom and Power and so putteth them into a posture to conceive inward groans and secret motions and desires in the Soul which the Creature indeed is not able to utter or come to God withal in his lips the Creature cannot utter it self when the heart is full of the Spirit of God yet such persons are acted beyond their own ability and very well may be because the Spirit is directing guiding and strengthening unto this work And this is the property of an Intercessor To intercede doth not alwaies signifie to plead for us but sometimes to plead with us against any Enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this word in the rigour of the Grammatical signification of it is not alwaies used for interceding for another which he seemeth to catch at as I judge from the Latine word which signifieth to go between two but sometimes to go in opposition to an Enemy and sometimes it signifieth to expostulate and debate things with another Acts 25. So that all things being considered it is a clear case that this Argument is wholly defective And it may be seen further Rom. 8.15 it is expresly said that by means of the Spirit we cry Abba Father meaning that by the assistance and impulse of the Spirit we are able to call God Father which implieth the whole duty and management of this great service of Prayer and Invocation on the name of God And in the last place Jam. 16. speaking of the Prayer of the righteous man we translate it the effectual Prayer but the word properly signifieth that which is acted within a person by a power which is superiour to that which is natural in it We call those persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who are acted by an unclean Spirit as when any person is made to speak a Language which he never understood we use to say such a person is inspired acted and carried out by a power superiour to his own And so that Prayer which can do so much with God The effectual fervent prayer of the Righteous it properly signifieth such a Prayer which is full of the Holy Ghost which is inspired into man or whereunto a man is carried out and thrust forward by a Divine Power greater than his own So that these things considered it is a clear case that the true sense and meaning of the place is only this That the Spirit of God relieveth our infirmities in Prayer that when as we know not how to pray as we ought and when the flesh sometimes cometh in and directeth and leadeth into such a method of Prayer which we ought not the Spirit now interposing and directing and leading us to such a method and way that now we pray according to the mind and will of God Now concerning the business it self Sect. 19 I mean the Controversie I would only say this before I leave it that if you mind it or shall please to go round about the matters in Controversie and weigh both these Doctrines First that which denieth the Holy Ghost to be God go I say round it and take all the Arguments and grounds which the Maintainers thereof are pleased to bring forth and weigh and consider their tendencies and operations upon the hearts and consciences of men and you shall find them altogether barren and flat and no waies calculated for the nourishment of men neither is there any thing in it that is any waies apt to quicken the hearts of men to the Service of God comparable to that Doctrine which doth oppose it viz. That the Holy Ghost is God truly God In this Doctrine and in the Arguments by which it is proved there is spirit and life there is as it were great strength which cometh forth from it which bears upon the Judgments and Consciences of men It rules like a King upon his Throne Whereas those other Doctrines viz. that deny the Spirit and so likewise Christ to be God are but of a dull and flat import there is no manner of spiritual power and vigour in them It may possibly be the sense of some that the time wherein we have been
for a reason or some short time only in the Ministry of John notwithstanding he was a light both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 burning and shining He was a burning and a shining light and ye were willing to rejoyce in his light John is here by our Saviour described or commended by two properties which in a Minister are most like to retain and keep as well as to procure and gain the affections and approbations of men The first is That he was a burning light secondly That he was a shining light Zeal accompanied with an excellency of knowledge are two most excellent and worthy qualifications in the Ministers of the Gospel and a man would think a Minister who is provided with these should so endear the hearts of men and women whom he serveth in the work of the Ministry that he should so captivate their hearts and affections that neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come should be able to separate or to estrange such a man from the affections of his people Yet nevertheless this we see was John's case with the Jews he was a burning and shining light he had all the advantages that lightly could be found in a man to retain what he had gotten in the hearts and affections of his people and yet they who did mightly rejoyce in him for a season after a while saw no such matter in him John who was as an Angel of God for a season was but like another man soon after not that there was any alteration or change in John for doubtless he did not decline neither in his burning nor in his shining until the very day and hour of his death And therefore that there was such a change in the minds of the Jews towards him it proceeded from the levity of spirit and affection which was so incident unto them Ye were willing to rejoyce saith our Saviour the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth an excellent degree of rejoycing to dance and leap or spring for joy he doth not simply say that they did rejoyce but that they were willing to do it that they did it freely and of their own accord they were not importuned by any perswasion or prompting by any other man yet they had enough of John in a short time when once they had gone round about him and saw his gifts and abilities and what he was able to do when they had tasted thoroughly of his Doctrine they could as freely turn their backs upon him as upon any other man they would see whether there were any other Teacher that was of another spirit or of another method of Teaching or whose Doctrine or matter was of a higher and more sublime nature or consideration than his And so likewise it fared with the great Apostle Paul amongst the Corinthians and especially amongst the Galathians to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 9.2 He saith that though it were supposed that unto others he was not an Apostle yet to them he was meaning that however they might think that he did not acquit or approve himself as an Apostle amongst other people where he preached the Gospel as either by working signs or miracles amongst them or by the efficacy and success of his Doctrine in the Consciences of many yet certainly he had approved himself both these waies and every other way an Apostle unto them For saith he in the latter part of the verse the seal of mine Apostleship are ye in the Lord meaning that their being in Christ their conversion to the Faith was a seal i. e. a sure testimony and confirmation unto them that he had the Commission of an Apostle from Christ And elsewhere he saith 2 Cor. 12.12 that the signs of an Apostle were wrought amongst them meaning by himself As in all patience so in signs and wonders and mighty deeds Elsewhere he saith 1 Cor. 4.15 That in Christ Jesus he had begotten them through the Gospel In another place 2 Cor. 11.2 That he had espoused them to one Husband to present them a chaste Virgin unto Christ To pass by much more of like import Such things as these by which this people could not but be lifted up unto heaven as our Saviour speaks in the like case were sufficient in all likelihood of reason so to have endeared this Apostle unto them and to have engaged them unto him that he should have been in their hearts as he professeth they were in his even to die and to live together notwithstanding How soon was this Son of the Morning this glorious Apostle and heavenly Benefactor of this people fallen in their hearts and respects Other teachers who were not worthy to loose the lachets of his shooes coming in the way carried away the prize of their affections and esteem from him these were the men that were all in all with them Paul was but an underling in their thoughts a sorry fellow in comparison After al the Signs annd Wonders and mighty Works that he had wrought amongst them after all those gifts and heavenly endowments as of Wisdom Knowledge Utterance Tongues yet they sought a proof of Christ speaking in him 1 Cor. 13.3 They could not tell whether he was so much as a true Minister of Christ or no unless he should give them a good account of it It is somewhat strange to think how the generality of this People having such rational foundations to build themselves stable and steady upon should yet sink so low in their esteem of him But neither did this most worthy Person and Apostle speed any whit better amongst the Galatians than he had done amongst the Cerinthians he gained high respects and large affections he telleth them that at his first coming amongst them he was received by them as an Angel of God and as Jesus Christ they had such strong impressions upon them that they could have plucked out their eyes for him Gal. 4.14 15. but very quickly he became out of credit with them and his reputation was fallen in the dust they cared not they were Kings and reigned without Paul they knew how to want his Ministry and his counsel and direction they had found out men that pleased them better they had heaped up Teachers according to their humours they had itching ears and therefore they must have some that would scratch them and fall in with them and please their fansies and thus when they had met with such Preachers and Doctors Gal. 1.6 which were commensurable to their Notions or unto that Spirit which had now taken them these were the men now and the Heirs of Paul's Inheritance in their affections and in the respects which he received from them Yea the Lord Christ notwithstanding that as his Adversaries themselves bear him witness he spake as never man spake yea though for a time he so marvelously affected the People partly with his Miracles partly with his Doctrine that they were about to take him by force and make him a King Joh. 6.15 yet
This is a second thing by the way Thirdly We may add that likewise by the way that in reference to many persons the question now under consideration is Sect. 3 upon the matter no question at all I mean in this respect because they are so manifestly and so apparently filled with an unclean Spirit one or more that there is no place left for any considerable enquiry whether they be filled with the Spirit of God or no The reason is because they do plainly discover themselves to be filled with the spirit of the World Of this sort of persons are all those who live whether in the secret or open practice of those sins whether one or more which the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures expresly declares to be inconsistent with an estate of Grace and with Salvation and for which the Holy Ghost excludeth them out of heaven We have a list of several of these kinds of persons drawn up by the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Idolaters nor Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Railers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God meaning if they continue such But you are washed c. Some of these with a clause of enlargement which taketh in more than are here named we have elsewhere mentioned by the same Apostle Eph. 5 5 6. For this ye know that no Whoremonger nor Vnclean person nor the Covetous man who is an Idolater hath any c. Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience It seemeth that there was in the Apostles daies such a Generation of men like unto which we have in these daies who are called Rantors who bear men in hand being first deceived themselves they labour to deceive others also that for such things as these are even all manner of abominations though they commit them yet there is no such thing as the wrath of God coming upon them no but they can follow these wicked practices with the greatest liberty and that they understand their liberty to be such that they may do such things as these without any regret So that concerning such persons as these we need not spend time in debating the case whether they be filled with the Spirit of God or with some other Spirit contrary unto him The case is evident enough without debate As a man needs not a touchstone for a Chip or a piece of brown Paper to try whether these be good Gold or no these plainly enough discover themselves to be no Gold without the Touchstone every mans sense will inform him of it So that the Question propounded lately is chiefly or only to be managed between persons that have some colourable or plausible pretense to a being filled with the Spirit of God and such who have a real and substantial ground for such a claim Fourthly Sect. 4 That also is to be premised and remembred by the way that we do not intend to sift or examine the difference between a regenerate and an unregenerate estate nor make a discovery of those who have the sanctifying Spirit of God in any degree from amongst those who totally want it but only to search after and if it may be find out who they are that are really filled with the Spirit of God amongst those who pretend to such a fulness and how these may be manifested from the other Fifthly and lastly This also would be taken along with us Sect. 5 that the Spirit of God being a voluntary Agent doth not utter himself in all or every person whom he filleth with his presence in all the variety of his gifts And from hence it followeth that men may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of some one of his operations and yet make no appearance of the fulness of the Spirit in some other 1 Cor. 12.8 9 10. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit c. Here we may clearly see that one and the self same Spirit of God is able to fill several men with variety of gifts with several kinds of filling One may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of Knowledge another may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of Wisdom and yet may not be filled with him in some other consideration But if you ask me the difference between Wisdom and Knowledge you may conceive it thus Wisdom implieth a heavenly dexterity a faculty and ability to apply general Rules or Sayings to particular Cases to be able to find out Rules whereby to resolve Questions and Cases which another man who wanteth the Spirit of Wisdom will not be able to see As for instance Our Saviour when he was put to it by the Scribes and Pharisees to justifie the Fact of his Disciples in plucking the Ears of Corn against their unjust Clamours if he had not had a rich anointing of this gift of the Spirit of Wisdom he would not have been able to find out a passage of Scripture to have justified this Practice of theirs but you know where he findeth it and to prove the lawfulness of what his Disciples did Have ye not read saith he Mat. 12.3 4. what David did and those with him when they were hungry how that they went to the House of God and eat the Shew-bread which was not lawful for them to do And so he gives another instance of the Priests Circumcising on the Sabbath day and yet they pollute not the Sabbath Here he by the Spirit of Wisdom findeth the grounds that are contained in these passages of Scriptures laid up somewhat close out of the way of the ordinary thoughts of men It is like not any of the Apostles had been able to make use of these to plead their own cause but the Lord Jesus Christ by reason of that Spirit of Wisdom did it effectually There is the like gift of the Spirit to a degree which is discernable to those that have eyes to discern Men that are but of competent Judgments may clearly see that in some men the Spirit of God doth put forth himself in this great and happy gift of Wisdom making them able to find out grounds and passages of Scripture for the clearing and unfolding of such questions and difficulties which other men and men that are more excellent in their way in some other gifts of the Spirit are not able to do Now Knowledge noteth an understanding of the general Rules themselves and the things themselves which are delivered and asserted in the Scriptures A man may have all Knowledge as the Scriptures speak he may be able to repeat the whole Scriptures from first to last by heart and give an account of the sense and meaning of
how many pretenders have we to little less than a Prophetick Unction to mystical discoveries to a deep and further insight into the mind of God in the Scriptures and to the understanding of things there whose Notions notwithstanding the pretended fruits of such their high Anointings and Revelations being weighed in the Balance of the Sanctuary are found light and to have nothing of the mind of God or of Christ in them Therefore in the first place unless these discoveries which are pretended unto and held forth with the greatest confidence shall commend themselves for truth unto the judgments and understandings of sober and judicious men much versed and exercised in the Scriptures either from their own light or evidence or else shall be made out by light of Argument and Demonstation Whether from the Scriptures or clear Principles in reason to be real truths and such things that are every waies worthy the Wisdom Righteousness and Holiness of God they are not to be looked upon as proceeding from any fulness of the Spirit in their Authors but as the exertions and puttings forth of a Spirit of vanity and delusion in men For certainly God would not have sent Christ Jesus in the end of the World to seal vp Revelations and Prophesies and to set bounds unto the Children of men and afterward send these men to gather up what Jesus Christ hath scattered and to make perfect what he hath left imperfect Wko knoweth not that the New Testament is sealed with a Curse with dread and terrour unto the man or woman that shall either make any breach upon that which is there delivered by diminishing ought thereof and so likewise unto any that shall bring any new or further Revelation than what is already brought in there Secondly In case by the opportunity and advantage of Education Sect. 21 liberty for Study and searching into Authors and Writers or the advantage of pregnancy of Wit quickness of Apprehensions or the like any man shall attain unto a greater dexterity or ability to unfold the Scriptures and to bring many of the secrets thereof to light which have been hidden from the eyes of others this doth not necessarily argue a fulness of or a being filled with the Spirit at least in the sense wherein we have prosecuted the Doctrine hitherto i. e. a filling with the Spirit as sanctifying unless it shall appear by their lives and waies that they are really and throughly perswaded of the truth and certainty of these things which they hold forth from the Scriptures It is true many men may do great Services for the Christian World and for the Saints and that by opening the great Deeps or Fountains of the Scriptures and may cause many beams of light and Spiritual understanding to break forth and many waies of Wisdom there to appear and yet may not believe As it is with a fained Story though there may be some kind of rationality in it yet the rationality of it doth not therefore argue its truth and verity just so men may maintain the reasonableness of the Scriptures and consequently many great truths therein contained they may argue excellently and shew how one thing giveth light unto another and yet nevertheless at the bottom there may be nothing else but uncertainties and doubtings of the truth of all the Story and this hollowness and defection at the bottom and core and root of the heart is like to break out and bewray it self in such a kind of life and conversation which is unsutable unto the tenour of Scripture and unto the Genius Nature and light of the glorious Gospel which they declare or preach unto men The Reason of the Character or sign last mentioned Sect. 22 whereby to judge of any mans being filled with the Spirit is because it is the proper work of the Spirit to open and reveal unto men the Scriptures and the mind of God there so that when any person man or woman shall be found to excell in such a way upon the terms and with the cautions lately specified I mean to be richly acquainted with the mind of God in the Scripture it must needs argue a great measure of the Spirit of God in them For it is I say the property of the Spirit of God to reveal the mind of God in the Scriptures and to reveal such and such truths which have lain dormant in the bodies of the Scriptures wound up and unpublished For the Spirit of God hath reserved and set apart some particular portion of truth which is appropriate to every Age and Generation that cometh over the World which is to be opened unto it Some conceive that the seven Seals do respect several Ages and times wherein several truths are to be revealed as that in such an Age and Time when one Seal was broken up there was such a part of the mind of God let out and so at the breaking up of a second then cometh forth another part of the mind of God This is clear and experience teacheth us that every Generation and every Age have had some sealed or fallow ground of Scripture broken up unto them some considerable passage of Scripture that hath never seen the Sun that hath never been so generally understood or known by men as in the present Generation so that it being the proper work of the Spirit of God to take away the vail and covering which hath been upon the Scriptures when he findeth some person whom he doth much delight in he will single him out for this service 1 Cor. 2.10 11 c. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God That is according to Scripture Language teacheth men to search and to find out by searching the deep things of God i. e. such Counsels of his which do not lie in the surface of the Scriptures such things which cannot be seen at the first cast of a mans eye For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God Now the Notions which are bred in the Mind and in the Nature of God are of another sort of a quite different nature from those which are ingendred and conceived in the mind of men even as those impressions in bruit beasts are of a far other nature and kind from those which are in men and being of another nature and kind and also inferiour to those Notions or Impressions which are in man they cannot understand or comprehend those Notions or Impressions and those Principles of Action that are in men and by which they order and steere their course The Reason is because these Notions or Impressions that are in Men are of a superiour kind to those in Beasts and out of the reach of them or any other created being especially beneath themselves So that though it should be supposed that
was he in a short time forsaken by all the great multitude of his Hearers and Followers none continuing with him but the Twelve only ver 66 67. the rest of them forsook the Fountain of Living Waters to drink out of narrow maddy Cisterns they left him who had grace powred into his Lips who taught with authority whose words were Spirit and Life and went to these foolish blind Guides as Christ terms them the Scribes and Pharisees to be built up unto ruine and destruction by them Even as many Professours amongst us in these daies after they have rejoyced for a time in the light and lively Ministry of some able and worthy Teachers raised up and sent to them by God they wax weary and grow wanton and they must have change of Teachers although those they leave and turn their backs upon be as shining Stars and those they betake themselves unto are but as snuffs of Candles in Comparison This then is another reason of this unworthy and unwise practice of many Professours which oft times sorts to a sad issue an affection of Noveley or an itching ear as the Apostle calleth it A third Reason of the same inconsiderateness and miscarrying is insinuated by the Apostle 2 Tim. 4.3 Sect. 6 For the time will come when they will not endure sound Doctrine but will heap up Teachers according to their own lusts It is somewhat more significant in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. according to those lusts which are proper and peculiar unto them The manner of the Expression intimates a variety or diversity of fond humours and sinful distempers that will be found amongst Professours one mans conceipt running one way another mans another way and that every man according to his own proper humour and distemper i. e. to gratifie please and feed his own particular lust or humour whatever it should be would heap up Teachers to themselves i. e. I conceive would taste the Spirit or Doctrine of all the Teachers they could come at untill they could meet with such who were for their purpose the tenour of whose teachings and preachings they should find to be such which would not disturbe them in their sinful way Or else heap up Teachers c. i. e. to cover their impatience or dislike of sound Doctrine which will give no quarter to their Lusts and that it may not be thought but that notwithstanding they give over hearing of such or such men yet they are devout and good Christians and love the Ministry of the Word of God they will commend and follow heaps i. e. multitudes of other Teachers whose Doctrines are more plausible less penetrating and searching under which they can enjoy their lusts whatever they be in peace The passage clearly implies yet further that there hath been is and alwaies will be an heap of Teachers found amongst Christians whose Doctrine and Ministry will accommodate mens Lusts what ever they be they will put a bridle of some gloss or interpretation or other into the lips of such passages of the Gospel which frown with severity upon their lusts that they should not fall upon them These are of that sort of Teachers of whom the Apostle Peter likewise Prophesyeth Who he saith to these to whom he writeth and in them to all other Christians thorough covetousness should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with fained words make merchandize of them It is not so properly translated fained words as formed or fashioned words meaning with words chosen on purpose to comport or comply with you in all your exorbitant humours and practices such as will perswade and make you believe that you are all holy and good men and accepted with God although you indulge your selves in such courses As Corah Dathan and Abiram would perswade the People that they were all the whole Congregation of them every one of them holy Num. 16.3 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated feigned being an Adjective comes of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifieth the act of the Potter forming or fashioning the Vessel under his hand according to the requirement of that use or service for which he intendeth it So many Teachers do form and fashion their words in proportion to such unworthy ends as they propose to themselves in their work of Teaching which as the Apostle in the passage before us implies is ordinarily matter of profit or gain from their hearers Thorough Covetousness with fained words they shall make merchandize of you i.e. out of a desire and design to get money or matter of advantage out of you they will preach smooth and pleasing things unto you though never so dangerous and destructive unto your souls Baals Priests who eat bread at Jezebels Table 1 Kings 18.19 alwaies as it seems Prophesyed good unto Ahab and Jezebel whereas as he complains Micaiah the true Prophet of the Lord never Prophesied good but evil to or concerning him Chap. 22.8 If they had not Prophesied good to Ahab and Jezebel there had been no bread on Jezebels Table for them to eat And the truth is that the generality of Professours are not like to be so bountiful or free in any other case for any other kind of service done unto them as in the strengthening their hand in the way of their lusts and sinful humours by a Ministry of the Gospel this they look upon as an encouragement or dispensation at least from God himself to hold on their way On the other hand they are not more unwilling or loth to part so much as with their old Shooes or with a morsel of bread unto any sort of men than unto such Ministers whose Doctrine they either know or suspect to be at a strong or irreconcileable defiance with their Lusts alwaies troublesome unto and fighting against those Principles and Imaginations within them upon which they bear themselves with peace and comfort in their evil waies They look upon such Ministers as these with such an eye as Ahab looked upon Elijah 1 Kings 21.20 when he judged him his Enemy Hast thou found me O mine Enemy And men are not apt to be liberal to their Enemies nor unto those whom they judge their Enemies By this Argument the Apostle Paul vindicated himself from that aspersion which some false Teachers laid to his charge Sect. 7 viz. That he was a man that warred after the flesh 2 Cor. 10.3 4. i. e. sought himself with all his might in carnal or fleshly accommodations From this charge he vindicateth himself as I say by this Argument viz. That his Weapons or the Weapons of his Warfare were not carnal What doth he mean by the Weapons of his Warfare Doubtless he means those Principles as well intellectual as moral by the active management and use whereof he kept that stir in the World where-ever he came These Weapons saith he of his Warfare were not carnal i. e. were not of such a nature property or kind were not formed of such a
changed from glory to glory and be made as like unto him in felicity as far as their nature will bear in order to the rendring them capable of enriching the World with the saving knowledge of the truth where ever they shall become this being one property of felicity and true greatness and nobleness of Spirit where ever it is to dilate and utter it self for the real good benefit and comfort of all that are round about it and within its reach Of these things thou hast a large account in the ensuing Treatise both as to the provision that is made by God in the Gospel for his Saints and those that serve him as likewise the nature of him that is the chief Agent the Holy Ghost to manage and to be their Assistant in all their spiritual Works and Services which by virtue of the abundant grace of God in the Gospel they are called unto and might be partakers of he being none other than him that hath all Power in his hand both in Heaven and in Earth Not a Creature lest any man should despair of ever being strengthened with might in the inner man or should fear of ever being able to arrive unto that blessedness which is prepared for those that love God and wait for the appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ But this Holy Spirit which thou art advised to be filled withall is no less no other than the increated Spirit God blessed for ever Which in case thou hast but such a sense of thy Salvation as to be found working of it out with fear and trembling thou mayest assure thy self that it is none other than God himself who is both able and willing yea is already at work within thee and will enable thee not only to will but also to do and that according to his good pleasure whose will and good pleasure concerning the manner of his coworking in men is largely opened in this Discourse And likewise his Godhead argued and with clearness proved both by Scriptures and sound Reason As also those Grounds and Arguments that are commonly brought to prove him to be of a created and finite extraction punctually sedately and faithfully answered and the Scriptures that are brought to serve in that Warfare are dismissed and discharged from that Service And we look upon this part of the Discourse as so much the more seasonable and we hope a good hand of Divine Providence in bringing of it forth at this time inasmuch as that Spirit of Error is now stirring more effectually than of latter times to the endangering of the Everlasting Welfare of the precious Souls of Men rendering the Gospel and the Grace of God which hath appeared to all Men by Jesus Christ and that unspeakable Gift of the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God which is to remain with the Saints until his coming again as very inconsiderable Thereby making the neglect of this Grace of God and his good Spirit a thousand times more tolerable than indeed it is or is like to be unto those who shall be found to neglect so great a salvation that is brought so near unto them and that by God himself with the gracious offer of himself and his own help and assistance herein Thou hast likewise an account given thee by what means it is that the Spirit of God himself if thou shalt submit unto his most gracious Counsels herein will advance his Presence in thee whereby thou mayest have as much of his assistance as thy heart can desire Together with some Rules laid down whereby to judge whether a mans self or others be filled with the Spirit or with some other Spirit which only pretends to be the Spirit of God but is not but a Spirit of Error and Delusion very useful at all times but more especially now when Sathan that lying Spirit is playing his Last Game upon the World his time being very short he is put upon it more than ever to mingle his spiritual wickednesses with heavenly things which are his most dangerous Weapons and thereby doth greater execution than Men generally are aware of There are many Wiles and subtil Devices by which Men are taken off from attending upon the Ministry of the Gospel which is called the Ministry of the Spirit which are very mischievous and destructive it is to be feared to many and endangering more that are here detected and their nakedness laid open As also the great business of the Saints Communion with God both as to the freeness and fulness or largeness thereof discussed together with the great advantage of a large interest in God by Prayer discovered In all which there are many Scriptures clearly opened We question not but that persons who have the use and exercise of their Spiritual Senses and are to any considerable degree able to discern things that differ will find their precious time well spent in the reading hereof and will find the discourse pleasant to their Spiritual Palate and receive nourishment thereby in their inner man Good Reader We have only two Requests to make unto thee before we leave thee First â—hat if there be not in all and every passage of this Work the same height of Stile and Elegancy of Expression as is in other his Writings thou wilt excuse the Author inasmuch as it seemed good to Divine Providence to finish the daies of his mortal Pilgrimage and to gather him unto his Fathers before this Work could be made fit for Publick View And we nothing doubt but that thy Christian Candor and Ingenuity will take this for a sufficient excuse on the behalf of those things for which we Apologize Our Second Request is if thou expect to receive good by this Discourse That if at any time thou hast been prejudiced against the Author thou wilt lay all things of that nature aside as thou lovest thine own Peace and Eternal Welfare and engage with an honest heart and sincere mind in the reading hereof For although possibly there may have been some difference between him and thee and some others in some Doctrinal Points yet this being mainly Practical he and all other good men more generally agree in matters of this nature Nâ—w that the God of all Grace may fill thee with a rich Presence of his Spirit that so thou mayest be rendered most acceptable to him in all thy waies and be put into the best capacity to serve thy Generation and in the end be made partaker of the highest Glory with the Saints in light is the Desire and shall be the Prayer of The Publishers To all that desire to be filled WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT THere is a great Ambition in the Sons of Men after Fulness and so there is in the Sons of God also but the Fulness which the Sons of the latter and better Denomination do most mind and covet is of another nature and kind than that which the Sons of the other and lower Denomination are ambitious of There is an Earthly
sixth Motive That the Reasons and Vnderstandings of men are not capable of being employed upon terms of greater benefit and advantage than in this engagement A seventh Consideration taken from the uncertainty of obtaining the things of this World by all the means that can be used and also from the uncertainty of the continuance of these things if gotten Whereas a being filled with the Spirit as it is attainable so by a perseverance in the use of means our attainments in this kind shall stand by us for ever Page 463 CHAP. XVIII The Eighth and last Motive That a being filled with the Spirit will render the Condition of men and women most desirable in this World and in that which is to come That no other course will do it but this or none without this Four things a concurrence whereof will render a man's Condition in this life most desirable 1. A freedom from all troublesome distracting and tormenting fears and cares 2. A heart and conscience abounding in Joy and Peace 3. A large and free Communion with God 4. And lastly A rich and large interest in God to be able to carry great Matters in Prayer with him Three of these insisted on 1. A being filled with the Spirit will discharge men from all troublesome and distracting fears and cares 2. The Peace and Joy of men will abound by a being filled with the Spirit 3. A third particular which renders mens Condition so desirable in the World is a free and large Communion with God 1. What is meant by Communion with God 2. What by a free Communion 3. What is meant by a large and full Communion with God 4. How this Communion renders man's Condition very desirable in the World 5. That this Priviledge must needs accompany a being filled with the Spirit What it is for God to dwell or abide in man How a man may know that God dwelleth in him by the Spirit which is given him How perfect love casteth out fear In what respect the Spirit may be said to witness with our spirits that we are the Children of God A well-grounded Confidence The Causes of a false Confidence enquired into A good Conscience a ground of Assurance Page 482 CHAP. XIX The Eighth Motive further opened in the fourth particular a being filled with the Spirit doth interest men with a rich and large Interest in God How this Interest doth arise by being filled with the Spirit of God Reasons why so little is done by Prayer now in comparison of what was done in the Primitive times Without being filled with the Spirit none of the great blessings formerly mentioned and which render a mans Condition so desirable in this World are to be obtained The Reasons whence it comes to pass And the equitableness of God's proceeding with men therein The difference between a fearless and dreadless frame of spirit that is counterfeit and that which is raised upon good Grounds A being filled with the Spirit is the only way to cause the Crown of glory to flourish on the head of a man And that with a greater measure of glory in the World which is to come Page 522 ERRATA PAge 8. Line 22. for te read to p. 14. l. 28. for of r. as p. 16. l. 23. for never r. ever p. 18. l. 23. for the inspiration thereof r. his inspiration p. 24. l. 20. for men r. man p. 60. l. 34. after on r. of p. 61. l. 8 for effecting r. affecting p. 63. l. 21 dele or doth Ibid. l. 4 r. for and r. of the. Ibid. l. 42. for of the r. and. p. 66. l. 11. for Princes r. Prophets p. 77. l. 16. for heavenly r. lovely p. 84. l 5. for it r. them p. 87. l. 10. for maniture r. manuducture p. 107. l. 2. for leaving r. left p. 109 l. 36. for of 1. as p. 121. l. last for most r. not p. 146. l. 2 for that r. though p. 162. l. 18. after whci r. it Ibid. l. 40. for in r. into p. 163. l. 41. for apparence r. appearance p. 165. l. 8. for it r. he p. 181. l. 24. for interest r. request p. 186. l. 2. r. it is the first born lb. dele it is p. 190. l. 18 for consent r. conceit p. 191. l. 10. for zealoufly r. jealously p. 213. l. 26. for or r. but. p. 216 l. 19. for undeceivedness r. underivedness p. 228. l. r. after Believer r. But. lb. 18. dele But p. 231. l. 19. for any r. an p. 236. l. 15. dele that p. 248. l. 28. add whereby p. 254. l. 34. for exhibiting r. excitings p. 268. l. 21. dele because p. 284. l. 23. for by r. for p. 289. l. 26. for having r. have p. 300. l. 21. for I r. A. p. 311. l. 25. for obtain r. attain p. 323. l. 6. dele of p. 346. l. 10. for grateful r. graceful p. 348. l. 17. for absolute r. obsolete p. 352. l. 24. for to r. who p. 354. l. 19. for picking r. higgling p. 364. l. 28. dele that p. 366. l. 25. for suits r. fruits p. 374. l. 27. dele judgeth that he p. 385. l. 8. for who r. we p. 396. l. 18. after seen r. in p. 397. l. 8 dele that p. 400. l. 24. dele of p. 423. l. 19. for chose r. choose p. 430. l. 41. for of r. for p. 445. l. 43. after yea r. there are p. 456. l. 6. for if r. which p. 375. l. 15. after sums r. are p. 484. l. 1. for where to be r. to be where p. 490. l. 11. for be r. he p. 506. l. 5. for as r. so as p. 538. l. 37. dele was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR A being filled with the Spirit Ephes 5. the latter part of the 18 verse But be filled with the SPIRIT CHAP. I. The coherence and sense of the words opened What it is to be filled with the Spirit Four Doctrines raised from the words Proved from the Scriptures that it is the duty of all Christians to be filled with the Spirit THe tenour of the former part of the verse is this Sect. 1 And be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit The Apostle having in the former part of this Epistle as his usual method was declared and laid down foundation-wise that great Doctrine of the Christian Religion namely justification by or through faith in Jesus Christ In the latter part thereof he builds upon this foundation Precepts and Exhortations to such duties and behaviours which may very justly and equitably be expected upon the account of such rich grace from God vouchsafed unto sinful men in their free justification by Christ Now in Precepts and Exhortations unto Christian duties there is not alwaies a dependence or relation of coherence between duty and duty or between that which goeth before and that which followeth after But Exhortations are many times like unto Solomons Proverbs which resemble Jewels or precious stones not set together in order
