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
shewing what we are taught in the Scriptures concerning these things I hope the Reader who hath not so well considered them may gain a profitable knowledge of this part of Christian Doctrine And that is a profitable knowledge of it which will incite him to the study of Godliness and Virtue For this promise is made to encourage men to be good and the principal end which I aim at in this undertaking is to make it appear what great reason they have to endeavour earnestly after true goodness since God hath promised to give his Holy Spirit CHAP. II. Concerning those effects for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is given to Believers SECT I. DOctor O. saith well that when we treat of the Operations of the Holy Spirit we are exercised in such a Subject as wherein we have no rule nor guide nor any thing to give us assistance but pure Revelation For I suppose he means by these words that all our knowledge concerning this matter depends upon Revelation For the promise of the Spirit is a branch of the New Covenant which depended upon the pleasure of God therefore our knowledge of this part of the Covenant must be grounded upon the Scriptures which contain the revelation of it And by God's assistance I shall endeavour to govern my self by that rule while I am debating those Questions I have propounded concerning the Operations of the Holy Spirit The first whereof is this What those effects are for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is given to men And this I the rather begin withal because the end of his Operations being well understood we shall be the better able to judge of the meaning of those Texts which tell us who they are to whom the Spirit is promised and what is the manner of his Operations What the effects themselves are for which the Spirit is given may be known 1. In great part from that promise of the Holy Spirit which our Saviour made to his Disciples Luke 11.13 2. They may be fully known from those other places of Scripture which mention the several Graces of the Holy Spirit I begin with the promise in St. Luke whereby we may understand for what purposes the Holy Spirit is promised to those that believe in Christ. The Text is this How much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him These words deserve our attention the more because they are the first wherein we finde our Saviour mentioning the Gift of the Holy Spirit to his Disciples and therefore let us consider their connexion with the precedent part of the Chapter to come by that means to their true meaning and hereby also we shall plainly see what those effects are for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is promised to us in this place We finde vers 1. that one of his disciples said unto him Lord teach us to pray whereupon he taught them that Form of Prayer Our Father c. Having thus answered their desire he takes this occasion to require them to pray fervently and importunately urging his Command with this Argument that if they did so they should certainly be heard and their requests should be granted for thus he speaks to them vers 9. I say unto you Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened to you for every one that asketh receiveth c. This argument is enforced by two similitudes whereof the former makes way for the latter to proceed with more strength towards the proving of this thing that God will hear our earnest Prayers The first is that of a man that goes to his friend at midnight to beg three Loaves for the entertainment of another friend of his vers 5 6. Now it is here observed that the request was very troublesome and unseasonable vers 7. Trouble me not the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed and withal the trouble was so great that the bare friendship that was between them would not have prevailed vers 8. He will not rise and give him because he is his friend Yet on the other side 't is observed that two considerations prevailed with him viz. that of the necessity and that of the importunity of his friend Yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth Now from hence our Saviour concludes vers 9. that if we ask we shall have i. e. God will give us whatsoever things we ask of him importunately if those things are needful for us And this with great reason for 1. God is our best Friend and greatest Benefactor 2. We are never unseasonable to him and the giving of what we ask is never uneasie to himself Wherefore if a man will grant to his friend what he is importunate with him for if it be needful for him though he cannot do it without trouble and uneasiness to himself much more will God who loveth us more than a man can do his friend bestow such things upon us as are needful if we earnestly desire him since he can without any trouble to himself grant our requests In the next Similitude the Argument is improved If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father will he give him a stone or if he ask a fish will he for a fish give him a serpent Or if he shall ask an egg will he offer him a scorpion vers 11 12. Now here 1. The Son asks of the Father where on the one hand the natural affection is greater between a Father and his Son and on the other the dependance greater in the Son upon his Father than in one Friend upon another 2. The Son requests food necessary to sustain himself not for the entertainment of another as in the former Similitude wherefore seeing here is greater love on his part that is asked greater dependance and necessity on his that asks our Saviour concludes he will prevail so that the Father instead of giving that which is necessary will not give that which is unprofitable as a Stone instead of Bread much less will he instead of that which is profitable give that which is hurtful as a Serpent for a Fish and a Scorpion for an Egg. From hence our Saviour argues If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him The Argument proceeds à minori and the force of it lies in this That earthly Parents who may be tenacious towards others and envy what they enjoy for in that sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken Is thine eye evil because mine is good will not yet be so towards their Children when they ask such things as they need much less will God who is in this Similitude affirmed to be our Father as in the former he is supposed to be our Friend and who
