A SERMON Preached at the Triennial Visitation OF THE Right Reverend Father in GOD RICHARD L. Bishop of Bath and Wells HELD AT BRIDGEWATER on the 19th Day of August 1695. By MATTHEW HOLE B. D. Vicar of Stokegursey in Somersetshire LONDON Printed for Mat. Wotton at the Three Daggers in Fleetstreet near the Inner-Temple-Gate 1696. TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD RICHARD Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells My Lord THis Sermon which was Preached at Your Lordships Command and Printed at the Request of Your Clergy naturally flyes to the Altar for Protection and if it may be allowed to take Sanctuary there it will not fear the Censure or Assaults of any Adversaries The subject matter of it being concerning Spiritual Gifts 't is in a manner intituled to the Care and Patronage of Spiritual Persons and especially of Your Lordship who is deservedly placed in the highest Rank and Order of them If any Evil Spirits shall arise and oppose these Gifts of the Holy Ghost as Jannes and Jambres of old withstood Moses and Simon Magus and others resisted the Apostles we need not doubt but the Author of them will help us to defend the Argument and the Finger of God will elude the Magical Enchantments both of Atheism and Enthusiasme If this Discourse may any ways help forward the right use of these Spiritual Gifts if it may serve to correct the Abuse of them in some or to discountenance the vain Pretences to them in others it may perhaps prove one of the Best Gifts that could be Presented to the Church by one of the meanest Well-wishers to it My Lord I have Obeyed Your Lordships Command which the Obligations of Duty and Gratitude must ever make me willing and ready to do That all Your Clergy may Reverence and Obey Your Lordship as their Spiritual Father and that Your Lordship may long continue to be a Blessing and Support to Your Clergy is the Hearty Prayer of My Lord Your Lordships most Obedient and Devoted Servant MATTHEW HOLE A SERMON Preached at the Triennial Visitation c. 1 COR. xii Last Verse But covet earnestly the best gifts And yet I shew unto you a more excellent way THE great Subject of this Chapter is concerning Spiritual Gifts which the Apostle in his entrance upon it declares to be so useful and necessary a piece of Knowledge Ver. 1. that he would by no means have us ignorant of it And to the end that the Christian Church might be rightly instructed in so Divine and Excellent a Subject he here treats at large concerning the Author the number the use and the distribution of these Spiritual Gifts For the Author he declares it to be no other than the Holy Spirit of God the Third Person in the ever Blessed and Adorable Trinity whose peculiar Office in the Oeconomy of Mans Salvation is to edifie and instruct the Church of Christ for which we are so entirely beholding to this Holy Spirit Ver. 3. that no Man can say that Jesus Christ is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost And they are called therefore Spiritual Gifts not because they are seated in the Spiritual part or Soul of Man but because they proceed from the Spirit of God From the Author he goes on to the number and variety of these Spiritual Gifts reckoning up in the 4th and following Verses The Word of Wisdom the Word of Knowledge the Gift of Prophecy the Gift of Healing the gift of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues and the like All which diversity of Gifts he tells us flow from the same Spirit and their different operations from the same Lord who worketh all in all that is who worketh all these Gifts in all that have them And least we should mistake the design of the Holy Ghost in bestowing these Gifts he proceeds to direct us in the right end and use of them telling us That the manifestation of the Spirit was given to every one to profit withal Ver. 7. that is not barely to procure some private profit to themselves but for the publick good and benefit of others They were not given for vanity and ostentation to set forth our selves by our Eloquence or any Elaborate Arts of Speech much less to raise Schisms and Factions but to advance the Peace Unity and Edification of the Church Then lastly for the distribution of these Gifts he tells us that they are not all given to one nor are the same given to all but they are scattered with an admirable variety and in different measures on the sons of Men that like the various Members of the Natural Body they might be all helpful and serviceable to one another Ver. 28 29 30. Are all apostles saith he are all prophets are all teachers do all speak with tongues do all interpret Eph. 4.11 12. No He hath given some to be apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastors and some teachers and all this for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry and the edifying of the body of Christ And having thus discoursed at large of the nature end and use of these Spiritual Gifts he closes the Chapter with this excellent advice of our Text Covet earnestly the best gifts And for an introduction to the following Chapter adds And yet I shew unto you a more excellent way The words will require a little Explication before I can sum up the sense or speak clearly to them First Then by gifts here there can be no doubt but the Apostle chiefly intended those supernatural and extraordinary gifts of Tongues Miracles Prophecy and the like which were rife and common in those days and were indeed necessary in the Infancy of the Church