Servant plowing or feeding Cattel will say to him by and by when he is came from the Field go and sit down to meat and will not rather say unto him make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thy self and serve me till I have eaten and drunken and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink Doth he thank that Servant because he did the things that were commanded him I trow not So likewise Ye when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say we are unprofitable Servants Now compare that which was delivered and taught in the former Parable how the Lord Christ will gird himself and come forth and serve them with that which is promised here namely that when they had girded themselves and administred unto him the Master while he shall eat and drink then they shall sit down and eat and drink And withal Doth he thank such a Servant because he hath done thus I trow not saith he I suppose his meaning is that it is not the manner of men when Servants do but that which commanded them to do the Master doth not think himself beholding to them neither doth he thank them by the bestowing any signal or particular reward upon them But now there is a kind of Servant upon whom the Master doth intend to bestow very great and worthy things For it is said in the other Parable expresly he will gird himself and come forth and serve them He will do it in the sight of Heaven and Earth all the World shall take notice that he will account those Servants there spoken of worthy of double honour he himself will honour them But if the Question be But what is it that maketh the difference between these two kinds of services in point of Reward both of them were good Servants and typifies such persons who should be saved The business is this if you will but consider the nature of these Commands you will find a difference of these Servants They that do the things in the latter Parable which are commanded them that is which are properly and positively and strictly commanded them viz. when God shall pitch determinately that either they must do them or else suffer for it and be destroyed with the vengeance of Eternal fire Now they that go forth in their obedience in this kind so far as that they may escape these dangers they shall sit down when their Lord and Master hath eat and drank that is they shall receive the common reward of Salvation But there are another kind of Servants in another consideration very proper and passable too that serve not as Servants but rather as Sons namely those that shall set themselves and stir up their hearts to obedience unto God in these high Commands of his which are not things commanded after such a manner or with such a kind of Command as was mentioned formerly with threatnings of hell fire unto those who shall disobey them They who shall perform these high services and commands of his which are calculated on purpose for the spirits of those men who are Children who are of a filial spirit and ingenuous temper and who desire to communicate in the greatest and highest of the affairs and blessings of God they who shall not content themselves with the observation of the former kind of Laws but shall rise up in their obedience to the observation of the other these are they whom their great Lord and Master Jesus will gird himself and come forth and serve them That is will shew them signal and special grace and favour by themselves But that by the way The truth is that the performance of the latter kind of services viz. those that be not drawn out by the means of threatning of damnation are of the most noble and genuine kind and of highest acceptation with God yet notwithstanding there is no Law made against such persons who shall not be holy and exact as Noah Daniel and Job that shall not be as worthy excellent and heavenly as these were or as serviceable in their Generation but yet these are they whom their Lord and Master will gird himself and come forth and serve but will not do so by the other So that the Servants or Believers which are expressed in the Parable that shall eat and drink when their Lord and Master hath eaten and drank are these who do only the things which are expresly and particularly enjoyned and that upon such terms that except they do them they shall neither eat nor drink That is they shall never be saved And these compared with the others may well be termed unprofitable Servants Mat. 25.30 or rather as the word signifieth and so is translated ver 26. slothful or undiligent Servants Servants that will do no more nor stir one Inch beyond their prescribed task Now such kind of Servants the Holy Ghost calls idle or sluggish who will not bestir themselves in their Masters business as they ought to do This is that which I was saying unto you that it is the observation of this latter kind of Commands which are not threatned with destruction this is that which doth beget in men that Child-like Spirit and that confidence and boldness towards God whereas the observation of that inferiour kind of Commands doth rise no higher than deliverance from destruction but doth not advance them to use it to any special interest in the favour and love of God it riseth no higher nor begetteth nothing else in them but a kind of fear or servile spirit full of doubts and diffidence and distrustfulness and these are the proper and different effects of the obedience unto these two kinds of Commands To clear this a little further there are Instances in the Scriptures where we may observe both the one and the other and likewise the mind and intent of God in them Such Precepts without conformity unto which men cannot be saved either they are such which the Law of Nature doth impose upon men and condemn and judge them if they break and transgress them or else they are such Commands which by reason of some circumstances of time and place and some necessity do so bear upon the Consciences of men that a man cannot neglect them without a manifest contempt of the Divine Authority and Majesty of God As for example when God spake to Abraham and commanded him to go out of his own Country and so to Moses to go to Pharaoh or to Paul to go to preach the Gospel now disobedience in this kind would argue a great affront to the Majesty of God But there are other Commands though perperly enough Commands wherein men are much left at liberty and freedom viz. after what manner and with what hearts and affections they do perform these when men shall not only do simply and barely the thing that is expresly commanded but likewise shall give out their hearts to it and shall observe this after the best manner This is that
