not consist in a moral reformation of Life and Conversation let us suppose such a reformation to be extended to all known instances Suppose a man be changed from Sensuality unto Temperance from Rapine to Righteousness from Pride and the dominion of irregular Passions unto Humility and Moderation with all instances of the like nature which we can imagine or are prescribed in the rules of the strictest Moralists Suppose this change be laboured exact and accurate and so of great use in the world Suppose also that a man hath been brought and perswaded unto it through the preaching of the Gospel so escaping the pollutions that are in the world through Lust even by the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ or the directions of his Doctrine delivered in the Gospel yet I say ALL this and ALL this added unto Baptism accompanied with a profession of Faith and Repentance is NOT REGENERATION nor do they comprise it in them Is not ALL this Regeneration Not a change from sin in all known instances not a change to Virtue in all instances which we can imagine or are prescribed by the strictest Moralists not excepting our Saviour himself not to escape the pollutions that are in the world through Lust and to be perswaded hereunto through the faith of the Gospel What do these men make of Regeneration Where is that reverence which they pretend to have for the Word of God which they do thus openly and notoriously contradict Was it not true which I said that our difference with these men is this that we affirm Regeneration to consist in the faith and obedience of the Gospel and they deny it But let us hear Gods Word once more concerning this matter St. John saith He that believeth that Jesus is the Christ so believes it as to overcome the world is born of God Now does not this man contradict St. John when he saith Though a man hath escaped the pollutions that are in the world through Lust even by the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ he is yet not born of God St. John saith We know that every one that doth righteousness is born of God But quite contrary saith our Author Let a man be changed from Sensuality to Temperance from Rapine to Righteousness with all instances of the like nature which we can imagine he may yet not be born of God Doctor I challenge you here before your own Party and the world of contradicting the plain and express words of God and that in a matter of the highest moment to us wherein the eternal salvation of mens Souls is most nearly concerned which is enough to provoke the indignation of all good men against you Let us again suppose a man in that state which our Author hath well described but unchristianly reprobated and then I demand what lacketh he yet besides perseverance in that state Not to tarry for the Doctor 's Answer I shall prove from the words of our Blessed Saviour that he lacketh nothing else A certain Ruler asked our Saviour What shall I do to inherit eternal life Luke 18.18 And Jesus said unto him Thou knowest the Commandments Do no commit adultery c. And he said All these have I kept from my youth Jesus answered Yet lackest thou one thing sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me The Ruler then wanted nothing but a willing minde to part with his Estate when God required it and to become a follower of Jesus for had he done this we have our Saviour's word for it he should have had treasure in Heaven which none but the Renegerate shall have But our Authors moral man wants none of those Qualifications which this Ruler either had or wanted that were necessary in order to his inheriting eternal life he wants none of them which the other had being changed from Sin to Virtue in all instances he wants none of them which he lacked for he is a follower of Christ baptized professing Faith and Repentance and he is changed from Covetousness too which is one known instance of sin to a readiness of yielding up his Estate when God will have him do it which we may easily imagine to be an instance of Virtue Therefore the Doctor reprobates him whom Christ chuseth he condemneth him whom God justifieth It is the great discouragement which this Doctrine gives to true goodness and the dishonour which this Writer doth to the Gospel by pretending himself a Christian which makes it needful to prove these plain things against him SECT 7. Let him not think that he hath made himself whole by adding these words at last Whatsoever there may be of actual Righteousness in these things they do not express an inherent habitual Righteousness For this will not serve his turn since 1. Here he does no more than give a reason the best he has why he contradicts the Apostle who saith He that doth righteousness is born of God by saying that he is not born of God But then 2. His reason here is as false as his Doctrine and as contrary to Scripture Our Saviour saith An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruits but he hath the face to say that it can for he saith that a man who is not inherently and habitually righteous may bring forth all these good fruits even all instances of reformation of Life which can be imagined St. Paul likewise saith that the carnal minde is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be And that you may not think that subjection to the Law of God which consists in universal amendment of Life not here to be meant observe that in the same Chapter Rom. 8. he saith There is no condemnation to them that walk after the Spirit and 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 So that if the carnal minde can be so far subject to the Law of God as that the carnal man may walk after the Spirit and mortifie the deeds of the body by the Spirit then it is possible for a carnal man so continuing to be saved which again contradicts the Apostle who saith that to be carnally minded is death But now our Author's Doctrine is this that the carnal man while he is such viz. one who wants inherent habitual Righteousness who is not regenerate may be subject to the Law of God and may mortifie the deeds of the body for he saith all that actual righteousness which he had before described and which does unavoidably imply mortifying the deeds of the body and walking uprightly according to the Gospel does not express an inherent habitual righteousness which is the same with being spiritually minded And does not he contradict the holy Apostle by so saying I know not what he can possibly say to save himself
purpose it is observable that God's dwelling thus in the Most Holy place is called his dwelling amongst the Israelites Thus when he commanded the building of the Ark Let them saith he make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell amongst THEM Exod. 25.8 And after he had promised to sanctifie the Tabernacle with his Glory he tells Moses And I will dwell amongst the Children of Israel and will be their God Exod. 29.45 Now that the presence of his mercy and favour towards them was meant in this promise appears by the following words And they shall know that I am the Lord their God that brought them forth out of the land of Aegypt i. e. he would so manifest his power in protecting and defending them from all their Enemies that they should know he had the same care of them which he shewed in delivering them from the Aegyptian bondage But this is yet more clearly signified by those words In all places where I record my NAME I will come unto thee and BLESS thee Exod. 20.24 For the Name of God as we find in 2 Sam. 6.2 was The Lord of Hosts that dwelleth between the Cherubims And this is that account which the Psalmist gives of God's dwelling in Sion where the Ark of his presence was The Lord hath chosen Sion he hath desired it for his habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it I will abundantly satisfie her poor with bread I will cloath her Priests with salvation and her Saints shall shout aloud for joy Psal. 132.13 Thus in times of distress and danger they began their prayers for deliverance by invoking the Lord God of Israel that dwelleth between the Cherubims 2 Kings 19.15 and Psal. 80.1 By all which it appears that Gods dwelling there signified the peculiar favour which he had towards the house of Israel before all other people And accordingly we may observe that the Scripture doth use to express the presence of God amongst them when they were punished for their sins not by dwelling with them but by visiting them which you know is a word that does not imply continuance and long abode as the other does and is therefore much fitter than that to express the presence of his angry Justice who delighteth not in Vengeance but in Mercy and who is more easily prevailed with to withdraw his displeasure than his favour and kindness Thus saith the high and lofty One I DWELL with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit which that it signifies the lasting presence of his favour is plain from the following words For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made Isa. 57.15 16. Although God is said to visit men both when he is present to punish them as in Exod. 32.34 Psal. 89.36 c. and when he is present to deliver and bless them as in Exod. 3.16 Psal. 106.4 yet 't is in respect of the latter onely that he is said to dwell amongst them Now as I observed before the Apostle cites that promise of God made to the Israelites that he would dwell in them applying it to the state of the Christian Church as you may see 2 Cor. 6.16 Wherefore God's dwelling in men as this phrase is used in the New Testament signifies also his peculiar grace and favour toward them as the Apostle himself explains it by subjoyning that other place thereto And I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord God Almighty And this is that testimony which he hath given us hereof that the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth John 1.14 By whom we have received God's blessings and favours and the clear revelations of his Will more freely than the Israelites ever did by the dwelling of the Ark amongst them They prayed towards their most Holy place where God was extraordinarily present that he would stir up his strength and come and save them But we look up to the more Holy Mercy-seat where God is more gloriously present than he was between the Cherubims even to Jesus whom all the Angels of God worship and in whom the fulness of the God-head dwelleth bodily that through him we may have help and salvation The Name of God which he hath now recorded amongst us is The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and by this name we invoke him that he would come unto us and bless us And there is as great difference between the Blessings that God's coming to us and dwelling amongst us implies and those which were promised to the Israelites as between the testimonies themselves of God's presence amongst them and amongst us They were temporal favours and deliverances which they promised to themselves from God's presence in the most Holy place But we look for a salvation incomparably more excellent God having blessed us through Christ with all spiritual blessings in things that concern Heaven Eph. 1.3 The Enemies we are to subdue by the strength of the Lord and the power of his might are those which would hinder us of our heavenly Canaan viz. our sensual Lusts and earthly Affections and the temptations of the World and the Devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickednesses in high places Eph. 6.12 against all the suggestions of evil spirits whether to more gross and sensual or to more refin'd and spiritual vices And they are Enemies so much more dangerous than those which the Israelites had to deal withal that theirs do not deserve to be called Principalities c. when they are compared with those here mentioned by the Apostle Thus by the Spirit of God dwelling in us twice mentioned by St. Paul Rom. 8.9 11. we are to understand the presence of his Grace whereby we are constantly enabled to mortifie the deeds of the Body vers 13. For then our Bodies shall have a blessed Resurrection vers 11. and the Spirit is life because of Righteousness vers 10. our Souls shall then be qualified for eternal Life and Happiness Now this being certain to come to pass if the Spirit of God dwelleth in us it is plain that the peculiar grace and favour of God towards us which is signified thereby is that by which we may be kept from living after the flesh which if we do we shall die and enabled to mortifie the deeds of the Body to subdue our spiritual Enemies more perfectly and to prevail finally against them that we may live vers 13. Therefore to conclude this point as God's dwelling amongst the Israelites signified his peculiar favour to them in protecting and defending them and bringing them to the Land of Canaan and blessing them with plenty and increase c. so is the peculiar presence of his Grace