or in any form of special aspect one upon another but as it were laid together in great heaps Yet there is I confess a relative opposition between the words read and the former part of the verse plainly intimated by this adversative Particle But And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess But be filled with the Spirit Which Particle clearly implies that to be drunken with wine as we have it or as the word elsewhere frequently signifieth To drink wine freely or to be given inordinately unto it to sit upon the brink of the pit of drunkenness though possibly you may not fall into it Is a thing inconsistent with your being filled with the Spirit For wine being freely drank as it inflames a man or the body of a man So on the contrary it quencheth the Spirit in him and causeth that to abate its fervency by degrees and to withdraw more and more from the Soul or else obstructeth his entrance into a man For the clearing the sense and meaning of the words there are three things briefly to be opened First Sect. 2 What is here meant by the Spirit Secondly What it is to be filled with the Spirit Thirdly why the Apostle exhorts and perswades to a being filled or to a filling of themselves with the Spirit by occasion of the preceding dehortation viz. from being drunken with or from being given to much wine For the first There are several significations of the word Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which yet it is as clear as the Sun that the Apostle hath nothing to do with in this place 1. It sometimes signifieth the wind Joh. 3.8 2. Sometimes it signifieth courage or such a frame of heart which is opposite to despondency or extremity of fear Josh 5.1 Neither was there Spirit in them any more 3. It sometimes signifieth the mind disposition or inclination of a man Pro. 14.29 But he that is hasty or rather according to the original short of Spirit i. e. that is of a Cholerick or rash temper or disposition being not able to contain himself or hold out in patience for a little season under temptations exalteth folly 4. It sometimes signifieth the soul of a man and this is a frequent acceptation of this word in the Scripture I need not cite any instances for this places of this import are obvious and frequent Sometimes the understanding or discerning powers or faculties of the soul are signified thereby Exod. 35.21 Every one whom his Spirit made willing i. e. whose judgment and understanding in artificial work inclined him to a willingness in that kind viz. for the work of the Sanctuary There are these and several other significations of the word Spirit which by comparing the place in hand with the particularities of them it will be found as clear as the Sun at noon day that they are none of them to be understood or meant in this place and therefore for expedition sake I shall omit them Neither shall I argue against any of those several senses of the word Spirit even now mentioned That by the Spirit Sect. 3 here is meant the holy blessed and incomprehensible Spirit of God the third of the three Persons in the divine Being or Essence Besides the concurrent judgment of the best Expositors upon the place It may be evinced from the Antithesis or opposition the words read have unto the former part of the verse As also from the comportance and perfect agreement in the next verse with this signification of the word Spirit For the first the Apostle opposeth their being filled with the Spirit to their being drunken or filled with wine Now take the word Spirit in any other signification whatsoever besides that we have pitched upon viz. for the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God and you will not find any such emphatical liveliness in opposition between being drunken with wine and being filled with the Spirit you may make trial and take an account of particulars at your leisure But now between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God there is such a strong clear and pregnant opposition that the one fighteth against and excludeth the other For he that is drunk with wine is full of the spirit of sin and of the devil and during either the act or the habit but especially the act of such a drunkenness such a person is utterly uncapable for that time in sensu composito so long as he is under the power of his drunkenness of being filled with the Spirit of God As on the contrary he that is filled with the Spirit of God is in no capacity during this his fulness of being made drunk with wine wherein is excess But Secondly That by the Spirit here is meant the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God is further evident from what the Apostle immediately subjoyns in the next verse Speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs making Melody in your hearts unto the Lord. As men that are drunken or enflamed with wine are apt to speak to themselves and to entertain one another with light vain and unsavoury mirth and Songs of carnal and sinful jollity In like manner if ye be filled with the Spirit of God you will be apt and able to speak to your selves and solace and delight your selves and be in a steady posture to teach and admonish one another with matters of a spiritual and heavenly import So that God himself will take a holy contentment in your mirth and rejoyce with you Whereas the vain and sinful mirth of the others namely of those that are drunken with wine is the hatred and abhorring of his soul But now there is no filling with the Spirit in any other sense of the word Spirit that only excepted which is pleaded for that is proper or likely to qualifie men or women for these spiritual exercises of an heavenly mirth It is only a being filled with the Spirit of God that is like to act or work the heart and soul of a man into such a posture or frame of spiritual rejoycing We might further confirm this exposition by taking into consideration all those instances in the Scriptures which are many where men are said to be filled with the Holy Ghost and by comparing them in their respective context with the Scripture in hand we might shew that the Holy Ghost there and the Spirit here are one and the same See Acts 2.4 c. 4.31 c. 9.17 c. 13.52 We read likewise of persons full of the Holy Spirit Luke 4.1 Acts 6.3 5. c. 7.55 c. 11.24 c. thus you see what is meant by the Spirit Secondly Sect. 4 What is it to be filled with the Spirit Or What is it that the Apostle means or what is the nature or property of the duty he requireth of them and which is imposed upon them when he chargeth them to be filled with the Spirit or as in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
as his own expression is seeking whom he may devour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. whom he may devour at once 1 Pet. 5.8 and with as much haste as possible may be meaning by filling them with all unrighteousness with uncleanness love of this world fearlesness of God and of his Laws Precepts and Commands For he namely Satan hath no other weapons to destroy men and women withal but these And in these and in these only lye his murthering and devouring attempts So that where he meets not with one that is greater and stronger than himself to oppose him And there is but one to stand in his way of whom the Apostle John gives this testimony That he that is in you namely the Saints is greater than he that is in the world 1 Joh. 4.4 I say When he meets not and is not encountred by this Spirit of God that is stronger than he Yea if this Spirit have not advanced in his strength and assistance by the means before spoken of to some good degree in the hearts and souls of men He namely the evil one is very likely to prevail yea and questionless will prevail over men and fill the hearts and inward parts of men with all unrighteousness covetousness love of the world c. and with all manner of sinful inclinations dispositions and propentions which will be their ruine For sin as the Apostle James testifieth when it is finished bringeth forth death Jam 1.15 When it is finished i. e. impenitently persisted in unto the last it certainly bringeth damnation or eternal destruction upon men Or if you will thus Sin when it is finished or perfected that is when it is raised hath much of strength and power in the heart and soul of a man and when they are full of sin Then it is apt and likely to bring forth death the workings and operations thereof incline and tend strongly that way yea and will certainly issue in Death as was even now hinted if it be not stopped in its way by a more than ordinary care and diligence to make resistance against it Now that Satan or the evil Spirit will certainly prevail with men and women to fill themselves with him or with his fruits unless they be filled or in a way of filling themselves with the Spirit of God is evident upon these two gradual considerations taken together First Sect. 4 If men shall be found to be wholly destitute and devoid of the Spirit of God and as it were altogether flesh so that they have not wherewith to oppose or to make any resistance against the devil or evil Spirit in any kind or at least to any considerable degree Then is it no marvel if he prevail over men For that which is flesh in men whether we take it for that which is properly so called the body or outward man considered simply as such or whether by flesh we mean that which is born of the flesh according to our Saviours expression Joh. 3.6 i.e. inordinate desires sinful inclinations and lusts that are ingendred and occasioned by the flesh I say in both these considerations whether we take the flesh either litterally or metaphorically it is wholly confederate with Satan against the soul and spiritual life of man ready to open unto him and comport with him in all his dangerous and destructive applications of himself unto them and consequently such men that are only flesh or full of it receive the Laws of their minds from the inspiration thereof and are not furnished with any principles wherewith to oppose him and as it is said concerning John the Baptist That they that persecuted him did unto him whatsoever they listed (a) Mat. 17.12 Mar. 9.13 Even so the Scriptures speak of or concerning such persons as we are now treating of That Sathan carrieth them captive at his will (b) 2 Tim. 2.26 and filleth them with what kind of lusts and uncleanness he pleaseth yea and to what degree he pleaseth When men are filled with the Holy Spirit so that it acteth with much strength and vigour in them and that they are subdued and brought under the power thereof the Scripture is used to speak of them as wholly diabled and debilitated to sin So the Apostle Paul speaketh concerning himself and of such others that were made partakers of the same anointing with him For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth 2 Cor. 13.8 So on the contrary they that are filled with the spirit of the devil have nothing in them but what is born of the flesh and therefore they can do nothing for but against the truth no not in their own souls judgments and consciences still comporting with Sathan against the truth and their own peace and comfort But It is a Question perhaps of no easie resolution Whether there be any person man or woman under heaven who is wholly destitute of the Spirit of God unless it be those which have blasphemed the Spirit of God and have stumbled at that stumbling stone which will certainly not only break but grind all to powder which shall fall under it That sin which is the seed of immortal eternal and irreconcileable hatred and alienation between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of him whosoever he be that hath committed it I mean the sin against the Holy Ghost I rather at present incline to the affirmative part of the Question and do conceive That there is no person of mankind who from or after his first enlightening by the Spirit of God upon and after his coming into the world under the guilt of any sin or sins whatsoever except that sin only before excepted that is at any time untill the day and hour of his death wholly bereaved of the presence and assistance of the Spirit of God with him Of which my apprehensions I have as I remember heretofore given some account and may possibly have occasion to speak more largely unto it hereafter But for the present Whereas some in the Scripture are said not to have the Spirit Jude the 19 verse sennsual not having the Spirit a Scripture formerly made use of upon another occasion I answer the meaning is not as if they had no degree or presence Sect. 5 or no assistance of or from the Spirit of God within them But this by not having the Spirit is meant That there was no appearance of the exercise of the Spirit is meant That there was no appearance of the exercise of the Spirit of God in them They appeared unto the judgments of men as such who had not the Spirit their lives and conversations were such which did not shew forth any presence of the Spirit of God in them A person in the Scripture Phrase is said not to have that which he doth not make use of or improve or that which he doth not seem to have For unto every one that hath saith our Saviour Mat. 25.29 shall be given and he shall
his beloved Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and compounds it with a Verb which without it signified somewhat more than simply an abundance and so calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace superabounding or rather grace superredounding But where sin aboundeth grace superaboundeth or abounded much more Rom. 5.20 Thirdly Sect. 10 A third thing wherein the graciousness and freeness of the Spirit consists Huge Grot. in Rom. 5.20 is that in all that he acts and moves and works in men according to all that variety and manifoldness of working which proceeds from him at any time he doth proceed by his own Laws and these every waies gracious full of equity and sweetness and not by any thing any Law engagement or terms imposed upon him by men When men by having as the Scripture expression is that is by imploying and improving what they have viz. from the Spirit for men have nothing of any spiritual or gracious import but from him come to have more given viz. by this gracious Spirit more light more knowledge more wisdom love zeal courage faithfulness c. they come by this means to have in abundance Now they that have in this sense according to our Saviours promise this advance of his presence and growing tenour of his operation do not procure or draw it from him by any vertue or engagement of merit nor by any terms imposed upon him by the endeavours actings or improvements of their own but only the rich efficacy and vertue of his most gracious good pleasure and will who was pleased to prescribe the Law of this grace and goodness unto himself As when God justifies and saves those that believe he doth it freely of himself and from himself because he hath made this Law unto himself and established it he hath published and declared That whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ shall be justified and consequently saved he doth it freely and of meer grace not by judging himself obliged to do it by any worth or merit found in mens believing and yet he doth it constantly toties quoties and without failing as oft as he meets with believers in Jesus Christ he justifieth them he saveth them And indeed it is impossible he should do otherwise because as the A postle informeth us he cannot lie neither can he deny himself in his truth and faithfulness In like manner the Spirit of God hath prescribed unto himself the like Laws and terms for all his transactions dealings and proceedings with men according to the tenour whereof he will inlarge and advance his presence in the hearts and souls and spirits of men and will not walk contrary to them nor advance or put forth himself in any eminency of working but only where his lower or former motions have been obeyed and consented unto Yet he doth not this because men regard his presence but because he regards his own righteous counsels and purposes That which the Creature doth in this case is but a weak and inconsiderable thing to ingage such an infinite Spirit as the Spirit of God is to do such great things as those in men And as God will not save those that believe because of any merit that is in their Faith but because the counsel of his will is so to do So the Spirit of God will not do as hath been said because of any worthiness in mens compliance with him but he hath made this for a Law unto himself and honoureth his own Law and himself too by observing it To him that hath shall be given and he shall have more abundantly but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath Now we shall prove from that very passage that it is a Law which the Holy Ghost hath made and declares that he would walk by it towards the Sons and Daughters of men in all their succeeding Generations to the worlds end To him that hath that is that shews that he hath that declares that he hath that improves and imploys that which he hath namely that which is given originally to him by way of stock from the Spirit of God to him that thus hath shall be given namely by way of addition he shall have more abundantly he shall still be going on and be having and having and having he shall have and have still At last he shall have abundance he shall have a full and glorious estate in Spiritual riches in wisdom in knowledge in understanding in Faith in humility in love in zeal in temperance in patience and whatever else is necessary to enrich the soul of a man and to prepare him and put him into a capacity of the richest and highest glory So that we see this is a clear and declared method by which the Holy Ghost will proceed with men and women in his communications of himself unto them And though their be nothing in the creature to invite and move him in this kind yet nevertheless there is his own wisdom his own righteousuess and goodness by which he made this Law and imposed it upon himself these are sacred ingagements upon him to do all that he doth in the case we speak of And doubtless there was abundance of reason which did induce him to it whereof though we be not so capable for his Counsels are very deep yet something in the business may with good probability be conceived by us But for the thing it self he it seems will do it as constantly as universally at least in his ordinary dispensations as if it were the greatest injustice in him and most inconsistent with the rectitude and purity of his nature not to do it It may be here objected Sect. 11 and said that the Holy Ghost doth not observe any such Law or Rule in his actings or workings in men as now you ascribe unto him or at least tell us that he hath prescribed unto himself For doth he not sometimes come upon such men that have been formerly prophane vain and sinful above measure Doth he not sometimes come upon such men after some such manner as he came upon the A postles at the time of Pentecost like a mighty rushing wind I mean with an high hand of power and conviction and so in short time works the great work of Conversion and Repentance in them Was not Paul a stiff-necked Pharisee and Blasphemer a Persecutor of the Gospel and of the Saints all his daies before Yea as himself saith the chiefest of sinners And did not the Spirit of God come upon him as a whirlwind with a strong and high hand in an irresistible and miraculous manner to effect his Conversion To this I answer First That when with the Holy Ghost himself we say that unto him that hath shall be given and interpret this to be meant of the Holy Ghost advancing his presence and operations in men even as they hearken unto him and respectively comport with him in his preventing and lower motions And so again on the other hand
That from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath understand it of the Spirits withdrawing of himself from men and falling lower and lower in his presence and motions proportionably to mens unthankfulness neglect and opposition to him we do not conceive either of the one or the other of these Lawsor Rules as if the Holy Ghost would universally and in all cases whatsoever bind himself unto them especially to that in either of them which beareth hard upon the Creature but that our Saviours meaning was only to declare unto the world what the Common Laws or terms of the Spirits proceedings and dealings with men would be and what men were to trust to and expect ordinarily from him and so bethink themselves of behaving themselves accordingly If you ask me what I mean by that which beareth hard upon the Creature in each of the Laws or Rules mentioned I answer concerning the former Rule to him that hath shall be given if it should be meant that the Holy Ghost will give unto none but unto him that hath that is that improveth and maketh use of what he hath received this would bear hard upon the Creature By bearing hard I do not mean any manner of injustice or unrighteousness or hard dealing of the Holy Ghost towards men but only such a thing which if it should take place and be done would turn to the damage or loss of the Creature as it must needs do unto many if that the Holy Ghost should give only unto those and to none other but those that are said to have because the greatest part of men have not in the sense of this saying but the Holy Ghost may walk by this Rule that is may give to every one that hath in the sense declared and yet may give to many also that have not as a rich man may give relief to all his poor neighbours and yet sometimes give an alms to him that is a stranger also As to the latter Law From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath it is not necessary to suppose neither that this should import that the Holy Ghost should universally or in all cases without exception wholly desert or forsake him that hath not that is doth not alwaies entertain his motions respectfully and apply himself unto them Nay I suppose that in the rigour of this sense this Law is never observed by him For according to this sense it would follow that if a man should for never so short a time were it but for a day or an hour deal unkindly by the Holy Ghost neglect or reject his motions that he would out of hand totally and finally withdraw himself from him But as to this point the Scriptures frequently shew the case to be far otherwise and that the Spirit of God is full of patience and long-suffering towards men even towards froward and gain-saying men waiting a long time upon them if yet they will consider and bethink themselves of compliance with him How long ye simple ones saith the Spirit of wisdom Pro. 1.22 to foolish and froward men will ye love simplicity c. which shews that this Spirit had for a long time attended upon them And so 2 Chron. 36.15 The Lord God of their Fathers sent unto them by his Messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place And they mocked the messengers of God and despised his Prophets and misused his messengers untill the wrath of God rose upon them and there was no remedy This passage plainly sheweth that the Spirit of God fought as it were a pitched battel with them or rather with their wickedness endeavouring to overcome it He had them under his hand and was perswading and instructing them for a long time before he withdrew himself wholly from them And therefore when our Saviour threatens from him that hath not shall be taken away c. the meaning first must needs be this From him that hath not viz. within some considerable time after that the Spirit of God hath graciously intreated him and lovingly stroven with him He that doth not within the time of a man as we may say that is in which men may very well and as we use to say at leisure bethink themselves of the grand concernments of their souls and within which usually such men as do ever repent are wont to repent and return unto God from such a man the Spirit of God will withdraw Secondly Concerning that clause shall be taken away even that he hath the meaning is not as if all that such a man hath all the presence or gifts or gracious workings of the Spirit shall be withdrawn from him suddenly or at once but shall be taken away viz. by degrees and in time Such a man shall still be on the losing and declining hand as long as he is amongst the number of those that have not and at last will be stripped of all and left utterly naked Thirdly and lastly That which I would have especially to be considered in this Minatory or Penal Law asserted by the Scripture From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath is not so to be understood either as if in no case or for no accommodation either of the Gospel or of Men or of the Glory of God or the like it were dispensable or as if the Holy Ghost had so obliged himself by it that upon no occasion whatsoever he would vary from it but this Law is enacted in Heaven upon these terms that it should be the express the usual and ordinary course which the Holy Ghost would observe in treating with men about the great matters of their peace and that no man shall expect other dealings from him the said Law being most equitable and just meetest indeed to be the standing Law of his transactions with men however in some special cases a strict observance of it might not be so expedient It is very frequent in the Scriptures Sect. 12 for God to deliver and express as well threatnings as promises absolutely in respect of the tenour or form of words wherein they are delivered without the least whisper or noyse of any exception or clause of restriction when as notwithstanding both the one and the other are conditional and were by him intended for none other Instances of Conditional Promises delivered in words absolute and without mention of any Condition we may find 1 Sam 2.30 I said indeed speaking unto Ely that thy Fathers house should walk before me for ever there was no Condition expressed in this Promise of God unto Ely his Fathers house But yet it is clear in Ely his own case and the instance of his own person that God in this promise intended a Condition which he had reserved to himself which was that in case his Father and those of his Posterity should walk uprightly and serve him in the
great Office and Dignities of the Priesthood as became the Honour and Holiness and Majesty of it then the Priesthood should never have been translated from him And so Acts 27.24 Paul saith that an Angel of God appeared unto him bidding him to be of a good courage God had given him the lives of all that were in the Ship with him Now though this was absolutely delivered unto Paul by the Angel yet in the 31 verse it appears that it was a conditional promise for saith Paul to those in the Ship concerning the Mariners except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved And so Ezek. 33.13 When I shall say unto the righteous man he shall surely live that is when I shall declare it as my positive and real purpose and intention yet if he shall trust to his own righteousness and commit iniquity notwithstanding this promise of mine in his iniquity he shall dye And indeed more generally all the threatnings of destruction denounced by God against wicked and ungodly persons you shall find them more generally I say if not constantly delivered in positive and absolute forms of speech 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers c. shall inherite the Kingdom of God Here you see that this threatning against wicked men is deliver'd absolutly And yet we all know that there is a Condition of repentance included which intervening keepeth off the threatning from being executed upon the offender If a man be a covetous person or an unclean person the threatning goeth forth against him absolutely and yet through the grace of the Gospel if this person shall repent and turn him from the evil of his ways he shall not be excluded from the Kingdom of God Jonah 3.4 Yet forty daies and Nineveh shall be destroyed yet we know that forty and twice forty daies passed over their heads and yet the City not destroyed The reason was because the threatning was but Conditional though not a letter or tittle of it did appear unto Jonah untill the event declared it So that when by authority of our Saviour his declaration of that great Law of heaven mentioned touching the Holy Ghosts proceedings and treatings with men in and about the great matters of their Salvation we teach and affirm that the Holy Ghost still advanceth or retreateth in the souls of men as his entertainment is either kind or unkind We do not intend to affirm either that there never was or that there never will be any case wherein he will not take liberty to act above the line of that grace which is stretched over the world in that Law But only thus as hath been already touched that the Law mentioned so understood as has been opened is the common Law it is all the Law God would have the world to take notice of in particular and according unto which he would have men expect measure from him and from his Spirit If sometimes he acts by another Law this is but Lex horae as the Jewish Doctors are wont to call a Precept or Law given man in an extraordinary Case the Law of an hour whereas the other is Lex seculi the Law of an Age and this doth not reflect any error falshood or disparagement upon the general Law Secondly Sect. 13 We have oft signified upon occasion that God in Scripture treatie frequently applies himself unto men in such usages and forms of transactions as are ordinarily found amongst men themselves and used by them in their occasions yea and walking with them by the same principles and notions of reason and equity which are in request amongst them and generally owned by them and practised by those of them that deal any thing regularly Thus because amongst men a Covenant or Deed in writing is made good in Law by a Seal regularly affixed to it therefore God will seal his Covenant likewise And so because amongst men an Oath for confirmation is an end of all strife therefore God also because he would put an end to all doubtings jealousies and troublesome debates in the minds of men concerning his truth and faithfulness in his Word and great Promises of the Gospel he swears too So likewise in Laws enacted by men this being a common and standing principle Lex non curat particularia the Law doth not regard and take notice of particular or extraordinary Cases Laws are made and ought to be made only for ordinary Cases for Cases of ordinary and frequent occurrence or concernment amongst men There may be a Constellation or meeting together of such Circumstances once or at some one time which are not like to be found in the same Position again for many Ages after And so may constitute a case extraordinary like unto which another may not fall out in many Generations Therefore men do not nor indeed well can make Laws for the regulating of such Cases but leave all such to be regulated by the known and general principles of common Equity together with the Soveraign Law the good and benefit and welfare of the Publick for which the ordinary and standing Law was made So that in case the benefit of a variation or digression from the standing Law be manifestly expedient for the good and safety of the Publick the standing Law is not thereby violated or broken And doubtless it was the very intention of the Law-makers themselves that their Law calculated for the regulating ordinary cases only in such cases as these I mean extraordinaries should be waved So that now upon the account of the benefit and safety of the Publick men may walk contrary to the Letter of the Law and yet be blameless and no transgressours of the Law In like manner when God maketh general Laws and Rules and declares them unto the world that these are they by which he will move and act and treat with the children of men his intent is notwithstanding to leave these Laws to be regulated by himself according to the exigency and requirement of the general good and publick benefit of mankind which by his wisdom he is able to estimate and judge of knowing how to regulate all his proceedings with men as well in extraordinary as ordinary cases for their profit in conjunction with his own glory Thirdly Sect. 14 As there is nothing ought to cause a suspension of or variation from any general Law justly and equitably made and established amongst men but only that soveraign or supreme Law of Laws the good and benefit of the Society of men for which the Law it self was established So neither doth God or the Spirit of God at any time or in any case take liberty to digress or vary from his common and standing Law but only when some grand necessity either of the glory of God or the benefit and accommodation of men intervene And as in case those who are Law-givers amongst men could have
to propose unto himself and unto his Spirit for his dealing with the world And for exceptions it is a common saying and true that an exception from a general Rule strengthens and confirms the Rule in all particulars not excepted for there is no general Rule as the saying is that hath not some exceptions Now these exceptions that are to be found from the general Rule we speak of are so far from taking it away or making any breach upon it that indeed they give great confirmation and authority unto it By that standing Rule we speak of God doth explain himself to this effect that men should not expect any extraordinary coming of the Holy Ghost upon them but wait for him in his ordinary way And the truth is those standing Laws and Rules of which we have spoken may be the result of the choisest and most excellent wisdom of the Holy Ghost and of God in ordaining them and yet it may be a point of the same wisdom likewise in some cases to act contrary to them There is a time saith the wise man to build and a time to pull down though these be contrary actions yet according to the exigency of differing times and seasons and occasions both may be done with a like wisdom So that the Holy Ghost may ordinarily walk by one rule and yet in extraordinary cases may walk by another Rule and both with uniformity unto his grace and goodness towards the world But it will be still objected That the Holy Ghost doth not move or act by any determinate Law prescribed unto himself no Sect. 17 not in his ordinary proceedings with men For doth he not many times ever and anon shew himself in his might and in the glory of his strength and power in working effectually upon the hearts and consciences of men that have been loose and vain and a long time wicked and prophane In answer hereunto we might commend unto you those particulars which we have formerly delivered upon this account to consider of But in the sixth place we shall add this to the five preceding which we will not stand now to name that persons that have been loose prophane despisers of God and the Gospel c. may on the sudden and at once seem to be truly converted and brought home unto God when that which is wrought in or upon them in this kind is but either that which some call a Sermon-sickness when the Conscience of a man is only troubled or wounded with the dreadful concernment of the things he hears but soon after recovers himself out of this fit and is the same man he was or worse than before As when Paul before Felix was reasoning of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come it is said that Felix trembled Acts 24.25 But this was but like an earthquake under which the earth is much troubled and shaken as if it would be removed out of its place but soon after recovers and returns to its wonted stability Or else the work we speak of suddenly wrought in loose sensual and prophane persons may possibly not vanish and come to nothing and yet not be a real work of Conversion yet doth it not follow that the Holy Ghost should be found therein to recede from his own Law mentioned To him that hath shall be given because possibly a man may have more in him by way of improvement within the space of one hour and perhaps in a far shorter time than another in the space of several hours yea or years and yet be an Haver too in the sense formerly declared my meaning is this That a man or woman may possibly with a less assistance of the Spirit more effectually provoke and stir up themselves and advance their minds and attentions to the hearing and considering of the Gospel the words of eternal life when they are speaking unto them than another man with a greater measure of assistance of the same Spirit may do within the space of a far longer time and yet be doing somewhat all the while As in matters of a Civil concernment one man with a lesser stock only with more diligence and wisdom may advance his estate more within the space of one year than another with a greater stock being less industrious and provident may do in three and this man may not go backward neither That hath been heretofore signified unto you that the Holy Ghost seldom or never withdraws from any man so low unless it be in the case of the unpardonable sin but that a person may by means of his gracious presence with him if he will provoke and stir up himself accordingly he may consider the things of his eternal peace and act and behave himself accordingly That God is said to open the heart of Lydia Acts 16.14 So that she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul doth not prove that Lydia had a greater presence or assistance of the Spirit of God than any other that were present at the preaching of the Gospel whereby she was converted But only notes the happy event and success which that assistance she had had in and upon her heart like unto which there was none wrought or produced in any other there present by any presence or assistance of the Spirit which they had This is a Principle or Rule according to which many things are spoken and are to be taken and understood in the Scriptures viz. that when one and the same action is raised and produced by a joynt concurrence of two different causes one principal and independent in its efficacy or working the other subordinate and dependent in the acting thereof the effect or work produced between them is sometimes as in good propriety of speech it may be ascribed to the one and sometimes to the other but more commonly to the former that which is the principal So that act of opening Lydia's heart because God was the principal agent in it and cause independent in working it though this was not could not be without Lydia's act in consenting God opened and she opened too for she repented and believed see Rev. 3.20 yet the work is ascribed only unto God But this by the way Seventhly Sect. 18 and lastly When there is any such example in reality and truth as the objection mentioneth viz. a person on the sudden converted and brought home unto God which hath formerly been loose vain and prophane there may be somewhat more than an ordinary presence of the Holy Ghost in and about the work without any declining of that Law or Rule before mentioned from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath For it is to be supposed and not at all to be doubted that even he that hath not in our Saviours sense of the word have that hath not any thing upon improvement of his original stock yet may have somewhat commodious and advantageous unto him at this turn upon the account of some other one or
recovering my self again from my sins and receiving grace and favour from God restoring me to my former enjoyments I should teach transgressors his way This then is one reason to prove clearly that it lyeth upon every man and woman of us to be great and signal Benefactors to the World First Because we stand bound to believe in Jesus Christ Secondly To make the world know that we do really and indeed thus believe Secondly Sect. 3 There is yet another thing which is of some affinity with the former yet not the same which plainly evinceth the point in hand viz. That every person of mankind man and woman and more especially the Generation of Believers stand bound according to their several capacities means and opportunities to cast liberally into the treasury of the World that which is likely and proper to enrich and bless it This is the keeping the Commandments of Jesus the translating of all his Words of all his Sayings and Precepts into Actions and Practice before the World He that stands bound to do this without all Controversie standeth bound to be a most worthy Benefactor to the World by doing that which is of a most blessed accommodation to it Now that we all stand bound to keep the Commandments of Jesus and not to cast the least of them behind our backs or tread them under our feet is I presume voted long since by all our consciences with a Nemine Contradicente and therefore we shall not stand to prove this Now that the performance of this great and worthy engagement and the quitting our selves in it like men is of a most soveraign import and tendency to bless the World I shall nor need to go far nor make any long work to prove The World may be said to be blessed in two Considerations or in two different degrees First In the things of its present peace Secondly In the things of its future and eternal peace Now That he that diligently and faithfully keepeth the Commandments of Jesus is a worthy Benefactor unto it in both is a truth near at hand and prepared in a manner with its own evidence for every mans understanding and consent First That worthy thing we speak of the obeying Jesus Christ in what he hath commanded is matter of a rich and precious import to bless the World in the things of their present comfort and peace And this in two respects in the general may be made clearly to appear First By shewing that the very Acts themselves of Conformity and Obedience unto the Laws and Commands of Christ are simply and in themselves of a sweet and beneficent nature full of a spirit of goodness and comporting with the present peace and comfort of the World Secondly By shewing that the exemplariness of such Conformity though exhibited and given by one single person or a very few at first may in a short time turn to a very good account for the further accommodation and benefit of the World First The whole Systeme and Body of the Laws of Christ is composed with a most exquisite and clear proportion Sect. 4 to the present benefit and comfort of the World these have a beneficent nature in them they are full of a spirit of goodness insomuch that were they all observed and kept on all hands it would presently turn the Waters of the World into Wine it would change the Earth which is now as a roaring Wilderness into an Eden or Garden of God to the Inhabiters of it Whereas now the prospect of the World as it appeareth in the eyes of God and Angels and Men is as of men taking one another by the throat every man tearing out of anothers bowels or belly to put into their own Upon the supposition mentioned the prospect or face of it would be quite contrary For then the World would seem yea and really be quite another thing Every man would be found what Moses was unto Aaron Exod. 4.16 instead of God unto another There would be no Emulation or Contest between men but only who in giving honour and doing good should go before other Our Saviour Mat. 22 37 38. reduceth the Law of God to these two heads Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul with all thy strength c. And thy Neighbour as thy self Now if these two general Laws were in their due compass and extent observed in the World you would soon have a new Heaven and a new Earth If we could perswade those who have Silver and Gold in abundance to minister with these unto the necessities of the poor and needy and those that have other things though they want these wherewith they may bless the World otherwise to serve the occasions of it accordingly as Peter and John had neither Silver nor Gold Acts 3.6 yet they had wherewith they blessed men at a far better rate than those who had most of these I say if mens hearts were really and truly set within them to promote the welfare and prosperity of mankind with what they have available and conducing in any kind hereunto which is nothing but what the Royal Law of Christ requireth at their hand would not all tears be soon wiped away from the eyes of the world and men on all hands be as those that dream or as if the Kingdom of God had prevented them and come upon them unawares Charge them that be rich in this world that they be not high minded c. 1 Tim. 6.17 If this one Precept of Jesus Christ were but duly and conscienciously practiced and observed from time to time what a mighty change would there be made in the World by the means of it How would the faces shine which now through hunger and cold have gathered blackness How would the voice of joy and health and thanksgiving be heard in those Habitations which are now filled with sighings groanings and lamentations And so there is another Law of Christ which the Apostle calleth his namely Christ's in an especial manner This is to bear one anothers burthens Bear ye one anothers burthens and so fulfil the Law of Christ Gal. 6.2 This also would make a great and happy change and alteration in the World if persons would but bear the burthens one of another But what is it to bear the burthens one of another I answer When we do not make our selves strangers unto men nor draw back our helping hand from them nor refuse to do them any office or service of love because of such and such infirmities as because they are not so discreet or well-advised in some of their waies or doings as they might have been or because either in a Passion or through want of Consideration they have spake unkindly to us or unworthily of us or have acted somewhat to our prejudice in one kind or other or the like But men generally are so far from bearing the burthens of others that they throw them upon their necks and make them bear them