by the generality of them thought to be little better than crazed in his brain 2 Cor. 5.13 or head-shaken and that too much Learning had made him mad Whether we be beside our selves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your sakes Now when he saith whether we be besides our selves he doth not mean that he acted any thing out of madness or distemper nay certainly he was never himself more than when he did act these things for which they thought him besides himself and a man singular and engaged with some odd kind of Speculations and Notions and therefore saith the Apostle as for such things as these if we be besides our selves and like men distempered we are this unto God we have our eyes upon and approve our selves unto him in these things we easily believe you cannot tell what to make of them you cannot make wisdom nor obedience nor subjection unto God in them you do not understand nor comprehend those Laws nor those Rules nor Principles by which we act and move in such waies but saith he we look unto God and he understands it though we speak as it were in an unknown Tongue unto you yet in a Language which God well knows and understands But now saith he if we be sober it is for your sakes in these things he had respect unto them for their Edification In like manner when persons are carried and lifted up by the power of the Spirit of God above the ordinary Line of men either in speaking or acting for the glory of God or advantage of the Gospel Men that do not know and believe that there is any such Spirit at least acting or working in men are ready to blaspheme him in his Saints and to impute the things that are wrought by the power of his Presence in men to some dishonourable and untoward Principle or other as that they pretend to be led by the Spirit of God whereas they do such things upon their own fansie and upon some such suggestion which Sathan hath put into them As the Roman Historian speaking of Nero the Monster of men reporteth his conceit to be which he did express publickly that there was no man in the World but was as vicious as himself only herein was the difference between him and them he was open and would act above board and other men were more afraid But he did not believe that there was any such thing as Temperance and Sobriety Even so this is the very strain and temper and inward thoughts of ignorant persons in the World that have no heart nor spirit for God nor for waies of excellency that are lovely and honourable When they see that there are other men and women of their Ranke that do such things which they cannot do They cannot go along with them they cannot fast and pray they cannot follow such and such Religious Duties or Exercises they think that these men do but dissemble they love their money as well as we they love their ease as well as we only the Devil tempteth them and putteth them upon these waies that so they may have credit and repute and be thought more holy and greater lovers of God than other men and by this means they judge themselves better because they know they are plain and have no reserves in their breasts but what they are in the frame of their hearts and spirits and affections they act and utter themselves accordingly Whereas those persons that are externally so godly and would be so judged are every whit as bad or worse than we because they seek to cover and hide and to dissemble those wicked and vile thoughts which are in them by an external shew of holiness they can take their turns privately and secretly to do the very self same thing or things that are worse and more sinful than any that we do This is I say an express strain of the Spirit of that Monster Nero This is the reason that such persons fall foul upon the Saints especially when the Spirit shall draw them forth unto waies that are so excellent in their kind Now they that shall thus impute this to Sathan or unto the vile hearts of men these are they who do obstruct the force of this Exhortation of mens being filled with the Spirit of God and do what in them lie to make mens hearts to sink and to discourage them from seeking after such a Royal Priviledge A second sort to be reproved upon the former account Sect. 2 viz. as Enemies unto the heavenly Exhortation of being filled with the Spirit discouraging mens hearts from pursuing the blessed Counsel given unto them by God himself in it are they who labour to perswade men that the Spirit wherewith God exhorteth men to be filled is but a Finite a Created Spirit an Angel and not God Evil words saith the Apostle corrupt good manners 1 Cor. 15.33 So do erroneous and lying conceits and imaginations infused into the minds of men obstruct many holy and worthy endeavours and layings out of mens selves which otherwise in all likelihood they would not refrain and which undertaken and put forth by them would turn to a blessed account unto them Instances might readily be given in many particulars in this kind we shall consider the truth of the Observation at present only in the Point in hand For what doth such a Doctrine or Notion as this That the Spirit the Holy Ghost is not God but only a finite Spirit being interpreted signifie but that it is but in vain for men and women so much as to think of ever being filled with him and consequently of ever being excellent For fust the Created Spirits the good Angels are Ministers and Servants even all of them without exception of any unto the Saints as they are Members of that body whereof their Lord and Master Christ is the head We know that place Heb. 1.14 Are they not all Ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation So then Angels however in respect of the excellency and dignity of their natures they be superiour unto men yet in respect of that Ministry and Service unto men whereunto they are deputed and set forth by God they are inferiour unto them Now the heart and soul of man cannot frame and bring it self to expect or look for from its fellow Creatures especially such a Creature which God in respect of Ministry and Service hath subjected unto it any thing so excellent or so desirable as it reasonably may work and prevail with its self to expect or promise unto it self from its Creator from a Spirit that is infinite in his being and an inexhaust Abyss of all excellency My Brethren it is repugnant to the inbred nature and innate Principles of the heart and soul of a man to go forth with a like courage alacrity or confidence to seek its desires or supplies where either he knows not whether they are to