think may take Sanctuary in that Ignorance which will I hope make some abatement for the mistakes of the people but as for the rest they would do well to consider those dreadful words of our Lord Luke 17.1 2. It is impossible but that offences will come but wo unto him through whom they come It were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones SECT 5. I should come next to consider that Argument of the Doctor which lies particularly against the supposal of Regeneration to be a Metaphorical expression of reformation of Life according to the Scriptures which he takes to be his Adversaries notion of Regeneration But it is fit their notion should be better understood than as 't is lamely represented by him Wherefore my next business shall be to state what I conceive to be the true meaning of Regeneration which being done I promise the Doctor not to forget his Objection against it The meaning of being Regenerate or born again will be fully known if we know what it signifies as a State and what as an Effect I shall first consider what is the meaning of being Regenerate as that phrase implies the state or condition of that man who is said to be Regenerate and then I shall offer those reasons which make it evident that that meaning is fit to be expressed by this Metaphor 1. As Regeneration denotes a State I affirm that to be regenerate or born again signifies in its utmost meaning to become a sincere Proselyte or Disciple of our Lord Jesus I shall first briefly shew what I mean by a sincere Disciple of Christ. Secondly I shall prove that to be the meaning of a regenerate state To be a sincere Disciple of Jesus consists in these two things 1. In being baptized as our Saviour requires 2. In making good the profession of Baptism which is to believe in Christ and to obey his Commands This is clearly answerable to that rule which our Blessed Saviour gave to his Apostles according to which they were to make men his Disciples Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost i. e. admitting them by Baptism into the Church and thereby engaging them to believe and to profess their Faith in the Father Son and Holy Ghost and of that Doctrine to which they have born record Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you i. e. and by the same Baptism engaging them to obey all my Commands That therefore which makes us sincere Disciples is thus to believe and obey as we are by Baptism engaged to do Now because to obey the Commands of Christ whatever we lose or suffer by it is the clearest proof we can give to our selves or others that we own him in good earnest to be our Lord and Master and that we do heartily believe him to be the Son of God therefore we finde that our Saviour speaks of this obedience to him as if it were the onely thing in which our being his true Disciples did consist Thus John 15.8 Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit that ye be fruitful in Piety and good works so shall ye be my Disciples The same thing is affirmed of obedience to one but that a very remarkable Precept of our Saviour John 13.34 A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have love one to another i. e. such love as Christ had to us Now we are not to think that this last saying of our Saviour concerning that one instance of obedience to him or that the former concerning obedience in general do exclude either the one obedience to the rest of his Laws or the other believing him to be the Son of God from being necessary to make us his true Disciples But that by such an high act of Vertue as to love the Brethren as Christ loved us it may strongly be concluded that we will not stick at any thing he requires of us and that our yielding a sincere obedience to all his Commands does clearly suppose that we believe him to be the Son of God and all his promises to be true Hence our Saviour does not admit that we can be his Disciples if we do not entirely submit our selves to him If any man come to me and hate not his Father c. and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple i. e. unless he loves God and Truth and Goodness so much more than all his worldly Interests even his Life it self that he may be said to hate these things when his love to them is compared with his love to Christ he cannot be a Disciple of Christ He cannot be so if he be not willing to part with all earthly things in obedience to Christ. The meaning is he cannot be a sincere Disciple he cannot answer the profession of Baptism while it is thus with him Thus are we taught to interpret those words by our Saviour himself in another place If ye continue in my word to do according to it whatever betides you for so doing in this world then are ye my Disciples indeed St. John 8.31 So that the best notion we can frame of a true Disciple of Christ and that to which we are guided by Christ himself is this that he is one who doth so firmly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that all his promises are true as to love God above all things and yield an hearty obedience to all the Commands of Christ. Now Secondly I am to prove that the state of Regeneration means no more than to become such a Disciple of Christ as I have described and my first Argument is this 1. It is acknowledged that unless we be Regenerate we cannot see the Kingdom of God and withal that if we be Regenerate we have thereby all that is necessary to qualifie us for his Kingdom It is I think likewise acknowledged that it is equally necessary and sufficient for that end that we be the sincere Disciples of Christ. Let these things be granted and I am much mistaken if it does not follow that to be Regenerate and to be a sincere Disciple of Christ are the same thing If the latter be not readily granted it is clearly proved from all those Scriptures which suppose Faith and Obedience to be necessary and sufficient qualifications for eternal Happiness such as these He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Christ is the Author of salvation to them that obey him He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Blessed are the pure in
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
what he hath been pleased to declare concerning it by himself and his Apostles Lastly I mean those Operations of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes the continuance whereof is promised to the Church in all Ages removing those from the matter of our enquiry which were peculiar to the first i. e. such as shewed themselves in the extraordinary and miraculous Gifts of the Apostles and the Believers of that time who were to confirm and establish the Christian Doctrine in the world by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power by supernatural effects evident to sense and such testimonies of divine Revelation When the Doctrine of the Gospel was once fully demonstrated to be divinely revealed there was no need that God should appear in every Age to own it by new testimonies of Revelation because the knowledge of those that were given thereunto at first is conveyed down to us with sufficient evidence that they were then given Now Miracles and such extraordinary works of the Spirit are ceas'd But the Scriptures mention such a Promise of the Spirit which will never be out-dated while the ministration of the Gospel lasts and this is one of those promises made in the Gospel which argue the constant bounty and affection of our Heavenly Father towards us Now they are these Operations of the Spirit viz. which are continued through all ages of the Church to which I shall confine my thoughts in the following discourse But before I proceed it may not be amiss to make this plain Inference that since these Operations of the Spirit differ clearly in their nature and end from those which were peculiar onely to the first ages of the Church therefore those places of the Holy Scripture which onely concern the work of the Holy Spirit in gifts extraordinary and miraculous are not to be produced for the proof of any opinion concerning his ordinary and constant Operations And whatsoever is affirmed concerning those must not presently be affirmed of these unless it can be shewn by some clear Text or other good Reason that what is so affirmed is common