but according to a candid construction very true But this I think may at least be inferred from them That without Revelation we could not have known that the Spirit operates in the mindes of men in order to their Regeneration And consequently that his Operations are imperceptible by us now for if we were sensible that the Holy Spirit moves us we might argue from our own sense as well as from Revelation that the Spirit is given to us Wherefore the best rule we can have to know when we are moved by the Holy Spirit must be taken from the Nature and End of his Operations When we finde our selves inclined to that which is good when we are bent upon the doing of God's Will when we perform our Duty and govern our Actions by the Word of God then we may conclude that we are acted by a divine Spirit and that therefore we have occasion given us of humble and thankful Praises But if we forsake the steady rules of our duty written upon our Hearts in our Creation or in the Bible by the inspired Messengers of God and take every violent impulse that we feel within us for a suggestion of the Holy Spirit we may easily mistake a brutish Inclination or a suggestion of the Devil for divine direction since no sort of men are acted with a more sensible and impetuous zeal than they that are strongly led by the Devil and their own corrupt affections Therefore unless we will expose our selves to Fanatical and Diabolical delusions we must keep close to Reason and Scripture and try the nature of all the impulses and motions of our mindes by them We must not pretend that the Spirit inciteth us to such an action and therefore 't is warranted by the Scripture for the motions of the Spirit are in themselves imperceptible But we must first see what the Scripture would have us do and then if we have a minde to that we may conclude that the Spirit hath moved us to it for the Spirit inclineth us onely to what is good and the Scripture is a steady and unalterable rule of that These are very plain and evident truths and yet we can hardly say too much to possess the mindes of men with the apprehension of them since we can remember what infinite dishonours have been done to God in the late times by men professing Godliness and pretending to the special Guidance of the Spirit how they asked counsel of God whether they should commit Murder and Treason Rebellion and Sacriledge how they thought to justifie the most execrable Parricide as the Doctor knows who did that was ever heard of in these parts of the World and how blasphemously they pretended that the Lord had put these things into their Hearts God does not now give the Spirit to justifie the actions of men but to assist them in those that are good and he hath shewn us what is good partly by the light of Nature which is common to all men and compleatly by the publick revelation of his Will contained in the Scriptures Wherefore since the Operations of the Spirit are imperceptible by us and merely an object of our Faith we have no other way of assuring our selves that we follow the guidance of the Spirit but by following the rule of God's Word To this purpose it is observable that the word Spirit does sometimes signifie the Gospel as several Divines have proved and particularly when St. Paul does oppose the Spirit to the Flesh as in Gal. 3.3 We are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and have no confidence in the flesh i. e. we are the true Children of Abraham who worship God according to the Gospel placing no confidence in the observation of Moses's Law And in Gal. 5.16 Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh i. e. walk according to that Law of Love vers 14. which the Gospel so strictly prescribes and do not yield to inclinations of Revenge Hatred Variance c. vers 20. But at least in these and the like places 't is indifferent whether by the word Spirit you understand the Gospel or the Holy Ghost because it is in effect the same thing to be led by the Spirit and to obey the Gospel Thus when the Apostle Rom. 8. so often notes the difference between those that walk after the Flesh and those that walk after the Spirit we may easily see that walking after the Spirit may indifferently be interpreted either by living according to the rules of the Gospel or by following the perswasion of a well-instructed Minde or Conscience or by obeying the motions of the Holy Spirit of God For to do one of these things is to do them all since they are the Precepts of the Gospel which the Conscience ought to be directed by and 't is the obedience of the Gospel to which the Holy Spirit doth move and incite us We may observe also that in this Chapter these following expressions are equivalent viz. To walk after the Spirit v. 1. To be freed from the law of sin v. 2. To minde the things of the Spirit v. 5. To be spiritually minded v. 6. To be subject to the law of God v. 7. To please God v. 8. To have the Spirit of Christ v. 9. Christ being in us v. 10. The Spirit of God dwelling in us v. 11. Mortifying the deeds of the body by the Spirit v. 13. And being led by the Spirit v. 14. These several Phrases I say do all express the same state viz. our being the true Disciples of Christ onely they conspire to express the same thing under different respects That of being subject to the Law of God respecting the rule of our Lives as that of minding the things of the Spirit regards that serious consideration of the Doctrines of the Gospel which disposeth us to walk according to that Rule To be freed from the Law of sin notes the same thing with respect to our former condition Not to be carnally but spiritually minded not to live after the flesh but to mortifie the deeds of the body the Spirit are expressions that principally regard the prevalency of our Conscience over our sensual Appetites The Spirit of God dwelling in us is an expression of that constant readiness in good men to do the Will of God which is cherished in them by the Holy Spirit as our having 〈◊〉 the Spirit of Christ seems principally to regard that likeness to him which we gain by becoming such persons Finally to walk after the Spirit or to be led by the Spirit are Phrases which seem to take in all these respects indifferently Now because it is really one and the same state and disposition that is signified by these Phrases there can be no dangerous mistake incurred if a man should understand any one of them under a respect which perhaps was not principally intended as for instance if by the Spirit of God dwelling in us he should
understand our being strongly and deeply affected with divine Truths for where the Word of God dwells richly there the Spirit of God dwells too Nay I may adde further that there is no need of being curious to mark what respect was principally aimed at by the Apostle in the use of these Phrases throughout Rom. 8. and likewise Gal. 5. and other places and that because the Apostle does not seem to be curious in the use of them himself Nor was it necessary for him so to be in order to the making good of that conclusion against the Jews which he aimed at viz. that Justification was not to be had by the works of the Law but by the faith of Christ i. e. by being a true Disciple of Christ in mortifying the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts. But on the other hand his using of those Phrases of being led by and walking after the Spirit indifferently for living according to the Gospel and being governed by the motions of the Holy Spirit was very suitable to his designe of shewing that Justification was no other way to be obtained but by being a true Christian For since mortifying of the deeds of the body and being subject to the Law of God in that degree which Christianity now required were necessary to Justification the Jew who rejected the Gospel of Christ must needs be under Condemnation because the Holy Spirit whose guidance and incitations were necessary to the subduing of sin was given for that purpose to none that rejected Christianity Wherefore as long as the Jew would not submit to the Law of the Spirit of Life i. e. to the Gospel to the profession whereof the special promise of the Spirit was made he must needs be subject to the Law of Sin and of Death Of sin because he refused the necessary means of subduing the lusts of the Flesh viz. the Faith of the Gospel which was to refuse the Incitations and Grace of the Spirit Of Death because if we live after the Flesh we shall die This Observation I thought might not prove altogether unuseful to well-meaning persons that have not hit on it before for a man may well be in danger of mistaking the Apostle's designe in this and other places where the fore-mentioned Phrases are promiscuously used if he expects that every one of them should have a peculiar mystery belonging to it and a sence quite different from all the rest But that which I chiefly intended was to observe that the promiscuous use of those Phrases in the holy Scripture is extreamly agreeable to that familiar way wherein the Holy Spirit moveth the mindes of men For if we are so moved by him that we are not sensible of any operation in our mindes but that of divine Truth as it is represented to us by ordinary means and thereupon embraced by our Understandings then we cannot better express our being led and guided by the Spirit than by saying that we obey the Gospel And thus you see a further reason of the promiscuous and indifferent use of the above-mentioned Phrases and that taken from the manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operations as the former was from the end and designe of them I shall conclude this point with inferring from what hath been said concerning it that we resist the Holy Spirit of God many times when we think of nothing less and we do not think of it because we do not feel that supernatural impression which is made upon us and cannot discern it from the free and natural Operations of our minds And thus we quench the motions of the Spirit very often when we imagine that we onely quarrel with our own Thoughts or reject the good counsels of a Friend or the exhortations of a Minister or the rebukes of our own Conscience Now if we could hear or apprehend the Holy Spirit disswading us from any wickedness as sensibly as when a good man speaks to us we should not dare surely to entertain one thought more of going forward A temptation could no more prevail against us if we were thus admonish'd than if God should speak to us from Heaven with an audible voice in these words O do not that wicked thing which I hate But God doth not use this method upon us because we are here to live by Faith because he will prove us whether we believe his Word or not Therefore if it be plain from the holy Scriptures that when we are sinning against the clear Convictions of our duty when we are baffling any good Exhortations and Counsels and our own hopes of Heaven or our fears of Hell or the force of any seasonable good thought tending to Repentance we do then as really contradict the perswasions of the blessed Spirit as if we heard his Voice sounding in our Ears shall we not be as much afraid to do the former as we should be to do the latter For it will not be admitted in our excuse that we did not think of rebelling against the Holy Spirit for our not thinking of it is another fault since we have reason to believe that every sin we commit against the checks of Conscience has that aggravation and why should we think that one fault will excuse another Wherefore if we cannot but acknowledge that the doing of despight to the Spirit of Grace must needs adde an heavy weight to every sin which we commit presumptuously and to every neglect of improving an inclination to Repentance methinks we should tremble to do the one or to delay the other Finally the consideration of this matter if we have any due reverence of God will not fail of making all good counsels profitable to us of giving strength to all our own good purposes and making us careful to improve by all reasons that are proper to convince us by all Examples that are fit to instruct us and by all opportunities of serious reflection upon our selves For the Operations of the Holy Spirit do conspire with such familiar methods as these are to produce his Graces in us SECT 6. From all these things it follows in the last place that the Operations of the Holy Spirit in our minds are Assistances or Helps as they are generally called by Christians of all perswasions not excepting our Author and the Friends of his way But I say also they are properly so called because the Operations of the Spirit are no more than Assistances and that because his Graces are truely and properly the effects of other Causes viz. of the ministration of the Gospel of the external means of Grace and of our own endeavours with all which the Operations of the Holy Spirit conspire for the producing of those effects in us The Spirit is indeed the principal cause of these effects and therefore they are called his Graces and ascribed to him as if we did nothing our selves to gain them according to that saying of the Apostle I laboured abundantly yet not I but the grace of God which
Miracles Prophecies c. The true difference between Dr. H. and Dr. O. in this matter is not whether the manner or the means of receiving spiritual things be signified by the word spiritually but whether it is designed to express those means which Dr. H. affirms viz. external Testimonies of divine Revelation or those which Dr. O. contends for viz. the internal and irresistible operations of the Spirit upon a mans minde But 2. I have shewn by the clear scope of the Apostle that the outward means are here to be understood This I see is our Author 's great trouble that Dr. H. supposes the true cause why the Natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit is because he will onely be led by his natural Reason and will not attend to Revelation and the outward means whereby revealed Doctrines may be proved whereas J. Owen's meaning is that he cannot receive them because the New Light is not yet created in his minde by an almighty act of the Spirit The truth of Dr. Hammond's sence and the absurdity of Dr. Owen's I have already shewn and shall onely adde this to help our Authors understanding viz. That the proposal of the external evidences of a divine Revelation made equally to those who rejected the Gospel with them who received it is no argument that they who rejected it could not receive it because their mindes were not enlightned by an omnipotent act of the Spirit For another reason may be given why they could not viz. the Apostles reason because they sought after mans Wisdom and would not admit of that for truth which was not proved by Philosophical discourse By the Authorities he brings to confirm his own exposition and to confront Dr. Hammond's we may guess how pertinent the rest are that his Book is stuffed withal He produceth that saying of St. Chrysostome A natural man is he who lives by the flesh and hath not his minde yet enlightned by the Spirit but only hath that connatural humane understanding which the Creator of all things hath endued the mindes of men withal This Exposition which he calls better than Dr. Hammond's is clearly to the same purpose with it for here is not a word about that irresistible Light which J. O. contends for and to be led only by the Light of humane Reason which are Dr. Hammond's words is perfectly the same with having only the connatural humane understanding c. The following passage of Chrysostome which he quotes is to the same effect I shall only adde that citation out of the same Writer which he brings in at the beginning of his