with the water of life and not filled up to the brim they will never be upon such terms of advantage to do that great Service for God whereunto the Law of their high and heavenly calling obligeth them First That the Consolations of the Gospel Sect. 2 especially where they have most of God and of the Gospel in them are very rich and glorious need not be any mans doubt or question if he considers a little what the Holy Ghost speaketh of them in the Gospel Wherein God saith the Apostle willing more abundantly to shew the Heirs of the Promise the immutability of his Counsel confirmed it by an Oath that by two immutable things by which it was impossible for God to lye we might have valid or strong Consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us Heb. 6.17 18. We see God hath raised the Pin of the Gospel to such a height that it is not only able to furnish men and women with a good proportion of comfort and peace but he hath put so much of himself of his grace and love bounty and magnificence into it that it powreth out unto men abundantly of the highest and strongest Consolations although there be very few that understand how or where to hold their hearts that these pourings out of the Gospel may run or fall into them Now the Consolation which is strong and potent indeed is able not only to suppress and subdue its enemies discouragements doubts fears c. and withal to maintain it self in peace against them but also to discourage as it were and dishearten these Enemies from ever attempting any thing against it For he properly is strong whose strength being known maketh an enemy to have no mind to meddle with him but causeth him to fear to rise up in opposition against him by means whereof be enjoyes himself with little or no trouble or disturbance Such is the Consolation of the Gospel and is accordingly found by men when it is received in the power and glory of it It is not only able to suppress and keep under fears and doubtings and sad apprehensions in every kind which are enemeies to it But to enjoy it self in fulness of peace and security without any danger of being infested or annoyed by them This is the height of the Consolation of the Gospel he that is baptized into the Spirit of it enjoyeth himself with a divine security in the frailty of a weak and mortal man To this we may add that of Peter 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Now in telling them that believing they rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory I suppose his meaning was not that they did now at this time actually enjoyce at the rate he speaks of however at other times they may be pensive and said But that they were in such a state or condition and had such a Gospel preach'd known and believed amongst them whereby they might and ought to rejoyce habitually and as oft as they should set their hearts about it For in Scripture Phrase Persons many times are said to do that not only which they actually or at present do but which they may or have opportunity and means and are like to do And sometimes it speaketh of men as doing that which is their duty and what they ought to do whether they actually and indeed do it or no. Thus Rom. 1.21 it is said of the Heathens when they knew God that is when they had opportunity and means to know him they stood upon account to him as men that did know God so that if they did not walk and act and glorifie him as became men and women that did really and truly know God they were as deep in condemnation as such persons would be who did know him and yet refuse or neglect to glorifie him So 1 Joh. 4.2 Hereby know ye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit of God c. that is you may at any time know and discern this Spirit Thus Rom. 13.3 Rulers are said to be not a terrour to good works but to the evil not that they are actually or alwaies are either the one or other I mean no terrour to good works but unto evil too frequent experience proves the contrary viz. That they are a terrour to good works and not to evil but because they ought to be so so Verse 8. they are said to attend continually upon this very thing the Service of God in the due execution of their places not that they do thus attend but because the Law of their Institution binds them unto it they ought to attend continually hereupon This kind of expression occurs frequently in the Scripture We might add that of our Saviour Joh. 10.10 I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly I am come upon such terms unto the World and have brought along with me such a Gospel out of the bosome of my Father and opened unto men such Counsels and gracious intendments of his touching his love and favour and that affection towards the world that they may have life in what measure or proportion they please They may have life that is comfort and peace joy happiness c. for life in Scripture frequently imports a being with much contentment death the contrary more abundantly viz. than ever they will seek or endeavour to have and enjoy or more abundantly that is that they may have it with all the variety of pleasures and delights they can desire So likewise Luke 1.14 That he would grant to us that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies we might serve him without fear c. To serve God without fear my Brethren this also doth amount to matter of strong Consolation For what can a man or woman desire more for their comfort than to be exalted above fears sorrows troubles and every thing that is of a discouraging and disconsolating nature in or from the World The horn of Salvation is lift up to such an height in the Gospel that by beholding of it in its Elevation we may serve God without fear of any enemy or evil whatsoever and that not only for such a time day or year as when or whilst we are or may be extraordinarily acted or superacted by a spirit of joy but even all the daies of our lives This horn of Salvation is so raised in the Gospel that peace and joy may flow in the hearts and souls of men uniformly as a great River whose waters fail not Secondly We added this that they whose hearts do not serve them Sect. 3 to quit themselves like men indeed for obtaining that incomparable prize we speak of the first born of the Consolations of the Gospel are not like to obtain it It was the saying of an Heathen man Deus omnia labore vendit God
expression Jam. 2.13 rejoyceth against judgment in one sense so doth judgment rejoyce against unmercifulness in another But how or in what sense mercy rejoyceth against judgment we have opened unto most of you formerly upon another occasion * In a Sermon entituled Mercy in her Exaltation we shall briefly remind you of it again Mercy is said to rejoyce against judgment because a person that is conscious to himself that he is of a merciful disposition and that he hath abounded in works of mercy stands upon a ground of advantage to be made or to become confident that God will not deal severely by him or destroy him It is a frequent Dialect in Scripture to attribute that to the abstract or form which properly belongeth to the subject as qualified therewith Charity saith Paul beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things 1 Cor. 13.7 That is not only inableth but effectually also enclineth the person who is the subject of it to do all this meaning that a person endued with Charity doth the one and the other So mercy rejoyceth against judgment that is a person in whom mercy resideth is qualified and strengthened hereby to rejoyce against judgment that is not to be afraid of judgment whether by judgment we understand an appearing before God to be judged or that Condemnation which God threatneth in his Word against wicked and unbelieving men which frequently passeth under the name of judgment it cometh much to one Now to rejoyce against a person or a thing that is terrible in it self and unto others of the same nature and condition with us imports or rather supposeth and includes a kind of neglect or non-fearing of it in him who is said thus to rejoyce Rejoyce not against me oh mine Enemy Mic. 7.8 that is Do not despise me or look upon me as if I were a People or Nation forsaken of my God because I am brought low and afflicted please not your selves over-much with my present distress be not too confident as if I should never recover out of this afflicted state and condition And as mercy in this sense is said to rejoyce against judgment so may judgment in a sense little differing be said to rejoyce against unmercifulness because of all other kind of sin or sinners it will prevail and magnifie it self against these the Judgments of God will handle unmerciful men most terribly or according to that of James in the same place he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy They that shut up their bowels of compassion as John speaketh 1 Joh. 3.17 against their Brethren that have need lye under this judgment of darkness in common with other wicked men viz. to think that God is like unto them Psa 50.21 Therefore being regardless of other mens miseries and no waies enclined to acquaint their souls with the sufferings and sorrows of any but their own they are apt to transform or change in their imaginations the glory of the most gracious and merciful God into the similitude of their own hard-heartedness towards others and so must needs be under a most sad disadvantage to apprehend and believe those most glorious things which the Gospel speaketh concerning the love and mercy and tenderness of compassion in God towards men Which yet must be clearly apprehended and steadily believed to invest the hearts and souls of men with the blessed priviledge of being lift up to Heaven upon the wing of Gospel-Consolation So then of all kind of offenders and transgressors in the World men that are straight of bowels and uncompassionate are the most uncapable of part and fellowship in the Consolatory Enjoyments of the Gospel those especially that are fullest of spirit and life the Gospel every where lowring and frowning upon them staving and beating them off from all hopes and conceit of finding mercy at the hand of God or of Salvation but only upon the change and turning of their hearts within them upside down Yea Thirdly and lastly persons in any kind who despise their waies as Solomon's expression is Pro. 19.16 who live at peradventure Sect. 10 and as we use to say hand over-head who do not narrowly and tenderly ponder all their paths lest any of them should be found too light Neither are such as these like to eat of that choice fruit that groweth on that tree which is in the midst of the Paradise of God nor to be fed with the marrow and fatness of the Gospel Consolations The reason is because it is a thousand to one but they who shall despise their waies and resolve to walk on in such and such courses de bene esse and as it were upon proof when no Letter of the Law presently and expresly riseth up against it I say it is a thousand to one but that they will be polluted in some or other of their paths and however the very neglect of enquiring at the mouth of God in the Scriptures what is his mind concerning us in all our actions and waies must needs grieve the good Spirit of God within us as indeed every practice yea and omission also doth about which his interest lieth to instruct and direct us if recourses be not made unto him accordingly Now if men shall pitch upon a course ex tempore and as we lately expressed it hand over-head and not consult with him about the goodness or lawfulness thereof this is enough to intangle us with the guilt of grieving the Spirit of God And if the good Spirit of God in men be still grieved and not again in time relieved and recovered from under this Passion certain it is that all this while men are in no capacity at all to be carried up by him into the Mount of the Gospel where the glory of the Consolations thereof shineth No if the Spirit beginneth to withdraw himself from men or forbears his wonted activeness and employment and stirring in them and doth as men who in time of solemn sorrow and grief are wont to retire themselves from their wonted company and employments Now they are in a very ill capacity and much disqualified for the enjoyment of the Consolations of the Gospel in their strength and glory Men will never be mightily strengthened as the Apostle speaketh in the inward man but by the Spirit of God nor will they ever be mightily strengthened there by him when he is grieved or upon any other terms than when he is highly pleased with the deportments and comportments of men Now these things being so first that neither men addicted to this present World secondly nor men of straight and hard bowels nor lastly men that despise their waies in any kind are meet subjects or vessels prepared to receive the waters of life from the Gospel where they are richest and sweetest and most quickning to the soul It plainly followeth that without a very great presence of the Spirit of God they are not like to arrive at or to obtain
that capacity we speak of I mean of being filled with these heavenly Consolations This is that which we said was directly laid down and affirmed in the Reason given For the proof hereof we shall not need to add much to what hath been already delivered upon the same account For we have shewed and proved from that of the Apostle Rom. 8.13 That the deeds of the body cannot be mortified but by the Spirit yea and by the Spirit acting and working at some excellent and very considerable rate which imports a mans being filled with the Spirit in the sense first declared Again from that of the same Apostle Eph. 3.16 we proved that no person could be mightily strengthened in the inner man but by the Spirit of God And this as we said in the former case advancing himself to some worthy degree in his operation and working upon the heart and consciences of men So then he that is not filled with the Spirit is like to be a man of this present World addicted to the waies pleasures or profits of it and consequently in an incapacity of those Soveraign Consolations of the Gospel we speak of according to what was lately proved For inordinacy of addiction to this present World and the things thereof is a lust of the flesh and consequently will not cannot be effectually subdued or mortified but by the assisting efficacy of the Spirit of God For it is the Spirit as the Apostle informs us that lusts against the flesh Gal. 5.17 And indeed it is the Spirit only that lusts against it as being contrary to it as the Apostle there speaks and nothing else contrary at least nothing so vigorously so perfectly contrary unto it as the Spirit If you ask me In what sense or consideration is the Spirit of God said to lust against the Flesh I answer First The nature or native and proper Genius of the Spirit of God is to desire and to delight in and to act such things as are of a contrary nature and tendency to the Flesh and to the things which that desireth and delighteth in and in this respect may be said to lust against the Flesh viz because it desireth and this very strenuously things opposite to the things desired by the Flesh Secondly The Spirit may be said to lust against the Flesh because he stirs up motions and desires in men contrary unto those which are occasioned by the flesh As the flesh inwardly provokes unto and causeth men to desire things that are unjust unholy and things displeasing unto God c. The Spirit secretly exciteth to all things contrary hereunto as to things which are just and righteous and holy Or Thirdly and lastly the Spirit may be said to lust against the flesh or the unregenerate or corrupt part of the soul or rather that weakness or aptness unto sin which cleaveth unto the soul because it seeketh the utter abolition and destruction of it or because it admonisheth the Saints to desire and endeavour this abolition of it yea the utter extirpation and rooting of it out of their Kingdom Now then as no man is slain or ruined by any person unless it be casually or against his will which is no common or ordinary case but only by him who lusteth against his life and this at an high tate of lusting for every motion of envy and hatred or wishing that a man were dead will not lead a man so far as violently to take away his life so neither is the flesh like to be abolished crucified and destroyed by any but only by such or by that which lusteth against the very life and being of it and this with some potency and strength of lusting And this must needs be the Spirit of God because there is nothing that lusteth against the life and being and continuance of it but the Spirit of God If it be objected and said Sect. 11 That Reason and Conscience in men may lust against the Flesh as well as the Spirit And consequently may attempt the crucifying and destroying of it as they did in some Philosophers and moral men amongst the Heathen and so men may be put into a capacity of the first-born Consolations of the Gospel without being filled with the Spirit viz. by being filled with Reason or Conscience at least if the crucifying of the flesh be sufficient to invest men with this capacity To this I answer First That if Reason or Conscience do at any time lust against the flesh oppose or stop the lustings or movings of it they do it by vertue of a certain superintendency and instigation of the Spirit of God It is the Spirit of God which puts them upon it For in him that is to say through or by means of him saith the Apostle speaking of God and more particularly and appropriately of the Spirit of God we live move and have our being Acts 17.28 When he saith in him we live he doth not mean we Saints we Believers as if none lived in God or through the Spirit of God but such men But we men for it was spoken by a Heathen Poet and the Apostle doth justifie the saying by incorporating it with the Word of God by using it as or instead of a saying from God himself For so it was though it passed through a corrupt hand yet it came from God In him we live we move we men all men in the World Saints or others we live in God that is by God or through God for so the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in often signifieth that is by means of his supporting us If men do not only live in by or through Gods supporting of us but move also and this as well morally as naturally with our hearts and wills as well as with our bodies or the members hereof Certainly when we move regularly and as becometh us as we do when either Reason or Conscience within us do their office in any kind and when they do not regard the flesh within us when ever I say we act or move thus regularly we do it by somewhat more at least by nothing less than an ordinary exertion or putting forth of his gracious presence in us If we move one way or other morally or naturally sinfully or righteously yet every of these motions that proceed from us proceeds also from or by the Spirit of God though the sinfulness of no motion proceeds from him much more when we move according to Rule then certainly this is by means at least of his ordinary if not to a degree more than an ordinary putting forth of himself and his gracious presence with us Thus then in the first place if Reason or Conscience do at any time or in any particular case lust against or oppose the flesh or corruption in man they do it by means of the Spirit of God within them For as there is an inhabitation and consequently an operation of the Spirit appropriate to the Saints or Believers so there is an
to have come down upon Christ upon his being baptized may be clearly evinced First the opening renting or cleaving of the Heavens expresly mentioned in all these places plainly prove the Holy Ghost that is said to have come down upon Christ to be no Creature no created Angel but true God Let the Scriptures be searched from first to last we shall no where find the rending cleaving opening or bowing of the Heavens to be mentioned upon occasion of any created Angel coming down but very frequently upon any solemn or more than ordinary appearance or coming down of God himself unto men Bow the Heavens O Lord and come down Psal 144.5 2 Sam. 22.10 saith David in his affectionate addressment of himself by Prayer unto God Bow the heavens and come down i. e. Shew some Majestick and Godlike token or sign of thy Presence shew thy self like unto thy self like a God indeed in Umpiring the Affairs of the World between upright and wicked men In like manner the Prophet Isaiah or the Church of God personated by him Isa 64.1 O that thou wouldest rent the Heavens and come down Doubtless his meaning was not to desire of God that he would display the Ensign of an Angel before him and so come down to help his Church and People no but as was said before that he would appear in his appropriate and God-like Majesty It came to pass saith the Prophet Ezekiel that the Heavens were opened and I saw Visions of God Ezek. 1.1 The Heavens are never said to open or be opened but upon the account of some immediate or extraordinary appearance of God as Steven is said to have seen the Heavens opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God Acts 7.56 As for that of our Saviour in John Verily verily I say unto you that hereafter you shall see Heaven open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man Joh. 1.51 Whether we understand the place Metaphorically with some concerning more full and manifest discoveries of his Divinity that should shortly be made in the World by a more clear preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles or more literally with others of the Day of the general Judgment of the World when the Angels shall accompany him from Heaven and minister unto him during the continuance of the Judgment it no waies contradicts that Principle of truth on which we build viz. That the Heavens are never said to be opened rent or bowed down but upon some extraordinary appearance of God This is one consideration from the place cited to evince and prove the Holy Ghost coming down upon Christ to have been truly God viz. That the Heavens are said to have been opened rent or cleft at or immediately before his coming down 2. Another thing in the same passage evidently evincing the same Truth is that this Spirit of God is said to have descended and lighted upon him John adds that this Spirit abode upon him I saw saith John the Spirit descending from Heaven like a Dove and it abode on him Joh. 1.32 33. First if this Spirit were but a meer Creature a created Angel he must be supposed to have been locally and essentially absent from or out of the World some space at least before his coming down upon Christ for John saith as we heard expresly that he saw him not simply descending but descending 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from or our of Heaven therefore he was in Heaven some while at least immediately before his coming down If then he were a created Angel he could not be at the same instant of time in Heaven and in Earth too and consequently the World must needs Universally and in all and every the members of it have been utterly destitute of the Holy Ghost some while before Christ was baptized yea the Lord Christ himself must be supposed to have been wholly without the Holy Ghost untill now whereas the Scriptures make it an unquestionable Character of an ungodly man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to have the Spirit Jude v. 19. So that it clearly follows that in case the Spirit of God which descended on Christ upon his baptism was but a meer Creature or a created Angel that there was never a holy and good man in the World for some time before no nor that the Lord Christ himself was such which I know not how any man that desireth to be counted a Christian can own without trembling 2. This Spirit is not only said to have descended or come down upon Christ but also as we beard from John to have continued or remained on him Now no created Angel whatsoever is said or reasonably can be said to remain upon him Created Angels are said to minister unto him to stand by him to ascend and descend upon him are commanded to worship him c. but are no where said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to remain in him By the way this expression of the Holy Ghost's remaining on Christ signifies his uniform and equitable presence with him in the fullest or highest measure that he was capable of and that he was not subject to ebbing and flowing to rising or falling as he is in the best of men and besides it may import that this Spirit is not communicable unto any other person of mankind but only from through or by means of Christ Sed hoc obiter Again Were this Spirit of God a finite or created Angel in case he shall rest or abide upon Christ the rest of the World and all mankind besides must needs perpetually want him For nothing that is finite or that hath bounds and limits of essence and being can be or abide with one person in one place and yet be present with another person though at never such a distance form him 3. When the Evangelists report that Christ soon after his Baptism was led of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness they speak doubtless of the same Spirit which came down from Heaven upon him immediately upon his Baptizing Now it is marvellous improbable at least that He whom all the Angels of God are streightly commanded to worship should be acted and led by one of them into the Wilderness and this for such an end and purpose as to be tempted by the devil That Jesus Christ is God is I suppose evident enough from hence not only that one or some few but that all the Angels of God without exception of any are commanded to worship him Heb. 1.6 Certainly God would not command one Creature to worship another no not the Inferiour to worship the Superiour much less the Superiour to worship the Inseriour Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Luke 4.8 Now then if Jesus Christ be the Lord of all the Angels it is not like that he should be led or acted or prevailed with by any of them one or more especially into an engagement or undertaking of such a
change upon experience turns to no account at all unto him in this kind But 3. And lastly his faulting of the Translation in the particular under debate doth not at all commend his skill in the Original or his acquaintance with the frequent use and signification of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived For this word almost constantly at least very frequently signifies to comfort sometimes to exhort which is of near affinity with the other but never at least to my present remembrance to plead a cause or to perform the part of an Advocate It is said of Rachel mourning for her children that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she would not be comforted Mat. 2.18 to translate it she would not be Advocated would be uncouth and next to ridiculous So our Saviour Mat. 5.4 speaking of those that mourn pronounceth them blessed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they shall be comforted not because they shall be Advocated And to pass by other instances without number the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Verbal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are no less than six times within the compass of three Verses and four times in one verse used by the Apostle Paul in the sense of comforting 2 Cor. 1.3 4. Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all comfort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who comforteth us in all our tribulation so that we are able or that we may be able 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to comfort those in tribulation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by or through the comfort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherewith we are comforted by God because as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so through Christ our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consolation aboundeth It is thrice more used in the same signification in the verse immediately following and once again in the verse after that so that there is no ground or just occasion to quarrel with the Translation we have of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor any thing gained to the cause of our Adversaries by the change But 2. To the main objection I answer Sect. 9 that however Temptations and other Actions proper to the Devil as the catching away the seed sown by filling mens hearts with wicked ness c. which are done in the World in a thousand different or distant places at one and the same time are or may be attributed to Satan or the Devil in the singular number yet our Adversaries themselves will confess that all these actions are not done in one and the same instant of time by one and the same Devil but though they may be acted by many subordinate Devils yet according to the Scripture Dialect they are or may be ascribed to him that is the head or chief of the Corporation For that is frequent in the Scriptures to attribute that unto one which is joyntly transacted by many Num. 36.2 5. There was but one of the Fachers of the Children of Gilead that spake unto Moses yet that which this one said is attributed also unto many of them I might spend time in multiplying instances in this kind but they that desire satisfaction in this may receive it abundantly by perusing a few lines in Mr. Ainsworth's Preface before his Notes on Genesis well towards the middle of the said Preface where he hath collected many such passages wherein that is ascribed unto one which yet is done by many Besides the word Devil or Sathan may be understood specifically or if you will generally for the whole species or kind of Devils or indefinitely for Devils be they fewer or more The Scripture likewise admits this construction Gen. 13.7 But we make hast Bat now those actions which are appropriate to the Holy Ghost and are done by him at one and the same time in a thousand different places in the World As the inspiring inhabiting and comforting the Saints c. are not attributed unto him as directing or commissionating other subordinate Angels to assist him in the work or as performing of them partly by them he only owning the name of them Bur saith the Text 1 Cor. 12.4 13. they are performed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. by the self-same one Spirit There are saith he diversity of gifts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the Spirit is the self-same Now this Spirit in the words immediately preceding he had called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holy Ghost And ver 13. For we have all been baptized into one body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through one Spririt and in the end of the verse have been all made to drink 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in the Scripture elsewhere he is more particularly expressed and his individuality circumscribed by our Saviour Joh 15.26 and 11.26 who styleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Spirit of truth which proceedeth from or out of the Father If our Adversaries could find the Devil who as they say performs one and the same Action at one and the same time in a thousand different places in the World to be thus individuated as the Holy Ghost from place to place is and all the particulars of that Action which is supposed to be done at one and the same time in remote places attributed unto one particular Devil so or by any such Characters or expressions distinguished from all other Devils as the Holy Ghost as we have heard is from all other Spirits there had been some colour of an Evasion from the Argument in hand Otherwise they do but like Jannes and Jambres resist the truth as they did by pretended likeness of Moses real Miracles And as those Sorceries and counterfeit Miracles which Jannes and Jambres wrought being the same in appearance to the true Miracles wrought by Moses prevailed over Pharaoh and the Aegyptians to the hardening of their hearts against God and this to their own destruction and ruine in the end So it is much to be feared that by such likenesses and Colours by which men do resist the Truth setting fair glosses upon foul faces that this will harden the hearts of men and entangle and corrupt their Judgments and God grant that it be not to their own destruction But we must hasten because the blasphemy of that error which we now oppose and which most presumptuously daringly and desperately in the face of God Angels and men strikes off the Crown of increated glory from the head of the Holy Ghost God blessed for ever hath been heretofore broken to pieces stamped and ground to powder by the learning zeal and faithfulness of many famous lights burning and shining in the Church of God of old and by some of latter times and particularly by a late Treatise published in the English Tongue by way of Answer to those twelve Arguments levied by him who hath of late revived the said Error The
which produceth the same effects in and about and with relation unto all men viz. their sustentation or continuation of their Beings but where he worketh variously or differently we hold a proportional difference of his personal presence with men so that our Adversary is quite besides his business at this turn also His Eighth Argument appears in the World with this face Sect. 14 He that changeth place is not God the Holy Spirit changeth place therefore he is not God To prove this he sendeth us to the third of Luke where it is said that the Holy Ghost descended like a Dove upon Christ at the time of his Baptism From this motion or descending ascribed unto the Holy Ghost he would needs infer and conclude that certainly the Holy Ghost cannot be God And why Because saith he God cannot change his place by reason of his Immensity which the Adversaries themselves do hold though the truth is he himself doth not hold it Now who can be said to change and alter his place saith he such a person whoever he be or such a thing cannot be God The Breviate of his Argument cometh only to this That the Holy Ghost changeth his place I suppose he would have said that he is capable of changing his place and therefore cannot be God because changing of place is repugnant to the Omnipresence of God which is God himself To this therefore we briefly reply That the Holy Ghost changeth not his place nor is capable of changing it nor doth his proof from Luke 3.21 22. hold out with his Conclusion For the descending of the Holy Ghost upon Christ in a bodily shape like a Dove doth no waies prove any local motion or shifting of place by the Holy Ghost but only the Doves changing place by the visible symbole whereof the Holy Ghost gave Testimony unto Christ or sealed him for the great Office of Mediatorship which he was now ready to enter upon even as God the Father gave testimony unto him of being his beloved Son by a voice from Heaven But whereas he saith that in the place cited We have the Holy Spirit in a bodily shape descending from heaven which is termiâ—â—â— a quo he affirms that which is not Here is no mention made of the Holy Ghost's descending from heaven in a bodily shape but only of the Holy Ghost descending upon Christ in a bodily shape like unto a Dove without any terminus a quo at all of which he speaketh It is indeed said concerning the voice that was now heard that this came from Heaven but as this Phrase of coming from heaven spoken of the voice doth not suppose the voice was first in the Heaven and then by a change of place came so near the earth as where it was heard but only as if he that spake it had been in the air above those who heard it In like manner if it had been said that the Holy Ghost had descended from heaven in the visible shape of a Dove it would not have implied that therefore the Holy Ghost was in heaven before and now by a local motion or remove came unto Christ but only that the Dove in which he is said to have descended came for some space down through the air And as touching the Metaphor of the Holy Ghost descending it imports nothing but what the Scriptures very frequently speak concerning God himself expressing this variation or change of dispensation or acting by such Phrases which in the Letter of them import change of place Nor do those Texts of Scripture which he citeth to prove that it was not God himself but an Angel who is said Gen. 18.21 to have gone down either divisim or conjunctim prove any such thing As for the rest of those places Acts 7.53 Gal. 3.19 Heb. 2.2 3. Heb. 2.13 these have not so much as a colour of such proof nor indeed have these Texts themselves which are likeliest to serve his turn of all other Acts 7.30 35 38. much more For what though he that appeared in the Bush unto Moses be termed sometimes an Angel or the Angel of the Lord or otherwise the Lord God himself Yet First Neither followeth it that therefore he was a created Angel as because Angels are sometimes termed men as Gen. 18.22 besides other places without number it doth not follow that therefore they were natural and true men But only that they then appeared in the shapes of men they were men by dispensation and for a time only Neither Secondly Doth it follow That in case it be granted that an Angel in one place is therefore termed Jehovah Lord or God because he sustaines the Person or speaks in the name of God that therefore where any thing is attributed unto God as spoken in the name of God it must needs be meant of an Angel these are wild kind of Inferences or Proofs By the way I do not conceive that any Angel properly so called i.e. any created Angel ever stiled himself by the name Jehovah or God but that when he that thus stileth himself is any where called an Angel it is meant of that increated Angel who is called Angelus foederis the Angel of the Covenant and in respect of his frequent appearances unto men and transactings of things aftter the manner of Angels may properly enough be termed the Angel of the Lord. But suppose we should cast in that Text Gen. 18.21 into the Treasury of our Adversaries demands and grant that the Lord who then said that he would go down signifies a created Angel and not Jehovah himself yet this would not much enrich him For there are other places of Scripture where local motion and change of place is upon the account mentioned ascribed unto God see 2 Chron. 30.6 Jer. 12.15 Joel 2.14 Mal. 3.7 Acts 15.16 Zach. 1.16 8.3 and possibly in many other places besides all these God is said to return which as plainly imports local motion as descending doth Yea who knows not that coming and coming forth coming out of his place are frequently attributed unth God see Isa 26.21 Mic. 1.3 where the very expression now contended about viz. descending or coming down is expresly affirmed of God as it is likewise Exod. 19.20 Num. 11.25 Psal 18 9. And who knoweth how oft besides So that from the Holy Ghost's descending an Argument levied against his Godhead is but a vapour or smoak His Ninth Argument is not made of much better materials Sect. 15 however the form and matter of it together produceth this He that prayeth unto Christ to come to Judgment is not God the Holy Spirit doth so Ergo c. The Fabrick of this Argument is built as you may see upon this foundation that the Spirit of God cannot be God because saith he that he prayeth unto Christ to come to Judgment which he proveth from Rev. 22.17 I reply That Text Rev. 22.17 doth no way prove that the Holy Ghost prayeth unto Christ to come to Judgment
is unsound because it is ambiguous and so is apt to abuse mens Judgments and deceive them and not to instruct them For however there is a sense wherein it is good and will hold yet there is another sense which lieth more obnoxious to mens apprehensions which is not true For he may be God the word God taken Personally on whom though men have not believed viz. Explicitely yet they may be Disciples and Believers Though it be true also on the other hand that he that believeth not in God Essentially taken cannot be a Disciple or a Believer He that believeth not that there is one God cannot be a Disciple or true Believer as the case may be But he that believes not the distinct manner of the subsistence of this one God viz. that he subsists in three which we call Persons Or that doth not believe especially explicitely and by name and under relation of any of all the three such an one may notwithstanding be a Disciple and Believer in the Scripture sense I would be loath to pronounce the hard Sentence of non-Disciple or non-Believer against all those that professedly deny the Godhead of Christ or of the Holy Ghost though there are many that are not at all tender in doing it because though explicitely and in terms they deny him yet believing there is one God and this one God being Father Son and Holy Ghost they do implicitely virtually and constructively own and acknowledge them As he that carries a Box sealed up about him wherein he thinketh there is but one Jewel he knoweth of no more yet in case there be three more he carrieth them all by carrying the Box or Case wherein they are contained In like manner he that believeth one God doth virtually believe in the Three Persons though I would not by this extenuate the greatness of the sin and dangerousness of the error of those who in words profess against the Godhead of the Holy Ghost and so of Christ though implicitely and by way of consequence they acknowledge it The ancient Jews such I mean who were Abraham's Seed were true Disciples and Believers yet did not they at least all of them explicitely believe Christ to have been or that he was the Son of God but the Proposition we are now upon is not indeed worthy the labour already bestowed upon the examination of it Vanitate suâ translucet A man may see through it Secondly That which is the Basis and main Foundation of the whole discourse of the Argument is an absolute mistake and misapprehension For the meaning of the words spoken by those who are called Disciples Acts 19.2 We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost is not that they had never heard of the name or simple being of the Holy Ghost we shall manifest the contrary hereunto presently but that they had not as yet heard whether the Holy Ghost was in actu secundo as the School-men speak i.e. whether he was abroad again in the World as formerly he was in the daies of their Fore-fathers and Prophets This to be the true and plain meaning of the words appeareth by several considerations First The Verb Substantive here used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifies the simple and absolute being or existence of a thing is oft used in the Scriptures for the being of a thing in Act Exercise or Manifestation in this sense it is used more than once by our Saviour himself The Evangelist John useth it concerning the Holy Ghost himself Joh. 7.39 This he spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet the word given inserted in our English Translation is not in the Original the Holy Ghost was not yet because that Jesus was not yet glorified was not yet i.e. was not yet abroad in the World amongst Believers in the discovery of himself by those miraculous and extraordinary gifts which afterwards he conferred upon many so when these Disciples the Argument speaketh of said that they had not so much as heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether the Holy Ghost be The meaning is that they had not heard whether he had been yet given or no viz. upon a new account the ancient account upon which as they conceived He was formerly given being expired and out of date long since Our English Translators might as well have inserted the word given in this place as in that of John mentioned and then the Clause would have run thus We have not so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost be given We have heretofore given you many instances from the Scriptures of such an Adjective sense of the Verb Substantive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as that is now contended for viz. From Mat. 5.45 Rom. 7.13 c. This sense in the second place is confirmed against that given or supposed by our Adversaries in the Argument before us from hence because these Disciples had certainly heard of the being of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit For first Being Jews which appears by their having been baptized by John's or some of his Disciples Baptism in those daies not having been carried out amongst the Gentiles and after it was come abroad unto other Gentiles they in Asia where Ephesus stood were for a time denied it Acts 16.6 being Jews I say they could not but have heard of the being of the Holy Ghost or of the Spirit of God mention hereof being so plainly and frequently made in the Scriptures I need not I suppose to cite places for this but whether they were Jews or Gentiles having been baptized with the Baptism of John it cannot be imagined but that they had heard of the being of the Holy Ghost For John when he baptized men with water admonished them to believe on him Mat. 3.11 that should come after him who he told them should baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire And there is little question to be made but that John's Disciples taught the same Doctrine in this Point with their Master Again thirdly That sense of the words which we have given makes the answer of the Disciples every whit as congruous and pertinent to Paul's question put to them if not more than that sense which the Argument supposeth Paul said unto them or demanded of them have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed They answer him according to the sense we plead We have not so much as heard whether there be any receiving of him or no or whether any other Believers have received him And fourthly and lastly for this there is this reason why these Disciples being Jews as we argued might probably say or mean than they had not so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost were now abroad in the World or no because from the time of Antiochus who miserably afflicted and wasted their Church and State the Jews were wont greatly to mourn and lament as if together with their last