to them both And therefore to be sure some care must be had not to mistake those places of Scripture which speak of the extraordinary gifts of some Believers for Texts which mention those Operations and Graces that are common to all But as obvious as the difference between these things is I finde Dr. Owen frequently confounding them as if there were no difference to be put between them Thus after he had recited those promises of our Saviour made to his Disciples The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatever I have said unto you I have many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he shall shew you things to come He supposeth that these are instances of that general promise of the Spirit which belongs unto all Believers unto the end of the world than which nothing can be more apparently false as is plain from our Saviours words themselves He shall bring to your remembrance whatever I have said unto you c. and he shall shew you things to come which and the like expressions no sober man can apply to Believers now And this the Doctor himself is so sensible of that he tells us in the same breath The Holy Ghost was bestowed on the Primitive Christians in a peculiar manner and for especial ends Now I would gladly know of him what other ends besides those that were peculiar to the state of the Primitive Church are mentioned in the foresaid promise of the Holy Ghost Many instances of this nature might be produced against him were it not for wasting of time I shall onely give the Reader a Specimen how he argues from those Texts which speak of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit He tells us that in some the Spirit works Conviction and Illumination without intending to work saving Grace in them which therefore shall never be effected and that the reason why some Believers are not so good as others is because the Spirit carrieth on the work to a great inequality And this Doctrine he makes a shift to countenance by saying that the Spirit worketh in all these things according to his own will aiming at that place of the Apostle to the Corinthians where he faith The Spirit worketh all these things dividing to every man severally as he will Now I think we have as good as his own confession presently after that this place belongeth to another â—â—tter viz. the distribution of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit For thus he faith And this is that which the Apostle mindes the Corinthians of to take away all emulation and envy about spiritual Gifts that every one should orderly make use of what he had received to the profit and edification of others Now either the Doctor alleadged this place to no purpose or he must be supposed to argue in this manner Because the Spirit distributed extraordinary gifts for the edification of the Church according to his own will therefore it is sometimes the will of the Spirit to enlighten and convince those men in whom he intends not to work saving Grace That the Spirit of God worketh always according to his own will and wisdom there is no question but we may well question whether in bestowing that Grace which is necessary to the salvation of every Believer he worketh in the same manner and method as he did in conferring extraordinary gifts that were none of them necessary to the salvation of those particular persons on whom they were bestowed and therefore that the Spirit of God in the distribution of these worked according to his own will can be no proof of the affirmative And the Doctor might have observed the inconvenience of referring to this Text in favour of his opinion from what he himself concludes So that it is an unreasonable thing for any to contend about them i. e. about those spiritual Gifts For if what is affirmed truely of the distribution of them be true also of all the effects of the Holy Spirit upon the mindes of men it is also an unreasonable thing to contend about any of them i. e. it is as unreasonable for the Doctor to reprove any man because he is not converted or because he hath no more Grace than he has as it would have been for him that could speak with Tongues to finde fault with his Christian Brother to whom that gift was not imparted Again it is plain enough that the promise of the Father concerning the Spirit which the Apostles were to wait for Acts 1.4 and the power which they received after the Holy Ghost came upon them
that they might be Witnesses c. and the promise of the Holy Ghost which Christ received from the Father Acts 2.23 peculiarly concerned the miraculous Gifts which were bestowed after Christs Ascension and this as I conceive the Doctor acknowledgeth by saying that Christ shed forth what they saw and heard in the miraculous operations and effects of it Now saith he In this promise viz. Acts 1. vers 4 8. the Lord Christ founded the Church it self and by it he builded it up And this is the Hinge whereon the whole weight of it doth turn and depend unto this day It is indeed certain that the faith of the Church is at this day founded upon the extraordinary testimonies that were given to the Gospel by the Spirit in the first ages of the Church But that which follows is absolutely false Take away this promise suppose it to cease as unto a continual Accomplishment and there will be an absolute end of the Church of Christ in this world For as he elsewhere confesses himself Miracles are ceased and yet there is a Church He proceeds thus No Dispensation of the Spirit no Church he that would utterly separate the Spirit from the Word had as good burn his Bible Be not so hasty for although this happens to be a truth yet 't is more than you have proved The Operations of the Spirit may now be utterly separated from the Word for all Acts 1.4 And although you very truely tell us that the bare Letter of the New Testament cannot ingenerate Faith and Obedience in the hearts of men yet for any thing you have here said it may For those Texts upon which you ground your confidence speak onely of the miraculous Gifts whereby the Gospel was confirmed Now these being recorded in the New Testament together with that Doctrine which was proved by them may be as able to assure men of the truth of the Gospel and make them obedient to the Law of Christ as they were when they were seen and heard and that of themselves too for any thing you have shewn to the contrary from Acts 1. though the contrary may well be shewn from other Scriptures Now I cannot see to what end these men when they are speaking of the Promise of the Spirit which will in all ages be accomplished should fly so often as they do to those Texts which mention those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit that were bestowed in the first unless it be to make their followers believe that the true Ministers of the Gospel are inspired as the Apostles were and that they preach in the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power as the Apostles did Which because we do not pretend to it is left to them who do so to be sole owners of the Priviledge Just as the Papists support their pretence to Miracles and Infallibility by drawing the promises peculiarly made to the Apostles and first Believers into consequence for the Church of Rome in every age And I fear by the like device our Author hath laid his Plot to unchurch us quite and clean who