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR A BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT Wherein is proved That it is a Duty incumbent on all men especially Believers that they be filled with the Spirit of God The gracious Counsels of God the Laws and Terms of his proceeding with men in order hereunto with Rules laid down whereby to judge whether men be filled with the Spirit of God or a contrary Spirit Lâ—kewise the way and means whereby men may be filled with the Spirit of God are all largely opened from the Scriptures AS ALSO The Divinity or Godhead of the HOLY GHOST Asserted and the Arguments brought against it throughly Examined and Answered The Grace of God â—n the fulness and freeness thereof evinced and many things relating to the Saints Communion with God and God dwelling in them Explained The necessity of the Ministry of the Gospel called the Ministry of the Spirit discussed and the usefulness thereof maintained With several other things of great importance in order to the benefit and peace of men All heretofore delivered in several SERMONS from Ephes 5.18 By that Pious Learned and Laborious Servant of God Mr. JOHN GOODWIN Sometime Minister of the Gospel in Coleman-Street LONDON And published after his Death for the Common good of all But if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of 〈◊〉 body ye shall live Rom. 8.13 And they chose Stephen a man full of the Holy Ghost Acts 6.5 Quench not the Spirit 1 Thes 5.19 How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that as him Luke 11.13 Basil Homil. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed by E. C. for Henry Eversden at his Shop under the Crown-Tavern in West-Smithfield 1670. THE PUBLISHERS TO THE Ingenuous and Christian READER Good Reader THat great Law of Nature that hath uttered it self from the Lips of some of the Sons thereof That no man is born for himself only but the rest of Mankind do challenge a share in him or rather the whole of him And this by the Interpretation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ himself is the Sum or whole of the Second Table of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments and contains our whole Duty to our Neighbour viz. That we love him that is all men as our selves This great and Royal Law both of Nature and Grace hath occasioned this Discourse in thy hand to become publick The nature of it being spiritual and sublime carrying much of the peace and inward felicity of men and women in it hath imposed a necessity upon us not to confine it amongst our selves but to present it to the publick view of all whose hearts shall serve them to make a diligent and consciencious perusal thereof for their Accommodation in the things of their Present and Everlasting Peace and Welfare For this is certain that when any man or numbers of men have any Treasure in their hands to bless the World withal the Law of God obligeth them to minister unto the wants and necessities thereof they being generally so craving by reason of that ignorance and darkness that men are filled withal We shall not need to say much as to the Author of this Discourse nor to the time when these things were delivered by him in the course of his Publick Ministry it being sometime since and we question not but that there are many yet alive of those that heard it who have not lost the sense and spiritual resentment thereof but have many of those great Principles of light and truth remaining alive in power and great strength within them and will be glad of the opportunity of a second review of them The Author himself which is now at rest having finished the work which God judged meet for him and for which he was sent into the World was a man whose heart was set within him to serve his Generation with all faithfulness in the great Work of the Ministry of the Gospel not much valâ—â—ng the opprobation or displeasure of men when the Interest of his great Lord and Master and the present Peace and Everlasting Welfare of men were concerned being indeed very faithful and laborious in that great Work So that we may without vanity say of him as our blessed Saviour when time was said of John the Baptist Joh. 5.35 that he was in his time a burning and a shining light and many did much rejoyce at least for a season in his light although at some times and some turns in the faithful discharge of his Duty he met with the same measure that his great Lord and Master had measured out unto him in the daies of his flesh Joh. 6.60 66. For the Subject it self thou wilt find it as a light to guide thee in a dark place there being many of the great and gracious Counsels of God concerning men largely opened especially of such a nature whereon much of their spiritual Welfare doth depend viz. as to the manner and method of the Spirit of God in his proceedings with men and those Rules and Laws which he hath prescribed unto himself in his advance and decrease in their hearts and souls in order to the carrying them up into the Mount of God We mean into those high strains of the Gospel where the richest and choicest Consolations lie and where men and women may drink abundantly of them and be thereby put into the best capacity to serve God upon the highest terms of acceptation with himself as also may be great blessings and Benefactors to the World round about them according to the design of the Lord Christ in that choice which he makes of men by the Gospel which as the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 2.9 signifieth is the making of them a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood a holy Nation a peculiar People for this very end and purpose namely That they might shew forth the Praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvelous light The design of this Discourse being to carry thee up into the way of life which the Wiseman saith is above to the Wise that he may depart from hell beneath Prov. 15 24. which whilest men who love to dwell with their minds and hearts in these lower Regions are never like to be partakers of For this World and the things thereof were never intended by God as that which should answer the vast desires of men he having prepared better things for them that those noble Endowments of theirs might be conversant with matters of far greater concernment such as will advance and raise their felicity to a near Affinity and likeness with the Angels themselves those first-born Princes of Heaven who by beholding the Face of God continually are thereby filled with unspeakable joy and satisfaction and by means hereof are made blessed indeed Even so God in the Gospel through his abundant grace shines forth the knowledge of himself unto the Children of men that so beholding as in a Glass his Glory they may be