Exposition The natural man is one that ascribes all to the reasonings of his own minde and doth not think that he stands in need of aid from above which is madness for God hath given the Soul that it should learn and receive what he bestows or what is from him and not suppose that it is sufficient to it self Eyes are beautiful and profitable but if they would see without light this beauty and power will not profit but hurt them and the Minde if it would see without the Spirit of God it doth but entangle it self This is clearly against him For that which God is here said to bestow is not that irresistible Light the Doctor speaks of but the Light of Revelation which I have been discoursing of i. e. revealed truths which St. Chrysostome saith the Soul is to learn but to learn that Light he talks of is nonsence St. Chrysostome is so far from supposing that it is impossible for a man to receive what Revelations God bestows unless the Almighty Power of God necessitateth him to do it that he saies God hath given the Soul that it might receive them when they are bestowed And he reckons it madness for a man to think he needs no divine Revelations and consequently to reject them when they are offered with sufficient evidence Now the only reason according to J. O. why he rejects them is because the Almighty work hath not been yet upon his minde If St. Chrysostome had thought so too he had been a mad man himself for accusing them of Madness that fail'd of doing what no Power less than almighty could enable them to do which is in effect to accuse them of Madness because they were not Almighty themselves St. Chrysostome's Similitude is very pertinent For as Light is to bodily Eyes so is Revelation to the Minde in respect of revealed Truths which are such as none but the Spirit of God could discover And therefore whoever refuseth to attend to his revelation of them must needs be ignorant of them and will finde himself entangled in many difficulties which he might have understood by hearkning to Revelation This Similitude St. Chrysostome useth elsewhere to the same purpose for he saith As no man with his naked eyes can learn the appearances in the heavens so the Soul alone cannot learn the things of the Spirit i. e. they are not to be learned by meer Natural Reason without the aid of Revelation I now leave the Reader to judge with what conscience this man could pretend the Authority of St. Chrysostome to countenance his own Exposition of this Text of St. Paul and this is all I shall say to the Doctor 's Authorities which any one may see are as convincing as his Reasons And now at length I desire him to take notice that it will be to no purpose for him to reject what I have to say concerning spiritual things contrary to his notions of them under pretence that I am a natural man for I thank God I am a Christian and so long as I have the Scriptures by me I enjoy the means of understanding what Revelations God hath made known to us by his Son For they contain those Doctrines which were proved by the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power These Doctrines are so far from being foolishness to me or rejected by me because they are not knowable by meer natural Reason that I should be guilty of inexcusable madness if I should not surrender up my belief unto them Though I could not possibly finde them out nor have known them unless they had been revealed yet being revealed I discern the great Wisdom and Goodness of God towards us in them still acknowledging that I know but in part and that there is a depth of Wisdom in the Mysteries of the Gospel which my understanding cannot reach But the truth of these Revelations I learn principally from the testimonies given to them and the sence of them not excluding other subordinate helps by comparing one Divine Revelation with another and the Doctor hath no other means to qualifie him for the discerning of these things aright but that new light which he pretends to but which the Apostle speaks never a word of and let him make his best advantage of it But if the Doctor be resolved to Cant on still in his own defence and
consideration is a clear compliance with the Wisdom of God and a mark of Regeneration I take this to be a competent instance of the Doctor 's proving himself to be regenerated by his spiritual understanding of things but how he came to understand them so spiritually you heard before viz. by an Almighty Power which induced a new saving Light into his minde for I suppose he has not a way by himself of arriving at this Felicity This now is very plain That if you spiritually understand the necessity of Holiness you must not understand it to be necessary to Justification But if you ask the Doctor why you cannot understand it as he doth his Answer is Because you are not enlightned and regenerated by the irresistible Work for where this work is not that spiritual thing cannot be so understood and where it is 't is impossible but it should be so understood Now then if you ask how the Doctor proves himself to be a regenerate man he proves it clearly by his understanding the necessity of Holiness in that spiritual manner wherein he understands it And at this rate I think a man may prove any thing Thus the Doctor tells us how the purifying vertue of the blood of Christ is applied to us by Faith but in so mystical a manner that he is forced to confess it himself and therefore says he when you understand these things you will not think it so strange that God should appoint this way of believing onely as the means to interest us in the purifying vertue of the Blood of Christ. For the truth is before he had done with that point he had made it so unintelligible that he had nothing to keep up his Readers in heart withal but by promising them that when they understood those things they would not think them strange i. e. when that new saving Light is once darted into their mindes by which the Doctor discerns spiritual Mysteries In the mean time he cautions them against those that pretend the believing he speaks of to be no more than a work of the fancy in these words Despise their ignorance for they know not what they say when men come to the real practice of this Duty the practise of believing that the Blood of Christ without any more ado will cleanse them from their Sins they will finde what it is to discard all other ways and pretences of cleansing viz. a sincere reformation of Heart and Life what it is to give unto God against all difficulties and oppositions i. e. though it be never so absurd to imagine this makes for the Glory of God the glory of his Attributes in finding out this way for us Again after he had given such a description of Gospel-holiness as any one would be asham'd to own that pretends to an intelligible Religion he hopes to make up all with saying The thing it self as hath been declared is deep and mysterious not to be understood without the aid of spiritual Light in our mindes So that if you do not understand what the Doctor says the reason is plain because you have not the Spirit and at this rate any man may write Nonsense safely enough and put it off for a Gospel-mystery when he has done For the thing may be understood though you do not understand it for it may be understood by the aid of spiritual Light And if you understand it not 't is because you rely upon carnal Reason and have not the Light of the Spirit For thus the Doctor tells us The reason why men have other notions of holiness than he has is their ignorance and hatred of the onely true real principle of Evangelical holiness which we have described for what the world knoweth not in these things it always hateth and they cannot discern it clearly or in its own light and evidence for it must be spiritually discerned This the Natural man cannot do 1 Cor. 2.14 and in that false light of corrupted reason wherein they discern and judge it they esteem it foolishness and fancy So that 't is to no purpose what the Natural man a man that useth the best means he can to finde out the meaning of the Scriptures says in these matters till that new Light be created in his minde by the help whereof this Author as it should seem talks of sublime Mysteries which we use to call Nonsense and yet are blamed for it though he confesses 't is impossible that we should do otherwise Now the Doctor is as safe as may be if he can thus make his Reader believe that to understand the Doctrines of the Gospel spiritually is to understand them according to his apprehensions of them and that to contradict him is an infallible signe of one that wants the special illumination of the Holy Ghost For upon these terms whoever goes about to write against him must do it at the peril of being reckoned an unregenerate man and then the Doctor is secure for we have often seen as it is said by him that such a man because he wants special illumination cannot understand the Mysteries of the Gospel spiritually and then he cannot discourse of them spiritually and then I think he may as well hold his tongue for any good he is likely to do with his carnal Reason And this is that prejudice which I am in danger of lying under with the Doctor 's party while I treat concerning the assistance of the Holy Spirit for he uses the same artifice to support his notions in this matter Thus he tells us A Command they suppose leaves no room for a Promise at least such a Promise as wherein God should take upon himself to work in us what the Command requires of us and a Promise they think takes off all the influencing authority of the Command If Holiness be our duty there is no room for Grace in this matter and if it be an effect of Grace there is no place for Duty But all these arguings are a fruit of the wisdom of the flesh Now as I shall shew hereafter in these words he belies those whom he writes against for they suppose no such matter as he talks of But the Doctor as we shall see doth in other places mean by Grace an irresistible force upon the mindes of men though he conceals it here dishonestly to slander his Adversaries Now that such a Grace is inconsistent with the commands of God in Scripture may be so evidently argued that he hath nothing to say against it but to call such arguing a fruit of the wisdom of the flesh which is his perpetual refuge But to be short he expresly tells us The whole work of the Spirit is rationally to be accounted for by and unto them who believe the Scriptures that I like very well and have received the spirit of Truth but there we are all spoil'd again for we know what he means by having received the spirit of Truth viz. being
call this Exposition of St. Paul's Text which I have offered carnal Reasoning and the Wisdom of the Flesh and perhaps he will finde little else to say against it there will be small hope left of doing any good upon him nor is any thing to be done with him but to turn him over to the Quakers and with them at present I leave him PART 1. An Account of what we are taught in the Holy Scriptures concerning the Operations of the Holy Spirit CHAP. I. The General Subject of the following Discourse stated § 1. THrough the Assistance of that Holy Spirit whose Operations I intend to treat of I shall endeavour the performance of these two things First to lay down as clearly and methodically as I can what I finde the Holy Scriptures have taught us concerning his Operations and as I go along to remove those erroneous and as I am yet perswaded dangerous Opinions of Dr. Owen and his Brethren concerning this matter which may seem needful to be debated in order to the present clearing of the Truth and this shall be the work of the First Part. Secondly to confute some other pernicious Doctrines of his relating to the same subject the consideration whereof may be fitly enough reserved till we have concluded what the Holy Scriptures affirm in this matter and that will be my designe in the Second Part of this Discourse I shall begin the First part with stating the general Subject of my intended Discourse as plainly as I can Amongst other significations of the word Spirit that may be met with in the Scripture it will be sufficient for my present designe to take notice of these that follow 1. It is sometimes used to signifie the Minde of man as in Joh. 4.24 to worship God in Spirit is to worship him with our Souls and in Gal. 6.18 and Col. 2.5 and in divers other places This is so plain that it needs onely to be mentioned for where the word is used in that sence the Context does easily lead a man to the right understanding of it 2. It sometimes signifies the Temper and Disposition of a man's minde Thus we are to understand that spirit of Faith mentioned by St. Paul 2 Cor. 4.13 which the Christians and God's Servants also in former times had viz. the same pious temper of Minde in bearing Afflictions for Gods sake and looking for deliverance and reward from him So likewise God hath not given us the spirit of Fear but of Power of Love c. 2 Tim. 1.7 contrary to that timorous cowardly temper of being afraid to endure Persecution for Righteousness sake Hereby saith St. John we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit And what that spirit is we see plainly by the former words Chap. 4. vers 12. If we love one another God dwelleth in us It is that spirit of Love that Benignity and charitableness of minde whereby we become like unto God 3. By the Spirit we are frequently to understand the Holy Spirit of God the third person in the blessed Trinity as in 1 Joh. 5.7 There are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost or Spirit So also when St. Paul saith There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit 1 Cor. 12.4 we are by Spirit to understand the Holy Ghost for vers 6. he saith it is the same God which worketh all in all which compared with vers 11. But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will makes it plain that by the Spirit here St. Paul understands God the Holy Ghost This is the sence wherein I understand the word Spirit when I speak of the operations of the Holy Spirit in us I mean the person of the Holy Ghost But we must observe 4. That the Holy Spirit is frequently used to signifie his Operations or those Effects which are wrought by his Operations Thus the pouring out of the Spirit mentioned Acts 