if you bring in the Spirit of God into your Soul you shall by one and the same Act as it were expel and drive out all that Retinue Even as Christ coming into the Temple drove out those that bought and sold and the Money Changers just thus will be the coming of the Spirit of God in Power and in Glory in your Souls he will chase away from before his face all that rabble of evil doers your unclean lusts and desires your foolish froward and proud dispositions and distempers of Soul Now consider a little of how great and sacred a consequence such a thing as this is to have the Temples of your hearts of your inner man thus purged and rid of such Polluters and Prophaners of their dignity excellency and peace My Brethren Men and women live as it were by the fulfilling and satisfying of their lusts and unclean desires they are afraid that they should not make a life of their continuance in the World and being in the body unless they take pleasure in such things and in such waies unless they satisfie such and such desires whereas alas were they but free from the inordinacy of their desires their satisfying and gratifications would be rather matter of burthen trouble and cumber to them than any otherwise As persons that have the itch it is a pleasure to them to scratch but when the distemper in the skin is taken away no man complains that he wanteth his former pleasure of scratching Even so whilst men and women are laden with Lusts Pride Covetousness Uncleaness and given to pleasure it is little less than a death to them to be kept from the fulfilling and gratifying these lusts and distempers but if these lusts were but healed and separated as they may be for they are not of the Essence of their souls they are no part of their Nature or Being no they are but strangers and aliens unto their souls If these I say were but separated from them if they were but mortified and gone these kind of waies whereby they were to be gratified would be altogether unsatisfying unto them and would have no tafte or relish at all The truth is they would not only find no relish nor any savour in them but they would be troublesome they would be matter of shame and confusion unto them And therefore it must needs be conceived as a matter of excellent high and blessed concernment unto men and women to be invested with such a heavenly priviledge as this is to have the inner man healed of all that unclean Retinue of Lusts and sinful distempers to have these removed and thrown out of the Soul There is a great deal more to be said to make these things very desirable in your eyes but we may have occasion to speak of this Point in the Progress of this Discourse Thus then you see that where men are filled with the Spirit of God the lusts of the flesh are like to have but small trading they are there but as if they were not they have no joy in such souls nor these souls much sorrow and trouble with them and the serious consideration of this we teach to be a very effectual means to raise such Covetings such earnest Desires such Longings and Breathings of heart after it as have been mentioned So great and excellent is that heavenly accommodation of being delivered from the troublesome and dangerous impotunity of fleshly and worldly lusts by being filled with the Spirit Secondly Sect. 10 Another thing that will attend and must needs be the consequence of a mans being filled with the Spirit is this viz. That a man hereby will become little sensible of impressions of Sorrow Grief and Trouble from the World and the cross workings and dealings of things unto him there His soul by means of being filled with the Spirit will be able to dwell amongst Lions even as Daniel did without fear or danger of being destroyed and devoured with them Those Afflictions Pressures and Trials which will grind the faces and break the bones of other men will not create any Grief Pain or Trouble unto him For to be filled with the Spirit is a kind of spiritual drunkenness as the Apostle implieth in the Text and indeed hath effects in its kind in a spiritual way answerable unto those of drunkenness litterally and proprerly so called such as those mentioned by Solomon Prov. 23.34 35. Thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the Sea or as he that lieth upon the top of a Mast They have stricken me shalt thou say and I was not sick they have beaten me and I felt it not Meaning that in fits of Drunkenness men are not sensible either of any danger though never so imminent and threatning whereunto they are exposed nor of pain or smart by blows or wounds given them In like manner when men or women are filled with the Spirit of God and so are in an intimous serious and affectionate converse with those glorious overtures of Comfort Peace and Joy and with those strong and high impulses and bearings upon their hearts and spirits unto waies and actions that are truly honourable and excellent and which take hold of Eternal Life which must be the portion of those that are filled with the Spirit they are not so much sensible of nor liable to much sorrow or trouble from the sad or hard occurrences of the World For when the strength of the heart and mind and soul of a man are drunk up with matters of a more sublime and glorious nature and consequence there is nothing left of him wherewith to become much capable or sensible of other things especially of those that are but of an inferiour concernment unto him For that Principle in man which renders him sensible or apprehensive of any thing relating unto him whether on the right hand or on the left whether good or evil is the native vigour of his mind and understanding Now then if this be intirely or intensly drawn forth busied and taken up with minding and considering things of one kind especially such whereon the mind is much set and delighted with a man is as it were in a Trance or half dead in respect of things of another nature and though they be of a very troublesome and afflicting nature in themselves yet do they little affect such a man As it was with our Saviour Joh. 4.8 31 32 c. His mind and soul being intensly bent and set upon the work he came about into the World which he calleth the doing of his Fathers Will meaning his Preaching of the Gospel he was not sensible of his corporal hunger or want of natural sustenance under which he was as appeareth verse 8. and 31. compared So the Apostle Paul being full of the Spirit though he was in sufferings abundantly yea I presume one of the greatest sufferers in the World for a long time together yet the things that he suffered took little hold
displeasure against it Withdraw the fuel from the fire and it will go out of it self Even so do but remove sin from the sight of God and the fire of his Displeasure and Anger will go out and extinguish of themselves Where sin and unrighteousness tell no tales unto God and make no complaint in his ears there strife ceaseth and all his thoughts towards you will be love and peace Secondly By your being filled with the Spirit as all things hereby will be taken out of the way which are likely to obstruct your peace with God So likewise all those things which are most proper to nourish and advance your peace with him will abound in you If you shall ask me What are these I answer They are the fruits of righteousness and true holiness especially when they shall abound and advance in the Lives and Conversations of men Like the Waves of the Sea when one Wave drives on another So when one Act of righteousness and holiness shall follow in the neck of another and when they shall encrease and rise higher and higher there will be all things in being that are apt and proper to feed nourish and maintain the most solid peace in the breast of men towards God And these things are most apt and proper to create peace perfect peace for men in the breast of God and suffer no touch or tincture of any displeasure to rest there For as the Apostle saith 1 Joh. 4.18 that perfect love casteth out fear namely out of the hearts of men So doth an excellent strein of righteousness or perfection in men cast all thoughts of War Enmity or Opposition unto men out of the heart of God In the second place As these things being in men viz. waies and works of righteousness especially as was even now said when they abound clear and rid the heart and soul of God from all Enmity and hard intentions towards his Creatures men or women So doth the sense and consciousness of these things in men themselves introduce and bring into their souls the sense and fruits of this blessed posture of soul towards them This createth a clear and strong apprehension in them that things are so and so according to their hearts desire they know there is no touch of any fire of displeasure against them The clear pregnant and lively testimony of a man's Conscience that he doth work righteousness especially that he abounds therein cannot lightly but make him to be a man of a serene Spirit and one that fears no colours from heaven And if one strein of righteousness only viz. Mercy as James saith Chap. 2.13 rejoyceth against Judgment i. e. magnifieth it self doth not fear is not subject to fear that God should set himself at any time against the merciful man the very nature of this Mercy rejoyceth against Judgment Now then if it be so that one vein of righteousness hath such a mighty Spirit in this kind to enable a man to rejoyce against judgment How much more when there shall be a confluence or meeting together of all the waies and streins of righteousness in the whole course of a mans life and conversation If righteousness with the little finger be able to do so much how much more can the whole body do when it is in all its strength and glory This must needs advance the Soul of a man in assurance that all is well between God and him as John saith in the place even now hinted at upon a like occasion Perfect love casteth out fear because Love is of that nature that a man cannot when he doth love another and withal knoweth that such a man knows that he loves him be under any fear of receiving any hurt from him Upon this ground it is that the Apostle saith that perfect love casteth out fear because a man knows that God is privy to the state of his heart and knoweth whether he love him or no. If I know certainly that I love such or such a man and withal know that he knows that I do love him and wish well unto him it is impossible that I should be afraid of this man in as much as I know that he hath a full assurance of my good real and cordial affection unto him Now how can I fear or be jealous that he should seek my hurt or ruine A man's Friend is part of himself and a man cannot but seek his own good and peace As no man ever hated his own flesh So certainly no man ever yet hated his Friend whom he certainly knew to be his Friend for as I said he is even as himself In like manner it is impossible but that a lively sense and consciousness of that love which a man beareth unto God must needs raise a mighty glorious and triumphant confidence in the soul that all things are right and straight between God and him that his interest is perfect whole and entire with him and that there remaineth not so much as the least spark of the fire of anger there Thirdly and lastly by being filled with the Spirit Sect. 13 you will have an entrance also in abundance into the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in respect of the joy thereof Peace importeth freedom or exemption from troubles and disturbances But joy importeth the inward and high satisfaction pleasure or contentment of mind which is created or raised in the Soul by the apprehension and consideration of the excellent goodness of this peace together with the sweet Priviledges and Enjoyments of this Kingdom Now this joy we speak of the joy of the Everlasting Kingdom of Christ must needs be according to that Character which the Apostle Peter gives of it which is a taste or first fruits of that Kingdom unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 The reason hereof is because there shall be such a mighty and such an incredible abundance of all desirable and precious things both to raise and to maintain this joy which will certainly meet together in this Kingdom in that state and condition which the Saints shall be brought unto when the Kingdom of Christ shall be set up in the World All Lebanon saith the Prophet Isaiah Isa 40.16 is not sufficient to burn nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering If all the wood that grew in Lebanon at least that did grow in his daies were cut down and one fire made of it all How exceeding great above measure would this fire and flame and burning be Now God will summon as it were the whole Creation together He will call to the Heavens to the Sun Moon and Stars and all the Hosts of them He will call to the North and to the South to the East and to the West He will call to the Seas and to the deep places He will call to the Beasts of the Field and to the Fowls of Heaven to bring in whatsoever they have in their Treasure or keeping and which will
contribute any thing towards the making of the joy of the Kingdom we speak of like unto a joy prepared by the infinite magnificence and bounty of the God of Heaven on purpose to shew his glory and power for his Sons and Daughters and those that have served him How exceeding great then above measure must this joy needs be That he will do no less but rather much more than yet hath been spoken of for the persons mentioned He hath given a sufficient assurance in the gift of his Son Jesus Christ unto them according to the express tenour of the Apostles reasoning Rom 8.32 He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things The strength of the Apostles arguing lieth in some such Principle or Notion as this viz. That no man of understanding and that is Master of his Engagements or undertakings will lay a foundation larger or wider or richer than the nature of what he intends by way of superstructure doth require Such a thing as this would render his work or building dishonourable and uncomely and indeed ridiculous if the Foundation do palpably and notoriously exceed the proportion and scantling of his Building From this Principle we may with the Apostle with the greatest confidence and assurance of heart and soul under Heaven conclude That in as much as God hath laid the foundation of the joy and happiness of those who shall love and believe on him so large and rich as he hath done in the gift of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for them that he will build upon it answerably and consequently raise the Fabrick of their blessedness and glory to the greatest height and and magnificence by all means by any thing that any where can be procured to advance it otherwise his Alpha and Omega would not agree So then this is that we say That if you shall be filled with the Spirit you shall have an entrance in abundance into this abundant joy we speak of The joy of the Everlasting Kingdom of Jesus Christ There is an entrance and an entrance in abundance as into the two former of those vast Priviledges of this Kingdom viz. Righteousness and Peace so also into this third Priviledge of the Joy thereof An entrance simply into this joy implies only some kind of lighter taste thereof less affecting the soul An entrance in abundance noteth such a state or condition wherin a man or woman shall be possessed of a good or Rich Proportion of this Joy viz. of a third or fourth part of it by means of which he shall find and feel and enjoy within himself to his own content and in his own sight as good and happy an estate and condition upon the matter as he would judge himself to be in in case he were actually invested with such a Kingdom and with the felicity and joy thereof the joy we speak of being of the same kind with that of the Everlasting Kingdom of Christ but only short in some degrees of it As a man whose estate is worth one thousand pounds by the year hath somewhat of the same satisfaction and contentment of him that hath four or five thousand pounds I mean when as well the one as the other knoweth how to take satisfaction in their estates respectively and neither more or less than what they are competent and proper to afford unto them Now that your being filled with the Spirit must needs give you such an entrance in abundance as hath been described into the joy of the everlasting Kingdom of Jesus Christ may be well conceived by what hath already been delivered after such a manner as this the joy of this Kingdom is the highest and most contentful result in the soul of all those particular blessings and vouchsafements in the possession and enjoyment whereof the happiness of it consisteth The sense of the rich goodness and commodiousness of those things being enjoyed upon such terms as they will be in that Kingdom and known so to be is either formally or efficiently the joy thereof So then whatsoever createth a lively sense in the heart and soul of a man of the transcendent goodness and sweetness of those enjoyments must needs give an entrance in abundance into the joy thereof This a being filled with the Spirit must needs do because it cannot but fill you with a confident hope and earnest expectation to enjoy them in due time In this I â—imply one thing and affirm another The thing I plainly affirm lieth naked or open in the words themselves viz. that a being filled with the Spirit must needs fill men with a confident hope and expectation to enjoy these things in due time The thing I suppose is That a confident hope and rich expectation to enjoy these things in due time must needs give men an entrance in abundance into that joy which we are speaking of such an entrance in this kind as hath been described The first of these is evident from what was argued when we shewed and proved unto you That your being filled with the Spirit will not suffer you to be idle and unprofitable in the Knowledge and Profession of Jesus Christ but will cause you to abound in the fruits of righteousness and true holiness And secondly that such an abounding as this must needs raise an abundant confidence or assurance in the love and favour of God and consequently an assurance of enjoying all that is to be enjoyed in the Everlasting Kingdom of his dear Son So that we shall not need to insist upon the proof hereof any further Therefore secondly whereas I suppose that an abundant confidence or assurance and expectation of enjoying the great things of Christ's Kingdom in due time must needs amount to as much as this or produce at present such an entrance in abundance into the joy of this Ringdom as that lately described The truth hereof may be conceived upon this account The confident hope and earnest expectation of enjoying things in time which when they come to be actually enjoyed will be found to be exceeding great and yielding much satifaction and joy and are known to be such whilest they are yet only hoped and expected is and must needs be such an entrance into them as Peter calls abundant in the sense we have given Such an hope and expectation as we speak of is a kind or degree of enjoyment of the things themselves and may in propriety of speech and with truth enough be simply termed an enjoyment of them As she that is betroâ—hed or espoused to an Husband may truly and properly enough be termed a Wife So he that is under a pregnant and lively hope of enjoying such and such things may be said by means of such his hope to enjoy them Now you shall see that the Scripture useth thus to speak Rom. 8.24 For we are saved by hope that is that hope which we have of
being saved it is so full that we are already saved by it And so Heb. 11.1 Faith is the substance or rather the subsistence for so Hypostasis signifies of things hoped for Faith is said to be the subsistence or existence of things hoped for because the belief of those grounds or of those Promises of God or declarations that come from Heaven That These and these things shall be given to those that believe this I say doth give a kind of existency and presentiality unto the things themselves in the minds and spirits and souls of men For it is Faith that is the ground work or that which giveth a subsistence to these things in the soul for Hope floweth from Faith and by it the heart is carried out to the expectation of them Hope doth dilate and open the heart as a man doth his hand to receive that which is ready to be given unto him But that which giveth life breath and being unto Hope that is Faith It is Faith that giveth Being unto the Truth and Faithfulness of God in his Promises and Declarations by which they are settled and secured that they are all valid and that God will make them good unto his Sons and Daughters those who shall believe And in this respect the Language or manner of the Scripture speaking is very remarkable That they who are enabled by God by being anointed with a Spirit of Revelation to put men into a steady and substantial hope of possessing and enjoying such and such things are said to give them the things themselves So Isa 61.1 2 3. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted c. So again ver 3. To give them beauty for ashes the Oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness c. So that according to this manner of Scripture speaking because the Prophet offered by a spirit of Prophecy to fill theis hearts with the hope and expectations of these things he is said to give them the things themselves So again he that shall be an instrument in the hand of God to preach the Word of God with such evidence of truth and demonstration as that he fills the hearts of men full of the hope of Salvation is said actually to save them Take heed unto thy self saith Paul to Timothy and unto the Doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee 1 Tim. 4.16 Fourthly Sect. 14 Your being filled with the Spirit will cause God to take a holy pleasure and delight in you and to imploy you about many actions and services of his which will be very honourable unto you and turn to a bleffed account in due time in his Kingdom Wherefore saith the Apostle to the Church at Jerusalem look ye out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost c. Which doth imply that the men that God seeketh for the acting and doing his business here in the World are such who are full of the Holy Ghost such who have a rich anointing of the Spirit of God Men that are filled with the Spirit will be vigorous active and free in their work they will do what they do with all their might As men delight to be served by such Servants who are diligent and will go through stitch with their business that will not be baffled or turned out of their way by every toy or trivial occasion that shall present it self but will go on with their business not with trifling Even so it is a special Principle in the living God to desire servants that will be faithful and fervent in their business This indeed is the very Nature and Being of God and therefore he putteth that Character of his Being upon men which he judgeth meet to be chosen as instruments to serve him and which are as I may say made for him fitly qualified for any work or employment that shall be put into their hands Who counted me faithful saith Paul putting me into the Ministry If Paul had not been the man he was a man of mettle courage and resolution God would not have delighted in his service so as to have put him into the Ministry Now where we do not see men that are in the Ministry of the same Spirit it is a sign they are not put here by God for God taketh no delight or pleasure but only in such who are fitted for his work We read 2 Tim. 2.21 of Vessels prepared and made fit for the Masters use so that there is a certain fitness as well in Persons as in Vessels which maketh them meet for such or such respective uses Now that Generation of men in the World that are filled with the Spirit are only meet for the Masters use viz. the Great Master of the World the Lord of Hosts Such men as these men who are through-hearted zealous and lovers of his Work and that take delight in being employed in his Service are Vessels of pleasure and delight unto him Seest thou a man saith Solomon diligent in his business he shall stand before Kings Prov. 22.29 Shall stand before Kings namely to minister unto them Men of this Character are only meet for their Service Even so none are fit for the Service of the Great God of Heaven and Earth but such men who are of active and vigorous spirits and that know how to manage his Affairs with diligence and faithfulness for his interest in the World These men shall not stand idle but God will take delight to make use of them in his Service Whereas men that are unqualified for his Service to any confiderable degree as all men are who art not filled with the Spirit who have no activity nor edge in them are unto God as a bottle in the smoak And as men do not love to put what they drink into bottles that are smoaky because that will destroy all the goodness and pleasantness of the taste of that which shall be put into them Even so as was but now hinted men that are unqualified that have no dexterity for his business these are persons in whom God taketh no pleasure but are unto him as a bottle in the smoak because the management of his Affairs by such men as these will rather be a disparagement unto him than any matter of glory by rendring his Sacred Things common and consequently rendring them despicable in the eyes of men But on the contrary men that are richly anointed and filled with his Spirit these are Agents and Instruments for him as the Sword of Goliah was unto David there was none like unto it There is no Generation of men under Heaven that he taketh such pleasure in to commit and intrust his Affairs withal as with these who are filled with the Spirit Who maketh his Angels Spirits or wind
double or treble it will he not do it If this be counted wisdom to advance a perishing and contemptible state who would not amongst us all labour to advance in such a glorious and durable state as we speak of This then is the first thing requisite to be done in order to your being filled with the Spirit of God namely to fill your Judgments and Understandings with the knowledge of all the excellent and desirable things of it together with a frequent and an effectual consideration of these most worthy and rich accommodations which must needs accrue or grow unto you by your being filled with the Spirit of God CHAP. X. The Resolution of the Second Question further prosecuted And six Directions more given to shew how men and women may come to be filled with the Spirit of God and what is to be done by them in order hereunto A Second thing to be done Sect. 1 to fill your hearts and souls with the Spirit of God is to employ and make use of him upon all your spiritual occasions and for the performance of duties When you shall at any time apply your selves unto God to do it by him as in your Prayers unto God and so your mortifying the deeds of the flesh and in searching out the deep things of God and in keeping in mind the things of God and of your own peace Now as touching these four particulars mentioned viz. Prayer Mortification understanding great Mysteries and keeping in mind these things c. The Scriptures do plainly hold forth the use and necessity of the Spirits being employed in all these chiefly and more especially than in other spiritual Services But here three Questions may be propounded First Whether we can or whether it be in our power to engage the Spirit of God in this kind Whether it be in the reach or power of a man to draw him into part or fellowship with us in such spiritual works as lie upon our hands to do Secondly How or by what means we may engage him Thirdly and lastly In case we shall be able to engage him and shall actually do it how the things that shall be thus done by the Spirit in us so engaged can be attributed unto us or we looked upon as the doers of them For the first of these Whether it be in our power thus to draw in the Spirit of God to stand by us to stand at our right hand and to be helpful unto us in our spiritual Services To this we answer in the Affirmative We are able and may do it otherwise himself would not so frequently have admonished and called upon us to do it I mean to engage him or to do things of several kinds by him Rom. 8.13 For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live This Clause but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body containeth and implieth more than an Exhortation or Charge to set the Spirit on work to mortifie the deeds of the body For it containeth a Reason to press such an Exhortation drawn from the excellent benefit and advantage that doth attend it Life Eternal you shall live if you do it Seneca hath a Saying Rogat quidem efficacissimè qui profert rogandi causas He asketh and that most effectually who expresseth reasons why he should ask so we may truly and pertinently say when the Holy Chost delivereth unto us reasons or motives whether one or more why we should be exhorted to such and such duties he doth inclusively exhort us hereunto and this after the most peircing and effectual manner Telling and promising us that if we shall mortifie the deeds of the flesh we shall live doth he not most affectionately excite and stir us up to mortifie them accordingly Now we cannot mortifie them by the Spirit but by prevailing with the Spirit in one kind or other to mortifie them Thus also Jude ver 20. But ye Beloved building up your selves in your most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost that is in or by or through the help and assistance of the Holy Ghost meaning that they should do that which they well enough understood and knew would prevail with the Holy Ghost to assist and help them in praying So again 2 Tim. 1.14 That good thing which was committed unto thee speaking of that Pattern of wholsome words and sayings of the Doctrine of the Gospel keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us He addeth these last words which dwelleth in us to put Timothy in mind that the Holy Ghost was near at hand ready and offering himself to be imployed by Christians in all the great difficult and worthy occasions of their souls and consequently to encourage him to address himself unto him I mean the Holy Ghost that he would enable him to keep i. e. to preserve in memory and mind the good things he speaketh of To these places I shall only add Gal. 5.16 This I say then walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh Walk in the Spirit I suppose his meaning is not in this Phrase that they should walk according to the direction and guidance of the Spirit which in ver 18 and elsewhere he calleth a being led by the Spirit but that they should walk thus by the strength or by the excitations and quicknings or actuations of the Spirit that they should walk as it were on the Legs of the Spirit so that he may carry them out to all they do and so interpose likewise in their doing it that the burthen and stress of the work may lie chiefly upon him and that men themselves may taste little of the difficulty bardness or offensiveness if any such thing be in it This or some such thing as this the Apostle I suppose meaneth by walking in the Spirit and by putting Christians upon it to walk in or by the Spirit he supposeth such a thing that may be done or attained by them if they will take a course thereafter But then it may be objected If we may engage the Spirit Sect. 2 and set him on work about any of those spiritual employments that have been mentioned or the like Must not we be looked upon as principal or first Movers in every such work and the Spirit as the subordinate Agent only and subservient unto men and dependent upon them in his workings To this I reply no First Because when any man doth awaken the Spirit and engage him to his assistance he is first awakened by the Spirit hereunto yea and engaged too by which the Spirit himself becometh engaged by himself for we are thus or after some such manner as this to conceive of the spiritual treaty or entercourse and of the state of affairs between the Holy Ghost and the soul of a Christian in whom he dwelleth in reference to the business now in hand First
the Spirit of God was in men before they believed for otherwise they neither could or would ever have believed yea and a long time before they believed otherwise there would have been no workings of Conscience or movings unto things either morally or spiritually good When men are prevailed with by him to believe he advanceth his presence in their souls and now moveth them to things Actions and waies of a more worthy and blessed consequence and import and of a nearer and stronger Connexion with their supreme good and happiness as to love God with all their hearts with all their souls to embrace waies of Excellency waies of Righteousness and true Holiness to mortifie the deeds of the Flesh c. By the way When I say that the Spirit of God moveth the hearts of men when they believe I do not say or suppose withal that Believers alwaies are prevailed with by these movings of the Spirit to do the things or effectually to consent to the doing of the things whereunto they are thus moved For though the Spirit be Omnipotent yet he is a voluntary Agent and so can exert or put forth his Omnipotency in what degree or manner of efficacy himself pleaseth and we have heretofore I remember upon occasion shewed and proved unto you that the Spirit of God is not pleased to work either compulsively or necessitatingly upon the hearts and wills of men but only so as to leave them at liberty at least a possibility of going their own way contrary to that whereunto he moveth To plead that God is Omnipotent and from hence to conclude that therefore he should not fail of any or all things which he intendeth to do it clearly sheweth that men do not understand the true nature of God For though God be Omnipotent yet God useth his Omnipotency according to Rules of Wisdom and Counsel Now therefore he putteth forth his Omnipotency only in putting men into a capacity of doing such things upon which he will reward them which capacity would be utterly destroyed in case men should be necessitated to do any thing pleasing unto God Only this by the way Now this is one thing why the Spirit of God is not an under Agent because that men covld never have called for nor sought for his assistance did not the Spirit first move them thereunto Therefore hence it is evident that he is the principal Agent and yet this notwithstanding he may truly and properly be said to be drawn into our assistance by us Secondly This is by God himself Enacted and established for a Law between his Spirit and his Saints That when they having any spiritual Work services or Exercise to perform shall apply themselves unto the Spirit now at hand and dwelling in them after such a manner and upon such terms as we shall presently declare unto you If they shall seek for his help and assistance herein that then he will aid and assist accordingly he will not deny them but will condescend graciously unto them and assist them Now by the knowledge and consideration of this Law and confidence that there will be no failing on the Spirits part all which too are preventing wise wrought in men by the Spirit they are encouraged to make their recourse unto him and to depend upon him for his assistance at all times of need In this case the application of the Creature to the Spirit of God being submissive and obediential and not authoritative there is no reason or ground to judge or call the Creature the principal Actor or Mover in what is done by the assistance of the Spirit though the Creature may properly enough be said to engage the Spirit to assist in such and such Actions As when David being to encounter with his Enemies calling upon God for his help and his presence with him in the Battle may properly and truly enough be said hereby by his Prayer to engage God to him in his Battel yet it doth not follow from hence that David was the principal chief or first Actor in the Battel Because first It is God that freely maketh that gracious Covenant with David as with other Saints that if they call upon him in time of trouble Psal 50.15 or danger he will hear and deliver Secondly Because that it was God that put it into David's heart and stirred up David's spirit to go and apply himself by Prayer for his help in such a case Thirdly and lastly That which David did in this case to draw in God to his assistance he-did it in subordination to the will and good pleasure of God in that kind who had encouraged him to call upon him in a day of trouble There is a like consideration in Believers engaging the Spirit of God and his aid in all our spiritual occasions works and employments For first the Spirit of God hath made a Law that if we will call upon him upon the Spirit in the time of our need he will be present with us and help us But then secondly Because we are engaged hereunto I mean to call upon him for his assistance by his instigation hereunto Thirdly and lastly All that you do in this kind it is in subjection to his will and pleasure These things being considered it is clear that the Creature Man though he have a power to obtain the Spirit yet he is not principal Actor but the Spirit of God is the principal Agent Thus much for answer to the first Question A second Question was How Sect. 3 and by what means we may engage or prevail with the Holy Ghost to Act with us and to assist us in such occasions of our spiritual Concernments as have been mentioned To this I answer This may and ought to be done by these four means First By disclaiming when we go about any thing any spiritual duty or service our own strength and sufficiency as to the performance of it in an holy and acceptable manner as of our selves without the presence and assistance of God I say when men and women shall present themselves in all their works and services as weak and impotent unless they be endued with strength from on high this is one special strain that doth marvelously comport with the Spirit and that which is in the first place to be done by us if we desire to do any thing if we desire his help and assistance at any time Now to present our selves altogether weak without some such presence and assistance we speak of this is that which will awaken us to do things by the Spirit For the way to do things by the Spirit is not to forbear the doing of things or duties our selves or not to perform any services I say it is not to forbear the doing of things until we find the Spirit of Grace and feel it to work upon us But to go about that which is our duty to do in the season of it with a serious and humble acknowledgment and deep sense of our
Point That to him that hath shall be given He that is willing to sow to the Spirit it is a sign that he in the sense of this Scripture is a man that hath received the Grace of God Now they that declare that they have i. e. that take a course to make the World acknowledge that they have they that have in this sense shall have more abundantly and yet still the more they have the more they shall have and the faster and the thicker that men shall sow to the Spirit they shall still have more seed As God giveth natural Seed unto the Sower so doth he give spiritual Seed unto him that soweth unto the Spirit he shall have more strength and vigour and stronger Propensions to do well and worthily yea to abound in well doing This is a third means to be made use of in order to a being filled with the Spirit of God Fourthly Another means for the same end I mean of being filled with the Sprit is to feed and cherish to nourish and strengthen the motions of the Spirit when at any time he beginneth to burn or rise up in a little flame in the soul then toties quoties to be ready to cast spiritual oyl upon the flame that so he may advance the motions which he hath begun is another excellent and pregnant way and means to be filled with the Spirit To open this means or direction unto you it is to be supposed that the Spirit where he inhabiteth and dwelleth will ever and anon be heaving and putting forth in the hearts and souls of men he will be secretly inciting and gently moving and perswading men and women unto good waies and actions unto waies of Justice Righteousness and Goodness and the like sometimes in one kind and sometimes in another yea many times it is likely he will be moving men and perswading them to actions not simply and positively good but unto such waies and actions that are higher and more excellent and more worthy than any of those wherein they yet walk or have been accustomed or have lift up their hearts or hands unto This then is that we advise you in this means or direction that whensoever you perceive or feel the Spirit rising or moving within you unto any thing that is good worthy or meet to be done as if you live inwardly and have much and close communion and converse with your hearts and souls you may frequently find that he is When I say at any time you are sensible of any good motion conceived and raised in you that then presently you provide spiritual milk and honey to feed strengthen and nourish the tenderness of it for when these motions come from the Spirit they are at first but weak and tender and faint but you may take a course by nourishing of them that of soft and tender motions you may make them strong if you take unto you such and such considerations which are apt and proper both to continue on foot and keep alive the said motions within you and likewise to fortifie and encourage them Gentle and soft motions bearing upon your hearts and consciences are but like a soft Air or breathing of wind upon a Ships sails which help her not much on her way So the breathings of the Spirit the first rise of them are but soft and gentle but there is a proper kind of nourishment to be administred unto them which will enlarge and strengthen them Let the motions be what they will as indeed there may be a thousand motions of this kind the Scripture doth afford wherewithal to nourish them all As the Earth bringeth forth all kind of of Herbs Trees c. So the Scriptures yield a proper and peculiar kind of Nourishment a peculiar kind of consideration of truth which will fortifie and strengthen all those motions and raise them up in growth and stature As suppose it be a motion unto a more constant frequent and consciencious attendance upon the Ordinances of God's House and the Affairs there the Scriptures will fill you with motives and considerations which are apt and proper to nourish fortifie and strengthen you in this service So again suppose that the motion be to works of Charity to a more open handedness unto works of Mercy the Scripture will furnish you with nourishment for such motions also Or if the motions of the Spirit be to abandon or cast off idle and unprofitable company who are good for nothing but to waste our precious time I say the Scriptures will nourish these motions also You shall find meditations there and such words and considerations that are proper nourishment for all such motions of the Spirit as these mentioned with their fellows which will cause them to wax and grow and gather strength until it be too hard for the contrary corruptions and infirmities to hinder them My Brethren there be many choice motions from the Spirit of God which may die and never bring forth As there are many Children that die in their Infancy and never grow up unto men Even so the truth is that where there is one Motion that doth grow and come to any maturity it is to be feared that there are many thousands which for want of nourishment and because they are not propagated and encreased by adding further strength unto them die and come to nothing As it is with the Seed of Mankind in their Infancy and tender years we know that they are capable of living and growing up unto men yet are they not capable of propagating in their kind till they are grown up to some maturity Even so motions to good take them in their beginning though they are capable of growing unto their full strength yet they are not presently capable of action untill they be trained and fed up until they come to maturity Then they will beget in their own likeness then they will produce in their kind Thus we see if we desire to be filled with the Spirit of God we must do as we use to do with our new-born Infants make much of them and not despise them because they are weak No but we are to be very tender of them and to nourish them and to cherish them to minister such food unto them that will strengthen them unto or at least until they are grown to Maturity A motion which at first hath little or no strength and so cannot go abroad into any Action or Service by that time you have nourished and carefully tendered it in your hearts and souls though it was but like a grain of Mustardseed at the beginning yet being nourished and fed in your hearts after a while it will be full of strength and vigour and whereas at first it might easily have been quenched after it cometh to maturity it will be able to nourish it self Now the reason of this direction in order to a being filled with the Spirit runneth upon the former Principle which we lately mentioned viz. To
him that hath shall be given Man who shall nourish and cherish the motions of the Spirit of God when they are in him as it were in swadling cloaths and little and shall be a good Foster-Father unto them shall certainly have a greater and greater presence of this Spirit untill it shall enable him to do great and glorious things and so shall delight in him daily more and more and stir and raise up other and more excellent motions which never came into his mind or heart before Fifthly Sect. 10 Another means whereby the Temple of your souls may be filled with the glory of the Spirit of God is to be led by the Spirit Rom. 8.14 You know there are some Horses will not be led but a man must pull and haule them after him but there are other Horses that are obedient and tractable in your hand So where there is a tractableness and teachableness in men that the Spirit of God leadeth them as it were by the hand this way and that way when men are easie to be taught by him this is another ready and pregnant means whereby to be filled with the Spirit My Brethren you may be said to be led by the Spirit when you go along with him or are willing to go that way wherein he would lead you by every good motion The Spirit doth take as it were every man and woman by the hand and doth upon the matter desire them to be willing to be lead Now when men and women are willing to accept of the Spirit of God for their Leader and Guider in such waies and courses as he doth like to lead them unto these are they that are led by the Spirit of God It is no great difficulty no great Master-piece to know when and in what cases we are led by the Spirit of God and when not for if we know but so much as to be able to distinguish between good and evil if we can but distinguish such motions that be good from those that be evil we may know by this alone when we are led by the Spirit of God and when not For most certain it is that all motions to good which are either mediate or immediate are from the Spirit of God therefore if it be a good motion it is easie to know what Parent it hath namely God So now if by any motions which are at any time stirring or working within us we find our hearts drawn out unto such and such a good way and work in this case if we shall seek for or consult with the dark part of our souls to find out Arguments to disparage them as if they were not the motions of God or of the Spirit of God but were from some other Principle there may be much danger in it But if men shall not seek to draw back upon any such pretenses as these only because they would not go along with the motion it being contrary to some unruly lust or unworthy design which they are carrying on in the World but shall be willing to be led by the Spirit If they need not to be pulled and hauled but shall come on freely and readily and shall be willing to go along with the motions of the Spirit without asking any question for conscience sake or rather for lusts sake this is another great advantage that will turn to an happy account in order to a compleating this great design of your being filled with the Spirit of God For there is nothing that giveth a more demonstrative proof that a man is a true born Son of God than that he is willing to be led by the Spirit in the sense declared It was a saying amongst the Romans He is an ill Souldier that followeth his Captain groaning and sighing Even so he is not a reconciled person with his own peace and comfort who studies and casteth about and would fain be excused from the service of God By the way that we may not discourage any to comply at any time with the motions of the Spirit when any person man or woman shall make a long work of finding out pretenses before they will go along with these motions nevertheless if they do comply and go along with them at last though it be late yet better so than wholly to reject and cast them off but this is not the way of wisdom there is a far better and more excellent way than this in order to the great blessedness we speak of of being filled with the Spirit which is to be freely willing to go along with the Spirit of God in his leading and guidance And so we have briefly done with this means also Only the reason or ground of this direction we shall illustrate a little further viz. He that hath shall have more abundantly Sect. 11 They that comport with the Holy Ghost in his motions who are willing to go along with him in works of Holiness and goodness they do by him as a man doth by his friend whom he symbolizeth with in Disposition Genius and Temper his waies are his waies his delight his delight his sorrows his sorrows this strengthens Friendship between man and man Just so when a man shall symbolize and fall in at every turn with the Spirit of God and shall be like unto him in his waies and shall follow him in his motions and shall own them such a deportment as this is will cause the Spirit of God to delight in a man and to rejoyce in him For if the Spirit of God be capable of being grieved as it appears he is by what the Apostle saith concerning him Eph. 4.30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God c. Then certainly he may be pleased and delighted he may be so used and entreated by men so that he will take pleasure and delight in them We have opened this Metaphor unto you heretofore therefore we shall only touch it by the way Grief when it is applied unto the Spirit of God doth not suppose or imply any such thing as if the Holy Ghost may be grieved in a true or proper sense No but the meaning is this that such a course may be taken by men that the Spirit of God may be provoked to do as men use to do under grief As for instance when men are under the Passion of grief they are indisposed unto action they are listless unto any expression of themselves in one kind or other grief and sorrow straitens and contracts the hearts of men that they become half dead having no life no lust no spirit to any thing out of themselves So likewise the Spirit may be said to be grieved when he keepeth silence in men and doth not act as he was wont to do When there is a deadness in the Soul when there are no lustings therein unto that which is good it is a sign that the Spirit is grieved because he stirreth not he moveth not he cometh not forth as he was wont