for the confirmation of the Gospel and to gain Proselites to the belief of it But those extraordinary and miraculous Gifts having long since ceased together with the reason of them may not now be the object of our Ambition and therefore the Apostles advice here may be and usually is extended likewise to the natural and acquired gifts of the Spirit which are necessary still to propagate the Doctrine of the Gospel as it now stands confirmed and derived down to us Of this kind are those intellectual habits and endowments of the Mind by the improvement whereof some attain to a greater skill in the Tongues others excel in the knowledge of Arts and Sciences by which means Men come to have different Talents and are diversly qualified for publick service All which gifts together with the improvement of them proceed still from the same Spirit and are given for the same use even the good and benefit of Mankind and these will be continued to the end of the World only with this difference that whereas the former were conferred on the Apostles and others by Inspiration and sudden Infusion and so they needed only to be directed to the right use of them these latter are now conveyed to us by the ordinary Methods of Study
and Diligence and so we are to be taught both how to get and how to use them as we ought These are the gifts But Secondly What does the Apostle mean by the best gifts For that term denotes not only a diversity but a preference of some above others In Answer to which by the best gifts here we are to understand not absolutely the best in every kind but those that were most useful and tended most to the edification of the Church for the Apostle having before asserted Ver. 7. That the manifestation of the Spirit was given to every one to profit withal Whatever most promoted that end was reckoned in the number of the best gifts so that whether the Apostle referred here to the gift of Tongues which was very necessary at that time when the Gospel was to be Preached to People of divers Nations and Languages or whether he had an eye to the gift of Miracles which gave the greatest credit to their Doctrine and begat the highest assent and veneration to it or whatever else were the particular Gifts referr'd to 't is plain the Apostle meant by them such as best edified the Church and consequently by Analogy we are still to reckon those the best gifts whereby we may best profit and edifie our Hearers But Thirdly What is the Apostles meaning in bidding us to covet these Gifts and that earnestly too To covet in Scripture is sometimes taken in a very bad sense and there is one whole Precept in the Decalogue directly levell'd against it Indeed to covet any of our Neighbours Goods or to use any indirect arts to compass them is a vile and detestable piece of Covetousness but to desire the gifts of God for the good of Mankind and to seek to enrich our Mind with the highest and best abilities to promote his Glory is a noble and laudable Ambition and this is what the Apostle here recommends to us But Fourthly What is that more excellent way which he here directs to And yet I shew unto you a more excellent way The words in the Original are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shew unto you a way to attain to a greater excellency than any the best gifts can advance you to And what 's that Why 't is the Graces of the Spirit as appears by what follows where the Apostle immediately falls upon the excellent Grace of Charity which as it comprizes the Love of God and our Neighbour is the complex or summary of all Christian Graces and to set forth its excellence he presers it far above all other Gifts or Endowments whatever as we shall shew hereafter From the words thus explained we may easily gather these two Propositions I. That the Ministers and Pastors of the Church ought earnestly to covet and labour for the best gifts that is those especially that tend most to the Benefit and Edification of the Church II. That the Graces of the Spirit are more excellent than the Gifts of it and therefore ought to be more earnestly coveted and laboured for These two useful and seasonable Truths shall be the subject of our ensuing Discourse and I begin with the first of them viz. I. That the Ministers and Pastors of the Church ought earnestly to covet and labour for the best gifts that is such especially as conduce most to the Benefit and Edification of their Hearers St. Paul gave this direction with reference to those extraordinary Gifts that were rife in his time that they should covet and seek after the best of them And the Reason being still the same we are concerned likewise even in those ordinary Gifts that are continued to us to desire those most that are likelyest to do most good In treating therefore of this Proposition I must inquire First What are now the best or most beneficial Gifts for the use of the Church And Secondly How we are to covet and seek after them For the First Before I can shew you what are now the most useful and beneficial Gifts for the good of the Church I must put you in mind of four or five Gifts or Talents in Prayer and Preaching which are none of the best though they have been too much affected in our days And the 1. I shall mention of these is The Gift of Extemporary Effusions in Prayer which some have miscalled The gift of Prayer This is not much to be affected nor to be reckon'd in the number of the best gifts for this instead of edifying hath greatly disturbed the Peace of the Church