themselves For when because of any weakness or infirmities which men are subject unto or because of any discourteous behaviour in word or deed used towards us we shall be at any greater distance from them or shall be less kind or serviceable unto them than otherwise we would be in case no such weakness were found upon them or no such unkindness had been done unto us this is the casting of mens burthens upon their own necks and to reject the Commandment of Christ by which we our selves stand charged to bear them The Apostle in this injunction of hearing one another burthens seems to suppose that even in men of the best temper and most Consciencious and Circumspect in their lives and waies there is somewhat more or less that is burthensome that is distasteful unpleasing and in some degree offensive unto others This notwithstanding if men would but fulfil the Law of Christ and cut Tallies one with another every man gratifying other with bearing his burthens the great Common-wealth of Mankind would be prosperous and happy and little or no damage or inconvenience accrue unto it by the weaknesses or want of wisdom in the respective members of it There would be the same as full as quick an entercourse and commerce of love and of the services thereof as there would or could be in case they were all perfect and as so many Angels of God Yea my Brethren this bearing the burthens of one another did we freely submit unto it and practice it would turn to a very happy account ot us in another day For God will not give greater rewards for any kind of works or service than for bearing the burthens of men especially the burthens of the Saints and most of all for the bearing the burthens of Christ viz. persecution for righteousness and a good conscience sake We shall hardly find any of the Commands of God or of jesus Christ but the keeping of them would turn to the peace and comfort of men These are they that in the very nature of them all are apt to create peace and prosperity in the World and the want of a diligent and faithful performance of them is that that doth occasion trouble between man and man and maketh breaches upon their mutual Comforts You can hardly break any of the Commands of Jesus Christ but you will make a breach upon the peace of the World you will fall foul one of another But so long as you keep on in the waies of Christ's Commands you comply and comport with the peace and comfort of the World round about you Secondly Sect. 5 The very Example of a through Conformity and subjection to the Law of God must needs be of a very choice and high accommodation to the World besides the nature and tendency of the actions themselves The very Example though but of one single person his Conformity to the Laws of God may be of singular concernment to the World Your Zeal saith the Apostle to the Corinthians hath provoked many 2 Cor. 9.2 And as the Scripture demandeth a little fire how great a matter or how great a wood for so it is in the original how great a wood or forest of wood doth it kindle or set on fire So one person one man or woman that doth clearly and in the face of the World walk in a through Conformity to the Law of Christ that is tender and circumspect and taketh all his Commands in their respective seasons along with him in his course may propagate a great Generation of Conformists in the same kind For who knoweth how many trees of the Forest of this World may be set on fire by this Example Men and Women more generally seem to look upon the Laws of Jesus Christ as if they were given to men only to hear and speak of or at most to live by in another World and so the neglect or breach of them toucheth few mens Consciences makes no breach upon their peace Whereas if these Laws were but translated into practice by flesh and bloud by men and women subject to like passions and infirmities with themselves this would beget other manner of thoughts in the hearts and consciences of the World generally concerning them Did men but seriously consider it with themselves that if flesh and bloud men of the same nature liable to the same tentations with themselves by the same means and assistance both inward and outward which are afforded unto them can keep the Commandments of Jesus Christ and walk holily they could not lightly but be convinced that certainly the God of Heaven will look for it at their hands that they go and do likewise Again secondly Sect. 6 He that shall diligently and faithfully keep the Commandments of Jesus in the view and sight of the World must needs be a signal Benefactor unto it in the things of their Eternal peace which are of a thousand times greater consequence than all the concernments of this life Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works c. Mat. 5.16 Our Saviour in this passage clearly implies that there is a proper tendency in mens good works to prevail with others to glorifie their Father which is in Heaven viz. by repenting and believing in him and living unto him and this is a most blessed accommodation unto the World The Apostle speaketh concerning the faithful behaviour of Servants towards their Masters Tit. 2.9 10. telling them that by such a carriage and behaviour they shall adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things Now Brethren What is the reason that the hearts of men are not drawn out more freely to the Doctrine of God and Christ Why do mens hearts stand off and make no more treasure of it than they do Doubtless one main reason hereof is it wants adorning and beautifying it is not set forth before their eyes with that advantage to take the hearts of men wherewith it might and ought to be But who are they that do adorn this Doctrine and consequently that commend it in the sight of men and make it a beautiful lovely and desirable object unto them They that deal by their Great Lord and Master Jesus Christ as the Apostle would have other Servants to deal by theirs viz. by being obedient unto them and pleasing them well in all things Tit. 2.9 They that shall diligently and faithfully observe and keep the Commands of Jesus Christ they will adorn it they will commend it with authority and power to the souls and consciences of men Such men when they shall but utter and assert the plain words of the Gospel when they shall say unto any man or unto any numbers of men that certainly Jesus Christ is He He is the Saviour of the World and whosoever cometh unto him shall be saved by him or the like such persons I say as these we speak of by such plain and known words as these are like to pierce and wound