2. plainly signifies his bestowing supernatural gifts in great measures upon the Apostles and Disciples of Christ. So Received ye the Spirit i. e. the gifts of the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith Gal. 3.2 Thus also are we to understand that promise made to the Apostles of sending the Holy Ghost Joh. 14.26 For this being the promise of the Father mentioned Acts 1.4 which was foretold in these words I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh Acts 2.16 17. must needs signifie the same thing with pouring out of the Spirit which phrase as Dr. Owen truely notes hath respect unto his Gifts and Graces So likewise the phrase of giving the Spirit Luke 11.13 is explained in Matth. by giving good things i. e. such good things as the Spirit of God is the Author of to Believers Indeed nothing can properly be said to be given to us but what is capable of becoming our own therefore when the Holy Spirit is said to be given some spiritual good or benefit is meant which accrues to us by the Operation of the Holy Spirit But the Doctor tells us that where the Spirit is given he is given absolutely and as to himself not more or less but his Gifts and Graces may be more plentifully and abundantly given at one time than at another to some persons than to others So that he makes two different things of having the Spirit of God given to us and our being partakers of his Gifts and Graces for according to him a man may have these limitedly That he must have absolutely These more or less That not so And this is a mystery which he hath found out in that expression of giving the Spirit Whatever he intends by this conceit it is plainly contrary to the use of that Phrase in the Scripture for John 3.34 it is said of our Saviour that God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him from whence it is evident that the Spirit may be given in measure Wherefore this Phrase doth not necessarily imply that the person of the Spirit is properly given as the Doctor pretends for he confesseth that as to himself he is not given more or less Nay those words of St. John Baptist imply that the Spirit was given to all other Prophets and Righteous men in measure and consequently the giving of the Spirit unto men cannot signifie the giving of his Person or the giving of him absolutely neither more nor less for he is alwaies given to them in measure i. e. in the same measure wherein his Gifts and Graces are communicated to them The same thing is otherwise exprest Matth. 12.18 I will put my Spirit upon him which being spoken concerning our Saviour Christ is parallel to Gods giving the Spirit to him mentioned John 3.34 Indeed there is little difference in the expressions if it be observed that the passage in St Matthew is cited out of
from this charge of contradicting the Apostle but that his meaning is not that the carnal man can mortifie the deeds of the body by the Spirit and that he can walk after the Spirit i. e. that he reforms himself thus universally as he is supposed to do by the Spirit but onely that he may be such a reformed man that he may mortifie the deeds of the body that he may walk according to the rules of the Gospel and yet all this proceeds from the Old Nature and this work belongs but to the old Creation And this I finde indeed to be his sence for he tells us Whatever is in the Soul of Power Disposition or Ability or Inclination unto God or for any moral action by nature i. e. before regenerating Grace comes it belongs unto the old Creation it is no new Creature Now by comparing these words with his 17 Section we may now discern that by the inherent habitual righteousness which the moral man wants as he saith he does not mean an internal disposition and inclination to Virtue correspondent to that righteousness which he practiseth in his life for he supposeth that in the state of Nature or Vnregeneracy such a disposition and inclination such a power and ability he may have But he means by it a principle of spiritual life and holiness infused by the Holy Spirit as he explains himself afterward So that this is the defence he must make for himself out of his Book when I charge him with contradicting St. Paul viz. that he onely saith the carnal man may mortifie the deeds of the body may be universally righteous and obedient in his life but this is no more than a natural work all this while all his actual righteousness and his internal disposition to it belongs unto the old Creation it is no new Creature whereas the spiritually-minded man of whom St. Paul saith that he walks after the Gospel walks after the Spirit too and when he mortifies the deeds of the body does mortifie them by the Spirit This pretence so derogatory from the grace of the Holy Spirit contradicts the Scripture which saith He that doth righteousness is born of God I shall now onely observe that our Author whatever he pretends to the contrary is discovered to be a rank Pelagian I speak it with great seriousness for the thing is plain and he cannot with any modesty now deny it He makes it possible for a man to mortifie the deeds of the body without the Spirit and to walk after the Gospel though he be not led by the Spirit to keep the commands of God by the mere abilities of Nature to be universally righteous in his life and to be disposed and inclined thereunto in his Soul without an infusion as his phrase is of a new principle of spiritual life and holiness And he plainly supposeth that all that righteousness which the Gospel requires viz. an universal performance of God's commands proceeding from the belief of the Gospel may belong unto the old Creation and be no new Creature nor the work of the Spirit Now Pelagius his great Heresie was this That a man by his natural Faculties might do that which God required without any further help from God than that of declaring his will For setting that aside he thought our willing and doing needed no divine assistance as St. Austin reports him and that God gave us the power of choice in vain if we cannot do his will unless he always helpeth us as St. Hierom saith concerning him It is the same which the Doctor saith while he makes all the righteousness and disposition thereunto which we have been considering even that of the faith and obedience of the Gospel to be the effect of nature and to belong unto the old Creation so that a man may believe the Gospel and keep the Commandments of God without the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit If the Doctor saith that however in all the Regenerate he ascribes that righteousness to the Holy Spirit and his Grace this will not bring him off For Pelagius himself was brought to confess though not the same thing yet what would serve his turn as well as this can the Doctor 's For at length he said Therefore is the Grace of God given that what we are able to do by Nature we may more easily do by Grace But the Doctrine of the Catholick Church was that Grace is necessary to our doing the Will of God and if that be true it does equally conclude both him and Pelagius to be the same Hereticks though he saith doing the Will of God is sometimes the effect of the gracious Aids of the Spirit and Pelagius said doing it more easily was always so Our Author I confess speaks divers things in this Book which destroy this Pelagian Doctrine for he is sometimes in the humour of a Manichee which is an Heresie of the other extream and will not allow that a man can do any good action whatsoever without an irresistible determination of his Will thereunto as in due place I shall put him in minde again How he came by the knack of believing such inconsistent things if he believes them I know not but he makes great use of his Talent that way as I shall have further occasion to shew him hereafter But whether he believes these Contradictions or not as long as he asserts Pelagian Doctrines he is to be judged from his own words and to go for a Pelagian I grant that the sence of what a man saith in one part of a Book is to be judged of by what he saith in another but that always is upon supposition that his words are capable of that sence which is that way endeavoured to be put upon them But our Author 's arguing in Sect. 17. compared with Sect. 20. is in my judgement so notoriously for the Pelagian Heresie that if Pelagius himself were here we could not discern the least difference between them in the point of man's natural ability to keep the Commandments of God Indeed he gives the Pelagians ill words enough in many places of his Book and he would perswade his Reader that his Adversaries are a kinde of Pelagian Hereticks but for ought I see he is more angry at the name of Pelagius than at his errour or he hopes that he may unsuspectedly broach the opinions of Pelagius while he falls foul upon other men as if they were his followers And truely this insincerity he might happily learn from Pelagius himself who was wont to say and unsay to contradict his own Concessions one while and his Assertions another when he was to save himself now against the Catholicks and then against his own Party as St. Augustin tells us which being considered I leave it to others to judge whether our Author is not to be esteemed a Pelagian though he elsewhere affirms things inconsistent with Pelagianism I believe he has but one way to come off and
from being addicted to sensuality and worldliness they are come to love God with all their Hearts and to be strongly inclined to Holiness and Virtue This likewise produceth a suitable change in their lives which now are led not according to the lusts of the Flesh and the examples of evil Men but the Laws of God and the Example of Christ. And thus we come to the true use of all our Faculties as an Infant after it is born falls into those natural motions which are hindred by its imprisonment in the Womb. Now when our mindes are thus purified from sin when the Spirit that was in Christ is in us and our bodies and souls are become the Instruments of Righteousness there follows a Relative change in our state as considerable as the other For then are we the Sons of God Heirs with Christ Brethren to God's Children in heaven and on earth we are of kin to the Family of God we enjoy his Favour and Blessing and have an actual right to that promise which he hath promised even eternal life Lay all these things together and nothing will be more evident to you than this that so great a change of our state is implied in our being the true Disciples of Christ that we are as it were other men by being so and so may fitly be said to be Born again when we become such persons But that Intrinsick alteration which seems to afford the clearest Similitude regards that sense of good and evil which is proper to a true Christian. We know that all living Creatures have such a sense of things hurtful and destructive to them that they are thereby generally prompted to avoid them 'T is thus I say in the natural life that we readily apprehend what is contrary to it and therefore we do not run into the Fire nor venture down Precipices because these things are contrary and destructive to our Natures And this is a very fit Emblem of the state of a true Christian for by reason of that divine temper of Soul which is wrought in him by the Holy Spirit he hath such a like sense of good and evil with regard to his Minde and Conscience as all living Creatures have with respect to their Natures He therefore that is in Christ i. e. who is a true Christian is said to be Born again and to become a new Creature for he hath a new sense of things which he had not before he hath other apprehensions of sin than sensual and worldly men have he looks not upon any immorality as a harmless thing but apprehends all kindes of wickedness to be what they are pernicious and detestable which is the reason as I have already intimated of what St. John saith He that is born of God sinneth not In like manner that which in the Relative change seems to be most visibly intended by this Metaphor is our being qualified to enter into the Kingdom of God which is the Inheritance of the Saints or the true Disciples of Christ for by becoming his Disciples we are as it were born to this Inheritance we are the Sons of God and if Sons then Heirs as the Apostle tells us Now if faith in Christ and obedience to his Laws make men so much better and more excellent persons than they were before and qualifie them also for an everlasting reward then here is another visible reason for the choice of this Metaphor to express the state of a good Christian by viz. the great advantages they gain by it we have as it were a new being given unto us when we truely believe in Jesus and conform our selves to his Doctrine and Example we are so much altered for the better as if we had never lived till then and we have infinitely more reason to think of this alteration in our state than to remember the day of our Birth with joy and gladness Hence we finde that the Scripture does not onely represent the advantages we gain by the Gospel of our Saviour under Metaphors taken from things most grateful to our natural Appetites as Liberty Life and Light but withal it assures us that the good implied in those things does in a more eminent manner belong to the true Disciples of Christ than to any body else as when our Saviour saith Joh. 8.36 If the Son shall make you free then are you free indeed Now what this freedom is we are told vers 32. The truth shall make you free and vers 34. He that committeth sin is the servant of sin So that this freedom consisteth in the knowledge of the Truth and in obedience to the Laws of God which is that very state that the Scripture elsewhere calls Light and Life and being Born again and created in Christ Jesus Lastly Since it is by the Operations of the Holy Spirit in us that we become true believers and good men it is visible that our being then said to be born of God does fitly express the concurrence of that Divine power whereby this change is effected in us There are other Metaphors whereby the Scripture expresseth the same thing but none of them seem to be so full of signification as this although the use and meaning of all of them is easily discernible Those expressions of Creating and Drawing seem principally to respect that divine Grace by which we are enabled to overcome the world and to live to God Converting or Turning peculiarly notes that alteration that is hereby made in our state Taking away the Heart of stone expresseth the same thing but chiefly with regard to what we were before as giving the Heart of flesh also doth with respect to what we become afterward Making a new Heart and a new Spirit signifies that change which is wrought in the Dispositions of the Minde as causing us to walk in God's Statutes notes the reformation that is made in the life Purifying Cleansing and Purging are Metaphors that express the excellency of this change and how much our Natures are bettered by it But Quickning and making Free and turning from darkness to light do express all the advantages which we gain by the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel whether they be Inherent or Relative And this may serve to shew in what divers respects these Metaphors conspire to express the same thing But you may observe that the Metaphor of Regeneration or the new Birth contains all those Similitudes to the state of a true Christian which are severally discernible in the rest And this probably is the reason why it is more frequently used in the Scriptures than the rest are as that is the reason I suppose why it hath obtained amongst Christian writers to treat of the conditions of eternal Life more frequently under the name of Regeneration than under any other phrase whereby they are Metaphorically exprest And possibly this common use of the word may have been an occasion to some unwary Christians of imagining that it is to be understood in