and destroyed the Reverence and Harmony of Publick Worship Solomon who hath been justly reputed the Wisest of Men hath will'd us Not to be rash with our mouth nor hasty to utter any thing before God â—…cl 5.2 but to consider that God is in heaven and we are upon earth therefore our words unto him should be few Meaning that we should never approach the Divine Majesty but with the profoundest Awe and Reverence and that is best signified by few and well weigh'd Expressions in our Addresses to him And therefore a greater than Solomon even our Blessed Saviour himself the Head and Founder of his Church prescribed a Form of Prayer to be used by his Disciples and followers and the Christian Church according to his order hath used the same ever since and likewise composed her Publick Liturgies according to that excellent Platform And thanks be to God our Church hath at this day one of the most pious and best composed Liturgies that is extant in the Christian World so that now we need only bring ardent desires and good affections in the use of it and we need not doubt a gracious answer and acceptance There was indeed in the days of the Apostles an extraordinary gift of Praying by Inspiration called sometimes Praying by the Spirit which was necessary in the beginning of Christianity when as the Apostle tells us They knew not how or what to pray for as they ought but when the Holy Spirit of God had dictated the holy Scriptures wherein we are directed both as to the matter and manner of our Prayers when the sacred Canon was compleated and Publick Prayers composed according to the directions of it then this among other extraordinary Gifts ceased together with the reason of it for the Spirit of God which doth nothing in vain is not wont to give extraordinary assistances when ordinary means will serve the turn So that all the gift of Prayer now remaining in the Church consists not in pouring out many and new words but in the pious Motions and good Affections of the Heart The Spirit helps our infirmities still but how Rom. 8.26 Not by furnishing us with new Phrases and variety of Expressions which God is no way delighted with but with sighs and groans saith the Apostle that cannot be uttered that is by exciting the inward desires and breathings of the Soul after him Hence we read that the poor Publicans short Letany Luke 18 10
11 14. Lord be merciful to me a Sinner prevail'd more for his Justification than the tedious Harangues of the Pharisee which Sect though in outward pretence and appearance the strictest in those times our Saviour blames for their Babling and vain Repetitions in Prayer as if they thought to be heard for their much speaking And 't is well known what crude and indigested not to say blasphemous Speeches have drop'd from the Mouths of such bold pretenders to inspir'd Prayers The truth is this Extemporary way of Praying was a thing unknown in the Primitive and purer Ages of the Church and hath plainly appeared to be a late Invention brought into these Kingdoms by the subtlety of Popish Emissaries meerly to distract and divide the People and we know how they triumph in the Schisms and Confusions that have been raised by it which is enough to put us out of conceit with this Gift and the pretenders to it 2. The Affectation of Tone or the vehemence of Voice or Gesture in Prayer or Preaching serve not the true ends of Edification and therefore may be reckoned rather among the Artifices of Seducers than in the number of the best gifts for Religion is a grave and serious thing and makes its way into the Heart rather by powerful Arguments than by a powerful Noise Kin. 19.1 12. We read in Scripture that God was not in the Earthquake nor in the Tempest but in the small and still voice And the efficacy of Gods Word is better convey'd by calm and sound Reasonings than by the loudest blusters of Action or Utterance Such Bodily exercise profiteth little and is better suited to the Levity of the Stage than to the Gravity of the Pulpit Affected Tones and Gestures may indeed raise the Fancy and over-heat the Imagination but seldom or never leave any true or lasting warmth upon the Heart or the Affections they may serve to astonish and startle weak People for the present but the impression quickly wears off and passeth away with the motion or sound that raised it And therefore 't is observed of those that use or follow those Arts that though they may seem affected for a while yet they never prove either the wiser or the better Men. Length and Lowdness were the main ingredients of the Pharisees Prayers for which we find our Saviour often condemning their Hypocrisie but never commending their Devotion All that have had any game to play upon the People have betook themselves to such Wiles and by this Craft have got their Wealth and made Merchandize of them But as it hath been the Honour of the Regular Clergy not to affect such Mean Arts so 't will be the Wisdom of the Laity to beware of being deluded by those that use them 3. The gift of divers Tongues or the ostentation of several Languages in Popular Sermons is of little or no use and therefore not to be affected by us For the Vulgar are little edified by Latin and 't is Proverbial among them to say of what they understand not That 't is Greek to them So that the use of these Tongues in our Discourses to them can be of no advantage they may serve to amuse and confound them but cannot any ways inform or help their understandings 'T is true indeed the study and