we speak of to qualifie them for the high places in the World to come is of easie demonstration and proof both from the Scripture and otherwise Be you therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect Mat. 5.48 It might be translated more emphatically you shall therefore be perfect for so the Future Tense in the Indicative Mood is many times used instead of the Imperative only with the greater seriousness and weight As he that enjoyneth or commandeth when he would signifie and express his authority to the height he doth not simply say unto him that he would have him to do a thing do this or that but he saith unto him you shall do it or you must do it So here You shall be perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect as if he should say I impose it upon you as a matter of soveraign concernment both unto me and to your selves that you give out your selves to the utmost in striving to imitate the perfection of your heavenly Father and to be as absolute in all things appertaining unto you to do as he is in all things that are honourable and proper for so great a Majestie to do you must not indulge the Flesh nor be careless or loose hearted in observing this my charge which I lay upon you but endeavour with all your might to express all the goodness and sweetness and excellency in every kind which you see in your Heavenly Father Your consciencious submission unto this my Command will both honour me highly as you are my Disciples and I your Lord and Master and will make your faces also to shine in glory above theirs who shall be more remiss or negligent in obeying it Therefore if you regard me or your selves you must remember it And so of Mar. 10.21 to the young man that came to him to know what he should do to inherit eternal life If saith Christ thou wilt be perfect go and sell all that thou hast and give unto the poor and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven Surely our Saviours meaning was not to leave the young man at liberty whether he would be perfect yea or no whether he would be a complete Christian and Disciple of his own but rather to impose this by way of Command upon him Certainly Christ did not tolerate or allow any man in any imperfection He is indeed very graciously and mercifully indulgent unto men in pardoning many weaknesses and imperfections but yet he never so hideth them as not to let them understand that they fall short of what they ought to do or to reprove them for it Again 2 Cor. 13.4 11. This also we wish even your perfection So that perfection that is compleatness in all the Will of God as the Apostle somewhere expresseth it is nothing but what is matter of duty imposed upon all Saints There is no fear in love but perfect love saith the Apostle 1 Joh. 4.18 casteth out fear By the way perfection in love argueth perfection in every thing besides for love is said to be the keeping or fulfilling of the whole Law But why should he say there is no fear in love The meaning questionless is not That there is no fear mingled with the affection of Love or that fear was not any part or ingredient in it These are too flat Notions for the Holy Ghost No but there is no fear in Love that is with Love * The Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in is frequently used for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with so that where Love hath place proportionably to the degree of it there is no fear that is there is no reasonable occasion much less any necessity of fear viz. That God is a man's enemy Love doth not admit I mean if the nature and genius of it be duly considered and consulted it incourageth all those that have it not to admit so much as a disposition of fear in the same lodging with it But saith he perfect Love that is Love when it is sincere and cometh to any perfection to any considerable maturity and strength that it beginneth to fill the soul of a man and commandeth all things to be done which the nature of Love requireth now it casts out and dischargeth the heart and soul of such a troublesome and fad Companion as Fear is he speaketh of Fear that hath torment or pain or rather punishment as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth meaning for sin in it It is a certain sign that he that feareth that is that feareth wrath and vengeance and destruction from God is not perfect in Love towards God but his Love is maimed and weak and acteth at a low rate Now when a man's Love is thus broken it is not of sufficient authority and power to do the execution we speak of but Fears and Jealousies of God's displeasure will keep possession in the same heart with it and will be ever and anon â—nsulting over it But saith he being made perfect and grown to any strength that it filleth the soul now it throweth off all such fears The reason in a word why or the manner how Love casteth out the fear specified when perfect may be thus conceived A man when he loveth God perfectly with an intireness and throughness of affection he cannot lightly but know that he doth love him A man can hardly carry fire in his besome and not know it But when his Love acteth brokenly and is at many defaults in the course of it as if it had a miscarrying womb now a man is apt to suspect whether indeed he doth really and truly love him or not because they that love him not may now and then by fits and by starts as we use to say and in a good mood quit themselves both in words and in deeds like unto those who do truly and unfeignedly love him Yea those many things which Herod did at the preaching of John were such a kind of fruit which the true love of God oft-times beareth Now when a man cometh to reflect upon himself as one that truly and unquestionably loveth God it is not likely that he should be jealous whether God loveth him or no only supposing that he certainly knoweth and believeth that God knoweth as well nay much better than himself that he loveth him Men loving themselves and their own welfare and peace cannot so far destroy nature out of them as to seek the prejudice or ruine of those whom they certainly know to be their fast and faithful Friends Nor can the Judgments or Consciences of persons that know least of God be so far ignorant or misprizant of him as to think that he intends the misery or destruction of any of those whom he most infallibly knows to be with their whole hearts and souls devoted in love unto him and to his glory But this by the way to give a little light to a Scripture of most rich and precious importance to those that either desire