speaks of we agree that those Doctrines which were to be known by his Revelation are meant But this by the by it is however clear that our Saviour challengeth the Jews of unreasonable incredulity for disbelieving what was sufficiently testified and proved to them 2. Christ assigneth the true cause of their unbelief This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil vers 19. i. e. The truth of that Doctrine which I bring is so bright and clear that the cause why men believe it not is not because they want Reason and Argument to induce them thereunto or supposing that our Saviour means himself by Light it is so evident that I am the Son God that if you do not perceive it 't is not for want of means of Conviction but because your deeds are evil because my Doctrine is so contrary to your Lusts and Vices that you are not willing it shoud be true and so you do not attend to the evidence of its truth and therefore greater shall be your Condemnation Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth the truth that is sincerely disposed to do whatever is the will of God cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest is not unwilling to have his actions proved that they are wrought of God whether they be according to the Will of God or not I think it is thus sufficiently plain that the scope of our Saviour in this his discourse to Nicodemus is to shew the necessity of coming to him or believing in him i. e. of being his Disciple in order to everlasting Salvation and to convince those of unreasonable obstinacy and incredulity who would not be his Disciples It is therefore plain that supposing the true Disciple of Christ is to be understood by the Regenerate man then the beginning of our Saviour's discourse concerning the necessity of Regeneration is consonant to his plain designe which was to shew why we must be his Disciples and how inexcusable we are if we be not But that the connexion of the whole may be clearly seen I shall here subjoyn a Paraphrase of that part of it which concerns Regeneration proceeding upon our notion of it It is probable as Grotius observes that after Nicodemus had acknowledged our Saviour to be sent from God he asked him what Qualifications a man must have to see the Kingdom of God which in his preaching he had made so much mention of To which question our Saviour's answer was Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God as if he had said No man can enter into the Kingdom of God except he become my Disciple which you seem unwilling to be because you come secretly to me for fear of the Jews but I tell you it is not sufficient for you to acknowledge to me that I am a Teacher sent from God but withal you must become one of my Disciples and own your self so to be though you forfeit thereby the honour you have in the Jewish State for you must forsake all to follow me Nicodemus not understanding this to be our Saviour's meaning replies as if it was required that a man should be born again in the literal and proper sence How can a man be born when he is old as I am can he c. Jesus answered Verily I say unto thee Except a man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God q. d. It is not such a Birth that I mean but that of Water and the Spirit you must be born of Water you must by Baptism become a professed Disciple of mine whom you acknowledge to be a Teacher sent from God and this is not all you must be born of the Spirit too it is equally necessary that by the Operations of the Holy Spirit the promise whereof is part of my Doctrine you become obedient in Heart and Life to those Laws which I deliver which are so holy and divine that they are hated by them whose deeds are evil who will not be perswaded to leave their sins vers 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit That which is born in the literal sence as when an Infant is born of his Mother is discernible to your eyes and the change made thereby is evident to your grosser Senses it is not this change which I mean but I say you must be born of the Spirit and it is a spiritual change that I mean thereby viz. that of the Dispositions of mens Hearts and the manner of their Lives which change together with those Operations of the Spirit whereby it is produced are not discernible the same way in which the natural Birth is vers 7 8. Marvel not that I said unto thee Ye must be Born again The Wind bloweth where it lifteth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of Spirit By this it should seem that which was most troublesom to Nicodemus to understand was this viz. How a man could be born of the Spirit and that the difficulty which he stuck at in this matter was the Imperceptibleness of that Operation of the Spirit whereby this change was produced for how should a man know when he is born of the Spirit This being supposed our Saviour's answer to him removes the doubt for it shews 1. That the Operations of the Spirit though they are not perceptible to the Senses yet they may be otherways known to this purpose he useth a familiar similitude to explain himself by viz. that of the Wind which blowes hither and thither but is not discernible to the eye and though we see it not yet we are sure there is such a thing because we hear it Now as every Body is to be judged of by its proper Sense so is every thing to be judged of by its proper faculty and as we do not deny the existence of some Bodies because they are not evident to one sense if they are evident to another so we are not to deny the existence of some things because they are not evident to our Senses if they be evident to our Mindes as the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes may be 2. Our Saviour's answer shews that we may know an effect the immediate cause whereof we do not know and that by the same Similitude of the Wind the natural cause whereof the generality of men who are yet sure there is such a thing are ignorant of Now in like manner we may perceive or feel an effect in our mindes viz. that change which the Spirit makes there though we do not perceive and in that sence do not know the Operations of the Spirit themselves which are the causes
the Jews would have been much more willing to be had it not been for the meanness of his outward appearance and his ignominious death afterwards This I take to be a probable interpretation of this difficult place but I do not think every body is bound presently to believe it or to yield to it any further than he judges those reasons to be of weight which I have offered for it And if Dr. Owen or any other Divine can shew me a more probable sence of these words or of any difficult passage in this discourse of our Saviour than what I have propounded I shall make no difficulty to forsake my own and come over to his In the mean time we may safely suppose that our Saviour spake to this purpose If I have proved to you by those miracles which you acknowledge that I am the Messias and consequently that you ought to be my Disciples and yet you will not believe me and become my Disciples how much more unlikely is it that you will be so after I tell you that I who am your Messias must be lifted up upon a Cross and die for the sins of the World this will go down more hardly with you than any thing I have told you hitherto And yet this is the purpose of God for the salvation of the world as I know and am come to tell you who have ascended into heaven and am acquainted with these heavenly things these secret Counsels of God which so far transcend all the wisdom of men and this is that too which was prefigured by Moses lifting up the Serpent in the Wilderness c. Our Saviour thereupon proceeds shewing it to be the purpose of God to save Mankinde this way viz. by faith in Christ that there was no salvation to be expected but by becoming his Disciples and that they who would not be so were inexcusible as we have already shewn And now I leave it to the Reader to judge whether the Paraphrase which I have given of the former part of our Saviour's discourse to Nicodemus does not make the connexion between all the parts of it very clear and also whether our understanding the Regenerate man to be a true Disciple of Christ which is the notion this Paraphrase doth proceed upon does not agree with the scope of our Saviour's whole discourse in this place SECT II. I come at last to answer the Doctor 's objection against our notion of Regeneration which as he saith we suppose to be a Metaphorical expression of reformation of Life His objection is this Nicodemus knew the necessity of Reformation of life well enough if he had ever read Moses or the Prophets And to suppose that our Lord Jesus Christ proposed unto him the thing which he knew perfectly well onely under a new name or notion which he had never heard of before so to take an advantage of charging him with being ignorant of what indeed he full well knew and understood is a blasphemous imagination To this I answer 1. That reformation of Life which we say our Saviour meant by Regeneration Nicodemus did not understand so perfectly well as our Author imagines For though he understood well enough that Reformation of Life which was required by Moses and the Prophets he did not yet understand the necessity of that reformation which was required by our Saviour under which is supposed the believing of Jesus to be the Christ the becoming of his Disciple and the keeping of his Laws which were better than the Laws of Moses Now as I have already told the Doctor none of those conformable Divines whom he endeavours to represent as odiously as he can do mean any thing less by that reformation of life which they affirm Regeneration to consist in than such a reformation as supposeth faith in Christ and being his Disciple and a sincere change of the Minde to the love and obedience of God and our Saviour Jesus This is what we mean by that Reformation and it is sufficiently plain out of the Writings of those men whom the Doctor so tragically complains of that they mean nothing less by it And I am confident so well do I know them that there is not one of them who would not with all their Hearts forbear this use of that expression of reformation and amendment of Life if they either thought it dangerous or offensive which hitherto they have not because the state of Regeneration is thus described in the Scriptures themselves He that doth righteousness is born of God and he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven he is my Brother c. Now this is my first answer to the Doctor that that reformation of Life which his Adversaries mean which namely implies being a sincere Disciple of Jesus Nicodemus did not understand the necessity of but was that very thing which our Saviour designed to make him understand 2. So mistaken is the Doctor every way This thing was proposed unto Nicodemus not under a new but under an old name or notion for 1. The name and notion of being born again was not new since the Jews counted their Proselytes Recens Nati New-born men and as such to have quitted their Relation to their former Country Kindred and Parents and become the Children of Abraham 2. To be born of Water was no new notion neither since purifying by Water or Baptism was one of the Ceremonies of this Regeneration by Proselytism 3. Neither was it a new notion to be born of the Spirit it was to be found in the Old Testament and the Doctor himself findes it there in those words where God promiseth to Circumcise the Hearts of his People to take away their Heart of stone and to give them an Heart of flesh with his Law written in it Had Nicodemus therefore talked like himself when our Saviour spake to him of the necessity of being born again of Water and the Spirit then instead of asking that strange Question Can a man when he is old c. and afterward How can these things be he should either have offered himself to be a Proselyte or Disciple of Christ and to submit to his divine Laws which he that observes is born of God hath a new Heart c. or offered some reason to the contrary Thus then I answer the Doctor that supposing Regeneration to be a Metaphorical expression of becoming a true Disciple of Jesus our Saviour did not propose an old thing to Nicodemus under a new name and notion to puzzle him as the Doctor pretends but on the contrary he proposed a new thing to him under old and familiar expressions And thus though the Doctor knew not how we could do it I hope we have freed our selves from the guilt of that Blasphemous Imagination he would fain fasten upon us The sum of what hath been said is this That Regeneration which is an effect of the Holy Spirit consists in being a true Disciple of Christ i. e.