conform to the Laws For saith he Let men cast themselves into what order they please institute what forms of Government and religious Worship they please let them do it by an attendance according to the best of their Vnderstandings unto the Letter of the Scripture i. e. let their Government and Worship be as neer the rule of the Scripture as they can possibly frame it yet if the work of the Spirit of God be disowned or disclaimed by them if they disown those extravagant pretences to the Spirit which you set up to magnifie your selves withal If there be not in them and upon them such a work of his as is promised by our Lord Jesus Christ there is no Church-state amongst them nor as such is it to be owned and esteemed And is this that you have been driving at all this while you have now found out a new colour for your Schism and it seems the separation from the Church of England must go forward upon this pretence that the work of the Spirit promised by our Lord Jesus Christ is not in us and upon us which in many places of your Book also you spare not to say we reproach and disavow But I beseech you dare you say that you have that work of the Spirit in you and upon you which is signified by the fore-mentioned Texts If you say so we shall presently desire you to convince us of it by Miracles and such signes as the Apostles did If you dare not say it then it seems that work of the Spirit is no more in you and upon you than 't is in us and then I hope we are not unchurched for not pretending to it nor fit to be accounted Reprobates because we are not Liars I acknowledge that promise of our Saviour mentioned by you in your next Section Matth. 28.20 I am with you always even unto the end of the world proves the constant presence of Christ in his Church by his Spirit but then Sir it doth not prove nor I think are you able to prove that the fore-mentioned promise made to the Apostles is the same promise with that which is here made Now as to that work of the Spirit which will indeed continue through all ages of the Church God forbid that we should disown and disclaim it But we disown the proving it from such places of Scripture as you lay the great stress of your proof upon lest we should seem to pretend to those influences of the Holy Spirit which were poured forth upon the Church at her first appearance in the world to confirm the Christian Faith by signes and wonders and not being able to make good our pretence be laughed at for our pains It would not avail us to say that we pretend not to those measures of the Spirit those extraordinary Gifts which the Apostles and first Believers had for it would be unanswerably returned upon us that these Texts cannot be proved to speak of any but these and thus we should disparage a good cause by arguing no better for it Therefore Doctor if the whole work of the Spirit in and towards the Church it self be openly derided as you complain you may I doubt in great part thank your self and such as you who by imprudent Discourses upon this subject have given profane persons occasion to make a question whether now-a-days there be any work at all of Gods Spirit upon the hearts of men I shall now endeavour to shew that there is and that by laying together what the Holy Scriptures say concerning it All which I suppose may be reduced to these three heads 1. What those effects are for the producing of which in the mindes of men God will give the Holy Spirit in all ages of the Church 2. To whom this promise of the Holy Spirit is made 3. What is the manner and measure of his Operations By
is good to all his creatures who envieth no man's happiness who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth none much less I say will he deny us his Holy Spirit if we ask him From hence it is evident that the scope of our Sayiour in this Discourse is to perswade his Disciples to pray fervently for such things as are indeed needful for them and that by this Argument that God will grant such requests as these are It is also evident that our Saviour concludes with this Argument in these words God will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him Wherefore I conceive we have gained one note of those spiritual Effects which the Holy Spirit is promised to work in our mindes viz. that they are such as are indeed needful For it is plain that in both Similitudes the things that were asked either by the Friend or the Childe were really such as they stood in need of the one for his friend the other for himself and that this was one reason why they prevailed Now from hence our Saviour infers that God will much more give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him i. e. for such purposes as are needful otherwise the Argument will not hold For we cannot infer from this consideration that we are ready to bestow upon our Children what they need therefore our heavenly Father will give us the Holy Spirit for such ends as are needless If the demands of Children be not within the limits of Reason and Modesty if they ask not to supply their real needs but to gratifie their wanton appetites it is consistent with the goodness of a Parent to deny such desires as those and to rebuke the folly of them too And if we should ask those gifts of the Holy Ghost which are not needful for us this would be more than we are encouraged to do by the promise of Christ and the compassion of our Heavenly Father may very well consist with the refusal of such Requests as these SECT 2. But this general Rule that we are to pray for such effects of the Holy Spirit as are needful for us would be insufficient to direct us what to pray for in particular if we did not also understand what effects are needful Now to satisfie you in this matter I might presently produce those places of Scripture where the several effects of the Holy Spirit upon the mindes of Believers are mentioned which work belongs properly to the second way propounded for the resolution of the present Question But before I come to that I shall try how far we may conclude from our Saviour's promise thus This is a needful Grace therefore we are to pray for it and then I shall in due place proceed to the second Head under which those Texts are to be considered from whence we may conclude in this manner This Grace we are to pray for therefore it is needful These methods of arguing will indeed bring us to the same conclusion concerning what those effects are for which the Holy Spirit is promised in St. Luke But by so doing they will afford mutual light to each other and infer the conclusion with more strength which I hope will not be judged unprofitable in a matter of so great weight for every Christian to be well satisfied about I begin with arguing from our needs to those Graces of the Holy Spirit which we are to pray for Now because it is some good or advantage of ours that is regarded in this promise of the Holy Spirit and in respect whereof his Graces are supposed to be needful we must in the first place set that end before us by which we are to measure what effects are needful to be wrought in us by the Holy Spirit and then consider what are indeed needful to that end for so far as we understand this we shall know what Graces to pray for since we are to pray for those that are needful and the needfulness of any thing must be judged of according to that end