to love God in the highest or else love themselves to such an height as to be willing to purchase their freedom from all penal fears in a way of the greatest honour that can be imagined I mean by giving their hearts whole and entire in Love unto God That which we look at in the passage as serving our purpose is that the Saints are therein encouraged and provoked to perfection in Love which being interpreted as was lately hinted is to all perfection Now certainly it is the duty of every Creature to drink in all encouragements from God as Fishes drink water naturally constantly and with delight and to lift up their hearts and hands unto whatsoever by them they are invited and quickened And he that encourageth or inviteth unto perfection doth by the same act invite also and encourage unto the seeking after the greatest and best things that Heaven will afford We might pursue the Point in hand yet further by insisting on several other veins of Scriptures in which the truth thereof beats quick and high and more especially on that large passage Ephes 4. from ver 11. to the end of v. 15. together with Col. 1.28 In the former of which places the Apostle affirmeth that the great end projected by the Lord Christ in his magnificent bounty unto the World at his Ascension into heaven when he gave gifts unto men some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers was the perfecting of his Saints the building up the body of Christ in all and every the members of it unto a perfect man In the latter the same Apostle professeth his comportment with the said great end of his great Lord and Master in these words speaking of him Whom we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus But enough I suppose hath been already alledged and argued from the Scriptures to settle this in the judgments and consciences of men for truth that there is no person of mankind at least not amongst the Saints but standeth bound in duty to lay himself out with all his might for the obtaining of the highest Prize in glory If you shall now ask me a reason of this assertion because it may seem somewhat strange unto you that it should be matter of duty unto men and women to desire and seek after the greatest excellency in glory Sect. 15 however it may be their duty to excel in all righteousness and to strive after perfection in this life c. for these two seem to be of a much differing consideration I shall endeavour to satisfie you with presenting you with two or three Considerations which if you please you may call so many Reasons of the Point First It is the duty of every person amongst the Children of men and much more amongst those that believe to consult and endeavour the clearest and fullest manifestations of how high an esteem and value the services of his poor Creature man are with God when they are performed upon the best terms that he enables them to perform them This is a Consideration unto the truth whereof every man's judgment and conscience I may well presume will readily subscribe For there is nothing in God but what being discovered and made known maketh for his glory And the fuller and more convincing any discovery of his things is his glory proportionably is so much the more advanced Now it cannot appear at least not so manifestly or with that demonstrative evidence by any lower investitures of men with glory at how wonderful a rate he prizeth righteousness and faithfulness found in their exaltation in men But they who shall strengthen the hand of God by their high actings in waies and works of righteousness and true holiness to bring forth the best Robe of glory to put upon them these are the men that will do their God that most worthy and acceptable service to give him an opportunity of declaring upon the most unquestionable terms of satisfaction unto the World of how sacred a repute and esteem with him so poor and vile a Creature as man is may come to be if he quitteth and behaveth himself only for the few daies of his earthly Pilgrimage accordingly God delighteth in those Creatures most that will draw him forth in his goodness and bounty most freely and fully as appears by his extraordinary rejoycing over Phinehas for the performance of such an act which gave him a regular opportunity to shew the riches of his grace and mercy in sparing the lives of his people which otherwise his just severity against their sins would not as it seems have permitted him to do See and diligently consider Numb 25.11 12 13. And certainly it is the duty of every Creature and much more of the Saints to seek to give the choicest pleasures they are able to the soul of their Great Creator and consequently to set their hearts upon drawing out of his hand the largest portion of that glory and blessedness wherewith he hath judged meet to reward the services of men Secondly It is said 2 Thes 1.10 that Christ in the end of the World shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe This is to be understood in respect of that glorious and blessed estate and condition whereunto it will then appear that such a vast multitude of poor and despicable Creatures as his Saints sometimes were are now by his Grace and work of Mediation advanced In this respect the body of Christ consisting of the whole number of his Saints and Believers is said to be his Fulness Eph. 1.23 which is his body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Namely because he will never be seen in the fulness of his glory or rather because he cannot be duly estimated in his heavenly worth and greatness but by the glorious happiness unto which so many Millions of Creatures lately poor vile and sinful have been orderly aad honourably advanced by him Now certain it is that if Christ shall be glorified over and besides his own personal glory in and by the glory of his Saints and be admired in the blessedness wherewith all that believe shall be invested by him the greater the glory and felicity of any of them shall be he must needs be the more glorified and admired in them And if it be the duty of all the Saints not only or simply to desire and seek after those things whereby Christ may be made glorious and wonderful but rather after those whereby he may be lift up in glory and admirableness to the highest evident it is from the Premises that it must be their Duty also to press with all their might after the greatest Excellency in that glory which is intended and held forth by God unto men Thirdly Unless men shall stir up their hearts and strengthen their hands by a desire and expectation of the