signified too by that his dwelling in us which is mentioned in the New Testament but this in order to that more eminent blessing of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 1.4 5. I shall onely adde that as this presence of God still denotes his goodness and mercy as was proved by St. Paul's interpretation of it 2 Cor. 6.16 so dwelling does according to the propriety of the word signifie that this grace and goodness shall not be transitory but abiding while the condition abides upon which it is promised and that condition is no other than this that we be careful to keep the Commandments of God which is the second thing I am now to discourse of but before I attempt it I must confess that I am now falling upon a subject which belongs to the second Question viz. Who they are to whom the promise of the Holy Spirit is made which I shall fully treat of in the sixth Chapter But there is this excuse to be made for preventing some part of the designe of that Chapter that the consideration of the several ends and degrees of the Holy Spirit 's Operations is so neerly related to that which concerns the Objects of those Operations and so often interwoven with it that they cannot be so fully separated and distinctly treated of as we could wish Wherefore 2. I come to shew that they are onely good and holy men in whom God is said to dwell And this I think is not obscurely intimated by the Ark's being call'd peculiarly the Ark of his presence for as the Cherubims were the Symbols or visible Tokens of the divine presence in the most Holy place as the Mercy-seat signified the end of God's presence there viz. to dispense his blessings and graces amongst his people So the Ark being the peculiar place of his presence seems clearly to note upon what condition he would be thus gratious to them viz. if they would keep his Commandments the Tables whereof you know were laid up in that place How probably it might be inferred from hence that God dwells onely in good men I shall not say at present but sure I am that there is a true harmony between this explication of those Types and Figures and between the clear and evident Doctrines of the New Testament concerning this matter which I lay the greatest stress upon and which you may finde in such passages as these He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us 1 John 3.24 and the same is repeated Chap. 4. vers 13. Now doubtless he speaketh here of such a priviledge as those who kept not the Commandments of God had no reason to pretend to Again vers 14. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God i. e. who is not afraid of suffering for him vers 18. and hath overcome the world Chap. 5. vers 5. God dwelleth in him But in that place of St. Paul to the Corinthians which we have already noted it is observable that obedience and true holiness is made the condition of God's dwelling in us God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you i. e. I will then dwell in you as I have promised And this is yet more clear from the beginning of the next Chapter Having therefore these promises that God will dwell in us c. let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit that it may be unto us as God hath promised Now whereas the Apostle tells them vers 16. Ye are the temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in you c. we must observe that their being God's Temple signifies the right he had to their service but by his dwelling in them that peculiar favour and grace wherewith he would reward their obedience so that the Apostle useth a double Argument to perswade them to cleanse themselves 1. From their duty they ought so to do being God's Temple and this Argument he elsewhere more largely insists upon What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost in you the outward Court as it were of the Lord's house and that here especially noted because he was warning them to flee Fornication which is a sin that defiles the Body which ye have of God and ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods 1 Cor. 6.19 20. In which words it is plain that he principally urgeth them to consider the right by which their serving God by an holy use of themselves was due 2. From the reward of so doing for then as God hath said He will dwell in them and walk in them as in his Temple but not upon other terms Thus although the House of Israel was God's peculiar by vertue of that Covenant which he had made with them and his particular right to their service grounded thereupon which remained even when they rebelled against him yet when they did so he dwelt not amongst them he did not come unto them and bless them but forsook them and departed from his house although the Ark of his presence was still amongst them In like manner we who have been admitted into God's Covenant by Baptism and thereby consecrated to his use and service are become his Temple and peculiar and we cannot alienate his right to us But if we profane our selves if we defile the Temple of God if our Mindes be unholy and our Actions wicked God dwelleth not in us for what fellowship hath Righteousness with Unrighteousness What communion hath Light with Darkness They are those Virtues by which we grow like to God that make us capable of those Communications of the divine Spirit which are signified by his dwelling in us And the nearer we ascend to God by righteousness and true goodness which is a participation of the divine Nature the more freely and plentifully we receive the emanations of his grace and love It is the minde of a good Christian wherein God delighteth to dwell and to shew himself gratiously present For this is a Temple to speak in the language of the Metaphor where his glory is indeed spoken of Here his Name is honoured and his great Perfections adored his immense Presence his infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness effectually acknowledged not onely by a bare confession that there is a Being absolutely perfect but by affections suitable to the Divine Attributes his Goodness being here loved his Justice feared his Power and Wisdom reverenced his Fidelity and Truth
trusted and his Soveraign Dominion owned by a spirit of obedience and submission to it which are incomparably more effectual acknowledgments of the Divine perfections than whole Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices For this as our Saviour speaks is to worship God in spirit and in truth Such a Temple as this God is so delighted in that in comparison therewith he disregarded the Temple at Hierusalem with all the external services that belonged to it For that God dwelleth in pious mindes was not unknown to the Jews Where is the house that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest To him will I look saith the Lord even to him that is poor and of a contrite heart and trembleth at my word Isa. 66.2 3. Thus saith the high and holy One that inhabiteth eternity whose name is Holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the spirit of the contrite ones Isa. 57.15 Let us now lay these things together and the conclusion will be that God's dwelling in men implies a plentiful communication of Divine grace to confirm and strengthen them in all goodness which was what I took upon me to shew under this head For since this expression of God's dwelling in men denotes the presence of a peculiar grace and favour to those in whom he is said to dwell which is not afforded to others Since the dwelling of the Holy Ghost in Believers is to enable them to mortifie the deeds of the body and to prevail finally against all their spiritual Enemies Since also it is true that God dwelleth in good and righteous but not in impure and unholy persons it follows in the first place that after we are regenerated it is still by the grace of God and the Operations of his Holy Spirit that we are enabled to proceed in vertue and godliness and to persevere therein to the end for God dwelleth in us that we may mortifie the deeds of the body by the Spirit Secondly it follows also that there is a more abundant measure of Divine Grace communicated to holy persons than to those who are not so For God's dwelling implies the presence of more than ordinary Grace And thus our Saviour also hath plainly told us To him that hath shall be given and he shall have abundantly Finally this Doctrine is very well consistent with that of attributing the beginnings of Christian Faith and goodness in us to the Operations of the Holy Spirit For although the Spirit of God dwells onely in good men yet it is by his Operations that any are made so at first and as the Apostle speaks we are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit Eph. 2.22 But his dwelling in us afterward signifies as we have shewn the more abundant grace we are made partakers of And thus although the blessings which all the World enjoyed while the Tabernacle and Temple stood flowed to Mankinde from the Divine bounty and goodness yet God was said to dwell onely among the Israelites because he had a more especial care of that people than of any other Nation in the World My designe in this Chapter was to shew that the beginnings and progress of that state whereby we are qualified for Heaven are in the Scriptures ascribed to the Operations of the Holy Spirit and that all Christian Vertues are the gifts and graces of God I might now prove by as convincing testimonies that perseverance in the Faith and obedience of the Gospel is the effect of a Divine Operation in us But this truth is so evidently consequent from what the Scripture asserts concerning God's dwelling in good men which I have largely enough discoursed of that I reckon it needless to produce any further testimonies to confirm it Thus have I discharged what I promised in the close of the last Chapter which was to prove that those Christian Vertues in which the state of Regeneration consists together with our improvement and perseverance in them are particularly ascribed in the Scriptures to the Operations of the Holy Spirit And from what hath been thus proved these things follow 1. That he who is endued with these Virtues hath the Spirit of God for they are the effects of his grace And to say that a man may be endued with them and yet be void of Grace is to contradict the Scriptures which ascribe them in whomsoever they are to the Operations of the Holy Spirit 2. And by consequence it is an idle supposition that God will be displeased with us though we be never so careful to do his Commands and to increase in Christian Virtues if all this while we have not the Spirit of God for the former cannot be without the latter 3. Wherefore also it is a vain thing to make our believing and obeying the Gospel on the one side and our having true Grace and the Spirit of God on the other distinct marks of a Regenerate state For if Faith and Obedience are the fruits of the Holy Spirit within us if they are Grace as that signifies the performance of our duty and the effects of Grace as that signifies Divine Assistance then having the Grace of God and the Spirit of God is not a mark of Regeneration distinct from believing and obeying the Gospel because this is Grace it self in the former and is it self the onely mark of Grace in the latter sence of the word i. e. of our having the Spirit of God And now I have not discoursed upon this subject out of the least suspition that there are any in this Church who deny the Qualifications of a true Disciple of Jesus to be the graces of the Holy Spirit For excepting Dr. Owen and some of his party and as those who are acquainted with them say the Quakers I do not know of any in England who may justly be suspected to use one of the Doctor 's phrases of being gone over into the Tents of the Pelagians Nor was it merely to vindicate the Ministers of this Church whose judgement in this matter I am acquainted with something better than our Author seems to be from the imputation of Pelagianism which with so much clamour and railing he hath charged them withal But principally to give those who believe what the Scripture thus plainly declares occasion to consider it again and to lay it to heart since there can hardly be a more effectual encouragement to Piety and Virtue than this that God will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him for all blessings needful for their eternal welfare And nothing will render the wilful sinner more inexcusable and more severely punishable than this that whilst he goes on in his wicked life he does despight unto the Spirit of Grace CHAP. V. Concerning pretended Gifts of the Spirit SECT I. HItherto I have shewn of what kinde those Effects are for which the Holy Spirit