in respect whereof it is said to be needful 1. As for the end it self if we consider that this promise of the Holy Spirit is part of the New Covenant there can be no reason to doubt but the ultimate end of this promise with regard to our Good is our eternal Salvation and Glory For that which is the last end of the whole Covenant is the last end of every part of it Now the state which Christ came to bring us to at last is that of seeing God as he is and living for ever in the enjoyment of his Love For which reason St. John tells us This is the promise that he hath promised us even eternal life 1 Joh. 2.25 not as if the Gospel had no other promises but because the rest are subordinate to this and consequently that of the Holy Spirit must needs be so Wherefore in that promise of his Operations to produce all needful effects in our mindes those are supposed to be such which are needful for our Eternal Salvation Now 2. We must consider what effects are needful to be wrought in us for that end The needfulness of any means to an end consists either in this that the end cannot be attained without them at all or not so well without them That which is needful in the former sense is absolutely necessary that which is needful in the latter is onely profitable Let us therefore first consider what effects are absolutely necessary to be wrought in us in order to our eternal Salvation what these are we are plainly told in the Scripture and they may be comprised under these Heads 1. Faith in Jesus or believing him to be the Son of God and so one upon whose Authority we may safely rely as to whatever Revelations he hath made of God's Will the necessity of which Faith our Saviour hath told us in those words If ye believe not that I am he ye shall die in your sins Though indeed the Holy Spirit cannot be said to be promised in this place of St. Luke for the producing of Faith in this notion it being apparently supposed that whatever is here promised is promised to the Disciples of Jesus who do already believe him to be the Christ. 2. So much knowledge of the Christian Doctrine which is Faith in another notion as is necessary to instruct us in and encourage us to that Repentance and Holiness which the Gospel requires in order to Salvation When we believe in Christ our next care must be to know what his will is and to possess our mindes with those principles of Obedience without which it is impossible to please God For if it be necessary to salvation to do the Will of Christ it is equally necessary to understand his Revelations his Laws and Promises in that measure which is necessary to the doing of his Will and therefore a Believer is encouraged by this promise of our Saviour to ask the Holy Spirit that he may
use the means of arriving to such needful knowledge in that manner as not to miss of it 3. All those Vertues and Graces which make up practical Christianity and consist in having our mindes set free from the dominion of all sensual and worldly Lusts and in sincere obedience to the Commands of Christ So that we make it our greatest care to keep every one of his Laws endeavouring to grow better in some proportion to those means which we enjoy by the good providence of God What these Vertues are in particular we may know by the precepts of the Gospel and principally by our Saviours Sermon from the Mount where he directs his Disciples in the way to everlasting Blessedness obliging all whose office it is to teach and all his Disciples whatsoever to do the very least of his Commandments upon pain of being excluded out of the Kingdom of Heaven All those dispositions of Minde therefore which are supposed to the keeping of these his Commandments are effects necessary to our eternal Happiness and such as we are to ask of God that they may be produced in us by his Holy Spirit And look whatever Vertue or Qualification of our Wills and Affections the Gospel lays so great a stress upon that if we want it it is not possible for us in that state to see the Kingdom of God that is an effect so needful to be wrought in us that we may be sure our Heavenly Father such is his compassion towards us will no more deny us his Holy Spirit to that end if we importunately ask him than we can refuse to give our most beloved Children Bread or any other good thing as necessary for them as that 4. After we are brought into this state and thus become the sincere Disciples of Christ it is equally necessary to our eternal Salvation that we persevere therein For it had been better for us not to have known the way of righteousness than after we have known it so as to escape the pollutions of the world to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto us 2 Pet. 2.20 21. And therefore constancy and unweariedness in well-doing is also a Grace for the obtaining of which we are encouraged by our Saviour's Promise to ask the Holy Spirit that we may be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation I know not any effects that are absolutely necessary to Salvation which are not plainly implied and readily deducible from some of these And thus much for the former sort of needful Graces viz. such as without which Salvation cannot be attained at all being indispensibly necessary thereunto Secondly I come to speak of those Graces which are profitable to Salvation and these are such as regard our improvement either in Goodness or in Knowledge Of the former sort are those degrees of goodness according to which sincere Christians who are all careful to avoid wilful sin and endeavour to grow in Grace do yet excel one another These degrees consist in being more or less free from sins of mere infirmity an absolute freedom from which is that which our condition in this world cannot admit of but every degree towards Perfection which we attain unto in this kinde must needs be so much the more profitable by how much greater it is We are the better able to conclude certainly of our good estate towards God which is a matter of great advantage in the course of a Godly Life whereas a man may be conscious to himself of so many of these sins that it may be a difficult matter for himself or any body else to pronounce certainly concerning his Spiritual estate and therefore the onely good advice that can be given him in that case seems to be this to put the matter out of doubt by using more effectual endeavours after a further amendment Besides the nearer we come to Perfection the further off are we from Apostacy and the less in danger of back-sliding into a wicked course of Life we are the more confirmed in ways of Godliness and Vertue and more likely to persevere therein to the end Finally the degrees towards Perfection wherein some good men excel others are profitable because they will encrease their reward in Heaven For God will judge every man according to his works and therefore they that have done better shall have a better reward they that have done worse than others shall be beaten with more Stripes and there seems to be the same reason for a proportionable difference in Rewards When St. Peter exhorts us that Christian Vertues should not be in us onely but abound he gives this reason for the Exhortation viz. that an entrance may be ministred unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord 2 Pet. 1.11 Upon all these accounts those degrees towards Perfection