being saved it is so full that we are already saved by it And so Heb. 11.1 Faith is the substance or rather the subsistence for so Hypostasis signifies of things hoped for Faith is said to be the subsistence or existence of things hoped for because the belief of those grounds or of those Promises of God or declarations that come from Heaven That These and these things shall be given to those that believe this I say doth give a kind of existency and presentiality unto the things themselves in the minds and spirits and souls of men For it is Faith that is the ground work or that which giveth a subsistence to these things in the soul for Hope floweth from Faith and by it the heart is carried out to the expectation of them Hope doth dilate and open the heart as a man doth his hand to receive that which is ready to be given unto him But that which giveth life breath and being unto Hope that is Faith It is Faith that giveth Being unto the Truth and Faithfulness of God in his Promises and Declarations by which they are settled and secured that they are all valid and that God will make them good unto his Sons and Daughters those who shall believe And in this respect the Language or manner of the Scripture speaking is very remarkable That they who are enabled by God by being anointed with a Spirit of Revelation to put men into a steady and substantial hope of possessing and enjoying such and such things are said to give them the things themselves So Isa 61.1 2 3. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted c. So again ver 3. To give them beauty for ashes the Oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness c. So that according to this manner of Scripture speaking because the Prophet offered by a spirit of Prophecy to fill theis hearts with the hope and expectations of these things he is said to give them the things themselves So again he that shall be an instrument in the hand of God to preach the Word of God with such evidence of truth and demonstration as that he fills the hearts of men full of the hope of Salvation is said actually to save them Take heed unto thy self saith Paul to Timothy and unto the Doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee 1 Tim. 4.16 Fourthly Sect. 14 Your being filled with the Spirit will cause God to take a holy pleasure and delight in you and to imploy you about many actions and services of his which will be very honourable unto you and turn to a bleffed account in due time in his Kingdom Wherefore saith the Apostle to the Church at Jerusalem look ye out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost c. Which doth imply that the men that God seeketh for the acting and doing his business here in the World are such who are full of the Holy Ghost such who have a rich anointing of the Spirit of God Men that are filled with the Spirit will be vigorous active and free in their work they will do what they do with all their might As men delight to be served by such Servants who are diligent and will go through stitch with their business that will not be baffled or turned out of their way by every toy or trivial occasion that shall present it self but will go on with their business not with trifling Even so it is a special Principle in the living God to desire servants that will be faithful and fervent in their business This indeed is the very Nature and Being of God and therefore he putteth that Character of his Being upon men which he judgeth meet to be chosen as instruments to serve him and which are as I may say made for him fitly qualified for any work or employment that shall be put into their hands Who counted me faithful saith Paul putting me into the Ministry If Paul had not been the man he was a man of mettle courage and resolution God would not have delighted in his service so as to have put him into the Ministry Now where we do not see men that are in the Ministry of the same Spirit it is a sign they are not put here by God for God taketh no delight or pleasure but only in such who are fitted for his work We read 2 Tim. 2.21 of Vessels prepared and made fit for the Masters use so that there is a certain fitness as well in Persons as in Vessels which maketh them meet for such or such respective uses Now that Generation of men in the World that are filled with the Spirit are only meet for the Masters use viz. the Great Master of the World the Lord of Hosts Such men as these men who are through-hearted zealous and lovers of his Work and that take delight in being employed in his Service are Vessels of pleasure and delight unto him Seest thou a man saith Solomon diligent in his business he shall stand before Kings Prov. 22.29 Shall stand before Kings namely to minister unto them Men of this Character are only meet for their Service Even so none are fit for the Service of the Great God of Heaven and Earth but such men who are of active and vigorous spirits and that know how to manage his Affairs with diligence and faithfulness for his interest in the World These men shall not stand idle but God will take delight to make use of them in his Service Whereas men that are unqualified for his Service to any confiderable degree as all men are who art not filled with the Spirit who have no activity nor edge in them are unto God as a bottle in the smoak And as men do not love to put what they drink into bottles that are smoaky because that will destroy all the goodness and pleasantness of the taste of that which shall be put into them Even so as was but now hinted men that are unqualified that have no dexterity for his business these are persons in whom God taketh no pleasure but are unto him as a bottle in the smoak because the management of his Affairs by such men as these will rather be a disparagement unto him than any matter of glory by rendring his Sacred Things common and consequently rendring them despicable in the eyes of men But on the contrary men that are richly anointed and filled with his Spirit these are Agents and Instruments for him as the Sword of Goliah was unto David there was none like unto it There is no Generation of men under Heaven that he taketh such pleasure in to commit and intrust his Affairs withal as with these who are filled with the Spirit Who maketh his Angels Spirits or wind