Saviour thought it was needful for us and therefore we have good reason to believe that God will not be angry with us because we are afraid to provoke his angry Justice nor disregard our care to do his will ever the more because we are moved thereunto by Fear since it is an argument that he himself perswades us withal especially since the Scripture makes those divine benefits which challenge our utmost gratitude and that goodness of God towards us which is so powerful an argument to make us love him with all our hearts a reason also why we should fear him For if we may believe the Psalmist we are to fear God because there is forgiveness with him Psal. 130.4 i. e. because the abuse of his Mercy will yet more provoke his Displeasure and bring a more dreadful punishment upon us Lastly since the Scripture tells us that we are not onely to begin but to perfect holiness in the fear of God and that too in consideration of those promises whereby we are encouraged to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 all this makes me wonder at your presumption in saying that by the want of your absolute Assurance Duties are discouraged spiritual Endeavours and Diligence are impaired Delight in God weakened and Love cooled when the Scripture is so plainly against you And for your saying that we bewray our Ignorance while we make the fear of God's threatnings lest they fall upon us needful to quicken our industry in all duties of obedience might we not requite you by saying more justly that you do but bewray your confidence in making your self wiser than Christ who thought we stood in need of this argument and would have it take impression in our mindes as I have already shewn you It is you say very sad that any man should so far proclaim his inexperience and unacquaintedness with the nature of Gospel-grace the Genius of the New Creature c. as to be able thus to argue viz. that the â—â—â—â—rance you speak of tends to carelesness c. But it is more sad that men under a pretence of greater acquaintance with Gospel-grace should take upon them to undermine the usefulness of so excellent a Grace of the Gospel as the fear of God's threatnings Now as to that experience you have of the nature of Gospel-grace and of the New Creature and which makes you so confident I have a good while considered what it should be and cannot finde a more probable sence of your words than this That you finde your selves made new Creatures and put on to good works by an irresistible grace which is the darling opinion you contend so fiercely for in your Book And if that be your meaning and your meaning be true then I confess there is no need of the Argument of Fear to constrain such as you And I will adde also neither can there be any need of any motive whatsoever to make you as good as you say and as we hope some of you are 3. Neither is this Assurance needful to encourage and comfort us while we are performing our duty nor must the want of it needs cast us into Perplexities Discouragement and Despondency as the Doctor will have it For the Scripture supposeth that the conditional promises of the Gospel are a sufficient ground of comfort while we are careful to keep the Commandments of God and if we are not Comfort is a thing that belongs not to us St. John saith We declare the Gospel unto you that you may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you that your joy may be FVLL If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth 1 John 1.3 4 6. Now that joy which is full is encouragement enough to our duty and yields sufficient comfort in the performance of it but if we may believe the Apostle this fulness of Joy may be grounded upon the conditional terms of the Gospel viz. that if we do not walk in darkness we have fellowship with God if we obey the Gospel God will love us and if we persevere therein he will save us eternally wherefore it may be had without absolute assurance that we shall be saved The Gospel will afford us no other comfort than that which depends upon the performance of our duty and seeing it hath given us abundant encouragement by the promises of God's Grace to be diligent in our duty it hath also abundantly provided for our comfort But 't is a most unreasonable thing to pretend that we cannot begin to serve God with any comfort till we have a comfortable assurance as the Doctor very truly calls it that we are personally elected and that it is absolutely impossible for us to miscarry for this is a comfort proper onely for them that have finished their course and are now ready to receive the Crown of Righteousness Suppose a good man should employ his Servant in a business of some difficulty promising him sufficient means to go through with it and for his reward a considerable inheritance in his Family If after he has taken the charge and before he has well begun it he should come to his Master and fall down at his Feet intreating him to settle that Inheri-upon him beforehand and to give him an absolute Estate in it promising upon his ingenuity that he would not be the less careful of his work but think himself rather the more obliged to perform it to the utmost of his power sure his Master would tell him that he desired an unreasonable thing since he had never found him worse than his word and there was some reason to suspect that his impatience was a signe of no honest intention in him but that for his own part he would give him no better assurance of his reward than upon condition lest afterward he must get somebody else to do his work Now if for all this the loitering Servant should lie groveling upon the ground wringing his Hands and beating his Breast protesting that he cannot go about his work nor so much as think of it with any joy till he hath full assurance that fair Estate he is so enamoured withal shall be his whether he doth his service required of him or whether he doth it not that nothing will comfort him and keep up his Heart from sinking within him but such a comfortable Assurance that he is all over lame and stiff and cannot stir a foot nor move a hand in his Master's service as long as he hath any the least fear of missing that Reward By this time we may suppose the good man to have a better opinion of his Servant than to think him a Knave but he would certainly conclude that he was not very wise The Parallel is so easie that I need not make it Indeed if a man be
ready to submit to and then I desire Dr. Hammond's interpretation may be considered But if they neither use this way nor the other nor any like it it is an absurd thing to produce those testimonies of Scripture at all to convince us by them because upon these terms it is utterly impossible they should convince us till we have received that New Light which they themselves pretend to And this is all that I can hope to bring them to viz. to confess their own impertinency in offering any testimony of Scripture for the justifying of their pretence and that when all is done they have nothing to say but the Spirit tells them this is the true sence and meaning of Scripture without enabling them to make it appear to any body else And so we are to let them go either for errant Hypocrites or rank Enthusiasts whom the State hath reason to be jealous of lest they should have some dangerous design against the Government or be prompted to Sedition and Rebellion by the heats of their own fancies or the suggestions of the Devil which by an Enthusiast may be so easily mistaken for the Impulses of the Holy Ghost If last of all it should be said that although God hath not promised this Inspiration we are speaking of yet for ought we know he may do more than he hath promised and reveal the true sence of what passages in Scripture he pleaseth to whom he pleaseth I answer that as I am no way obliged to contradict this supposition so withal I must adde 1. That supposing a man to be thus inspired he cannot prove to another that he is so otherwise than by Miracles which if he doth not neither can he justly expect to convince another that the sence revealed to him is the true sence otherwise than by such rational means as he must have used if it had not been revealed and 2. That therefore if one man hath nothing to say in conclusion for his interpretation of a place of Scripture but that the Spirit led him to it and that to put any other sence upon it is the fruit of carnal reasoning and of the wisdom of the flesh and a signe of Vnregeneracy and the state of a natural man that hath not the Spirit of God which is always Dr. Owen's last refuge and another plainly shews either by the words themselves or by the designe of the discourse to which they belong or by some other way apt to convince a rational man that the foresaid meaning does not belong to them but one that is different from it In this case I say the former is convinced to pretend falsly to Inspiration and in plain English he must be a very Fool that will prefer his interpretation before the other And so much for that matter SECT 5. 2. The principal passages of Scripture which seem to imply Assurance to be a gift bestowed upon the regenerate by the Holy Spirit are two The first I shall mention is that of St. Paul to the Ephesians Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption Eph. 4.30 Now by the Believers being sealed c. some have thought that a testimony of the Spirit whereby they are absolutely assured that they shall be saved must needs be meant But first the words are fairly capable of another meaning viz. that the gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon Believers were an evidence that God was now preparing them for the Kingdom of Heaven since upon their believing he had blest them with so many advantages in order thereunto and therefore that he had now a peculiar right to their obedience For this we know is one use of sealing to distinguish that which of right belongs to our selves from what is common Thus are all Believers marked out for God's portion and peculiar by the eminent advantages of the Gospel which he hath made them partakers of and therefore are they said to be sealed by the Holy Spirit because the Gospel is a divine Revelation and the ministration of the Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit Thus when it is said that God the Father hath sealed Christ John 6.27 the meaning is that by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him he owned him to be his Son that great Prophet who was to declare the will and pleasure of God to men In like manner God's giving his Holy Spirit to them that believe in Christ is as St. Chrisostome speaks excellently upon this place his marking them out to be a Royal Flock it is a token of their peculiar designation to the service and obedience of God and a pledge of that Inheritance 2 Cor. 1.22 they shall be rewarded with if they walk as becomes the Gospel But all this is very far from inferring an absolute assurance in them who are thus marked out for God's people that they shall infallibly persevere in that duty which belongs to their peculiar relation to God and the performance whereof is the condition of receiving the Inheritance And therefore such assurance cannot be proved to be spoken of in this place But 2. The words are not onely capable of that sence which I have offered but their coherence with the foregoing and following verses and the force and reason of St. Paul's Exhortation requires it Let him saith he that stole steal no more and let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth c. Let all bitterness and wrath c. be put away The Argument wherewith he enforceth these Exhortations is this that otherwise they would grieve the Holy Spirit by which they were sealed c. i. e. they would plainly contradict the end for which God had bestowed the gifts of the Spirit upon them who were thus marked out to be his Servants and Children This would be to grieve the Holy Spirit i. e. to bereave themselves of his gracious presence and to come in danger of being excluded for ever out of the Rest of God as it was with the Israelites in the Wilderness with whom God was grieved forty years and he swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest Heb. 3. And the note which the Apostle makes thereupon is this that we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end vers 14. i. e. if we hold on resolvedly and patiently in the course of a Christian life It is the like Argument which the Apostle useth more concisely to the Ephesians when he disswades them from impure and evil courses lest they grieve the Holy Spirit of God and by consequence never enter into that Rest God had designed for them But this consideration could have been of no force at all if they had been absolutely sure of their Inheritance as some from these words have pretended they were whereas it must be granted to be very prevailing on supposition that by sealing is here meant their being as it were