to do but leaveth the soul solitary and to it self And when there is such a calm no breathing of the Spirit upon the soul there will be no lust no motion nor desire to do any thing that is spiritual or heavenly and then it is with the soul as it is with a quantity of Wine when the Spirits are extracted out of it that which remaineth is but as a little water Just so are the Spirits and hearts and souls of men when the Spirit of God is grieved within them when he withdraweth Their very life and all that vigour of spirit which at other times is found in them all is under hatches and doth not appear On the contrary when the Spirit of God is pleased and delighted in men he is like unto men when they are under greatest contentment and satisfaction of mind they are now in a posture and readiness to do all the good they can to please and gratifie every man This we have opened unto you formerly and have shewed you how the Scriptures run much upon it As saith Mephibosheth to David Let him take all forasmuch as my Lord the King is come again in peace 2 Sam. 19.30 And so Gal. 4.15 Where is then the blessedness you speak of For I bear you record that if it had been possible you would have plucked out your own eyes c. And so again Bless and curse not bless I say for thereunto you are called as who should say Christians by means of that rich portion of contentment and joy which they are interessed in by the Gospel are in a posture to do good unto the World under all the cursings and prosecutings of it Even so it is with the Spirit of God when he taketh delight and pleasure in a man then is he enlarged towards him he is then active stirring and vigorous in the heart and soul These motions quicknings and encitements unto waies that are good these beat strong upon a man Now the Spirit of God the more he is pleased the more he doth enlarge and give out himself unto men So then if we desire to be filled with the Spirit here is another means proper to obtain it namely if you will be led by the Spirit There is nothing more pleasing unto a man especially unto a man of wisdom than to see his Counsel followed This very impression being found in the hearts of men argueth that there is a like strain of this in the nature of God for we have often signified unto you that God made man after his own Image endued him with the same Principles of Wisdom and Understanding namely for nature or kind which were in himself he drew a kind of Copy of his own Wisdom in the Nature of man And this by the way is the reason of another thing also viz. That in his Treaties with men about the great and important business of their everlasting Peace he still goeth by such Rules which men go by and manage the things of their highest concernments But now the reason why God doth deal with men in very many cases by their own Principles is not simply because he will thus fall in with them but because these are the Rules of God himself according to the excellency of his Nature by which he ruleth and governeth the World Sixthly Sect. 12 It must needs be of good consequence unto you in order to your being filled with the Spirit to take and keep all things out of the way which are contrary hereunto I mean which are like to hinder and will hinder your being filled with the Spirit in case they be not taken and kept out of the way to see that we do not lay any obstruction in his way but that it may be plain and smooth before him Now those things in the general which are like to be an offense unto the Spirit of God and so obstructive to your being filled with him are all such things which are gratifactory and pleasing unto the flesh and tend to the encouragement and strengthening of the hand thereof The reason hereof is because the Apostle informeth us Gal. 5.17 that the Spirit and the Flesh are contrary one to the other and lust one against the other one lusteth after that or after the doing of that i.e. secretly inclineth and perswadeth men and women to the doing of that which being done is contrary to the interest of the other it discourageth weakens and disableth the force or moving power of the other in the soul Therefore a course is to be taken and something done that may restrain the motions of the Flesh or at least break the heart or strength of it It is not like the Spirit will advance to the filling of the soul with his presence so long as lust remains in heart and strength in men for this is to be remembred and taken along by way of caution at this turn that though there be a contrariety in all the lusts of the Flesh unto the Spirit yet all kinds or degrees of these lustings are not so or upon such terms repugnant and contrary to the Spirit and his growth in men but that this may proceed and go forward some of them notwithstanding For as it is in the comings in of the Tide and flowings of the waters whilst the Waters are encreasing and the banks filling there are some smaller refluxes or fallings back of the water which are presently recovered and this with advantage by the next reflux and bearing up of the Tide so that the Tide holdeth on its way maketh good its course untill it cometh to its height and fulness these lesser refluxes notwithstanding In like manner though there be at times some lesser yieldings and givings back of the Spirit in the soul meeting with the current or stream of the Flesh yet he may be brought on again toties quoties and that with power to the over-bearing and breaking the motions and current of the Flesh and so keep still upon the advance and be filling of his channels and banks daily There are two kinds or degrees of the lustings of the Flesh Sect. 13 though they be both contrary to the Spirit and his motions and advance in the soul yet one of them doth little or nothing to interrupt him in his course the other is that which grieveth him and obstructeth him in his way The former kind of these lustings are such which for distinction sake we may call natural though the word be not altogether so proper to express the thing intended the Greek hath somewhat a more significant term wherein to express them calling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sudden rushing or inconsiderate risings or startings up of nature or the natural faculties in the soul which-they compare to the winking or shutting of the eye-lids when any thing threatneth the eye or so to the lifting up of the hands to the head for safeguard when a blow is coming upon the head these are Natures motions by
cannot say that this is a spirit of slumber or sloth that is upon them But if it be upon some other account if it come upon them in a way of Judgment from God for some sinful abuse of mercies then they may be said to be filled with a spirit of slumber and this heavy temper that renders them thus unactive every way and in all respects seems to be the effect of some evil spirit unto which God hath given Commission or Permission thus to punish or abase the Creature for his sin For it is very probable to add this only by the way that as in Commonwealths or Kingdoms Politique the Inhabitants for the accommodation and conveniency of the whole betake themselves to several Callings Occupations or Trades some are Husbandmen some Carpenters some Chirurgions c. For the body of a Commonwealth as it was the saying of a Philosopher doth not consist of a Husbandman and a Husbandman but of variety of Trades wherein respectively by means of an Appropriation or Confinement of themselves to one and the same imployment they become more expert and dexterous every man in his way and so the whole is the better accommodated and provided for In like manner I say it is very probable that these wicked and unclean Spirits the Devils who have a Politie such as it is to manage and uphold for the accommodation of their affairs and the advantage of their Kingdom and the greatness thereof that they do betake themselves to several Trades and Occupations in their way and that some of them apply themselves to one kind of Action or imployment for the better managing and maintaining of their Kingdom and some unto another All the variety of imployments which are practiced amongst them or is indeed any waies necessary for the welfare such as it is capable of of their Kingdom being reduceable to these two general Heads First The tempting men unto sin Secondly The troubling and tormenting them when he hath overcome them by temptation Now under these two Heads may be reduced all that they have to do And in both these there is a kind of Appropriation or Assignment of Methods and things sutable unto particular Spirits We know there are several kinds and great varieties of sins which the Sons and Daughters of men may act and perpetrate and are subject to be tempted unto And so again there are great varieties of Punishments and Judgments which are inflicted by God upon Men. Now as there are great varieties of sins whereunto men and women may be tempted as sins of Uncleanness Adultery Covetousness Idolatry and the like So is it very probable from the Scriptures that there are several Devils that do attend upon all these sins there is one kind of Devil that attends upon this kind of sin another upon that some that do tempt men unto Uncleanness others to Covetousness another to Murder another sort of them tempt to Pride for there are Devils in abundance and whole troops that do manage one kind of sin And so likewise in matters of Judgments and Punishments there are some that God maketh use of as men are wont in their way to use and employ men according to their Capacities to afflict in one kind and then he sets other Devils on work who are of another Occupation and who know how to afflict men and women such persons who have offended whom he judgeth worthy to be chastised in another kind Methinks the Scriptures give a little hint of this where we read of some Devils that were dumb and deaf Mar. 9.17 25 26. Mat. 9.32 compared with Luke 11.14 The Devil may be called dumb because he doth inflict that kind of punishment or affliction which we call dumbness and so likewise of others If then any persons be reduced to such a kind of Lethargie that they neither feel the one World or the other nor are enclined to labour after the concernments of the one nor of the other Such persons as these may be said to be filled with the spirit of heaviness flumber or drowsiness This by the way In the first place then take notice that there are a Generation of men and women which we can hardly say that they be filled with any Spirit unless it be a spirit of drowsiness or flumber A second thing to be taken knowledge of by the way Sect. 2 is that the same persons at several times and in different cases may be filled with the Spirit of God and with the Spirit of Sathan or which is the same with a contrary spirit and this not only under the two different Estates of Regeneracy and Unregeneracy which was Paul's case but even under one and the same state and condition of Regeneration yea and possibly of Unregeneracy also A good man that is full of the Spirit of God if we speak of him in his habitual estate and condition ordinarily may yet at sometimes be filled with the spirit of Sathan From this last particular it followeth that there are two kinds of being filled with the spirit of God and proportionably two kinds of being filled with an unclean Spirit the one actual and for a time only the other habitual and standing Now though it be this habitual and standing fulness of the Spirit of God that we chiefly intend to enquire after and to propound some Characters of yet something may fall in relating to the other also He then that is filled with the Spirit of God ordinarily and this in the standing course of his life yet is it very possible that at some time Satan may get into him and fill him with himself with a lusting of his Spirit And so on the contrary A person that is filled with an unclean spirit ordinarily may at several times be prevented with the Spirit of God that is God may do by him as sometimes he did by Balaam the Spirit of God did so fill him that he spake and prophesied of great and excellent things yet the truth is that the habitual frame of Balaam was a being filled with the spirit of the Devil He had familiar converse with the Devil yet nevertheless at that turn he was filled with the Spirit of God which put to silence that spirit of the Devil So is it likewise possible that upon him that is filled with the Spirit of God the Devil may break in with a gust of temptation as doubtless Peter himself was a regenerate man and a Disciple of Christ yet when he denied his Lord and Master Christ and not only so but forswore him with an Oath of Execration upon himself that he knew him not certainly Satan was in him For what could he have done more if he had been filled with that unclean spirit Yea and after that when he dissembled at Antioch when he complied with the Jews and so endangered the truth of the Gospel and that liberty which was now brought unto the World here also he was touched at least with this unclean spirit
and the same also of the same hot temper in his own private Concernments his heat in matters of Religion may be but of the same account with other mens coldness I mean may be nothing else but his natural temper and so argue no fulness of the Spirit of God I confess it is possible that he that is somewhat warm and somewhat apt to be stirred in his spirit about his Worldly Affairs and withal is zealously affected with and about the things of God may be filled with the Spirit of God But however the Judgment of this latter heat is taken away by the former though such a mans zeal in the things of God may proceed from a fulness of the Spirit of God in him yet his heat otherwise drowns the Argument of it This heat we speak of in his Worldly Affairs though it doth not contradict the reality or truth of his being filled with the Spirit yet it contradicteth and destroyeth the evidence proof or manifestation of it The reason why I conceive that some fervour of spirit in a mans own occasions may possibly consist with a fulness of the Spirit of God in which case a mans zeal for God must needs proceed from such a fulness is because the Spirit of God even when the heart and soul is to a good degree filled with him doth not alwaies dissolve the natural frame of the heart in such dispositions which are not sinful or not apprehended to be sinful And many times we find men who are flames of fire in their own occasions yet like so many dul clods of earth in the things of Jesus Christ yea this is the ordinary temper of the generality of men even of Professors themselves according to that of the Apostle Phil. 2.21 All men seek their own not the things of Jesus Christ In this case when he that seeketh or hitherto hath sought his own things with zeal and diligence but hath been remiss and cold in the things of Jesus Christ shall be reduced to greater zeal for the things of Jesus Christ than for his own this change in him must needs proceed from the Spirit of God yea from a great work of this Spirit in him and consequently such a Person continuing thus zealous for Christ may well be conceived to be full of the Spirit of Christ notwithstanding he be somewhat zealous of his own Cause and Affairs also Now the reason hereof is because his heat in his own Affairs is but somewhat of the natural frame of his heart which is not dissolved by the Spirit of God it not being apprehended to be sinful I confess there is a kind of zeal in a mans secular and worldly Affairs which is found in too many which is hardly if at all consistent with a being filled with the Spirit this is that which the Apostle calleth A warring after the flesh Now What is this same warring after the flesh It is to be importunely troublesome unto the World to quarrel almost with every man that comes in our way and with whom we have to do about these outward things and accommodations When men fight they lay out their strength and all they have as Souldiers they do it with all their might and power So when men are zealous to such a degree for their own Affairs that the managing and providing for them is a kind of Warfare wherein they are acted by the flesh and by the desires lusts and unreasonable motions of it so as to quarrel and contend with every man that stands in their way such a kind of zeal in men which appeareth in thus warring according to the flesh testifieth unto their Faces that certainly they are not filled with the Spirit of God There is indeed another kind of zeal which you may conceive better of and this is a kind of diligence in your Affairs which is worthy of commendation For men being diligent in their Callings by this means declare themselves to be Loyal Servants of Jesus Christ if he set them about their own work then they will serve him there if he set them on work for himself there they will serve him also In such a kind of heat as this there is somewhat that answers unto and is consistent with a fulness of the Spirit of God But when men are hot fiery and fierce in their own things and likewise fierce in the things of God their being hot in the things of God is an Argument of no weight no way convincing that they are filled with the Spirit A second Rule for discovery of those who are filled with the Spirit of God from those who are not filled with him but with a contrary Spirit Sect. 7 may be this when men and women have the command of their Spirits so as to keep them in and let them out to cause them to rise and to fall to go and to come according to the true exigency of the affairs of Jesus Christ and of the real benefit of men For when men are alwaies and in all cases alike hot and fiery or else alike cold and heartless and put no difference between times and times occasions and occasions persons and persons it is an argument or sign of great probability and which seldom faileth that there is no great presence of the Spirit of God with them and that that zeal and heat wherein some men upon all occasions and without any difference made between any circumstances appear is but either a kind of natural temper or which is worse some affected strain of hypocrisie It is a Promise made by God unto those that will cause their ear to hearken unto Wisdom And encline their heart to understanding c. Prov. 2.2 compared with ver 9. That they shall understand righteousness and judgment c. by understanding of judgment c. I conceive he means these two things First A discerning and understanding what is meet and worthy to be done upon all occasions according to the regular and due exigency and requirements of every of them respectively And secondly An heart and inward disposition to do every thing accordingly Now when men and women thus and in this sense understand judgment that is know how to rise and fall in their spirits how to change and temper their behaviour and speech when to be authoritative stout and resolute and again familiar gentle and submissive according as the persons are with whom and according to the nature of the occasions and affairs wherein they have to do and this in order to the glorifying of God and the justifying of his Wisdom it is an Argument of much weight to prove that they have a rich anointing of the Spirit of God We find Paul a man very excellent and active in all the variety of these spiritual postures we speak of 1 Cor. 9.19 20 c. For though saith he I be free from all men yet have I made my self a Servant unto all To the Jew I became a Jew unto them that
are under the Law as under the Law to them that are without the Law as without the Law to the weak I became weak I became all things to all that by all means I might win some Paul had gone so to work with himself that he had brought himself to a conformity to all occasions and kinds of services and could comply with all for their benefit When men shall see the carriage and deportment of a man and shall not be able to see what the natural temper and genius of the man is when they shall see him in such variety of action and all that which he doth to become him to have beauty and reason in it this is a sign that the man thus endued hath a very rich and glorious anointing of the Spirit of God in him But when mens natural tempers do encrease in them so as that these will have part and share in their actings it is a sign that Nature is not thoroughly broken nor wholly subdued but that there is somewhat yet more for the Spirit of God to do Elsewhere he demandeth of these Corinthians 1 Cor. 4.21 What will you Shall I come unto you with a rod or in love and in the Spirit of meekness From whence it appears that Paul could upon occasion both use the rod of Apostolical Authority where he saw cause and take vengeance on disobedience as he speaketh elsewhere And could likewise demean himself with gentleness towards Christians even as a Nurse cherisheth and is tender over her Children as he speaketh of himself 1 Thes 2.7 In matters of outward estate he knew as he saith both how to be abased i. e. to want and how to abound Phil. 4.12 Meaning that he was able and knew how to manage both estates Adversity and Prosperity according to such Rules by which these conditions ought to be managed respectively yea and may be managed to the glory of God and likewise to the comfort and contentment of men that partake in either And as he saith he knew how to be abased and how to abound so likewise in his deportment he knew how to stoop to the ground and to sit upon a Dunghil with those that were Poor and weak and of Low degree in the Church of Christ And he knew likewise how to be a Companion for Princes and to stand up with the highest and greatest of all with persons of greatest esteem Paul we know had a spirit that was able to resist even Peter himself one of the greatest Pillars of the Christian Faith then in the World and to withstand him to his face when there was just occasion so to do My Brethren He that knew how to do this must needs have a mighty command of himself For take him at another turn when the state of businesses was altered and when he was in the presence of poor and weak Saints he could act another part and quit himself like a poor and weak man as if he had nothing of the carriage or of the resolution of a man in him Thus Jesus Christ himself to whom the Spirit was given not by measure as John speaketh Joh. 3.34 is compared in Scripture as well to a Lamb as to a Lion and is presented unto the World under both these Denominations one while he is called the Lamb of God another while he is called The Lion of the Tribe of Judah to shew that he knows how to act the properties of both according as he judgeth seasonable and meet When he cometh to those who are poor in Spirit he blesseth and speaketh in a still voice unto them and when he hath to do with the Scribes and Pharisees then he pronounceth with a loud voice Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees hyppocrites Now his Spirit was up on high and full of courage and undaunted resolution Yea now he is in heaven and ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1.3 Yet doth he still retain the same qualifications or dispositions To many Persons he doth behave himself like a Lamb with much sweetness and great condescention and otherwhile he can roar like a Lion upon others and appear in judgment when he seeth his time and when the exigencies of the business which is before him requireth it Now the reason Sect. 8 why I conceive that such a sweet consorting of a mans spirit and behaviour to all variety of occasions which he can meet with from time to time must needs be a great Argument of a rich anointing of the Spirit is this partly because to distinguish exactly between the Exigencies of Occasions requireth a very excellent degree of Wisdom a much refined Understanding and partly also because it requireth a great command of a mans spirit a depressing or dissolution of a mans natural temper whatever it was to be able to apply himself only and conscienciously to all variety of occasions respectively both which argue a large and liberal presence of the Spirit of God in men partly also because it is so rare a sight to see a Person man or woman even amongst Believers themselves in whose Conversations and Deportments that savory wise and consciencious comportment with the various natures and Exigencies of occasions is to be found First I say to understand judgment as the Scripture Phrase is to know what is comely and worthy for a Christian to do at all times and cases requires a great spiritualness of understanding to apprehend how the feries and tenour of all a mans actions may be made spiritually harmonious when to rise and when to fall and when to keep a middle strain between high and low as every of these respective carriages may best accommodate the interest of God in the World I mean his honour and praise and the interest likewise of men this requireth an heart in some degree like unto Solomons which the Scriptures compare to the sands that are upon the Sea-shore 1 Kings 4.29 Now the heart of Solomon is said to be large like unto the sands of the Sea-shore which are not to be numbred because he had a world of notions and apprehensions in his mind or understanding by reason whereof he was able to understand most exactly how he ought to behave himself upon all occasions and how to sute himself with the Exigency of every affair he had all circumstances before him and he turned them and weighed them in his hand and therefore saith he Eccl. 3.1 2 c. There is a time for every purpose under the Sun A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted a time to build and a time to break down a time to weep and a time to rejoyce a time to cast away stones and a time to gather c. Now he must be a wise man indeed as he speaketh Chap. 8.5 6. Whose heart discerneth time and judgment i. e. that is able to discern the time and season for one Action or one kind of deportment from that which is proper
for another to know with what Persons and in what Cases to deal in a spirit of Meekness and Sweetness and when to deal with men in Fire Earthquake and Thunder and when to hold a course between both and to know how proportionably to measure out by drams and scruples a behaviour sutable to all cases such as will make a man harmonious with himself and not to be over-bearing when that which is less will best become him and so not be light where a greater weight is necessary Secondly Sect. 9 Many men may be better provided at this point at the intellectual part and for matter of understanding and discerning times and seasons than they are at the second which is a readiness an aptness to comport with these actions or occasions for alas there is not one man or woman of many that do live up to their light If ye know these things saith Christ happy are ye if ye do them As it requireth a rich anointing of the Spirit of God to discern times and seasons so doth it no less to have a mans heart throughly broken and subdued under him to comply with them Doubtless many persons know the necessity of duties yea of many highly acceptable and beneficial things which yet their hearts will not serve them to come up unto Their eyes are generally better than their hearts their apprehensions are more raised and full and their affections more slow and heavie within them And therefore secondly For men to have all things that may render them apt to all due and regular compliance with all services incumbent on them this doth require a marvelous degree of self-denial and mortification for the heart of a man is exceeding stâ—ff and will not bend nor bow unless it be in such and such cases that fall in with the natural frame and temper of it But for a man to be universally comportant and complying with all those spiritual occasions and affairs of God that come in his way this will never be done a mans heart will never stand upon such terms until it be mightily broken until the Spirit of God have pulled down that building of the Old man and have not left one stone thereof upon another It is true the heart of a man requires much hammering before this building of the Old man will fall before the flesh and lusts thereof will be subdued But would men be faithful unto the interest of their own souls this blessed work might be accomplished For the Word of God is abundantly furnished there is enough in it wherewithal to subdue that or those lusts which are most disturbing enough quite to change and alter the property and constitution of a man and to reduce those that are most froward to the greatest gentleness and those that are most fiery and turbulent in their Spirits to the greatest Meekness and Patience I say If men would but set that Wisdom which is from above on work upon their hearts and Spirits this would fill up all the Valleys and bring down all the Mountains and reduce the frame of the heart and soul of such a man who thus imployeth it into a conformity with it self viz. in Purity Peaceableness Gentleness and an easiness to be intreated My Brethren we do admire and we have cause so to do at that excellent temper of the Apostle Paul how active he was he could stop the Flesh as it were with a curb in the midst of its Career like a Horse that is excellently taught that will stop in the midst of his way with the least check of the Bit or Bridle So Paul's heart being broken and disciplined by means of the Gospel and by his own care and industry was brought to that same pass And doubtless we have the same Word and Gospel that he had and if we had but the same mind we might be as excellent even as he himself was if we did but love that same more excellent way as he did what hindereth or what is there in the way between him and the poorest Christian of all He saith he laboured more abundantly than they all and therefore no marvel that he got so far before them in the Race But if we respect our selves and the generality of Christians in these daies no marvel if we lie in the very Center of the Earth and have made so little advance in waies of excellency and that on the other hand we are not descended so much as one degree lower from that height and pride of spirit which we first began withal and which we found in our selves when we set upon the work of Mortification I say it is no marvel if we consider how exceedingly indisposed Christians generally are to spiritual labour without which these things cannot be attained This for the second particular But then The third and last is this Sect. 10 The rarity and fewness of such persons in the World who do thus genuinely and kindly answer unto and suite their spirits and deportments with all occasions and circumstances that come in their way There are very few that are expert in the Word of God and that can or are willing to take the pains to be able to distinguish between an ordinary presence of the Spirit and that which we are speaking of viz. a being filled with the Spirit and therefore sit down and content themselves without striving after it I make no question but the Spirit of God is abroad in the world and that he dwelleth in many of your hearts and souls But though I would be indulgent unto your spiritual credit and repute to the utmost that I am able yet I cannot believe any such thing concerning you that all of you are what you ought to be and what you might very well be The commodity indeed is rich but it is very costly yet if you would go to the price of it it is to be had at the hand of Jesus Christ But according to the present size and state of Christianity and the Professours thereof in the World there are very few to be found of that excellent Character we speak of but that their natural Temper Humour and Disposition will be found in their actions they will be stiff and not fall in nor comply gently nor sweetly with many occasions when they should quit themselves like men of courage not regarding the faces of men their hearts will not serve them but they are meal-mouthed they dare not speak they are afraid to offend such and such a man Otherwhile when they have occasion to treat about any business with those that are low and mean then you shall have them high and surly and over-bearing Now in these cases this same unworthy Principle of their Nature as we may call it shews it self I cannot by the way brook that term for there is nothing simply unworthy in nature but what sin and the unworthiness of the hearts of men have put into it It is hard and exceeding rare to
and Exhortations teach the Sons and Daughters of men such a deportment and demeanour of themselves in all cases and under all circumstances that will set them off with the best and highest acceptation with men for every Command and Precept of his hath a kind of pleasant correspondence with the frame and condition of man and when men and women neglect the performance of any of them in their season or shall do any thing contrary unto them they render themselves so much the less lovely and desirable No man ever neglected any of the Commands of God but that by every such neglect ipso facto they stain and spot the dignity and excellency of their glory whereas if they had been true to themselves and to their own interest in yielding obedience to those Commands of God they would have been more lovely comely and pleasant and more highly accepted both with God and amongst men The Holy Ghost himself very frequently commends obedience and subjection unto the Laws of God under this very Notion we now speak of unto men My Son saith Solomon Prov. 1.8 9. hear the Instruction of thy Father and forsake not the Law of thy Mother For they shall be an Ornament of grace upon thy head and Chains upon thy neck meaning that Instructions from the Word of God administred unto us by our Parents and those that be over us being regarded and submitted unto by us will render us lovely and respected both of God and men So again Prov. 3.22 So shall she meaning Wisdom submitted unto be life unto thy soul and grace unto thy neck She shall be an Ornament of Grace unto thy head c. So again 1 Tim. 2.9 10. The Apostle in this Contexture of Scripture sheweth how women professing Godliness ought to behave themselves in all Modesty Shamefac'dness and Sobriety accompanied with good works these namely good works are comely Ornaments as well for men as for women And it is the property of good works and all manner of conforming to the Will of God to make a kind of noise in the World and to provoke men to look upon them who are found fruitful in them Even as rich Jewels do make and beget by their Lustre a kind of high esteem and reverence in men to persons who wear them In like manner they who shall adorn themselves with works of righteousness by submitting to the Commands of God shall by such waies be known to be the Sons of God even by the richness of those Ornaments and Jewels which hang about their necks Mat. 3.15 It becometh us saith our Lord Christ to fulfill all Righteousness as who should say This is the way that would advance and adorn him and make him more comely in the sight of God his Father and of Angels and of Men. And so Rom. 16.2 That ye receive her in the Lord speaking of Phebe as becometh Saints and that ye assist her c. My Brethren there is no occasion no business nothing to be done either abroad or at home when a man is sitting in his house or speaking to his Servants or any other persons but there is an opportunity for such a kind of behaviour which will well become us and which will set us off with a kind of comliness or loveliness in the eyes of those which are about us This then is the first thing which we commend unto you by way of Instruction That if it be a Duty imposed by God upon all men especially Believers to be filled with the Spirit then is it a comly and honourable thing for men and women to be filled with the Spirit and to walk accordingly by means whereof they shall find acceptation both in Heaven and in Earth Secondly Sect. 2 If it be the Will and Command of God that all Believers especially should be filled with the Spirit of God take we further knowledge from hence that there are some Duties and these of most worthy consequence and concernment unto men unto which the minds and consciences of men even of Professours themselves are generally asleep taking little notice of them or of yielding obedience unto them they do not put them into their Roll or Catalogue of Duties or things commanded or enjoyned For first That this Precept of God which enjoyns a being filled with the Spirit of God directed more particularly unto the Saints is a Precept of very high concernment unto them hath been made to appear formerly and particularly when we gave directions how to raise an ardent desire in your souls unto it by setting before you the various and most rich accommodations which do alwaies accompany such a fulness Secondly That this Precept notwithstanding the excellency of it is little in the thoughts of Believers themselves and that their Consciences are little better than dead unto it is too too evident from the general neglect that is found amongst them of the use of the means which are proper to fill them accordingly without the diligent use whereof it is impossible they should be obedient unto the Precept as we have heretofore opened the business unto you and besides the little regard of this Precept even amongst Believers themselves is apparent more than enough from the general tenour of their actions and waies which are nothing like the actions and waies of men filled with the Spirit And as it is with this Precept of being filled with the Spirit in being so generally neglected and forgotten by Believers So is it with several other also which share in the same disrespect at the hand of Believers with it viz. as That of walking circumspectly or exactly as the word signifies That of redeeming the time in respect of the evil of the daies wherein we live That of bearing one anothers burthens That of not respecting persons for their wealth and costly cloaths That which enjoyns rich men to be rich in good works These with some others as generally all such which grate hard upon the flesh and require a spiritual Heroickness and true greatness of spirit to submit unto them and which are not sanctioned or back'd with an express threatning of exclusion from the Kingdom of God and of Salvation in case of disobedience Most of the Precepts of any of these Characters are like some absolute and antiquated Laws or Statutes in a State or Commonwealth which through a long customary and general disuse and neglect are no more minded or regarded than if they were not nor persons any waies challenged charged or thought the worse of for not conforming themselves unto them So are such Precepts of Christianity which respect excellency of walking and have not the vengeance of hell fire attending them to awaken the Consciences of men to the observance They seem to be no otherwise looked upon by Professours than as if they were given by the Lord Christ only to be gazed on and looked at and not with any intent that they should be obeyed by men or with any expectation
those Motives which were he intent upon would do the deed would amount to such a holy and sacred anointing as now we speak of your being filled with the Spirit of God whereby you would be made Priests of the Living God So much for the First Use of the Doctrine the Use of Instruction CHAP. XIII A Second Vse of the Doctrine being a Vse of Reproof unto all those who are Enemies unto this heavenly Exhortation and Counsel of the Holy Ghost administred unto men namely to be filled with the Spirit and who by any means obstruct the course of it A first sort are such who scoff at such a thing as a being filled with the Spirit of God A second sort of Offenders are such who perswade men that the Spirit which they are exhorted to be filled with is but a finite Spirit an Angel and not God Wherein many things are further argued proving the Holy Ghost to be the most High God THe second Use was a Use of Reproof Sect. 1 and this in the general of all those who are Enemies to this heavenly Exhortation this blessed Counsel administred by the Holy Ghost unto men of being filled with the Spirit of God who either by word or by deed or by both obstruct the course of it that it doth not run is not glorified in the World as it ought to be Of these kind of Offenders there are several Species or sorts highly censurable by the Divine Authority of the Doctrine and truth delivered The first are they who being strangers altogether to the Spirit of God the Spirit of which both the Text and and the Doctrine speaketh are full of the Spirit of the World or rather of the God of the World Sathan who instead of being full of the Spirit of God laugh at all Discourses of mens being filled with him yea or of so much as having the Spirit of God in them to scorn hearing from the mouths of faithful Ministers of God sometimes and it may be from the discourse of other Christians that the Saints and Servants of God such who truly believe in Jesus Christ are led by the Spirit of God and taught by him how to pray how to walk holily and soberly and righteously in the World they make a mock at it as some of the more ignorant and prophane Jews did at the Apostles being filled with the Spirit we speak of Acts 2.13 When they spake with strange Tongues Others mocking saith the Text said these men are full of New-wine When any thing of God or of the Spirit of God more than ordinary in one kind or other appeareth in any of the Saints or Servants of God they that are ignorant of God and of his waies will never own or acknowledge the procedure of it to be from God if they can but imagine any other cause though with never so slight appearance from whence there is the least probability that it may proceed yea if they can imagine any cause in this case which is worse than other and which is more disparaging unto the persons in whom that grace and power of God we speak of doth appear this shall be the cause unto which the excellent work of God in his Saints shall be imputed and ascribed How little reason or colour of reason was there to pretend or think that New Wine over-freely drank or taken by men should put them into a capacity of speaking with Tongues strange Tongues such as they never understood or were able to speak before They knew well enough many of the Company that were there or amongst them that every one that spake had a distinct knowledge of the Tongue of their own Nation We hear them speak all in our own Language said they Now I say let any sober and considering man think but a little of the business how impossible a thing it is that New Wine should invest men with a capacity and an ability to speak with strange Tongues in a strange language yet rather than they would acknowledge that the Spirit was the Author thereof they attribute it to New Wine New Wine may cause them to speak freely and at random but not in other Tongues they may indeed speak none-sense and not distinctly or else that which no man can understand but that it should enable and qualifie men for the speaking in strange Tongues distinctly and sensibly to the understanding of other men there is not the least colour or the lightest pretense thus to argue But ignorant persons and such as are prophane what will they not do to harden themselves though in the most irrational and senseless manner that may be And besides the things which the Apostles here spake and uttered and which were understood by those who so imputed the speaking of them in variety of Languages were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Magnalia the great and wonderful things of God If New Wine had been the inspirer these could not have been the great things of God that they had spoken but the great things of the Devil and of the World So when the Lord Christ cast out the unclean Spirit out of him that was possessed Mat. 12.24 it is said that the Pharisees presently charged this upon Sathan and upon his having to do with him because the Devil is a supernatural Agent in that sense which we usually take supernatural That is he is able to do things which are strange and out of the course of Nature therefore he is a kind of reserve for ignorant and wicked men when they meet with any thing of God and of the Spirit of God in the Saints they have the Devil in readiness to impute all these things unto As I remember I have read in the Story of Martyrs when any of the Martyrs shewed any invincible courage or patience in the midst of their torments the Priests that stood by would still perswade the People that the Devil had bereaved them of their senses and had distracted them before the fire came at them and by this kind of colour and feigned pretense they thought to way-lay and to stop the course of the apprehension of the common sort of People lest they should think that there was any great appearance of God in them So when the Lord Christ taught the People with so much wisdom and understanding that they were astonished and the greatest part of them began to admire how he that had not known a Letter should speak at such a rate as he did it is said they were offended at him Mat. 13.57 implying they thought that he came not by it lawfully but by the help of the Devil they could not make it out that he was a good man because they were ignorant of his gifts therefore they fall foul upon the Lord Christ So Paul in those high strains whether in teaching or rather in practice or acting in the World which the Corinthians could not comprehend nor reconcile with such Principles as they were acted by was