which consist in prevailing against sins of mere Infirmity are highly profitable in the way of Salvation The latter sort of profitable things are such degrees of Knowledge in divine matters as are not simply necessary for Salvation The more knowledge a Christian hath the better able he is to avoid all errours that are dangerours and thus that knowledge which is not absolutely necessary may be profitable to himself Likewise the more a man understands in Religion the more useful he may be to others in promoting their Salvation by rescuing them from dangerous Errour and removing Doubts and many other ways If it now be demanded whether we can conclude from our Saviour's promise that if we ask the Holy Spirit for needful Graces of this sort God will grant our Request I answer 1. It follows in general from our Saviours promise that God will give the Holy Spirit not only for what is necessary to Salvation but also for what is profitable and advantageous to us in the way of Salvation For our Saviour assureth us that God in bestowing his Holy Spirit will use us with the Kindness and Bounty of a Father Now we know that although the affection of wise and good Parents towards their Children will not carry them to gratifie their wanton and unreasonable Desires yet neither will they deal so straitly and narrowly with them as to give them what is but barely needful to keep them from perishing To this purpose we may observe that two of the good things mentioned by our Saviour viz. the Egge and the Fish which Parents are not wont to deny their Children are instances of that Food which is not absolutely Necessary but Convenient and of ordinary use for the preservation of Life Now the Affection of our Heavenly Father being much more than that of Earthly Parents it may strongly be concluded in the general that God will not deny us what is profitable any more than what is necessary to Salvation But 2. It doth not follow in every particular That is I have no reason thus to conclude This is usefull therefore if I Ask it shall be given me For you must observe that our
Saviour argues from the Fatherly Goodness of God that he will grant our request Now we cannot argue against that Goodness of God if he doth not grant every particular request of this kinde 1. Because he may grant me the effect of my request which is to obtain something profitable for Salvation though he doth not give me that particular which I ask for he may give me another thing more profitable than that instead of it and then he is far from being less good for so doing As if a Child asks his Parent for such a Fish and he gives him a better or another sort of food more proper for him he is not the less bountiful and though perhaps he doth not please him so well yet he doth not deny him the effect of his request Thus I may pray for knowledge in some point of Religion which I would fain be satisfied in while in the mean time I may lie under a greater need than at present I am sensible of not having improved that knowledge which God hath already blessed me with to those degrees of Goodness which I might and ought to have attained by it and in this case the knowledge I ask might probably puff me up rather than edifie me Wherefore if God doth not bless my endeavours after it with the thing itself but instead thereof give me a better knowledge of my self helping me to rectifie some disorder in my Will and Affections he gives me that which is more profitable than that which I ask in particular 2. God may grant me all those profitable things which are suitable to that place and condition which he hath appointed to me and then I ought not to question his paternal goodness if he denies my particular request of some profitable thing which is more suitable to anothers condition than mine own If a Father should allow a more liberal maintenance to one of his Sons who serves him in a more expensive employment than the rest they are not to take it ill that he has not made them all equal but on the other hand to acknowledge his goodness if every one of them have a convenient allowance proportionable to their needs Thus if I that am but a private Christian labour to know as much in divine things as my spiritual Guide and pray for Gods blessing upon my endeavours do yet fail of my desire I must not conclude that God is wanting in his kindness to me if upon my industry in searching for knowledge with a sincere intent he grants me that measure of profitable Understanding which is suitable to my state education and calling and abundantly sufficient to all the purposes of Christian Life as to my own particular or for the Government of my Family if that be my case also To this it must be added that God knows what profitable things are most suitable to us better than we our selves Though Children are humbly to acquiesce in the allowance of their Parents yet they may not alwaies be bound to believe that it is made with good judgment and proportioned wisely to their needs But here 't is otherwise for as we may conclude from the Goodness of God that if we are sincere and diligent he will give us such profitable things as he judgeth to be most suitable to our condition So we may likewise argue from his Wisdome that he cannot be mistaken in judging what that is though we may and thereupon ask some profitable thing in particular which his Goodness may very well consist with the denial of Finally It is consistent with the Fatherly Goodness of God in bestowing what is profitable for Salvation upon every one that asketh to use his Sovereign Power in giving to one more than to another for though upon my sincere endeavours and prayers I may promise my self from that his Goodness besides the necessaries what is abundantly profitable in answer to my Needs I may not every profitable thing which I can think of or which I see another of my own rank in other respects favoured withal Wherefore I have no reason to complain if I see another man wiser than his Teachers while I need to be instructed by them or if I am a Teacher to see my self so far excelled by those of my own profession that it is fit for me to be a Learner under them For these Reasons it doth not follow in every particular that if I ask something that is profitable God will grant it Yet 3. We are to remember that a great difference is to be put between things profitable viz. between degrees of improvement in Goodness on the one hand and in Knowledge on the other There is this difference between them that the former do of themselves recommend us to the greater Love and Favour of God the latter not so but onely as they are the fruit of sincere Love and study of the Truth which is a branch of Righteousness and accompanied with an upright care to do the will of God more perfectly Therefore let a sincere Christian pray for any degree of Righteousness and Holiness which his imperfect condition in this world will admit of though he cannot conclude that God will grant that particular request merely because he asks something that is profitable for so is every degree of Knowledge too yet he has this reason to conclude which is not common to praying for profitable Knowledge that he prays for something which God loves for it self and which he will be the more pleased with him for obtaining That delight which God takes in the persons of men is not founded upon