knowledge of the Tongues are necessary to qualifie and accomplish a Divine seeing the Holy Scriptures and many great and useful parts of Learning are written in those Languages But of what use the embellishing or interlarding our Discourses with them to the Common People should be is not easie to understand 1 Cor. 14. The Apostle blames Praying and Prophecying in a Tongue not known to the People And so far as we intermix these things we speak unto them in an unknown Tongue To this may be added the using of Hard Words and Terms of Art that are above the reach of Vulgar Understandings speaking as the Apostle expresses it 2 Pet. 2.18 1 Tim. 1.20 great swelling words of vanity and affecting Science falsly so called As also the Clouding our Discourses with Mystical Phrases and Uncouth Expressions such as the Incomings and Out-lettings the Beamings and Streamings of the Spirit with such like unintelligible Jargon whereby some Men instead of making difficult things plain have made plain things difficult which is a very fruitless and unprofitable Talent 4. The Ostentation of Wit or Curiosity of Language in our Publick Discourses tend little or nothing to Edification and therefore may not be reckoned among the best gifts Witty Sayings and fine Sentences may indeed tickle the Ears but never sink into the Heart they may please a while and afford matter of Talk but they seldom or never profit the Hearers St. Paul that great converter of Souls declares that his Preaching consisted not in the wisdom of words but in the demonstration of the spirit 1 Cor. 2.4 He studied not fineness of Expression but soundness of Doctrine And we read that the simplicity of the Gospel prevailed more than a vain ostentation of Wit could ever do and the foolishness of preaching triumph'd over all the wisdom of the wise 1 Cor. 1.21 Our Business my Brethren is not to gratifie itching Ears but to save Mens Souls and that is better done by grave solid and practical Discourses than by the most florid and polite Preachments which may delight for the present but bring no lasting Benefit or Instruction with them For as the plainest Food nourishes more than the most delicious Kickshaws so plain Truths without Art or Varnish oft-times leave deeper Impressions on the Mind than all the Charms of Humane Eloquence Lastly The Art of straining the words of Scripture and forcing them from their plain and genuine Sense is none of the best gifts This is done sometimes by Criticks who to advance a new Notion will stretch and pervert the Holy Scripture and by the help of Invention and the ambiguity of Words and Particles offer violence to a Text and even take it by force lat 5. Our Blessed Saviour rebuk'd the Pharisees for their false Glosses by which they made void the Law of God And these Men justly incur the same Censure who by their wild and strain'd Interpretations make the Gospel of Christ of none effect There are others who to serve the Interest of a Party will rack and torture the Scriptures to make them speak what they please Hence some have used the Bible as the most successful Engine to overturn Church and State and have made the Gospel of Peace the Trumpet of War and Sedition This is a most pernicious Talent and hath done unspeakable mischief St. Peter tells us of some who wrest the Scripture to their own Damnation Pet. 3. And we have heard of others who have wrested them to the ruine and subversion of Kingdoms and have so far rack'd some Passages of Sacred Writ as even to force them to speak Blood and Confusion But our
therefore when the Apostle adviseth us to covet earnestly the best gifis he thereby puts us upon using the best means of becoming Masters of them And because it may be asked what they are I shall briefly mind you of these four 1. Diligent Study 2. Frequent Exercise 3. Hearty Prayer And 4. A good Life Of each of which a word or two distinctly And 1. We must covet these Gifts by our diligent Study and earnest search after them for this is now the ordinary way and means of acquiring them Indeed in the days of the Apostles the Spirit was poured out and came upon them not by Study but by sudden Infusion The mighty wind in which the Holy Spirit descended was a Symbol of Inspiration and betokened the breathing into them the Gifts of the Holy Ghost The Fire that sate upon their Heads represented that fervency of Spirit which enabled them with courage to go through all the difficulties of their Office The Cloven-Tongues bespake the diversity of Languages with which they were endow'd by which means Illiterate Persons excelled the greatest Rabbies and Fishermen spake more Languages than the most studied Linguists But now we are to seek that by Industry which they had by Inspiration and the Church being arrived at the Stature of a Man in Christ Jesus God Almighty hath laid aside those extraordinary helps and supports of Infancy So that Diligence now keeps the Key of Knowledge and 't is Study alone that opens to us the Treasures of Wisdom 2 Tim. 2.15 Study saith the Apostle to shew thy self a workman that needeth not to be ashamed To be an Able Divine is a work of Study and a serious intention of Mind is necessary to the expert and faithful discharge of our Office We may not now pretend to or look for Inspiration nor hope by Dreams and Visions to know the Will of God No Ignorance and Folly are the effects of Sloth whilst Learning and Knowledge are only the Rewards of Industry Rom. 1â— 8. The word is nigh thee saith the Apostle even