the work of Redemption Sathans chief work lies to undermine the Godhead of those persons to whom that work is most appropriate and who are most engaged therein For the Son of God is his great Enemy and the Person who threateneth his undoing and the Ruine of all that he hath gotten by drawing men aside from God And then likewise the Holy Ghost hath put to his supreme hand all his work being bent against the Devil and his Temptations Now in reason it cannot be thought but that he Satan will be more engaged against these to bring their Godhead if it be possible into question and to destroy the belief of it out of the World He that doth but know the nature of him as that he is full of malice mischief and bloud and that he is ready to rise up against God himself as far as he is able I say they that do but know the Devil so far cannot wonder at it or think it strange that he should labour to fill the World in all the quarters of it with such kind of Notions and Opinions that shall make the greatest breaches upon the honour and reverence that is gotten up into the hearts of men both towards the Lord Christ God blessed for ever and the Holy Ghost that Spirit of God by whom the Children of God are sealed to the day of their Redemption But as the Prophet Jeremiah in a case not much unlike demands What is the Chaff to the Wheat So may we say What is finite to that which is infinite What is a Creature for the carrying on of the Salvation of the World in comparison of the great Creator Secondly Whereas there are a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousands Saints upon the Earth and these in places far distant from one another to be filled at the same time with the Spirit of God or that may be engaged with their hearts and souls in waies and means to be thus filled with the Spirit if the Spirit which should fill them in this kind be a created a finite Spirit limited and confined to one and the same place at one and the same time for this must be his condition if he be finite How can these be raised to any ground of hope that ever they should be filled with the Spirit For if he be a finite Spirit it is impossible that he should fill any more than one person at a time and so must depart and withdraw thence to fill another And As Andrew said Joh. 6.9 of that slender provision which was to be had in comparison of the great multitude that were to be fed There is saith he a Lad here which hath five barley Loaves and two small Fishes but what are these amongst so many So may we well demand and ask in the case before us there being such vast numbers and multitudes to be filled with the Spirit What is a limited a finite a created Spirit to fill them all What is such a Spirit as this amongst so many thousands such an infinite number of men and women who all are labouring to be filled with the Spirit How is it possible he should accommodate such a numberless number of Saints so as to make them all glad Therefore they who teach men that the Holy Ghost the Spirit that shall fill them is but a Creature like unto themselves in limitedness and fuâ—iteness of being do by these whom it concerns to be filled with the Spirit and in order hereunto advance in their endeavours accordingly much as those Spies of old did by the Israelites Num. 13.32 who by bringing an evil report upon the good Land of Canaan and telling them that it was a Land that did eat up the Inhabitants of it discouraged the hearts of the People from attempting the Conquest and possession of it if it had not been for Caleb and Joshuah whose hearts were more upright In like manner they that bring up such a report as this upon the Spirit as that he is but a finite Spirit a created Spirit a straitned Spirit what do they do else but discourage the hearts and weaken the hands of those who have given out themselves and have their hands lifted up to such an exercise and make Treasure of such an heavenly advice and piece of Counsel as this is of being filled with the Spirit of the ever blessed God And besides if the Spirit we speak of with which the Saints are to be filled be a finite Spirit suppose he could at any time mind and attend them all all over the World from the East to the West and from the North to the South in their several applications of themselves to obtain such a filling yet he could actually fill but one person one heart or one soul at once and therefore when he hath filled one he must empty him again by withdrawing himself from him before he can fill another because it is impossible that he should fill them all with himself at one and the same time If it be replied Sect. 4 but he may be said to fill the Saints with himself although he doth not abide alwaies personally present with them viz. by leaving strong impressions of himself his grace and power upon their hearts and spirits though in person he be withdrawn from them as those Saints or Christians amongst whom Paul had been preaching the Gospel and had not only prevailed with them to believe but had put them into a zealous posture of profession and made them like unto himself these may be said to be filled with Paul or with Pauls spirit I reply That holy and zealous impressions upon the hearts and spirits of men may be declarative of their being filled with the Spirit of God but they are not properly and formally their filling or their being filled with this Spirit they are but the suites symptoms or signs of their being filled therewith as the Grapes that grow upon the Vine are not the Vine it self A being filled with the Spirit implies an actual residence or abode of the Spirit himself in men according to that of our Saviour Joh. 14.16 17. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever he in person not in his gifts or operations only So in the next verse And he shall be in you And the Apostle maketh a plain and express difference between the Person of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit 1 Cor. 12.5 Now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit So verse 11. But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit And the Scripture from place to place speaketh of the Holy Ghost as personally inhabiting or residing in the Saints as in these and the like expressions and passages 2 Tim. 1.14 That good thing which was committed unto thee saith Paul to Timothy keep by the Holy Ghost which or who dwelleth in us the gifts or operations of the Holy Ghost
though they may in a metaphorical and improper sense be said to dwell in men as Timothies Faith is said first to have dwelt in his Grand-mother Lois and in his Mother Eunice ver 5. yet in a direct or proper sense it cannot so be said of them Now where there is no necessity enforcing a Metaphorical sense a proper sense is still to be preferred besides an unproper sense here viz. by the Holy Ghost to understand the gifts or operations of the Holy Ghost would be very incongruous and hard as thus The good thing committed unto thee keep by the gifts of the Holy Ghost which dwell in us or by the Holy Ghost which in or by his gifts dwelleth in us So again Grieve not the Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption Eph. 4.30 So Isa 63.10 So it is said of the Jews of old that they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit Luk. 12.12 Acts 2.3 4. 10.44 19.6 It would be very incongruous and harsh to understand these Scriptures and many others of the like Character and import only of the gifts of the Holy Ghost Nor will it at all relieve that most dangerous Notion and Conceit which we now oppose to pretend and say Sect. 5 that though there be but one Holy Ghost or one Holy Spirit to whom the Attribute of Holiness is appropriately ascribed and he termed the Holy Spirit yet there are many other Spirits multitude of angels which are assistant unto him who may possibly be as many in number as there are Saints in the World at one time yea and possibly more so that these Spirits amongst them may attend the Saints in all places and parts of the World at one and the same time and inasmuch as there is one Supreme amongst them by whom all the rest are directed and employed in their way all that is done by them all may be ascribed unto him as because there is one head or one Principal amongst the Devils who is said to be the Prince of the Devils who is termed sometimes Sathan sometimes Beelzebub and Prince of the Devils therefore all that is done all the temptations that are managed in the World by all that are amongst them are in Scripture ascribed unto Sathan or unto the Devil indefinitely and in the Singular number and if the Devil who is confessed on all hands to be a created and finite Spirit be said in Scripture to tempt men though in never so remote places one from another at the same time why may not the Holy Ghost be said to fill men with himself upon the like terms viz. in all the places of the Earth at the same time though he be supposed to be a finite Spirit also If we had time we should plainly shew unto you that this is nothing but a piece of Sackcloath spun on purpose and devized to spread over the face of the Sun It is nothing but a vain flourish to hide this great and worthy truth of God from the eyes of the World to take off the minds and hearts of men from looking after such a worthy and blessed enjoyment as a being filled with the Spirit of God For first We shall shew you that there is not any ground in Scripture or Reason to suppose that any one Angel should have the superintendency or disposing of all the rest of the Angels to order them to their several Employments Works or Actions I say there is no word nor the least breathing or whisper of any such thing as this but the Scriptures rather look another way namely to shew that all the good and holy Angels who are employed on the behalf of the Saints receive their Commission immediately from God himself or from the Lord Christ who is represented in the Scripture as their great Lord and Master They stand charged there with Loyalty and Homage to him Heb. 1.6 When he bringeth in the first begotten in the World he saith and Tet all the Angels of God worship him And ver 14. Are they not all Ministring Spirits sent forth c They are sent forth by him whose Angels they are about their several Ministries And that is the reason too I suppose of that Expression of our Saviour Mat. 18.10 who speaking of the little ones who did believe in him saith I say unto you that in Heaven their Angels do alwaies behold the face of my Father which is in heaven Meaning that they do stand continually in the presence of God and there behold his face looking and waiting to receive some Commission or other longing for service and employment from him it is their life it is their glory and felicity to attend the services that shall be commanded them by God and therefore they do stand as Servants of a King who saith to one do this and to another do that to one go this way and to another go that way So do all the Angels in heaven stand round about the Throne of the Great God every one of them being greedy of Service to have some Message and Intimation from God what to do This therefore argueth that they do not receive their Commissien from any created Angel as they themselves are but that they have it directly and immediately from God himself or from Jesus Christ as Joh. 1.51 And he saith unto him verily verily I say unto you hereafter ye shall see the heavens open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man they do not ascend and descend upon one of themselves the Inferiour upon the Superiour Angels no but on the Son of man meaning himself as they did and were to be seen soon after for they did attend upon him at his Resurrection they removed the Stone off from the Grave and they went to give notice of his rising again unto those who came to seek after him and so in his Ascension he went up with a mighty noise and is to descend again with the sound of a Trumpet Now this he calls the opening of Heaven viz. the full discovery of those heavenly things which as yet had not been made known or manifested unto the World as namely that he is the great orderer or great Lord and Master of the Angels and that they were all his Servants so that this very Notion of one Angel having the superiour command and dominion over all the rest of the Angels is contrary to Scriptures and cannot be proved from them There is no ground to conceive that whatever the Angels do throughout their whole body and in all places of the earth should be ascribed to such an Angel Sathan indeed hath a Kingdom ascribed in the Scriptures unto him Mat. 12.26 and he is said to be the Prince of the Devils as we heard but the Angels are no where said to be a Kingdom neither have they any head or chief Angel amongst them nor can it be proved that any one Angel hath a superiority over another the
reason I conceive of this difference may be because the holy Angels continuing in their obedience and loyalty unto God are all of them great Officers and Ministers of State in his Kingdom and have not a Kingdom by themselves or apart from his Whereas Sathan with his Complices not keeping and maintaining their obedience and loyalty unto God and so not keeping their standing in his love and favour but being cast out thereof they become a Kingdom by themselves and have one in chief over them It is very probable that there are several ranks and degrees of Angels Sect. 6 from Rom. 8.38 and again from Eph. 1.21 Col. 1.16 Eph. 6.12 and some other places in Scriptures do seem to give this kind of overture viz. that there are several ranks and orders of Angels and it is not much improbable but that there is a subordination amongst them and that some are of a Superiour Order and some of an Inferiour and that every rank hath one that is the principal or superintendent over the rest of the same rank though this be but conjectural too We read indeed of Arch-Angels in the Scriptures 1 Thes 4.16 So Jude ver 9. in this latter place the Arch-Angel spoken off is called by his proper name Michael which rather imports a Species or order of such Angels than that there is only one Arch-Angel and his name Michael for if there had been but one Arch-Angel it had been more proper to have said the Arch-Angel without calling him by his proper name which ordinarily serveth to distinguish one person from another of the same Species and Dan. 10.13 Michael is called one of the chief Princes which importeth that there are more of the same order i. e. one of the Arch-Angels though perhaps the first of them as the Margin gives you the liberty of reading it Though for good order they have one that doth precede or go before yet that there should be any one that should have the sovereign power or rule and ordering of all the rest of all ranks and orders is contrary to reason and hath no footing in Scripture Concerning the other place mentioned 1 Thes 4.16 where we have it translated with a shout and with the voice of the Arch-Angel as if there were one such Angel and no more the truth is according to the original Greek it may rather be read With the voice of an Arch-Angel for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not with an Article but without and so doth signifie one of a great number Secondly The Schoolmen who have many of them addicted themselves to the study and contemplation of these things which are held forth in the Scriptures concerning the Angels whose Notions in these speculations are less to be suspected of partiality seeing they relate not to any difference and controversie between them nor yet to the establishment of the Papal Chair and therefore they in their determinations and conceptions are not like to be any whit prejudiced herein Now then they generally hold not only that there is an Order and distinct Band or Regiment of Arch-Angels but that there are many other Orders of Celestial Spirits above them as Cherubins Seraphins Dominions Thrones c. yea and that they are the lowest of all others except those that have the common name of Angels appropriate unto them and they give an account of this opinion and have their Scriptures for all these things though it may be they may not all hold weight if they be examined yet they have an appearance of reason for what they say Thirdly The Jewish Rabbies hold and teach that there are more Arch-Angels than one and they undertake to call them by their names One they call be the name Vriel a second Raphael a third Gabriel a fourth Michael a fifth Nuriel But it is also the sense of some that are more sober and considerate that there are more Arch-Angels though we meet with this name but in one or two places in the Scriptures Fourthly The Scriptures seem to imply and teach that all the Angels that are employed at any time about the Saints and for their benefit are immediately commissioned and sent forth about their respective Ministrations by God himself or by Jesus Christ to whom they stand charged with fealty and homage Heb. 1.6 a place lately insisted on upon another occasion Let all the Angels worship him Fifthly Sect. 7 In case it should be granted which yet never was nor I believe ever will be proved that there is one Angel placed by God in any such superintendency over all the rest of the Angels from whom they receive all their Orders and Commissions concerning all their transactions or all that they are to execute and do in the World yet it will not follow from hence neither that this Angel must presently be that Spirit which is surnamed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holy or the Spirit of God which is said to be given unto his Saints and those who do believe as the earnest of their inheritance by whom they are sealed up to the day of their Redemption who in Scripture is dignified as the Author and Donor of all the spiritual gifts mentioned 1 Cor. 12. with whom in the Scripture before us we are all exhorted to be filled This is no where to be found in the Scriptures neither hath it foundation nor piece of foundation there If it could I say be supposed and granted for Arguments sake that there should be an Angel in chief over all the rest yet this doth not follow that this Spirit in our Text is an Angel and not the Holy Ghost i. e. God Sixthly Though it be supposed and taken for granted that men and women are tempted unto sin and wickedness at one and the same time all the World over yet it cannot be proved that they are tempted by the Devil whether Beelzebub or any under him But every one saith James Jam. 1.14 is tempted when he is drawn away or being drawn away of his own lust and enticed meaning that there are Lusts found in every man which perform the Work or Office of a Tempter secretly perswading and enclining them unto waies and Actions which are sinful and which many times prevail in this kind when there is no other Tempter at all that hath to do with them So that the tempting of men and women unto evil in never such numbers or multitudes at one and the same time in the World doth not argue that the Devil the Prince of Devils either immediately by himself or mediately by any under-Devil tempteth them But certain it is that when ever the Saints stir or move in any good way pray meditate hear and attend the good Word of God in any part of the World that the Spirit of God is with them quickning and exciting them to these things and strengthening them in the performance thereof because there is no disposition in men unto that which is good but that which is raised
and drawn forth by the Spirit of God in them Hence you see that that which is supposed or taken for granted in the Objection in hand viz. that the Devil is said to tempt all the World over at one and the same time is an airy and loose supposition and hath no stable Basis or Foundation to support it neither doth it hold parallel with the Holy Ghost because it is possible that men and women may be tempted and yet not by the Devil It is true the Devil doth compass the Earth to and fro but we see it cannot be concluded that every temptation to sin and wickedness is from the Devil because the Apostle James saith expresly that a man when he is tempted he is drawn away with his own Lust and enticed so that if there were no Devils men might be drawn away with their own Lusts Seventhly Concerning those that are tempted Sect. 8 or said to be tempted by the Devil there is no such emphatical punctual or precise limitation or appropriation of their temptations to one unclean Spirit or Devil as there is of all the variety of spiritual gifts unto one holy spirit 1 Cor. 12.4 Now there are diversities of gifts saith the Apostle but the same Spirit It is no where said that there are varieties of temptations but the same Tempter or the same tempting Spirit Again To one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit to another Faith by the same Spirit to another working of Miracles to another Prophesie to another discerning of Spirits to another divers kinds of Tongues to another the interpretation of Tongues but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit Ver. 8 9 10 11. A man would think by these expressions especially by the last but all these worketh one and the self-same Spirit that the Apostle had foreseen that there would in time rise up such a Generation of men in the Christian World whom he meant to way-lay in their errour viz. such who would deny the Divinity of the Spirit yea and would pretend and plead by way of countenance for their errour that there are many Spirits and that these amongst them perform all those operations dispense all those gifts the performance and dispensation whereof are the peculiar and appropriate praise of one and the self-same Spirit viz. that Spirit which is infinite increated and God himself Eighthly The Apostle a little before the passages now cited viz. ver 4 5. compared plainly enough teacheth or supposeth that as there are no more Lords than one notwithstanding the variety of Administrations so there are no more Spirits but one notwithstanding the great variety and diversity of gifts Now there are diversity of gifts but the same Spirit and there are differences of administrations but the same Lord the same Spirit and the same Lord. Is it not rational to infer from hence that the Apostle did not own or acknowledge any more Spirits interessed in giving or bestowing the great multiplicity and diversity of spiritual gifts which in these times especially of which the Apostle here speaketh did abound in all Christian Churches Than he did acknowledge Lords in the disposing of the several Administrations of those gifts Now those Enemies of the Spirit of God I mean to the Divinity of this Spirit with whom we have now to do do confess and acknowledge that there is but one Lord i. e. but one Jesus Christ though they count it no Sacriledge to rob him also of his equality with God they confess him indeed to be God the Scriptures in plain and express words affirming this but what manner or kind of God they would make him neither do I nor I suppose themselves well know For they deny him to be the most High God and so they seem to make him some demy-God But this only by the way By the consideration now insisted upon and suggested by the Apostle it plainly appeareth that however there be Legions of Tempters or of Devils who may tempt at the same time in several places of the World and all these temptations be ascribed to the Devil or to the Prince of Devils because of their subordination unto him in such actions yet there is no such number of these holy Spirits who fill the Saints with their presence all over the World at the same time No But that this is one and the same Spirit who upon this account must needs be God Ninthly Whereas the Apostle verse 11 of the late mentioned Chapter ascribeth such a liberty to the Spirit as to divide to every man as he pleaseth But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will Is not this also of like pregnant intimation that he looked upon him as God For hath God vested any such Prerogative in any Angel or created Spirit to govern the World to Umpire or administer the Affairs of the Children of men after their own will and pleasure Or is not the disposing and bestowing of those excellent gifts and endowments of which the Apostle speaks so much in that Contexture of Scripture mentioned a considerable vein and piece of the Government of the World For what other thing almost can we look upon that is so considerable in the Government and Ministration of the Affairs of the World as the disposing of those excellent gifts and endowments Now then he that gives out and dispenses these as he will and pleaseth is no Creature No Creature hath the Government of these Master dispensations in his own hand and at his own disposure none but God himself 10ly Comparing the said ver 11. now cited with ver 6. Sect. 9 of the Chapter we may have a light clear enough to see that the Apostle supposeth the Spirit of which he all along speaketh to be God Verse 6. He had said There are diversities of operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all And ver 11. He saith thus But all these things worketh that one and the self-same Spirit Therefore the same God of which he spake in the former verse and the same Spirit of which he speaks in the latter verse are one and the same God the working of the same things being respectively ascribed to him Nor can it with any colour of reason here be pretended that the same actions may be and frequently are in Scripture ascribed unto God and unto the Creature God is often said to save men and so Timothy is said to save men 1 Tim. 4.16 So here God may be said to work all these things and the Spirit may be said to work all these things also although it be supposed that the Spirit is a Creature The reason why this pretense will not serve here is First Because though the same attribution here in the same Contexture of Scripture he made unto God and then unto the Spirit of God yet there is not the least intimation
it matter of Conscience to turn their backs upon the Ministry of the Gospel which as the Apostle calleth it is the Ministration of the Spirit Secondly They who though they do not make it matter of Conscience to neglect or despise this Ministry yet make it no matter of Couscience diligently to attend upon it when they know otherwise how to bestow their time whether in the pursuit of their pleasures or recreation or in the service of Mammon and attending upon the World between these we might insert a third sort viz. such who though they have not turned their backs upon the Ministry and preaching of the Gospel but seem to make it some matter of Conscience to attend upon it yet have itching ears and cannot long together endure wholsome and sound Doctrine but run from Mountain to Hill from one Minister to another For the first We all know that of late years there is a strange spirit of Error and Ungodliness gone out into the World and walks up and down the Streets of your City and hath taken the heads or hearts rather of many who sometimes greatly loved or at least seemed thus to love the Assemblies of the Saints and those discoveries of himself which God is wont by his Word and the Ministry thereof to make from day to day unto them The Spirit we now speak of is a Spirit which teacheth men to say that the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts are vile and for the Ministry of the Gospel and the opening the Mysteries thereof by those that have an Anointing from heaven to do it Wherein is it to be esteemed This Spirit also reacheth and perswadeth those men to fortifie and strengthen or harden themselves in their way not only by Reasons and Arguments such as they are but by the Scriptures themselves also as if they were divided in themselves and destroyed with one hand what they build up with the other Do not men who suffer themselves to be lead by this superordinancing Spirit rather consult the emptying of themselves of the Spirit of God than their filling with him and take a course by degrees wholly to bereave and dispossess themselves of that presence of his in them which at present they do enjoy or have enjoyed formerly Where no wood is saith Solomon or as the Hebrew hath it Prov. 26.20 without wood the fire goeth out In like manner except the Spirit of God in men be fed and nourished with the fresh and new comings in of the light of the knowledge of God and of Christ his presence will languish and sink and die in a manner Hence it is that the Apostle having admonished the Thessalonians not to quench the Spirit 1 Thes 5.19 He immediately subjoyneth by way of caution ver 20. and presignification how they might and must prevent it Despise not Prophesying or as our last Translation with more agreeableness to the Original rendreth it Despise not Prophesyings in the plural number Prophesyings i.e. the opening and interpreting the Word of God by a proper gift of the Spirit for the work if this be despised i. e. made nothing of as the word signifieth then the Spirit in men and women will be quenched i. e. the vigour and activeness of his presence in men will abate and if the neglect and disesteem be long continued in will by degrees wholly cease The word Prophesyings in the Plural number seems to imply that not only or simply to despise Prophesying i. e. the Work or Ordinance it self in the general of Preaching or opening the Scriptures is the ready way to quench the Spirit but to despise the frequency of the opportunities vouchsafed by God in that kind viz. when the bountiful providence of God affordeth unto men and women frequent opportunities of attending upon the Spirit of God in the exercise of Prophesyings and when they may be diligence and wise ordering and disposing of their secular and worldly occasions without any considerable inconveniency frequently attend the openings of the mouth of God which we spake of and yet they shall frequently neglect to do it pleasing themselves with a conceipt that to attend on Prophesying on the Lord's day only is sufficient If the persons with whom we have to do in the reproof in hand Sect. 2 should ask me But why should the despising or neglecting of Prophesying or of the Ministry of the Word be the quenching of the Spirit or a way to empty us of the Spirit I reply First Suppose we could give no other reason of the thing now enquired into but only the Will and pleasure of God and could say no more in the case but this that it is the Counsel of the Will of God to make the attendance of the Creature man upon the Ministry of the Gospel where he vouchsafeth it the condition of the Spirits presence or abiding with him so that in case he doth neglect it his Spirit shall withdraw from him If there were nothing else but this Were not this enough to satisfie any man of Conscience But now the truth is that the reasons of this Counsel of the Will of God that the attendence upon the Ministry of the Gospel should be a standing means to preserve and maintain the presence of the Spirit of God the reasons I say are not so hard to come at in this case but that if the Minds Judgments and Understandings of men were impartially engaged in the enquiry after what the Scriptures speak as to matters of this nature they might be clearly discerned The reasons therefore why God hath made such a Connexion between the attending upon the Ministry of the Word and the presence of his Spirit are first because the word of God is as it were the materials or proper matter for the Holy Ghost to work on to work all his excellent and heavenly works in the hearts and souls of men As for example to work Faith Peace Joy and Righteousness and Holiness and Love c. The Holy Ghost produceth all these excellent works in the hearts of men by the truths of God in the Gospel As an Artificer worketh upon his materials and by his Art and Skil produceth his Artificial piece as a Carpenter upon his Timber or a Goldsmith upon his Metal so that if you do not furnish them with these materials they can do nothing As the Carpenter cannot work when he hath no Timber the Holy Ghost in like manner if there be no Vision no Truth no New Light coming in for him to work on he will take no pleasure nor delight to inhabit or continue there He shall saith our Saviour speaking to his Disciples of the Holy Ghost He shall receive or take of mine and shall shew it unto you Joh. 16.14 What things of his doth our Saviour mean the Holy shall take and shew Doubtless they are such things of his or relating unto him which are contained and asserted in the Gospel As his Divine Nature Humane Nature his Incarnation Conception
Restauration shall be or that there shall be some or some considerable numbers of them to whom this excellency of knowledge shall be vouchsafed by God But that the generality of this People or the common sort of them shall be thus enriched by him The earth saith the Prophet Isaiah speaking of the Land of Judeah and the Inhabitants of it when the time spoken of shall come shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea Isa 11.9 There shall be an universal deluge or overflowing of the knowledge of God over all the Land And elsewhere Thy people also shall be all righteous Isa 60.21 So then the Promise of the abundance of knowledge in the Scripture before us respecteth the Jews only in the sense which hath been declared there is no thing can be inferred from it by those that are not of this Nation but Gentiles as that they shall have the like abundance of knowledge given unto them But Secondly Suppose it should not be appropriable only to the Jews but equally appliable unto the Gentiles also yet neither upon this supposition will it follow that the time of the accomplishment of it either to the Jews or to the Gentiles is yet come First That the Jews have not yet attained the blessing promised therein who yet in all reason shall be first served though it should be supposed that the Gentiles shall sit down at the same Table with them is evident in that the generality of that Nation remaineth to this day in that blindness and ignorance which the Apostle Paul bewailed in them in his daies Secondly For the Gentiles the said Promises neither have been nor are performed as yet unto them is altogether as evident as the former the generality of these being so far from such a knowledge that they have no need that any should teach them that we know they stand in need to be taught the very first Principles or Foundations of Christian Religion Nor can it reasonably be here replied or said Sect. 7 that though the said Promise be not as yet fulfilled in the generality of the Gentiles yet it may be begun to be fulfilled in some of them and the fuller accomplishment of it may by degrees take place untill the times of the plenary and perfect fulfilling of it shall come for against this there are several Considerations 1. As you heard lately that the Promise is not made to the Gentiles but to the Jews 2. It hath not been made good no not in the sense now pleaded for unto the Jews themselves not so much as to a handful of them they generally remaining still in the hardness of thâ—â— hearts and in that blindness of their minds wherein they were in the Apostles daies they are so far from the knowledge of God and of the Gospel of his Son as ever they were and yet all or the most part of them will be first served and have the preeminency and first fruits of this glory 3. The Scriptures intimate as if this Promise were to be fulfilled suddenly and at once when it beginneth to be fulfilled Isa 66.7 8. It is made matter of high admiration Before she travelled she brought forth c. Shall the Earth be made to bring forth in one day Or shall a Nation be born at once c. The travel of Sion seemeth to note some such change and alteration in her condition which withall intimateth a strange and unexpected expedition and that she shall be raised and built up in a very short time unto a very glorious State and Nation and therefore the Prophet calls it the bringing forth of a Nation in one day So again Isa 60.22 I the Lord will hasten it in his time meaning that when the time should come then he would hasten it and would bring it into perfection very suddenly 4. If a few mens excelling in knowledge were the fulfilling of the said Prophesie and Promise then was it fulfilled in the Apostles daies for there were many 1 Cor. 1.5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge It seemeth that in this one Church there was a great floud of light insomuch that they had nothing now to learn but did wait for the full appearance of the Lord Christ and yet that these Promises of Christ were not fulfilled in those daies in the sense declared is evident because the Apostle pressed the duty of Preaching upon others and layeth a heavy curse upon himself Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel How many passages may we find in his Epistles of the same import 5. And lastly The persons themselves who do pretend this Promise and passage of Scripture to justifie them in their way do make use of somewhat like the Ministry and Preaching of the Gospel they have certain Methods which they pretend to edifie themselves by so that they do offer an affront to themselves and do condemn themselves in those things which they do allow And if they judge themselves capable of any benefit by these their meetings certainly there is a thousand times more reason why we should expect and look for more from the publick Ministry of the Gospel by such who have a competent anointing of the Spirit of God If they do interpret and give a sense of what they speak or affirm and produce from the Scriptures then as I say why should we not rather hearken unto the judgment and sense of them that attend upon the Word and Prayer as the Apostle speaks who are set apart as it were and who do separate themselves unto God and to his Service and of the Tabernacle That they should be likely to give out the mind and sense of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures above others is reasonable to conceive The Eunuch was in all likelihood a great man and surely a man of more than ordinary parts and abilities and yet he professeth plainly unto Philip Acts 8.31 when he asked him if he understood what he read How saith he can I except some man should guide me or I have some one to interpret It is true it is one thing what the Spirit of God is able to do for men but it is another what he himself judgeth meet for him to do And certainly he doth not judge it meet to build with one hand and to pull down with the other hand which yet he should do having erected an Ordinance as he hath done giving some to be Pastors and Teachers for the work of the Ministry if these things might be gained otherwise I mean in an ordinary way and where the Ministry which Christ hath set on foot may be had and enjoyed But Thirdly and lastly To the Scripture before us although it should be granted to be already fulfilled yet it is not necessary to understand these Expressions They shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother literally but figuratively by an Hyperbole A figure
to be prevailed with to walk in those good waies whereunto the Holy Ghost did encline them In a like sense 2 Tim. 3.8 some men are said to resist the Truth When Truth is preached and declared unto men especially when with power and authority and with strength of conviction it doth assault or attempt their Judgments and Consciences to subdue and subject them unto it self and men on the other hand strengthen themselves by pretenses or fleshly considerations not to submit to it not to acknowledge it then are they properly said to resist it In a like Phrase or construction of Speech Israel is said to have been purged Ezek. 24.13 In thy filthiness is lewdness because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged therefore c. Thus then you see how and in what sense a person may be said to be led by the Spirit of God and yet not to be led by him Even as God may be said to work in men both to will and to do and yet men neither will nor-do as is clearly supposed Phil. 2.12 13. upon a like accompt also Moses or rather God himself supposeth that he i. e. God sanctified men yet men were not sanctified Lev. 20.7 8. This for reply to the first demand propounded To the second I reply That men may be led moved or enclined by the Holy Ghost in both senses now explained but especially in the former and yet be ignorant of it I mean by whom they are led moved or enclined In the former sense of the Phrase being led a man or woman may be ignorant when they are led by the Holy Ghost upon this account viz. because they do not know are not acquainted with the movings or leadings of the Spirit of God they understand not whence such leadings or motions unto good which at any time are stirring in them come As Samuel 1 Sam. 3.5 â— when young did not know the voice of God when he spake unto him but thought it had been Eli Now this ignorance in men and women is generally occasioned by a slothful careless and prophane disposition wherewith they commonly suffer their hearts to be overgrown untill in a manner they become insensible of it Men do not remember their Creator in the daies of their youth as Solomon advizeth them to do Eccl. 12.1 they do not enquire or seek after God as the Scripture speaketh They do not care to acquaint themselves with him as Eliphas Job 22.21 and so by degrees there grows a greater and greater distance between God and them untill they have quite forgotten him and lost all those blessed impressions of his Nature and Attributes which were implanted in them And when things are at this pass the Holy Ghost may stir and move within them unto waies and works that are good and worthy from day to day and yet they remain ignorant from whence such motions come or whither they go They it's like conceive they come there by accident or chance as Birds come flying through the air by them or that they spring out of their fansies and imaginations as waters bubble and spring out of the earth but that the blessed Spirit of God should be their Author or Parent is not to be found amongst all their thoughts Besides to many of those leadings and movings of the Spirit of God within them and these of the greatest weight and moment it is like that the greatest part of people know not apprehend not that they are so much as good or Worthy of God How then should they believe them to be from the Spirit of God As when men find or feel any impulses or beatings upon their hearts or spirits to turn Puritans as the Phrase was formerly or to joyn themselves in the Companies and Societies of men and women fearing God to refrain from their former vain companies or waies they construe such motions as these as temptations or insinuations of Sathan and not the motions and insinuations of the Spirit of God In the latter sense of the Phrase being led viz. when men and women actually go as and whither they are led they may be ignorant when they are led by the Spirit of God viz. when they do things that are worthy and good and yet act with some regret or hesitancy of mind whether these things they do be good or no. Or possibly they may suppose the inward motions by which they were led unto such actions or waies as we now speak of were but the workings of their Consciences the Dictates and Suggestions of their natural Consciences But we have no occasion to speak any further of this at present that which we have now to do is in the name of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to expostulate the case with such persons in order to their own eternal peace and safety who instead of laying out themselves upon such terms as that they may be filled with the Spirit of God run counter as it were to such a course and by neglecting to be led by the Spirit of God take a course to be deserted by him and so empty themselves of him Now to open a little further the sinfulness and danger of such a course Sect. 16 as we speak of of not being led or neglecting to be led by the Spirit it is to be considered that men and women may incur the guilt and so the danger of not being led by the Spirit two waies or by two degrees First When they are not inwardly attentive to the Spirit that doth speak within them I do not mean now when they are not attentive to what the Spirit doth speak within them But when they are not attentive to hear or to hearken whether the Spirit will speak or hath any thing to speak or say in secret unto them or no. As a man many times and in many cases listens and hearkens not only unto those who he knows actually speak but to understand whether there be any speech or voice stirring or no especially they are wont to lie very close in their attentions when they have reason to think that they whose speech or words they are desirous to hear in case they do speak will speak but softly and with a low voice In such a case as this men are very careful to make no noise themselves nor to suffer any to be made about them if they can help it the reason hereof is plain because any noise hinders and drowns a soft voice that it cannot be understood The Town Clerk of Ephesus could not be heard for a long season because of the uproar amongst the People Nor will a man of ordinary discretion especially being of a weak voice though he hath never so great a desire to speak attempt to speak whilest there is a noise round about him This is the case in the great business before us First The voice of the Spirit of God in men by which he guideth them is but very soft and low at least