the mere improvements of their Understandings but upon the sincerity of their Obedience which the Scripture doth often witness to us in such places as these The Righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright Psal. 11.7 The prayer of the upright is his delight Prov. 15.8 The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord but he loveth him that FOLLOWETH after Righteousness vers 9. Whence we may conclude that the more we grow in Grace and Virtue the more God loveth us and therefore that he will give the Holy Spirit to encrease all Christian virtues in us to such degrees towards Perfection as are proportionable to our Prayers and Endeavours in Following after Righteousness From which we may see what encouragement we have to study the defects and infirmities of our Wills as particularly as we can and to observe the several Irregularities of our thoughts and affections with our best attention since by this means we may employ our care and prayers against them more effectually for the more particular and importunate we are in so doing the more is God pleased with us and therefore he will not fail to answer the sincerity of our intention with a proportionable gift of the Holy Spirit But as for other sorts of profitable things such as greater measures of knowledge which do not of themselves recommend us to
are to ask of God to give us the Holy Spirit which is done both when we use the formal Petition and when we pray for any Divine Grace or Christian Virtue And when our Souls breath after true Goodness when they hunger and thirst after Righteousness when they zealously strive against every evil desire and every evil work that we may perfect Holiness in the fear of God then do we importunately ask the Holy Spirit we do effectually invoke him and attract those Divine Aids to our selves which will make us what we desire to be the true followers of Christ and holy as he was holy in all manner of Conversation 3. And by consequence the Operations of the Holy Spirit are supposed in those places of Scripture where God is said to give or work any Grace or good Disposition in our mindes for if it be the same thing to ask any such Grace and to ask the Holy Spirit then the same thing is meant by Gods giving the one and his giving the other i. e. as Dr. Owen very often and very truely notes when God bestoweth any Blessing of this nature he doth it by his Spirit So that all those Texts which ascribe Christian Vertues to a Divine Operation and consequently those Prayers of St. Paul in behalf of the Christians that God would make them eminent in all kindes of Goodness are places pertinent to this subject and proper to inform us what we are to believe concerning those Operations of the Holy Spirit which I am now discoursing of But that which is most necessary of all to observe is this 4. That this promise of our Saviour concerning the Holy Spirit does equally regard the Church in all ages to the end of the world For those Effects which his Operations are here promised to produce are needful for all Christians and not onely for those to whom Christ spake in person Now the reason why God would give his Holy Spirit to them being this that they needed those things which he had taught them to pray for and because God was their Father it follows that upon the performance of the same condition we shall obtain the Holy Spirit for God is our Father too and those things we ask in the Lords Prayer are as needful for us and for all Believers as they could be for them to whom the Promise was made at first Therefore the gift of the Holy Ghost here promised did not determine with the age of Miracles Lastly it is not improbable that as by the latter Similitude where it is observed that Children obtain of their Parents things needful for themselves our Saviour doth encourage every one of his Disciples to ask the Holy Spirit in his own behalf So by the former Similitude where the man is said to prevail who requested of his Neighbour what was needful for his Friend we are encouraged to pray for one another that God would give us his Holy Spirit to convert us from all our sins and to encrease his Graces in us This I conceive may be one intention of our Saviour in that Similitude viz. to excite us to this â—…nd of Charity by letting us know that we fare the better for the earnest Prayers we make in each others behalf and it is the more probable because he used that Similitude immediately after he had taught his Disciples to pray for one another by prescribing to them a Form of Prayer in the use of which they could not do otherwise These things seem to be clearly implied in that place of St. Luke which we have been considering and not improper to be observed And now I should forthwith proceed to those places of Scripture which expresly mention the several Graces of the Holy Spirit and shew that those needful effects for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is here in general promised to Believers are in several of them particularly ascribed to his Operations But I am sensible that I should then leave behinde me a great Objection against what I have already said viz. that I have given a very lame account of those Qualifications which are needful to Salvation For Dr. Owen comes and tells us that there is a Qualification of quite another kinde than any I have named absolutely necessary to Salvation and that you must know is Regeneration Now indeed our Saviour saith Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God John 3.3 And this Regeneration our Saviour likewise ascribeth to the Operation of the Holy Spirit Except a man be born of the Spirit he cannot c. vers 5. Wherefore God forbid that any Christian should deny Regeneration to be needful even in the degree of necessity to qualifie us for eternal Life or to be an effect of the Holy Spirit wherever it is But I cannot think it to be so unintelligible a thing as our Author represents it who makes it to be somewhat distinct from believing and obeying the Gospel of Christ. Wherefore I shall in the next place particularly enquire into the true notion of Regeneration and because this is not onely a matter of great Consequence but the great Out-cry which has been long raised by the Doctor and his Brethren of the Separation against the present Ministers of the Church of England is this that we are not Orthodox in the point of Regeneration I shall throughly consider what the Doctor hath written Pro and Con in this Book of his concerning it CHAP. III. Of the state of Regeneration SECT I. THat we are Regenerated by the Operations of the Holy Spirit and thereby qualified for eternal Life is agreed between us but I can by no means grant our Authors notion of Regeneration to be true and I think his mistake in that may have led him into divers others To proceed therefore with the more clearness I come to shew what it is to be Regenerate or born again And here I shall be forced to consider the Doctors notion of Regeneration as far as I can understand it because if the principle upon which he goes in stating his notion be true it fundamentally overthrows that which I take to be the true Scriptural notion thereof For he contends that these Expressions to be born again to be a new creature and to have a new heart and the like do properly and literally signifie that which is intended by them I say they signifie it figuratively It must therefore be debated in the first place whether they be proper or Metaphorical expressions before we can settle the true notion of the words This must be done by inquiring whether to be born again to have a new heart and to be created anew can properly be affirmed of those that are qualified to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven If not we are next to consider what figurative sence it is in which these expressions are to be understood By determining which according to the Scriptures we shall come to the right notion of Regeneration