in thy mouth and in thy hand oh let it be in thy Heart too and make it the daily object of thy Study and Meditation 2 Pet. 19. We have a sure word of prophesie saith St. Peter whereunto we do well to take heed as to a light that shineth in a dark place Solomon that great Master of Wisdom exhorts us to seek for Knowledge and to search diligently for Understanding yea he wills us to search for it as for silver and to dig for it as for hid treasure Prov. 4. for though there be some truths that seem to float at top and to lye open to a careless eye yet there are others that lye deep and require a profounder search here we are to imploy our most composed thoughts giving our selves to Reading and Meditation as the first and great means of attaining them 2. Our study for these Gifts must be accompanied with the frequent use and exercise of them This will whet our Parts and set an edge on our Faculties and thereby enable us rightly to divide the Word of Truth St. Paul exhorts Timothy Tim. â— 6. to stir up the gift of God that was in him signifying that 't is Exercise that puts Life and Vigour into our Parts that blows up those Sparks within us and quickens them in o a bright and useful Flame Thus to imploy is to improve our Talent which will daily increase by Exercise and like the Widows Cruise of Oyl multiply by being used A lazy neglect of Mens Gifts makes them do the work of the Lord negligently and for want of a due exercise of their own Parts they do but too much exercise the Patience of them that hear them He that buryed his Talent in the Earth and he that wrapped it in a Napkin were both deprived of them and doom'd as wicked and unprofitable servants to outer darkness whereas he that used his Talent to his Masters Honour was commended for a good and faithful Servant and enter'd into his Masters Joy which makes it evident that Exercise is a good means of improving our Gifts and procuring to us the Reward of them 3. To the Exercise of our Gifts we must add hearty and fervent Prayer for a Blessing upon them for though Paul may plant â—or 3. and Apollo may water yet 't is God alone that gives the increase 〈◊〉 1.5 If any lack wisdom saith St. James let him ask it of God Thither our recourse must be if ever we hope to obtain it and indeed whither else should we go 〈◊〉 6.68 He only hath the words of eternal life To seek for Wisdom only in Books and Writings is but to seek the living among the dead 't is the Blessing of God that enlivens our indeavours and makes us rich both in Grace and Knowledge and he that leaves out this in his search after them will never arrive to more than what will betray his own Ignorance â—es 1. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights And therefore we must look upward and make our requests known unto him in whom are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge and for our encouragement the same Apostle tells us that he giveth to all men liberally Jam. 1.5 and upbraideth not And our Blessed Saviour hath assured us that Earthly Parents are not more willing to give good Gifts to their Children Mat. 7.11 than our Heavenly Father is to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask it Our desires then of these Gifts must be carried on with uncessant Petitions to God for them and if we would attain to any measure of them we must seek them upon our Kneesâ— for 't is the Blessing of God that gives the Talent and the Improvement too and the Fruits of the Spirit owe all their increase to the Dew of his Heavenly Benediction Lastly To our Prayers we must joyn the exercises of Vertue and a Holy Life for Wisdom enters not into a polluted Soul nor can so refin'd a perfection inhabit an impure or corrupt Heart The carnal mind is enmity against God 1 Cor. 2.14 It receives not the things of the spirit of God neither can it know them because they are spiritually discerned And therefore our Hearts must be purged from the corruptions of Sin and Errour to make way for the entrance of Divine Truths and our Souls must be consecrated to holy uses before they can be fit to be the Temples of the Holy Ghost A good Life will best dispose us to a good Understanding and sincere desires of pleasing God will make us useful and profitable unto Men. So that if we mean to arrive at any proficiency or growth in Knowledge we must live up to that whereunto we have already attain'd for he that doth the will of my father saith our Saviour John â— 17. he shall know the
doctrine whether it be of God Divinity as one hath well observed on those words is a Science that we are not so much to Study as to Live our selves into It passes into the Head through the Heart and our Knowledge will daily increase by the Love and Practice of what we know for God Almighty delights to communicate his Mind to such as are willing to do it Psal 25.9 14. The secret of the Lord saith the Psalmist is with them that fear him and he will teach them his covenant And elsewhere The meek he will guide in judgment and the humble he will teach his way He is ever ready to reward the least degree of Obedience to his Will with farther discoveries of it And therefore the same ingenious Author hath observed That in old time the Men of extraordinary Revelations were Men of extraordinary Piety too and such had most of the secret Will of God imparted to them that best performed his revealed Will They were the Enochs the Abrahams and the Elijahs and such of whom the Scripture more remarkably testifies that they walked with