their natural contrivance and invention either just before or while they are praying It seems strange likewise that by the Prayers of men low and weak in their notional apprehension of things we may see them led into Communion with God in the highest and holiest mysteries of his Grace and that they have an experience of the life and power of the things themselves in their own Hearts For what have we to see this by but their Words and Gestures c. But it is past my reach how by these helps we can see that which he told us before God onely sees viz. the fervent workings of the New Creature when acted by the Holy Ghost in supplications And to do him right he seems not to ascribe the extemporary utterance but onely the present conception of matter to the Spirit Other observations of this kinde might be made which I shall not clog the Reader withal But upon the whole matter Rom. 8.26 27. seems to me much easier to be understood than any thing that he saith with relation to it and unless he shall please to explain himself further one may sooner I think understand St. Paul than him though there be considerable difficulties in the Text which need an Interpreter Therefore I shall 1. Consult the sence of good Authors and such as the Doctor I hope will not take upon him to say were Proud Carnal Ignorant and Profane persons words which he throws so fiercely about him whilst he is discoursing of Prayer the very mention of which one would think should have taught him more meekness 2. I shall compare what they say with that which seems to me to be the designe of St. Paul in the foregoing and following Verses This I take to be a good way both to understand the Text and to avoid the Doctor 's displeasure if we should not altogether agree about the meaning of it at last St. Chrysostom saith that in those words Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities for c. St. Paul instructs us not always to judge those things profitable which seem to be so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to mere natural Reason For it was likely that they who suffered so many evils wished a relaxation asking it as a grace from God But saith he do not think that would be best which presently appears to be so upon this very account we need divine assistance for man knoweth little or nothing what is for his welfare wherefore the Apostle saith We know not c. And then he shews this was St. Paul's case too when he prayed that the Thorn in the Flesh might be removed 2 Cor. 12. but obtained it not For he proves that this Thorn were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Dangers and Persecutions he lay under In like manner St. Austin tells us It is not to be believed that St. Paul or those to whom he spake knew not the Lord's Prayer why should he therefore say We know not what to pray for as we ought but because temporal afflictions are mostly profitable either to cure us of the swelling of Pride or c. but we not considering this desire to be exempted from them From which ignorance the Apostle shews himself not to have been free when lest he should be exalted by the abundance of Revelations there was given to him a Thorn in the Flesh a Messenger of Satan to buffet him and he besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from him herein not knowing what to pray for as he ought Therefore in these tribulations which may be either profitable or hurtful we know not what to pray for i. e. whether it be better to have them removed or not and yet because they are hard to be born we do as men altogether desire to have them removed And not long after he saith The Spirit causeth the Saints to intercede with unutterable groans inspiring them with the desire of a thing yet unknown which they patiently expect for how should that which is desired be uttered when it is yet not known To the same purpose St. Hierom saith the Spirit helpeth our Infirmities that we should not desire earthly but heavenly things we know not what to pray for They are commonly hurtful things which we think profit us and therefore our desires are not granted as he saith himself elsewhere For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me He maketh intercession for the Saints Here saith he St. Paul by the Spirit means the grace of the Spirit For the Spirit intercedes because he maketh us to pray with unutterable groans as God is said to try us that he might know us that is that he might make us know our selves And to intercede according to the will of God is to desire Holy and not Secular things Thus St. Ambrose if he was the Author of those Commentaries We know not c. for we are deceived thinking those things will profit us which we desire when they are not profitable and here he useth the same instance likewise of St. Paul's desiring that the Messenger of Satan might depart from him to which he addes that of James and John desiring the pre-eminence in Christ's Kingdom who asked they knew not what But withal he supposeth that the Spirit doth properly intercede with God in our behalf that we may have such things as are profitable for us Theodoret saith the Apostle speaks to this purpose Pray not to be delivered from troubles for you know not what is profitable for you as God doth who governs all Resigne up your selves to him that holds the Helm of the Vniâ—â—â—se c. But saith he by the Spirit is meant the grace of the Spirit which is given to them that believe for being thereby stirred up we pray more earnestly c. And he addes that the Apostle spake this from the experience of what he had suffered referring probably to that passage concerning the Messenger of Satan so often already mentioned To mention no more Origen thus paraphraseth upon the Text Sometimes through infirmity we desire things contrary to our welfare as a sick man would have the Physician prescribe him what is agreeable to his present appetite instead of that which is for his health so in this infirm state of ours we ask sometimes what is not expedient for us And I Paul who had the Messenger of Satan given me thrice asked c. not knowing what I asked and received this answer My grace is sufficient for thee The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit but when the Spirit of God seeth our spirit striving against the Flesh he reacheth out his help Now saith he if any one can finde out a more sublime sence than this let him enjoy it to himself But they are to be admonish'd who desire of God the prosperity c. of this life because in these respects they know not what to pray for
elected to the testimony of the Spirit or while men impatient of contradiction ascribe their absurd interpretations of the Scripture to the Revelation of the Spirit or while men low and weak in their national apprehensions of things impute the vanity which they frequently utter in their Prayers to the impulse and suggestion of the Spirit 2. To take off the minds of Christians from the expectation of such gifts from the Spirit as are nowhere promised that they may more zealously pursue after those Graces which are indeed promised and without which they cannot be saved And thus much for that part of my undertaking which concerned those Effects for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is promised CHAP. VI. Concerning those to whom the Holy Spirit is promised and given SECT 1. TO speak clearly to this matter we are in the first place to observe that the Operations of the Holy Spirit are either 1. Such as prevent our belief of the Gospel and our very first desires to know the will of God and to live according to it this is that Grace which depends not upon our believing being the cause of those dispositions which I have shewn to be preparatory and antecedently necessary to Faith it self 2. Such as follow after to cherish and improve such good beginnings in us and to endue us with all qualifications necessary to eternal Life Now the promises of this Grace are conditional such is that promise in St. Luke 11.13 and the condition is plainly exprest God will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him who are already convinced of the Truth and desire to do the Will of God and pray for divine assistance Such also is that promise in 2 Cor. 6. that God will dwell in us which depends upon our being the sincere Disciples of Christ and cleansing our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit These are the principal promises of Grace made to us in the Gospel and it is evident we have no right to the former but on condition of our believing in Christ and owning our selves to be his Disciples nor to the latter if we do not obey the Gospel And from hence we may learn where the true difference lies between common and special Grace which is a distinction I doubt oftner used than understood That special Grace implies an higher degree of favour towards them upon whom it is bestowed than is signified by common Grace is obvious to every man's understanding Now there are indeed divers promises of such Grace to be met with in the Gospel and which will be in force to the end of the world but they are all of them conditional and made with respect to some Qualification without which they do not belong to us Wherefore special Grace is that which is suspended upon the performance of some condition and consequently that Grace to which such a condition is not required beforehand is common But since there are several degrees of Grace proportionable to the several Qualifications of men For instance since more Grace is promised to Believers than to Unbelievers and yet more to sincere Christians than to mere Professors The distinction is to be understood in this Latitude that the same degree of Grace which is special in one respect may be common in another for that Grace whereof Faith is the condition is common in respect of that which obedience qualifies a Believer to receive as it is special with regard to that which does not require the condition of Faith and which an Unbeliever is capable of Wherefore the distinction is not accurate enough to be nice withal for if it be strictly held to there are several instances of divine Grace that will not fall under it because then onely the first Operations of the Spirit upon our mindes preventing all good inclinations in them will be common Grace and those onely which crown our obedience with perseverance special But admitting the former Latitude the distinction will reach every Operation of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes and the difference between that Grace which is common and that which is special may be so placed as that we may understand one another when we use the distinction And then I offer it to be considered whether it be not most agreeable to the Scriptures to place the difference between them in this that common Grace is that whereby we are led to the faith of Christ and the profession of Christianity and so includes all those goods desires that are excited and all those good dispositions that are produced in the mindes of men before they believe and special Grace that which is given to Believers onely for the strengthning of their Faith the increasing of their good desires and the enabling of them to live according to the Gospel For although there are degrees of that Grace to which Faith is pre-required and of that which is antecedent to Faith our Saviour's rule To him that hath shall be given holding equally in both cases yet it is observable that the promise of the Holy Spirit in St. Luke and all the particular promises of that nature in the Gospel are given onely to Believers and that we have no right to them but upon the performance of some condition required in the New Covenant Now since there are peculiar promises of the Holy Spirit which belong onely to them that believe it seems agreeable to the Scriptures to suppose Faith to be the first condition of special Grace and consequently that Grace to be common which requires not the performance of any condition undertaken by us when we are admitted into the Covenant It is in this sence that I shall understand the distinction because otherwise I think it will often prove a Distinction without Difference since in the strict meaning of the words the same Grace may be both common and special Thus also we may understand the difference between preventing and co-operating Grace and between preparing and perfecting Grace For these distinctions express the same thing in other respects that is meant by common and special Grace For that Grace which we call common because it is given without that condition which is necessary to qualifie us for greater Grace is also said to be preventing Grace with respect to God who is the first cause of all that is good in us and likewise preparing Grace with regard to some further improvement that we are thereby made capable of attaining And then co-operating and perfecting Grace are but other words expressing the same thing that is meant by special Grace with a like difference of respects So that these distinctions are to be understood with the same Latitude and used with the same caution that the former is If I am mistaken in this they are more subtile and intricate than I was aware of But the accurate use of these distinctions is not that which I contend for it is sufficient for me if I can make my meaning to be