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
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
understood which is this That although Faith be an effect of divine Grace yet there is an higher measure of Grace promised to us if we believe and a greater than that if we sincerely obey the Gospel The greater promises of Grace are made to those that are in a good way already and the better that way is in which they are the more plentiful communications of the divine Spirit are they capable of It is indeed impossible to assigne the several degrees of that Grace which is bestowed upon men under such qualifications as the Gospel requires because we know not the degrees by which men are more or less qualified The Scripture hath onely acquainted us that believers and good men have promises of special Grace As for the particular degrees of it it is not necessary we should know them and therefore our Saviour hath told us onely in general To him that hath shall be given that is as the Parable to which these words belong clearly imports greater measures of Grace shall be bestowed upon them who best improve the Grace they have already received And this is a very weighty encouragement to make us all careful to be better SECT 2. I come now to speak directly to the Argument of this Chapter viz. who are the Object of Grace or the Operations of the Holy Spirit and that by laying down two or three plain Propositions which being proved the Question will be sufficiently and truely answered 1. God will give special Grace to all those that perform the conditions upon which it is promised which I hope stands in need of no other medium to prove it by than that God is faithful and true and will perform his promise Dr. Owen truely observes that the same Grace in nature and kinde is communicated unto several persons in various degrees and is by them used or improved with more or less care and diligence I shall adde that this special Grace for of that he speaks is communicated unto them in those degrees according as the Grace they had formerly received was improved with more or less diligence for that is plainly the meaning of those words now mentioned To him that hath it shall be given a saying so often repeated in the Evangelists but as neer as I can remember not once taken notice of by our Author throughout his great Book though it be as material and necessary a passage for any Christian Writer that undertakes this subject to guide himself by as any is in all the Scripture For what reason he slipt over this Text though it lay so plainly before him in the Bible he knows best himself He could not but know it was very pertinent to the subject though it was impertinent to his manner of handling it I am sure it is a sufficient confutation of his designe in the Chapter concerning works preparatory to Regeneration where as I shall in due place manifest he makes all the preparatory works that one can well think of to signifie nothing at all in effect towards the obtaining of that Grace whereby we are Regenerated which besides that it confutes the Title of the Chapter is nothing less than to make the communication of that Grace an arbitrary act that depends not upon the performance of any conditions required on our part and consequently to destroy all the encouragement we have from the promise of Christ to pray for the Holy Spirit that we may become the sincere Disciples of Christ. Indeed he is now and then pleased to mince the matter as where he tells us Sometimes as to some gifts and graces God doth bestow his Spirit where there is some preparation and co-operation on our part Sometimes and some Graces and some Preparation are uncertain words But I would know what he means by those Graces which he supposeth will not be bestowed though there be never so much preparation on our part for that is also clearly supposed in his words For instance If through the grace of God a man believes the Gospel and heartily desires to live according to it praying as our Saviour hath taught him for the Holy Spirit in order to that end I would know whether upon this preparation and co-operation on his part God will not enable him so to do If our Author denies it let him answer our Saviour's saying How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him And so upon the like preparation for any special Grace that we need If he should deny that God will bestow it I would also desire him to give us his thoughts upon that other saying of our Saviour which seems to conclude against him in all instances of this nature viz. That unto every one which hath it shall be given Luke 19.26 2. On the other hand the Gospel giveth us no ground to expect any special Grace or such Operations of the Spirit as are promised to qualified persons if we do not perform the conditions upon which the promise depends But on the contrary we have reason to believe that God will withdraw that Grace which he hath already given from those slothful persons that refuse to make any good use of it Indeed how long God will extend his patience towards them and bear with their obstinacy is concealed from us and depends upon his Soveraign pleasure But our Saviour plainly told us that from him that hath i. e. improveth not even that he hath shall be taken away from him So little reason hath any such person to expect any new accession of Grace to that which he hath forfeited by receiving it altogether in vain Wherefore I am far from contradicting those men that say the promises of regenerating Grace belong not to all who have the Gospel preached to them though I take my leave of them when they tell us that these promises are restrained to a few men whom God hath personally chosen and by an absolute Decree fore-appointed to salvation but instead thereof I affirm that the restriction of these promises to certain persons is measured onely by the conditions upon which they are made i. e. that they belong onely to those by whom these conditions are performed My reason is this because there is not one promise in the whole Covenant that is made absolutely to this or that man's person but they are all made with respect to mens qualifications Now the New Covenant is the onely means by which we can know any thing of God's Councils and Decrees concerning our salvation Wherefore if the promises of the Covenant be not absolute but conditional then the reason why every man cannot claim the benefit of them is not because this man's person was absolutely excluded and that man's benefit absolutely intended by them but because some are qualified as they ought to receive the promises and others are not Thus I cannot but subscribe to the Title of our Author's third Chapter in his fourth Book viz. That Believers are