God And surely he that walketh with another is likely to know more of his Mind than a stranger or one that keeps at a distance from him In short Vertue is the most fruitful Principle of Knowledge and he that doeth what he knows of the Will of God shall be sure to know more of it for to him that hath shall be given saith our Saviour and he shall have abundantly And thus I have done with the first part of our Text having shew'd you what are the best gifts and how we are to covet and seek after them But I must crave a little more of your Patience whilst I shew unto you a more excellent way And this will bring me to the second part of our Text contained in this Proposition II. That the Graces of the Spirit excel the highest and the best Gifts of it And here I could almost wish for the Tongue of an Angel to describe to you this more excellent way and to perswade you to walk in it But St. Paul who was rap't up into the third Heaven hath prevented our wish and extoll'd the single Grace of Charity as high as words can reach above all other Gifts and Endowments whatever for in the next words to our Text he thus delivers himself Could I speak with the tongue of Men and of Angels and had all the Charms of Divine and Humane Eloquence could I dart the brightest Beams of Light into Mens Understanding and by the most powerful Rhetorick command and insinuate into their Affections yet without Charity 1 Cor. 13.1 I am no better than a sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal Had I the Gift of Prophecy and understood the deepest Mysteries had I the knowledge of all that is past since the beginning of Time and could foretel things to come to the end of the World yea had I faith strong enough to remove Mountains and to make the Poles of the World to change their place yet in all these accomplishments without Charity I am nothing less than nothing and vanity What could the Tongue of Men or of Angels speak higher in the praise of this Vertue and to extol the Graces above the Gifts of the Spirit But there are three things that will plainly demonstrate the preheminence First The subjects on whom they are bestow'd Secondly The end or use unto which they serve And Thirdly The term of their duration or continuance First The subjects on whom they are bestowed will give Grace vastly the preheminence for Gifts like the Rain and other Common Blessings are showred down promiscuously on the Good and Bad and the Light of the Spirit like that of the Sun shines indifferently both on the Just and Unjust Judas had the Gifts of Prophesie and Miracles as well as the other Apostles and our Saviour hath told us that many will say unto him at the last day Matth. 7.22 Lord Lord have we not prophecyed in thy name And in thy name done many wonderful works Who yet shall be bid to depart from him as workers of Iniquity So that the highest and best Gifts neither find nor give any intrinsick worth to the persons that have them but leave them many times as bad or worse than they found them for many who in Christs Name had cast out Devils will be sentenced by Christ himself to take up their abode for ever with them But Grace on the other hand stamps an excellence on those that receive it for it makes them like unto God and renders them most acceptable to him and therefore is conferred on none but the particular Favourites and Darlings of Heaven 'T is only the excellent ones of the Earth Psal 16.3 as the Psalmist stiles them that walk in this more excellent way when many gifted Brethren will be found in the broad way that leadeth to destruction Grace is that Seal of the Spirit of which the Apostle speaks whereby the Children of God are marked and sealed unto the day of redemption Eph. 4. â—0 'T is by this Seal as the same Apostle tells us â— Tim. 2.9 That the Lord knoweth who are his and by this Sacred Stamp or Signature we too may know whether we belong to him for the Graces of the Spirit are the particular marks and tokens of the Divine Favour which are not communicated to any but the Elect People of God â—at 7.6 The Holy Ghost is not wont to cast these Pearls before Swine nor is this Childrens Bread given unto Dogs No this is reserved as the peculiar Lot and Portion of the Saints and therefore must far surpass those Common Gifts that are shared promiscuously by wicked Men. Secondly The end or use to which they serve will farther give Grace the preheminence above the best gifts Cor. 8. For knowledge saith the Apostle puffeth up and tempts many a Man to Pride and Vanity whereas 't is Charity that edifieth 't is Grace that corrects the swelling quality of Gifts that layes the foundation in Humility and thereby builds us up in our most Holy Faith The greatest Gifts and Abilities if not accompanied with Grace to direct the use of them are so far from edifying that they have in all Ages done the Church the greatest Mischief How many pestilent Errours and Schisms are owing to the greater parts and abilities of Hereticks What ground hath Atheism and Debauchery got in the World by the Influence and Discourses of the finest Wits And as the sharpest Razour cuts deepest so have the quickest Parts made the deepest Wounds in Religion and Mens Souls so pernicious are the effects of their ill management both to the Publick and themselves But Grace is so far from being lyable to these or the like Abuses that it prevents the Evil and corrects the abuses of our Gifts 'T is this puts all their usefulness into them and makes them instead of doing