to the Spirit when they shall find their hearts carried out from time to time to do some excellent thing to go beyond the line of ordinary men If any in this case shall say there is no need of such waies that we should strain so high or go so far to be Wiser or more Righteous or fuller of Faith or good Works than other men are and shall put off the Spirit of God with such kind of Answers and Replies as these and shall refuse to sow unto him this must needs likewise tend to the grieving of the Spirit of God within them and consequently they are not like afterwards to find those suggestions and impulses in their hearts and consciences as formerly they were wont to have So much for this Use being a Use of Reproof CHAP. XVI The fourth and last Vse of the Doctrine being an Exhortation to use all means we are capable of in order to a being filled with the Spirit of God Three Motives propounded The first More generally taken from the nature of the Commandments of God That this Duty is one of the holy and righteous Retinue of Duties enjoyned us by God Neglect of his Commands provoketh him to Jealousie The second Motive This being known to be a Duty enjoyned by God neglected hinders the Soul from prospering in the things of its own peace The vast difference and great danger of an habitual Omission of known Duties in comparison of Duties a man is ignorant of A third Motive This is a Duty enjoyned by the Lord Christ who speaks now from Heaven The difference between God's speaking on the Earth and now speaking from Heaven Neglect of Evangelical Duties much more provoking than the neglect under the Law Heb. 12.25 in part opened A being filled with the Spirit purely Evangelical THe Fourth and last Use is of Exhortation Sect. 1 if it be a Duty imposed by God upon all Flesh especially upon those who believe to be filled with the Spirit then let us all in the fear of God and reverence of his Grace and Wisdom by which he commendeth unto us things that are excellent which make with an high hand both for our present and Eternal peace Let us I say quit our selves like men and hearken unto the voice of this Exhortation and arm our selves with this Resolution that if there be any thing to be done by us if there be any course or means of which we are capable whereby to be filled with the Spirit that we will not come short of this blessedness that we will cast in our Lots with those which are faithful and filled with the Spirit and will be filled also Let us not I beseech you be found amongst those who set at naught the Counsels of their God and value his Words but as Wind but let us rather consider how to provoke every man of us his own soul and every man the soul of another to set about the Duty now mentioned and enjoyned in the Text and to lift up both heart and hand unto it There are many Considerations some of a more general some of a more special and near relation to the Exhortation and Duty now commended unto you that are full of spirit and life to quicken and stir you up to the performance of it First in the general you shall do well to consider that the Duty whereunto you have been exhorted is one of that holy and righteous Retinue of Duties commanded unto us and enjoyned upon us by God and so the Exhortation by which it is enjoyned is one of the Counsels and Precepts of God of the most High God it is no foreiner or stranger amongst them it is none of the Tares which the Enemy hath introduced amongst the Counsels of God The complection of it shews it to be a Precept of that heavenly Parentage and Race the goodness and loveliness of it sheweth it to be from none other but God alone It is too spiritual and holy and too full of beauty to be of humane extraction much less of a Diabolical Therefore as Christ said unto his Disciples in another case I say unto you my friends fear not c. Even so may God say unto you I say unto you my Friends be filled with my Spirit Though the residue of the World round about you will not stir their hearts and consciences will not budge at this Exhortation they know not the worth of it Yet you oh my Friends you that love me you that are in a more peculiar manner beloved by me be ye filled with my Spirit My Brethren this being one of the Royal Commands of God Sect. 2 it therefore stands us in hand to look about us and to bethink our selves with the whole strength and might of our Consciences what we have to do in reference unto it Sin and Disobedience unto God or rather a neglect to obey the great Counsels of God is that which makes his Jealousie smoke against the World from time to time which makes the Foundations of the Earth to quake and tremble which maketh havock and desolation of the glory thereof It is a fearful thing as the Apostle is our Remembrancer Heb. 10.31 to fall into the hands of the living God i. e. to come under his revenging hand as is to be gathered from the former Verse Now What is it that causeth men to fall into the avenging hand of God but the despising his Counsels and neglecting the Words of his Mouth without being reclaimed Our simple not obeying the Commands of God is not so much as our neglecting or despising his Commands As on the other hand our simple keeping or obeying them as our reverence and respects shewed unto them A man though he may receive many indignities from his Child or others yet if he do not apprehend that there is any neglect or contempt in the person who offereth these indignities he can bear it much the better But if he apprehend that it proceeds from neglect and contempt this is highly provoking This is the case my Brethren for men and women to trespass upon the Commandments of God at unawares there being otherwise a reverential esteem of these Commandments in the Soul is not so provoking in the sight of God But it is the despising or neglecting the Commandments of God And therefore the Prophet Nathan coming by Commission immediately from God 2 Sam. 12.9 10. did not charge the sin which David had committed so much upon the Acts of Murther and Adultery as upon his despising the Commandment of God Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight David did not maintain that high and reverend esteem in his heart and soul of these Commands of God which he had violated So in Isa 5.24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the Stubble and the flame consumeth the Chaff So shall their Root be rottenness c. Because they have cast away the Law of the Lord of Hosts and despised the
Word of the Holy One of Israel See also Psal 119.60 And the Philosopher in his definition of anger makes it the off-spring of neglect or contempt implying that it is never conceived or kindled in any mans breast by any other coal but that of contempt at least so apprehended My Brethren God is a God of great patience he beareth much from the Sons and Daughters of men and can pass by a thousand infirmities He can bear with his Sons and Daughters under mighty Provocations But if men shall go on from day to day in their neglect and contempt of him and his Counsels and will not repent when he giveth them space and admonisheth them accordingly if yet they will walk on in the stubbornness of their hearts then he will make his Jealousie to smoke against them and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God We heard but now what it is that causeth a man to fall into the hands of the Living God and that not meerly the committing of sin but the despising of the Commands of God the undervaluing of them and casting them behind their backs This is that which causeth the breach between men and that God whose name is Jealous And therefore if the words of this Counsel and blessed Advice shall be flighted by us and looked upon as a common word and not be entertained as the Word of the Living God this must needs provoke the Spirit of God and cause the Great God of Heaven and Earth to break forth as a Lion out of a Thicket upon those who have neglected and despised this Word of his Indeed many men make but as it were a pastime as Solomon's Expression is Fools make a pastime of sin So many make it but a matter of course to pass by and to give the Counsels of God a hearing they enter in at one ear and there being none to entertain them and keep them by the way out they go at the other But now my Brethren though the Counsels and Precepts of God make so little adoe in the World make no noise there Like unto Jesus Christ who in the daies of his flesh made no clamour nor lifted up his voice in the Streets but when he shall come from heaven the Second time then he will roar like a Lion and turn the World upside down with such a turn as it was never turned before Even so will this Word and this Counsel and Exhortation and other the Commands of God though now they do not cry nor lift up their voice make no noise in the World but Silver and Gold and Pleasures and Honours these are they that engage the World and cause tumults in the minds and thoughts of men these are they that set the World together by the ears whilest the Words and Counsels of God come not near the hearts of men and have little to do there Yet these Words are they that will judge the World at last and find out the despisers of them and will place them at the left hand of Jesus Christ to whom it shall be said Depart from me ye cursed I know you not My Brethren we know not how soon that day will come upon us the Fig-trees and other Trees begin to put forth and we cannot but think the Summer is near at hand But suppose we should despise this and other the Precepts of God and set them at naught it may be we may see some daies of pleasure and ease and contentment in the World yet alas What will it profit a man saith our Saviour who was the best Estimator concerning matters of profit to gain the whole World and lose his Soul Much less will it profit a man to enjoy a few daies of ease and contentment under the neglect and contempt of the Word of God if at last he must lose his Soul or incur thereby Eternal Condemnation Yea if it should be but the quenching the Spirit of our present joy if it should rise no higher than so this is such a loss as that they who understand the true worth and value of it will think and conclude it to be a thousand times better rather to honour and to reverence and highly to esteem all the Words Counsels and Exhortations of God beginning at the first and so carrying them on unto the last and taking this along with them in their way Be ye filled with the Spirit than to lose the present comfort of it by turning their backs upon this or any other of the Commands of God And therefore Secondly To strengthen your heart and your hand Sect. 3 that they may be lifted up together to the Exhortation now commended unto you you may further consider that it being one of the Precepts of God and having now been made known in this relation unto you your souls will never prosper you will never be filled with that peace of God which passeth all understanding you will never rejoyce that signal kind of joy which the Apostle Peter calleth unspeakable and glorious if you shall from henceforth neglect it or cast it behind your backs For look as a crack or leake in a Vessel will not suffer it to fill with water or other liquor at least not remain full for any time though much water be from time to time put into it In like manner though we should be great doers in our own eyes and though others may seem but as Grashoppers in comparison of us yet nevertheless that peace and that joy and that inward comfort that you should have if there were no neglect of any the Commands of God will suffer loss If this be the case if any Command of God be despised or neglected this will be as a dead Fly in your Box of Oyntment and keep it from making that sweet smell and savour and from coming up into your Nostrils you will in effect lose the present lustre and beauty if not the future reward of all these choise services if you do otherwise Now I say who would run the hazard of the loss of the great benefits and blessings of such great works through the neglect or non-performance of one Who would lose all the joy peace and comfore of many other services and of much obedience otherwise exhibited unto God and unto Jesus Christ only to please the flesh in the neglect of one Commandment As it is with the natural health of the body though a man should use many means for his health and strength yet if he should neglect one thing that is necessary for him to do as suppose a man should eat and drink such things only as would keep the body in good habit yet if he should never sleep or if any other things as necessary as these be not used in their places and seasons health and good habit and state of body will never be any mans portion So in this case a man shall never find his soul in a comfortable habit he shall never
Exhortation delivered and the Duty recommended therein you may please to consider this one thing farther which was lately touched on by the by that you may rise up early and go to bed late and eat the bread of much carefulness you may spend the strength of your minds and understandings to procure other accommodations and enjoyments such I mean which relate to the outer man only aad yet never eat the labour of your hand nor see the fruit of the travel of your souls or that which is little better if not rather worse ye may only taste of what you seek after in this kind that which you shall take in hunting and yet not be able to continue the enjoyment of it for any considerable space of time A day an hour yea possibly a moment may bereave you of what the care and labour of many years advanced you unto whereas first it hath been already shewed and proved unto you that whoever shall lay out themselves for this spiritual and heavenly accommodation of being filled with the Spirit shall most certainly obtain it Secondly In persevering in this course unto the end your attainments shall stand by you in glory and blessedness for ever But as the Prophet David saith Psal 34.10 The young Lions shall suffer hunger c. so it is with those that seek the glory and great things of this World that pursue the Honours and Wealth and Pleasures thereof these many times suffer hunger and want He that seeketh after Honour and Riches falleth short and so he that seeketh after Pleasures is disappointed But he that shall seek to be filled with the Spirit of God shall be filled therewith neither shall any thing be able to separate between him and it And as the Apostle reasoneth concerning the love of God Rom. 8. Even so it is in the case in hand neither life nor death nor any other thing neither Trouble nor Persecution nor Angels no nor Devils shall be able to separate and step in between those who shall engage themselves in a consciencious manner to be filled with the Spirit and the actual accomplishment and enjoyment of this felicity The Spirit of Ambition may work in you as the Grace of God did in Paul mightily and yet of this Spirit you may reap nothing but dishonour and disgrace and covering of the face with shame and confusion Absolom as we lately intimated ran with all his might and with all his strength for the Prize of a Kingdom but that which he got by his running was an ignominious and untimely death being hung by the hair of his head on the bough of a great Oak 2 Sam. 18.9 as he fled to save his life from the pursuit of Davids men in which posture three Darts were thrust through his heart by Joab Many ambitious Climers in all Ages have met with the like disasters and disappointments All Histories almost fill the World with examples in this kind that men before they come at the top of the Ladder fall down and are broken and crushed to pieces they wholly miscarry and get nothing but a covering of darkness instead of that grandeur or greatness which they lift up their hearts unto and many who did compass the grandeur and greatness in the World which they sought after were soon dispossessed The like may be said concerning Riches and of those that in the sweat of their brows and burning of their hearts have sought to sit down and rest themselves under the shadow of a great Estate As Paul said of his Country-men the Jews that following after the Law of Righteousness they attained not the Law of Righteousness so we may say of many that following after Riches they have not attained to be rich But whosoever follow after this being filled with the Spirit have and shall most certainly attain it Those carnal designs are meerly accidental and casual attempts which men often miscarry in The Scriptures are full of such Expressions which sufficiently confirm the truth of what we say I returned and saw an evil under the Sun saith Solomon Eccl. 9.11 the Race is not to the swift nor the Bâ—ttel to the strong neither yet bread to the wise nor yet Riches to men of understanding nor favour to men of skill but time and chance happens to all So elsewhere Prov. 28.22 11.24 you shall find that those who are great designers of Wealth many times are disappointed and senâ— empty away He that maketh haste to be rich hath an evil eye and knoweth not doth not consider that poverty is coming upon him And so There is that withholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty many times their Projects fail them and they come to poverty So that we see there is great uncertainty in all these things we do not know whether our design will prosper in our hand or no for God hath not made any such connexion between these carnal projects and their ends but that he can forbid their coming together But we have the Word of the Living God the security of Heaven that if any man will build a spiritual house carry on a heavenly design if they will lay out their hearts and spirits upon it God will stand by such men their labour shall not be in vain God hath established a Law that shall not be broken a Law like unto the Law of the Sun and Moon which shall be kept inviolable that he that desireth to eat of this bread shall have to eat abundantly he that shall run the course of this Design shall obtain He that giveth to every Seed his own body ordinarily in things natural will never fail here he hath put a Law upon himself neither will his nature give him leave to separate and divide between the means that are spiritual and the end to be attained by them He that soweth the Seed shall reap the Fruit whosoever shall ask in this kind shall receive and whosoever knocketh it shall be opened unto him Now if you please but to consider in a word the weight and import of this Motive you know that men do not love to sow their Seed in vain to part with their Silver and Gold for things that are of no use It is every mans case and they are accounted the wisest of men that can prevent such things the interposure whereof is apt to deprive them of that for which they have given their money Now then this is the case as to the business we have been exhorting you unto viz. A being filled with the Spirit it is a Commodity which if you will lay out your selves for it will most certainly be made good unto you it is not obnoxious to any disappointment either by God Angels or Men. Now then Why should any man bestow his time upon that which he may possibly not enjoy or in case he may enjoy it it will be but for a short season or if he should enjoy it for any long season yet at last it
our cares we should ease our selves of much trouble For this is that by which men and women spoile themselves in that they take up the care of many daies at once Men will care for to morrow and for forty daies together whereas the care of one day the evil and trouble that doth attend it is sufficient unto it but the effect of this care for the time to come is to fill with trouble and feare There is indeed a fear of which Solomon speaks Prov. 28.14 when he saith Happy is the man that feareth alwaies and it is rather an evil or a misery to be freed from this fear than any matter of profit But this we say a being filled with the Spirit of God a rich anointing with this oyl will reduce the heart and soul of a man to such a pass to such a temper and frame that it shall be impenetrable invulnerable by such Arrows of cares and fears which are wont to pierce and strike thorough the hearts of other men and to slay all their comforts and peace As there are some kinds of Oyls or Oyntments as some have affirmed which are so sovereign against the impressions of hot boyling Lead or the like that they will secure men from receiving any harm by them if timely applied Whether this be true or not yet in the business before us the Scripture it self taketh notice of that great and marvellous effect of a rich anointing of the Spirit of God we speak of Psal 27.1 2 3. compared with Psal 46.1 2 3. And Psal 112.6 7 8. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom then shall I be afraid When the wicked even mine Enemies and my Foes came upon me to eat up my flesh they stumbled and fell Psal 46. God is my refuge and strength a very present help in time of trouble therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed and though the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea c. And so again Though an host of men should compass me about yet herein will I be confident Now we may easily perceive that these are very high expressions of a fearless and dreadless spirit though the Earth be moved out of its place The moving of the Earth and tossing to and fro of Mountains represent unto us things that are of a most terrible and formidable nature and very astonishing to the World We know the shaking of Mount Sinai was so terrible that Moses himself is said to fear exceedingly And so an Host of men is a thing which is most terrible yet saith he in this case though an host of men shall come marching against me yet herein will I be confident And Psal 112.6 7 8. Surely he shall not be removed for ever The Righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance he shall not be afraid of evil tydings his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord c. That which will cause the hearts of other men to fear namely evil tydings and cause them to shake and tremble like the Trees of the Forrest when they are shaken with a mighty wind will have no operation at least comparatively upon the men and women of this Character which we are now speaking of viz. which are filled with the Spirit Now the Reason why a rich anointing with the Spirit of God must fortifie the spirit and soul of a man Sect. 2 to make it inaccessible unto troublesome cares and fears is because it is a kind of spiritual intoxication answering a drunkenness with Wine to which it is opposed Be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess but be ye filled with the Spirit I conceive that by the opposition in this Comparison the Apostles intent is to shew that there is a likeness between a being filled with the Spirit and being drunk with Wine For as Drunkenness doth stupifie the natural senses doth bereave a man of the use and exercise of them so that for the time he is not capable of minding his own Concernments he is not affected with any thing that doth concern his state or health or any thing that is before him Even so or after such a manner a being filled with the Spirit doth as it were bereave a man of his carnal senses it doth reduce a man in his mind and understanding to such a state that the Flesh and the things thereof have little or no place in him it casteth him into a kind of heavenly extasie in which he is taken up with matters of another nature of a more high and excellent concernment so that the things which concern him here in the World either matters of trouble or sorrow or any other thing or concernment whatsoever little move or affect him whilest he is as it were in this heavenly extasie it doth as I said bereave him of those senses principles and thoughts which other men abound withal who are accounted sober men and wise in their Generation in the matters of this present World If we be besides our selves saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.13 it is to God There is no man that is filled with the Spirit of God but he is apt to do as one that is besides himself he doth not take knowledge doth not mind is not so much affected with such kind of things as relate to himself which other men as it were make their All in All and according to the giving out of which whether on the right hand or on the left they stand or fall they live or die they live if the World stand by them if their Silver and Gold their Health and Strength and other enjoyments continue with them but if these fail them they are dead in the Nest But it is not so with him that is filled with the Spirit of God For as it was with Lot in his fit of Drunkenness he neither perceived when his Daughters lay down by him nor yet when they rose up from him so when a man is in his heavenly rapture of a fulness of the Spirit of God he doth not much mind nor is much affected when the World lieth down by him and beareth him company nor when it riseth up and taketh its leave and departeth from him in one kind of enjoyment or other Now this being the proper nature and tendency of being filled with the Spirit to stupifie and turn the edge of natural affections which occasion trouble and sorrow in the World it must needs follow that they who are in this state must needs be under an heavenly security and their hearts like unto the upper Region where there is no impressions of any fiery Meteors but a constant and uniform serenity and tranquillity In like manner is it with the heart and inward part of a man that is filled with the Spirit of God there is no impression of any sadness or cares or tormenting fears I speak only of the usual habitual and standing frame and
condition of such a mans soul and spirit it is one thing what God may do or suffer to be done in a case not ordinary and in reference to some extraordinary end and purpose of his in the World He may give way and his Spirit may suspend his own actings though the heart and soul be full of him and so there may be some weakness and impressions of fear and sadness or the like But we speak not of what such a person may suffer at times and in cases not ordinary but we speak of the standing and habitual frame of his heart and soul and what this fulness of the Spirit doth for him and what state it putteth him in ordinarily And doubtless if it were not so God would want one great Engine to draw and work up the hearts and spirits of men and women unto the heighth of holiness For if he would have men to be Noahs and Jobs and Daniels I mean to be signally excellent in faith and holiness if he would have men like unto the tall Cedars in Lebanon he must accordingly propound and hold forth something by way of reward and recompense that shall as it were draw and work them up above the common line and the ordinary strain of the World round about them For if he should have no great priviledge to invest those withal whose labours and endeavours and diligence should surpass the labour and diligence of other men in waies of holiness and righteousness the World would be all of a level and of the same pitch the whole World of Christians and Believers would be but men of a low stature But now God as he hath gone to work having variety of considerations and rewards some rich and glorious above others to propound unto men he hath taken an effectual course to have the waies of excellency in holiness and righteousness often frequented and walked in which otherwise would have been unoccupied by the Sons and Daughters of men if he had not provided encouragements to excite or stir them up thereunto Therefore it is very reasonable to conceive that a being filled with the Spirit should be rewarded by God with some signal Priviledge namely by rendring them that are so filled free from troublesome cares and fears above the Rate and Line of those whose hearts will not serve them to rise up unto it Secondly Where there is a fulness a rich anointing of the Spirit Sect. 3 there must needs be an abundance of Peace and Joy This was a second particular of the Four a concurrence whereof must needs be conceived to make a mans Condition in the World as desirable as flesh and bloud is capable of Freedom from care and trouble is a kind of Negative Peace but it is but such a Peace whereof irrational Creatures yea Inanimate Creatures are capable as well as mene yea those that are dead have part and fellow ship in this Peace according to that of Job 3.18 19. There the Servant is free from his Master c. But that Peace which we now speak of is somewhat positive and hath a true and real existence in the soul it is a sweet composedness of the mind and spirit and conscience of a man and this well built upon grounds of knowledge by means whereof a man is whole and entire himself and at perfect liberty to serve God and men and himself in every good way and work this is that Peace which we call a positive Peac which hath Joy alwaies accompanying it We shall not upon the occasion in hand stand to scan the description according to the several parts of it this would cause too great a digression it shall suffice at present to know that the Peace which we affirm to be a fruit or effect of a being filled with the Spirit is a very blessed and desirable thing such a state or constitution of the Spirit or soul of a man which is a principal member or part of that happiness which a Creature whilst he is cloathed with flesh and bloud is capable of attaining or enjoying Now that such a Peace as that now briefly represented unto you must needs accompany a being filled with the Spirit is fully evident from the consideration of these three things one consequentially following and depending on another First He that is filled with the Spirit must needs act for God at an excellent and high rate of zeal and faithfulness Secondly He that acteth for God at such a rate as this is not much subject to be tempted and yet much less to be overcome or drawn into waies or works of sin by temptation Thirdly and lastly He that is not overcome by temptation nor drawn to provoke God by sinning cannot but enjoy much of that Peace of God which as the Apostle saith passeth all understanding To open this a little by the way A man who is of a large understanding may go on very far to conceive of the blessedness of a peaceable estate and condition he may form to himself abundance of felicity and set some kind of value thereon and may compass much ground and travel very far into this Land yet it passeth all understanding for when men have sailed with their intellectual abilities very far yet this Peace of God hath more in it more for the comfort and accommodation of the Creature than ever will be put to account than ever will be drawn out by any understanding in men But this only by the way But to return First Sect. 4 He that is filled with the Spirit whilest he is careful to maintain so blessed a priviledge must needs act at some high and more than ordinary rate of zeal and faithfulness for God For what difference else can we reasonably imagine to be between these that are filled with the Spirit and those who are not And the Scripture it self from place to place maketh it evident that persons filled with the Spirit of God have still acted and done very much as hath been said have promoted and carried on the interest of God and of Christ with a high hand in the World Yea when any persons did any thing above the ordinary Line of men for God or Christ the holy Pen-men who report and record these things to make their report in this behalf the more passable and worthy of credit in the mind and thoughts of men give notice before-hand that the persons thus acting were men full of the Holy Ghost Thus Luke Act. 6.9 10 being about to relate the Heroick Acts of Stephen First In arguing and disputing down the Synagogue of the Libertines and other Sects and then in his high Contest with the High Priests and Elders and Scribes and others present at the Council where he reproved them all sharply to their faces saying Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears c. Chap. 7.51 exposing his life hereby to their malice and rage Luke I say the Sacred Historian of these magnifick Acts of Stephen giveth special
notice before-hand that he was a man full of the Holy Ghost Acts 6.5 And they chose Stephen a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost lâ—st otherwise the greatness of the Actions might prejudice the belief of them in those that should read them Whereas the Reader taking notice that Stephen was a man endued with more than ordinary Power and Wisdom from on High full of the Holy Ghost they might upon this account look upon it as a thing no waies incredible that Stephen should do and speak and suffer for both 〈◊〉 did So likewise when Paul Acts 13.9 in the Condition of a stranger undertook the bold and high Contest against Elimas the Sorcerer as he is called a false Prophet being a great Favourite as it seemeth to Sergiue Paulus the chief Ruler of the Country in the Isle of Cyprus there is express mention made before-hand of his being full of the Holy Ghost Then Saul who also is called Paul filled with the Holy Ghost set his eyes upon him and said c. Implying that such a thing as this would hardly have been undertaken by Paul unless he had been carried on by the Spirit of God within him and that by some considerable fulness of him And this Paul we now speak of laboured we know in the work of the Lord more abundantly than they all he was as we may say the Lord Christ's right hand upon the Earth he drove Sathan the God of this World before him from place to place and triumphed over him every where where he came he was too hard for him and cast him down from heaven like lightning and turned the affairs of his Kingdom upside down and laid wast his power made havock and desolation in all the Territories which he had amongst the generality of men But how came it about what was the reason why this Apostle so much and to such an high degree over acted the Line of the Labours Zeal and Faithfulness of all his Follows Questionless the reason was he had a richer and fuller anointing of the Spirit than they the Sails of his soul were filled with a stronger gale of the Spirit of God than theirs himself doth in effect give this account of his heroick and high Actings for Jesus Christ in the World Col. 1.28 29. Whom we preach saith he warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus whereunto I also labour striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily he laboured for this very purpose to present every man perfect in Christ and he did it according to his working namely the Spirit of Christ which did work in him mightily or with power Where observe by the way that the Apostle saith that he did labour in conformity unto the mighty working of the grace of God or of the Spirit of God in him the meaning seems to be this that the Spirit of God that put him on and Paul were both agreed Paul as ready to go as the Spirit was to send By this means Paul went on in all those Heroick Actions which he did and made great havock and desolation among the powers of sin and darkness and unbelief in the World By means I say of the Spirit Paul submitting himself unto him and receiving his impressions and going along with them he was enabled to many great atchievements and to labour more abundantly in the Gospel and for the interest of God and his glory in the World and the good of men also than any nay all the rest of the Apostles though they were men who were also very serviceable in their Generation To instance no father the Lord Christ himself who was the Worthy of all Worthies that ever the great God of Heaven and Earth imployed in any service upon Earth who was the first-born Servant of God and Elder Brother to Paul himself who kindled a fire that never was yet quenched nor ever shall be until it hath consumed all his Enemies and laid a foundation in his own bloud to build up the Name of God in the greatest glory amongst Angels and Men to the daies of Eternity He I say was a man of these high and most transcendent Atchievements by the advantage he had of all other men in being filled with the Spirit above them all according to that of Joh. 3.34 where it is said that God gave him the Spirit without measure he was not only filled with the Spirit but had the over flowing of the Spirit never did any man attain unto his pitch of zeal and faithfulness to the service of God So that there is no question but that he that is filled with the Spirit is in a capacity to Act and cannot lightly but Act at a very high rate for God if be do but follow the motions of the Spirit of God and will go along with them then he cannot I say but be great in the sight of God great in the services of Christ and of his Saints If you desire to know the reason hereof it is because as the higher the wind bloweth that Ship whose Sails are duly trimmed runneth so much the faster and riddeth the more way upon the Seas Even so when the heart and soul of a man shall be full of the Spirit of God such a person must needs be acted and carried on with more power and vigour in a swifter manner or course and be enabled to do twice as much as another in the same compass of time who hath but a scanty presence of the Spirit of God with him You know it is our Saviours Expression Joh. 3.6 That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit I suppose he maketh mention of being born of the flesh only to shew and make things more passable to the understanding of Nicodomus to make way for that which he spake in the latter Now saith he that which is born of the flesh is flesh that thou and every man knows as the Parent that begetteth a Child is of a fleshly nature so that which is born must needs be flesh also And dost thou not know how a man shall be born again of the Spirit It is even as it is with those that be born of the flesh they partake of the same nature and receive the impressions of the flesh So it is with the Spirit that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit Such as is the nature of the Spirit of God such also is that which is born or begotten of it that is those Principles whatsoever they are that he who is born of the Spirit doth receive by means of the Spirit of God must answer and be like unto those which the Spirit of God himself hath of which he is born or begotten Now you know that the Spirit of God is full of the Love of God and full of Zeal for God and set upon the magnifying of him in the World and promoting his Interest in the
hearts of the Sons and Daughters of men Now he that is born of the Spirit must needs act and be enclined after the same manner he will be zealous for God bestirring himself in his way as the Spirit of God doth in his way So then this is the first thing we were to shew in order to a demonstration or proof that a being filled with the Spirit must needs be accompanied with abundance of peace and joy viz. that he that is filled with the Spirit must needs be large hearted and highly active for God The second thing which upon the same account we have to prove is Sect. 5 that such men and women whose waies are thus on high as Solomon saith are not much obnoxious to temptations by Sathan or however not like to be overcome by them First We say that persons filled with the Spirit and consequently acting with an high hand and great resolution for God and for Jesus Christ are not in this respect so obnoxious unto temptations I mean are not so like to be assaulted to be tempted by the Tempter Sathan hath no such encouragements from these men they do not stand on purpose to be tempted by him as the far greatest part of men and women in the World do who go so to work in the things of God with so much deadness and lasiness that they do upon the matter invite the Tempter As we use to say Opportunity makes a Thief so the opportunity that men offer the Tempter who is carrying on his interest in the World to render it as miserable as he can at present and as miserable as may be for Eternity maketh him so busie with them Whereas those who are filled with the Spirit do upon the matter cut him off of all opportunity in this kind and consequently make him less careful or solicitous to spend his temptations upon such as these The Reason hereof is because he hath less hope to make any earnings upon such men the excellent Spirit for waies and works of righteousness and holiness which he continually discovers in these men breaks the heart of his hopes of doing any good upon them of prevailing over them This observing of the wind keeps him from sowing his temptations in those fields As a man though he hath a Quiver never so full of Arrows careth not to shoot them against a brazen Wall So neither will Sathan the Devil care to throw his fiery Darts against those who are so hard to come at who are alwaies up and out in the heighth of their spirits for God For as the Scripture saith 1 Cor. 9.10 he that ploweth or soweth ploweth and soweth in hope meaning that no man would either plow or sow but in hope to reap So neither will Sathan care to plow or sow but when he hath a hope of an harvest Now his Harvest is nothing else but the sin and wickedness of men and unless it were for this he would not care to tempt men God of old gave this by way of motive and encouragement unto the Jews to cause all their male children to appear three times a year in Jerusalem viz. that he would cast out the Nations before them and enlarge their borders and as a fruit and consequence of this he adds Neither shall any man desire thy Land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year Exod. 34.24 When I have taken such a course by magnifying thee by enlarging thy quarters then no mans heart shall desire or think of conquering of thee So when God hath filled men and women with his Spirit and by means hereof hath raised and enlarged their hearts to any Heroick kind of acting and conversing in the World and hath removed sin and wickedness far from them there is no desire of ensnaring or foyling them like to come up into the heart of Sathan And therefore it was that the Lord Christ was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted by the Devil Mat. 4.1 Mar. 1.12 Luke 4.1 He had an anointing of the Spirit of God above all his Fellows and therefore the Devil had no mind to set upon him with any of his Temptations unless it were upon some special advantage and therefore he was led aside into a very desolate and howling Wilderness amongst the wild Beasts as Mark saith there were some Wildernesses amongst them that had Towns but this was altogether without Inhabitants All which clearly implieth that the Devil had no mind to Duel with him but upon special advantages as his being ready to suffer thorough hunger his being amongst wild Beasts in a place remote from men altogether without Inhabitants for otherwise what necessity was there that the Lord Christ should be led aside into the Wilderness but only in order hereunto He continued fasting forty daies and afterwards when he was an hungry then he fell upon him So likewise the Devil observing how mightily the Grace and Spirit of God wrought in Paul had questionless the less edge to bestow time upon him in tempting of him and Paul was little other in Sathan's eye than a brazen Wall against which he cared not to shoot It is true the Apostle reports 2 Cor. 12.7 how there was given unto him a Messenger of Sathan a thorne in the flesh lest he should be exalted above measure But first That which is here termed a Messenger of Sathan and described to be a thorn in the flesh is said to have been given him meaning by God i. e. to have been by a special interposure of God disposed to him not in order to a perpetration of any sin which the greatest part of the Devils temptations are but to the preventing of it From whence by the way it clearly enough appears that the thorne in the flesh here spoken of was no last of uncleanness nor any sensual concupiscence because then Paul would not have said that it had been given unto him But doubtless it is rather meant of some false Apostle that endeavoured to undermine him Haply it may be it was some Christian Friend that did Paul a displeasure that did undermine his credit in one kind or other but however the very end for which the Messenger of Sathan was given him it was not to draw him into sin but for the preventing of sin as he saith lest I should be exalted above measure or lest he should conceive an opinion of himself above that which was meet for him to conceive Secondly It appears that Sathan was in one kind or other over-acted by God in sending such a Messenger and that the Temptation was over-ruled by some hand of God also Thus it appears in the second place why those that are filled with the Spirit of God are not obnoxious to be tempted by the Devil and that the Devil is not much enclined to tempt such persons as we speak of This appeareth further from Jam. 4.7 Resist the Devil and he will flee from you
What is the meaning of the Apostle but this viz. Give him a short and sharp and absolute answer and you shall not long be troubled with him for the Dâ—â—â— knows his time is but short it is shorter by many degrees now than it was then the Devil hath no time to spare nor to trifle away and therefore it is like he will not lose his labour nor time where he is resisted But in case such persons who are filled with the Spirit shall at any time be tempted they are not subject or likely to yield unto the Temptations The reason of this is as the Apostle informeth us Gal. 5.16 17. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh c. That is go along with the Spirit of God hearken to his motions and they that be filled with him cannot lightly but go along with him The Spirit resisteth the Flesh and being in his might he is able to overcome the flesh whilest the Tide of the Spirit runneth strong it beareth the stream and current of the Flesh down before it 1 Joh. 4.4 He that is in you is greater than he that is in the World the Spirit coming in with the fulness of his Power though the Flesh should attempt to carry men into waies of unworthiness yea though the Devil should by his temptations strengthen the flesh yet nevertheless he that is in them the Spirit of God is greater and more mighty than corruptions are or than the Devil himself is This is the second thing propounded viz. that they that are filled with the Spirit are not obnoxious to be tempted unto sin or however not so obnoxious to be overcome by temptations as others are who have but a scanty presence of the Spirit of God in them The third and last follows which is Sect. 6 that they who are not so obnoxious unto temptations or unto sinning by temptation are like to enjoy much peace much of the peace of God which passeth all understanding and of that blessed state of inward joy which is unspeakable and full of glory Now this is that which we are to prove unto you from the Scripture and likewise sound reason will stand by us in it That joy and peace which is raised by the Holy Ghost is far greater than the joy that men can take in silver and gold these kind of objects affect the heart but little comparatively or if the hearts of men should be so affected with these things that they run over with that peace and joy which can be drawn from them yet this then joy is but groundless a joy that hath no substantial ground it is such as wâ—ll nor stand by you it will ere long be gone and the end of that joy will be sorrow But that which properly is the joy of the Lord is when that passion of joy riseth and springs up in men and women from the root of holiness and by means of such objects which they converse withal which are great and excellent and of a spiritual nature and will bear them out in any measure or degree of rejoycing And as spiritual objects work upon and move mens affections to an excellent height so will men also be constant and uniform in their joy and peace which is thus raised in them unless the working of this their joy and peace be interrupted by men themselves by behaving themselves unworthily towards God and Jeâ—us Christ all the things in the World besides cannot do it When the Conscience testifieth with a loud voice that a man hath lived holily and walked humbly with his God hath been obedient unto him in all his waies and commands it cannot be but that upon such a testimony a man must like unto Jordan in the time of harvest overflow with joy and peace Mercy as the Apostle James saith Jam. 2.13 rejoyceth against Judgment a Conscience testifying to a man that he hath been merciful that he hath done much good that hath ministred like unto himself according to the ability which God hath given him such a conscience as this doth make a man to rejoyce against Judgment Now then if this one course of worthiness be so great an advantage unto men and women how much greater is it when there is not only this particular way of worthiness but when this shall be strengthened with another excellent way and another and another to that when a man shall have this Testimony in his conscience that he hath not only been a merciful man but also that in other things he hath walked uprightly and perfectly before his God that he hath not corrupted himself neither by any unmercifulness of Spirit nor with any of the waies and practices of this World When there is such a consort of heavenly practices met together these will enable men to magnifie themselves against the fears of death and make men stand like Princes before God undaunted and unapaled This then is the second of the four particulars a concurrent enjoyment whereof cannot lightly be conceived but that they must needs render a mans state and condition of life in this World excellent and desirable The third thing Sect. 7 which we told you must needs render a mans state and condition in the World desirable was a free and large Communion with God Now first that such a priviledge and enjoyment as this must needs contribute richly towards the rendring a mans state and condition in this World for of this only we speak at present excellently contentful satisfactory and desirable in the highest unto him Secondly That this priviledge must needs accompany a being filled with the Spirit and be possessed and enjoyed by all those who are thus filled may be made to appear by a little consideration But by the way give me leave to shew you first What I mean by Communion with God Secondly What I mean by a free Communion Thirdly What I mean by a large or full Communion with God Fourthly To make it good that this must needs render a mans condition desirable in the World And then fifthly To shew that this Priviledge must needs accompany our being filled with the Spirit First Then by a Communion with God I mean an inward and spiritual converse or intercourse of the soul with God or a recourse making unto God upon all occasions for direction help or comfort from hiâ— together with a readiness in God to correspond in all such occasions â—s these I confess Communion with God taking the word Communion in a large sense extendeth farther than any thing now expressed and comprehends somewhat more viz. a mutual or reciprocal propensness between God and the Creature to sympathize the one with the other according to the condition of their mutual affairs respectively whether prosperous or adverse and true it is that this Communion also intercedes between God and him that is filled with his Spirit But in the Point before us we chiefly intend the other viz. a capacity or
bloud to be able to stand with an untroubled and undaunted spirit before the great and mighty God of Heaven and Earth to come freely and boldly into his Presence So again to be able to stand and contemplate the inestimable and incomprehensible Majesty of the great God of Heaven and Earth to be able I say to bear the weight of this Majesty and Glory without any trouble or burthen to the mind or spirit of a man how great and how rich a glory must this needs be It was the Saying of another Philosopher who was greatly taken with that Creature the Sun he professed that if he might be permitted to stand near the Sun were it but for one day so as that he might but understand what nature the Sun was of he would be content to die at Evening so much did he prize the knowledge and contemplation of this glorious Creature We read of a whole Sect of Philosophers 〈◊〉 would fix their eye upon the Sun when it appeared and so stand looking upon it and never give over looking till it went down out of their sight My Brethen all created things are but slight resemblances and shadows What is the glory of them all if we shall but compare them with the glorious loveliness and splendour that is in God What is the beauty of the Sun in comparison of him and his beauty c. We all saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.18 as in a glass behold the glory of the Lord. The Angels do not see nor behold any other glory but that which is presented unto us in the glass of the Gospel they indeed see it more clearly even face to face we more darkly and yet notwithstanding that Glass of the Gospel wherein we behold the glory of the Lord is so clear and transparent that there is little difference between beholding his glory face to face and the beholding of it there every Lineament of his face being here represented to the eyes of our minds or understandings so that we can sustain little loss hereby So that if men and women would but draw near unto this Glass wherein the Face of Jesus Christ is thus represented or to be seen they might behold any thing that the Angels in heaven do and live in the same contemplation with them For here is the Power and here is the Glory and here is every thing in this Glass This doth contain the whole extent of the Face of Christ if I may so speak It holds out all the perfections of him whose face it representeth By the way As men are known by their faces so all which God is known by is called the face of God As the Mercy of God the Power of God and the Goodness of God they all make the Face of God Now then to be able to bear the weight of all this blessedness and glory without losing the use of a mans understanding without being confounded or troubled in his Intellectuals without being like a dead man cannot but be an exceeding great Priviledge I beseech you consider what other exercise or engagement of your selves or of the noble powers of your Souls can you imagine should produce any thing of a like filling and satisfying nature One thing have I desired of the Lord saith David Psal 27.4 that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the daies of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple He thought this not only a thing desirable but he was resolved to seek after it he would first commend this his desire unto the Lord and then seek after it he would try this way and that and any way that would do This one thing which he had singled out amongst all his other requests was that he might dwell in the House of the Lord all the daies of his life to behold the beauty of the Lord. My Brethren we generally are but dull Spectators of his glory it may be many of us are more taken with other objects which seem to be of a more desirable import unto us but if we did but see with David's eyes if we had judgment within us to estimate beauty indeed this would be our One thing the thing which we would chiefly desire to behold the beauty of the Lord especially inasmuch as we have liberty to behold it without being dismayed So again that was another thing in our large and free Communion with God to pray unto God with assurance that we shall be heard They that are large in the knowledge of God that understand much of his Will they that have a large Communion with God in Prayer they can pray with assurance that they shall be accepted and that their request shall be granted unto them Now then if we shall weigh this Royal Priviledge also in the balance of the Sanctuary we shall find it to weigh down Silver and Gold all these things will be but as the Dust in the Balance in comparison of it To call upon the Majesty of the great God of Heaven and Earth and to have an opportunity to make your request unto him for all things you desire not only all that at present you desire but all things that can come into your hearts to desire and that you may upon occasion or emergency from day to day desire of him and to be supplied accordingly by the hand of your Angel I mean by your Prayer If this great Priviledge be but considered and laid to heart and measured by the measure of God it will be found to amount to as considerable a matter as any that we have presented you with And thus we have done with the third particular which we formerly signified unto you must needs in conjunction with the other three render the Life and Estate of a man in this World desirable in the highest as desirable I mean as this World will afford desirableness of condition unto the Sons and Daughters of men CHAP. XIX The Eighth Motive further opened in the fourth particular a being filled with the Spirit doth interest men with a rich and large Interest in God How this Interest doth arise by being filled with the Spirit of God Reasons why so little is done by Prayer now in comparison of what was done in the Primitive times Without being filled with the Spirit none of the great blessings formerly mentioned and which render a mans Condition so desirable in this World are to be obtained The Reasons whence it comes to pass And the equitableness of God's proceeding with men therein The difference between a fearless and dreadless frame of spirit that is counterfeit and that which is raised upon good Grounds A being filled with the Spirit is the only way to cause the Crown of glory to flourish on the head of a man And that with a greater measure of glory in the World which is to come THe Fourth and last particular was this Sect. 1 They that are
to be Errors Heresies Blasphemies c. and by riding over the heads of all those whom he calls Sectaries he shall set God upon the Throne and put an Iron Scepter into the hand of Jesus Christ wherewith to break all his Enemies in pieces like a Potters Vessel making full account that God will never have a Temple upon Earth unless it be of his building The Seeker whilest he throws the House of God out of the Windows as we use to say and makes an utter desolation in the Courts thereof casting out all the Ordinances and Ministrations of it as Menstruous and polluted Rags and makes an headless heartless and confused meeting of a few to speak what any Spirit one or other shall prompt them withall he conceipts and this with confidence enough too that he acts according to the heart of Jesus Christ and that persons of all other forms and waies do rather great disservice to Jesus Christ and the truth than otherwise and that he and men of his inspiration are the only persons that understand aright what makes for the lifting up of the Throne of Christ amongst men Yea the Rantor himself whose Principles and waies have no more Communion with the glory of God or of Jesus Christ than Light hath with Darkness or Christ himself with Belial yet he in his own conceipt is the first-born amongst the Friends of God and of Jesus Christ He alone it is that spreads abroad the sweet savour of Jesus Christ in the World whilest he pours out himself in all manner of abominations and sentenceth men of other Principles and Practices as strangers unto God and to the Gospel and obscurers and darkeners of the Grace of God and the fulness of Redemption purchased by Jesus Christ Yea there is another sort who is the last-born Son of Sathan that I know amongst us he finds false fire in the Zeal of all the former and therefore hath set up a new form or way for the worshipping and serving of God and though Sathan be more palpably visible in it than in any of the former yet he is confident that all other waies ought to cast down their Crowns to the ground at the feet of it yea and that they shall be made to do it Thus God hath many in the World that pretend high in Friendship to him and in Zeal for his glory who yet indeed trouble and disturbe the World And many of them labour in the very sire and some of them do as little spare their flesh as the Servants of Baal did who cut themselves with Knives and Lances which they needed not to do in case they were real Friends indeed unto God and worthy Imitators of the true Zeal and Christian fervour of Spirit which uttered themselves in the Primitive Christians So that as Solomon observing the common pretenses and professions of men one to another expresseth himself thus Prov 20.6 Mâ—st men will boast every man of his own goodness But who can find a faithful man That is a Friend indeed and indeed So may God altogether as truly say that there are many in the World men of this way and men of that way men of a third of a fourth and of a fifth who all boast of their goodness who pretend love to me and zeal for my glory but I can hardly find a faithful man amongst them a man who naturally careth for the things of my glory As the Apostle speaks concerning Timothy that did naturally mind his Affairs it is one of the hardest things in the World to find men especially any publick Society of men that do naturally mind the things of Jesus Christ But the thing I was saying unto you is that the reason why the interest of Prayer in the World I mean amongst Professors of Christianity is fallen so low as it is and is in a manner sunk in comparison of that which it was and appeared to be in the Christians of old is because that the Spirit of love to God that Heroick and vigorous Spirit is sunk in the Christian World It was upon the Wing in the times of the Apostles and some Ages after them but now among all pretenders to God certain it is that God amongst them all finds not many faithful Friends not many of that integrity and uprightness of heart and soul which was found in the Primitive Christians For as God reasoned the case with the Jews long since Isa 59.1 2. Behold the Lords hand is not shortened c. neither his ear heavy that he cannot hear So then this is a thing which needs be no mans doubt or question that to be great in the sight of God and to have his ear continually open unto a mans Prayer must needs be a treasure of comfort and peace unto him and so in consort with those three other Priviledges formerly opened renders a mans life and condition in the World as desirable as God judgeth meet to permit it to be here We further added Sect. 7 in the proposal of the Motive yet in hand that as a being filled with the Spirit would render a mans life in this World comfortable in respect of the four particulars mentioned yea most desirable So there is no other course that a man can take without this nothing that he can do besides or with a neglect of this will do it will interest a person man or woman in any or however not in all the particulars mentioned without a joynt concurrence of which there will be somewhat material and of moment wanting to the compleating of their condition in the World Let us speak a few words to this also and prove unto you that without a being filled with the Spirit none of the four particulars can be enjoyed or possessed by you at least upon any such terms on which they may be and are enjoyed by those that are filled with the Spirit and on which the desirableness of a mans life in the World is raised and maintained by them Now the reason briefly why none of the great Priviledges mentioned can be enjoyed like themselves by any other course taken or means used without a being filled with the Spirit is this because they all depend upon these cordial and high engagements for God and for the advancement of his interest in the World of which we have lately spoken and these are not likely to be found in any person or persons but in those only who are filled with the Spirit So that we have these two things to open and shew unto you First That the four particulars wherein as we have proved the life of a man in this World as to the greatest desirableness of it consists are not to be had or to be enjoyed either devisim but especially not conjunctim but only by a signal course of righteousness or a very considerable degree of activeness for God Secondly That no mans heart will ever be lifted up to such a course of righteousness as this to such
will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you Page 164 Abide in me Ver. 15.4 5. and I in you he that abideth in me and I in him bringeth forth much fruit Page 197 198 But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father Ver. 15.26 even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testifie of me Page 164 c. He shall receive of mine and shew it unto you Ver. 16.14 Page 216 217 218 And now Father Ver. 17.5 glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the World was Page 136 c. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me Ver. 8. and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from thee and they believed that thou didst send me Page 516 c. And when he had said this Ver. 20.22 23. he breathed on them and saith unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost Whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained Page 173 c. Men and Brethren Acts 1.16 this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas Page 176 And when they heard that Acts 4.24 they lift up their voice to God with one accord and said Lord thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that in them is who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said Why did the Heathen rage c. Page 176 Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost Acts 5.3 Page 42 177 Why have ye agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord Ver. 9. Page 177 For in him we live Ver. 17.28 and move and have our being Page 86 We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost Ver. 19.2 Page 228 Behold I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem Ver. 20.22 Page 43. c Because when they knew God they glorified him not as God Rom. 1.21 Page 68 Who against hope believed in hope that he might become the Father of many Nations Rom. 4.18 Page 105 Giving glory to God Ver. 20. Page 105 c. For I know that in me Ver. 7.18 that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Page 299 But I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind Ver. 23. and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members Page 299 For as many as are led by the Spirit Ver. 8.14 c. Page 295 We have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Ver. 15. Abba Father Page 505 c. The Spirit it self bearing witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God Ver. 16. Page 504 c. And of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came Ver. 9.5 who is over all God blessed for ever Page 189 If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Ver. 10.9 c. Page 48 But fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Ver. 12.11 Page 14 Rulers are not a terror to good works Ver. 13.3 but to evil Page 68 Attending continually upon this very thing Ver. 6. Page 68 For the Spirit of God searcheth the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2.10 Page 171 231 232 233 For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of a man which is in him 1 Cor. 2.11 Page 171 For though I preach the Gospel I have nothing to glory of 1 Cor. 9.16 for necessity is laid upon me yea woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel Page 353 354 Wherefore Tongues are for a sign not to them that believe 1 Cor. 14.22 but to them that believe not but Prophesying serveth not for them that believe not but for them that believe Page 406 c. Therefore 1 Cor. 15.38 my Beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmovable alwaies abounding in the Work of the Lord for asmuch as you know your labour is not in vain in the Lord Page 112 113 Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves 2 Cor. 3.5 but our sufficiency is of God Page 242 For whether we be besides our selves it is to God 2 Cor. 5.13 or whether we be sober it is for your cause Page 43 44 Having therefore these Promises 2 Cor. 7.1 let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord Page 133 134 Your Zeal hath provoked very many 2 Cor. 9.2 Page 47 He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly 2 Cor. 9.6 and he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully Page 544 For the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal 2 Cor. 10.4 but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong Holds Page 430 431 There was given to me a thorn in the flesh 2 Cor. 12.7 the Messenger of Sathan Page 492 For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit Gal. 5.17 c. so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Page 252 269 Bear ye on anothers burdens and so fulfil the Law of Christ Gal. 6.2 Page 50 51 For he that soweth to the Spirit Gal. 6.8 c. Page 290 Which is his body Eph. 1.23 the fulness of him that filleth all in all Page 131 For this cause I bow my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Eph. 3.14 15 16. Of whom the whole Family of Heaven and Earth is named That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man Page 58 59 60 That ye might being rooted and grounded in love Ver. 17 18. may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the length and breadth and depth and height c. Page 71 72 73 Let no corrupt Communication proceed out of your mouth Ver. 4.29 30. c. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God Page 12 13 304 305 Knowing whatsoever good thing any man doth Ver. 6.8 the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free Page 112 Many waxed confident by my bonds Phil. 1.14 Page 47 Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 13. for it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure Page 158 Who shall change our vile body Phil. 3.21 c. Page 122 123 That in all things he might have the preeminence Col. 1.18 Page 122 Quench not the Spirit 1 Thes 5.19 Page 10 11 12 God who counted me faithful 1 Tim. 1.12 putting me into the Ministry Page 35 36 I obtained mercy 1 Tim. 1.16 that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern Page 33 For the time will come when they will not endure sound Doctrine 2 Tim. 4.3 but will heap up Teachers according to their own lusts
external Act it self of sin This is done when the heart or will of man or woman falleth in with the Lust and taketh her to Wife and couple themselves with her i. e. when men approve and like of the Lust or Desire we speak of and begin to take care as the Apostle elsewhere speaks to make provision for it or to bethink themselves how they may gratifie it and fulfil it By the way when James saith as we have heard Then when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin The meaning is not as if this alwaies proved so viz. that every Lust consented unto produceth the external or complete Act of sinning there are many times Conceptions where there are no Births or bringing forth of Children many things may interpose to occasion an abortion or a consumption of that which is conceived in the womb And thus it may be and often is in the case of Lusts in their conceptions many men have for a time intended and purposed to do many things that are evil whose purposes and intentions notwithstanding have been dissolved or turned out of their way so that they never come to be put in execution This is apparent in Davids case when by Abigail's wise behaviour and advice he was taken off from his hard and bloudy intentions against Nabal and his House Therefore the Apostles meaning in saying that when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin is not to shew what is alwaies done in the case he speaks of but what is frequently done and alwaies likely or probable to be done of which kind of sayings there are very many in the Scriptures Joh. 11.9 10. If any man walk in the day saith our Saviour he stumbleth not but if a man walk in the night he stumbleth his meaning is neither to affirm that no man that walketh in the day ever stumbleth nor that every man that walketh in the night doth stumble but only that there is a probability both of the one and of the other and that they are likely either to stumble or not to stumble So likewise the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 7.32 33. The unmarried careth for the things of the Lord c. But this only by the way The business we have in hand is to give you to understand and know that that kind of lusting which hindreth your being filled with the Spirit yea and will hinder it untill it be taken away is that which is owned accepted and approved of by the will and judgement of a man or woman and for the gratifying and fulfilling whereof care is taken by men Such lusts as these are they which grieve and quench the Spirit and consequently hinder his progress motion or advance in the soul When with the Scriptures we say the Spirit is grieved we do not mean nor doth the Holy Ghost in this expression mean any thing else but only that he is turned out of the way he doth retire himself and is quiet and still men shall hear but very little from him so that there will be but very weak and faint motions and suggestions from him But we were saying unto you that all fleshly lusts in the general are obstructive to the course of the Spirit Sect. 15 in his advance or growth in the soul Now as all Lusts in the general entertained and countenanced as hath been declared in the heart and soul are malignant against and opposite unto the growth and coming on of the Spirit in the Soul so the Scriptures seem to cast an eye upon some as being of a more virulent and express antipathy in this kind than others and obstruct that blessedness of the soul we speak of with an higher hand than their fellows These are such lusts which carry in them a direct contrariety to those signal characters or properties which the Scriptures take notice of and ascribe unto the Holy Ghost We shall take notice of at present and briefly insist upon only four of these and the like number of lusts in men more directly opposite unto them First The Spirit of God is famously known throughout the Scriptures by the great attribute of holiness he is more frequently termed the holy Spirit than spoken of under any other name or expressed by any other Character whatsoever We shall not need to cite places for this The thing I presume is sufficiently known unto you all A second property which the Scriptures attribute unto the Spirit of God is Grace or a gracious disposition Heb. 10.29 He is termed The Spirit of grace And God is termed The God of all grace 1 Pet. 5.10 A third property taken notice of in the Holy Ghost by the Scriptures is his heavenliness he is said in 1 Pet. 1.12 to have been sent down from heaven which implies that his coming or sending into the World is about the affairs of heaven and that he only mindeth these so elsewhere he is said to be the Spirit which is of God 1 Cor. 2.12 14. So also in Joh. 15.26 Christ promiseth to send him from the Father all which imply him to be an heavenly and heavenly minded Spirit A fourth property and the last we shall now take notice of which the Scriptures mind in the Holy Ghost is a disposition and propensness of mind in him to be communicating and revealing the Counsels and secret things of God unto the minds and consciences of men This property of the Spirit of God which is of some assinity with the last named and gives testimony unto it is oft mentioned in the Scriptures 1 Cor. 2.10 11 12 13. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of man which is in him c. So again ver 12 13. Now we have not received the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know viz. by his discovering it unto our Judgments and Consciences the things that are freely given to us of God which things also we speak not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth And so in Joh. 16.13 Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come speaking of the Comforter he will guide you into all truth c. and he will shew you things to come c. This is another heavenly property of him who cometh from the Father to communicate and acquaint men with the great mysteries of the Counsels of God so far as it doth concern the souls of men to know them Now all such lusts and sinful dispositions being indulged and nourished which are contrary to and fight against these properties and dispositions of the Spirit are and must in reason needs be most distasteful unto him and consequently most obstructive to him in his way of advancing his blessed presence in the souls of men The first of the four Particulars attributed unto the Holy Ghost in Scripture was holiness Sect.
16 he is ten times over and I believe twenty times to that called the Holy Spirit and sometimes in our English Translations the Holy Ghost Now holiness as we know or at least have often heard imports separation or distance from every thing that is unclean And where holiness is in its exaltation it importeth the greatest distance from uncleanness that is possible But without dispute holiness in the Spirit of God is in the height of its exaltation It dwelleth in him bodily Therefore there must needs be the greatest distance between the Spirit of God and all manner of uncleanness The Scriptures do shew that this is the nature of holiness not simply to fly from that which polluteth and defileth but to be at the utmost distance from i◠Upon this account it is in Scripture often opposed unto uncleanness as the East is opposite unto the West as being at the greatest distance from it For God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness 1 Thes 4.7 And so Rom. 6.19 1 Cor. 7.14 And very frequently in the Scriptures you shall find a great opposition made between holiness and that uncleanness whose fulfilling polluteth and defileth the Temples of mens bodies as the lust of Adultery Fornication Incest and all impurities of such a kind which being consented unto and harboured in the souls of men and women are obstructive with an high hand to that great felicity and happiness of their being filled with the Spirit The Apostle Eph. 4.29 compared with ver 30. plainly intimates such an Antipathy between such lusts of uncleanness as these with their fruits and the Spirit of God that they are a grief unto him and consequenly as we lately opened the Metaphor unto you that his hand is weakned by them to that good work of filling men with his presence which otherwise was in his heart to have been wrought for them Let no corrupt communication proceed cut of your mouths but that which is good to the use of edifying and grieve not the holy Spirit c. Let no corrupt communication 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putrified or rotten speech such as is wont to proceed from these impure Fountains we speak of in the hearts of men and women For even as those sents and smells which are wont to breath from Laistoffs and Dunghils are noysome and offensive unto men who have their senses quick and good So are unclean Communication and rotten speech unto men who have their spiritual senses about them Now lascivious wanton unchaste or unclean communication is therefore termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corrupt or rotten because unto them that have their senses their spiritual senses sound and in a good temper and habit exercised in distinguishing things that differ such Communication and Discourse is such a kind of annoyance or offense which answers that annoyance to the bodily senses which is occasioned as was said by the fumes and smells of Laistoffs Dunghills and putrified bodies which are not simply unpleasant and offensive but of dangerous consequence also to dissolve stifle or destroy nature for otherwise there may be sents that are offensive and unpleasant and yet not Enemies unto nature nor yet of any tendency to her dissolution but for her preservation and health In like manner wanton communication and discourses are not only or simply noysome or unpleasant unto men and women that have their spiritual senses about them but have a dangerous influence also to destroy their spiritual being and that work of grace which is begun in their souls according to that of the Apostle in 1 Cor. 15.33 Evil words corrupt good manners not that they do alwaies do it but they have a property so to do they are of a destroying nature and if these destroy good manners then have they a property to do this also viz. to destroy all those good Principles out of which good manners are produced And whereas to this Exhortation that no corrupt or rotten communication should proceed out of their mouths he immediately subjoyneth And grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption he doth it by way of motive clearly implying that such communication will grieve the Spirit of God Now this connective Particle and sometimes implieth a motive enforcing the precedent Exhortation Do this and live Gen. 42.18 i. e. for you shall live by doing this Exalt her and she shall promote thee Prov. 4.8 i. e. for she shall promote thee I give thee this for thy encouragement that she shall promote thee So that the meaning of the place in hand is that such a kind of rotten communication will grieve the Spirit of God That is hath a direct tendency in it to cause the Spirit of God to do as men usually do when they are grieved as we formerly shewed withdraw themselves from those who so grieve them and grow listless unto action and have no lust to go forth in their way but retire themselves and mourn and grow solitary In like manner rotten Communication will cause the Spirit to withdraw his presence in his wonted influences he will have no desire to exert or put forth himself at least with any strength or vigour in motions or encitements to holiness c. by means whereof the Flesh will gather more and more strength and the lusts thereof encrease daily This sheweth that there is a spiritual opposition between rotten Communication or any other lusts of the Flesh and the Spirit of God So Jude ver 19. These be they who separate themselves sensual having not the Spirit Implying that they who are given over to sensual and voluptuous courses are persons who have no the Spirit I conceive this distinguishing Character that they separate themselves viz. from the Bodies and Societies of the Saints and from the Ordinances of God The Apostle would signifie this unto us that such persons as these did it under pretense of a greater measure of the Spirit some special discovery of somewhat more than had been made known unto other men As if they were of too tall a stature and growth to assemble themselves with others as men think not themselves fit company for Children so these men upon pretense of a more excellent inspiration from the Spirit of God separated themselves from other men But saith he there is this in the bottom they are sensual this separation doth not proceed from the Spirit of God nor from any further Communion more than others which they have with him But they are sensual sensual pleasures and courses have bewitched and taken away their heart And now that they may enjoy themselves in this course they must pretend to Revelation and some extraordinary Knowledge for the Saints in their Communion know no such thing but that which they know is of another nature and therefore that they might not be troubled and checked in their way they must give ear to an unclean Spirit and this they call the Spirit of God
ordinarily it is uttered by the Mouth of the Conscience which is not wont to be wide opened unless it be in some broader or more known duties of the Second Table what the reason hereof is is not so proper for present consideration Secondly The Cares Lusts Thoughts Desires Fears and Apprehensions of things relating to this present World make a continual noise and hubbub in the hearts and inward parts of men and women generally So that in case any thing were spoken to the heart or inner man especially with a soft voice whilest these things are stirring in him it will not be heard or minded And therefore Thirdly The Holy Ghost being a Spirit of Wisdom will not speak at least ordinarily unto hearts so full of distractions and confusions Neither fourthly Do men that voluntarily make noise or suffer noises to be made about them desire to hear any man speak unto them Therefore fifthly and lastly It follows from these Premises that such persons who are earthly minded and continually filled with the Cares Lusts or Desires of this World are either in no capacity at all to hear or not at all care to hear any thing that the Spirit shall speak unto them Men that desire to hear the Spirit of God speaking in them must sequester and abstract themselves from the noise and tumults of this World For the voice of the Spirit of God in men that voice by which he suggests things in the Conscience is a still and low voice and therefore when men are in a hurry in their thoughts whilest the World is lifting up its voice within them there is no opportunity for him to speak When persons are full of the Cares of this Life and are making provision for the flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof there is no opportunity for the Spirit to declare himself to them or to shew them his secrets I will hearken what the Lord will speak saith the Psalmist Psal 85.8 They that will listen to this still voice of the Spirit must muse must have all quiet within them lay their ears close unto what shall be spoken They that do not thus hearken unto the Spirit of God that do not thus listen and keep a perfect calm in their Spirits are not likely to hear what the Spirit speaketh in them And yet in the fourth place there are another sort of men and women worse than these and these are they that resist the Spirit Ye have resisted the Holy Ghost c. Acts 7. where Stephen chargeth them with that grievous charge that they resisted the Holy Ghost when he was striving to do them good and to acquaint them with the mind of God with true holiness and waies leading to Salvation They resisted him i. e. fortified themselves against him cast about with their Minds and Reasons and Understandings how they might discover and take hold of any pretense why they should not submit unto such and such Counsels such Doctrines such Truths wherein the Holy Ghost did from time to time speak unto them By this means men are said to resist the Holy Ghost and there is a Generation of men and women amongst us who dash their foot at this stone of death who when the Spirit of God either in the Word or in the Counsel or Application of Christian Friends unto them or otherwise presenteth them with such and such truths of God which bear upon their Consciences making it evident that it is for their good that they should submit themselves in the course of their lives and waies unto them and perswading them to abandon such and such waies to cast from them all such works which are contrary to those truths and sayings of God They I say who are well aware of these motions and suggestions of the Spirit to them and yet turn their backs upon them are of this second or worser sort who because they are desperately unwilling to be led out of their old waies loth to drink New Wine saying the Old is better therefore they withstand the Spirit of God even when he cometh with power and is about to bind the Understandings of men that they might not be able to move Now he is not to be resisted in such cases but with a high hand of rebellion and there must be abundance of enmity and disobedience against him otherwise men would be led away in a blessed captivity unto Jesus Christ This is the reason why men whom God hath had much to do with who have lived under a mighty and powerful Ministry either they are overcome and prove the best and holiest of men or otherwise they must arm themselves with such weapons of Rebellion which will prove them to be the most vile and most desperate sinners in the World A fifth and last sort of Offenders are such who neglect to sow unto the Spirit Sect. 17 we use the Phrase of the Apostle Gal. 6.8 He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting We have opened heretofore what it is to sow to the Spirit It is to do such things to go forth in such waies and to be found frequent in such Actions and Practices which will turn to the praise and honour and glory of the Spirit of God and not only so but to do such things with an eye and intention that the Spirit of God should receive honour and reap praise by such their waies Now he properly soweth unto a man who doth intend that the man to whom he soweth should reap benefit thereby Even so a person is said to sow unto the Spirit of God who frequently is engaged in such waies and actions which he knows must of necessity turn unto the honour and praise of the Spirit of God Now if men and women shall rise up in their obedience unto God above the line and common road of the World if they shall walk in a more excellent way than their Neighbours more excellent than the common sort of Professors about them This must needs turn to the praise of the Spirit of God for the means by which they are advanced and gotten above their Neighbours and become more excellent than they this of course falleth and is ascribed by all to the honour and praise of the Spirit of God Men will conclude that surely the Spirit of God acteth and operateth in these men and teacheth them more excellent works and more heavenly curiosity than is found in the ordinary sort of men in the World Therefore they who refuse thus to sow unto the Spirit when the Spirit first soweth unto them that is when the Spirit suggesteth unto them and graciously stirreth up and tempteth their hearts and Consciences to do such Heroick Acts wherein there is a more than ordinary strain of goodness to be seen they do not consult the honour of the Spirit of God nor their own peace and enriching but on the contrary their own sorrow and poverty They I say that shall refuse thus to sow