cannot say that this is a spirit of slumber or sloth that is upon them But if it be upon some other account if it come upon them in a way of Judgment from God for some sinful abuse of mercies then they may be said to be filled with a spirit of slumber and this heavy temper that renders them thus unactive every way and in all respects seems to be the effect of some evil spirit unto which God hath given Commission or Permission thus to punish or abase the Creature for his sin For it is very probable to add this only by the way that as in Commonwealths or Kingdoms Politique the Inhabitants for the accommodation and conveniency of the whole betake themselves to several Callings Occupations or Trades some are Husbandmen some Carpenters some Chirurgions c. For the body of a Commonwealth as it was the saying of a Philosopher doth not consist of a Husbandman and a Husbandman but of variety of Trades wherein respectively by means of an Appropriation or Confinement of themselves to one and the same imployment they become more expert and dexterous every man in his way and so the whole is the better accommodated and provided for In like manner I say it is very probable that these wicked and unclean Spirits the Devils who have a Politie such as it is to manage and uphold for the accommodation of their affairs and the advantage of their Kingdom and the greatness thereof that they do betake themselves to several Trades and Occupations in their way and that some of them apply themselves to one kind of Action or imployment for the better managing and maintaining of their Kingdom and some unto another All the variety of imployments which are practiced amongst them or is indeed any waies necessary for the welfare such as it is capable of of their Kingdom being reduceable to these two general Heads First The tempting men unto sin Secondly The troubling and tormenting them when he hath overcome them by temptation Now under these two Heads may be reduced all that they have to do And in both these there is a kind of Appropriation or Assignment of Methods and things sutable unto particular Spirits We know there are several kinds and great varieties of sins which the Sons and Daughters of men may act and perpetrate and are subject to be tempted unto And so again there are great varieties of Punishments and Judgments which are inflicted by God upon Men. Now as there are great varieties of sins whereunto men and women may be tempted as sins of Uncleanness Adultery Covetousness Idolatry and the like So is it very probable from the Scriptures that there are several Devils that do attend upon all these sins there is one kind of Devil that attends upon this kind of sin another upon that some that do tempt men unto Uncleanness others to Covetousness another to Murder another sort of them tempt to Pride for there are Devils in abundance and whole troops that do manage one kind of sin And so likewise in matters of Judgments and Punishments there are some that God maketh use of as men are wont in their way to use and employ men according to their Capacities to afflict in one kind and then he sets other Devils on work who are of another Occupation and who know how to afflict men and women such persons who have offended whom he judgeth worthy to be chastised in another kind Methinks the Scriptures give a little hint of this where we read of some Devils that were dumb and deaf Mar. 9.17 25 26. Mat. 9.32 compared with Luke 11.14 The Devil may be called dumb because he doth inflict that kind of punishment or affliction which we call dumbness and so likewise of others If then any persons be reduced to such a kind of Lethargie that they neither feel the one World or the other nor are enclined to labour after the concernments of the one nor of the other Such persons as these may be said to be filled with the spirit of heaviness flumber or drowsiness This by the way In the first place then take notice that there are a Generation of men and women which we can hardly say that they be filled with any Spirit unless it be a spirit of drowsiness or flumber A second thing to be taken knowledge of by the way Sect. 2 is that the same persons at several times and in different cases may be filled with the Spirit of God and with the Spirit of Sathan or which is the same with a contrary spirit and this not only under the two different Estates of Regeneracy and Unregeneracy which was Paul's case but even under one and the same state and condition of Regeneration yea and possibly of Unregeneracy also A good man that is full of the Spirit of God if we speak of him in his habitual estate and condition ordinarily may yet at sometimes be filled with the spirit of Sathan From this last particular it followeth that there are two kinds of being filled with the spirit of God and proportionably two kinds of being filled with an unclean Spirit the one actual and for a time only the other habitual and standing Now though it be this habitual and standing fulness of the Spirit of God that we chiefly intend to enquire after and to propound some Characters of yet something may fall in relating to the other also He then that is filled with the Spirit of God ordinarily and this in the standing course of his life yet is it very possible that at some time Satan may get into him and fill him with himself with a lusting of his Spirit And so on the contrary A person that is filled with an unclean spirit ordinarily may at several times be prevented with the Spirit of God that is God may do by him as sometimes he did by Balaam the Spirit of God did so fill him that he spake and prophesied of great and excellent things yet the truth is that the habitual frame of Balaam was a being filled with the spirit of the Devil He had familiar converse with the Devil yet nevertheless at that turn he was filled with the Spirit of God which put to silence that spirit of the Devil So is it likewise possible that upon him that is filled with the Spirit of God the Devil may break in with a gust of temptation as doubtless Peter himself was a regenerate man and a Disciple of Christ yet when he denied his Lord and Master Christ and not only so but forswore him with an Oath of Execration upon himself that he knew him not certainly Satan was in him For what could he have done more if he had been filled with that unclean spirit Yea and after that when he dissembled at Antioch when he complied with the Jews and so endangered the truth of the Gospel and that liberty which was now brought unto the World here also he was touched at least with this unclean spirit
kind of service which shall receive grace and thanks from the hands of God For God estimateth the works of men much after the manner that men do the services of their Children if they perform such services after the manner of Sons not as if they were a burthen unto them they shall not simply have the reward of a Servant but they shall have a further reward the reward of a Son The Parable Luke 12. implieth that Christ did thank such a Servant Why Because though in a simple consideration he did not act above what he was commanded yet he did more and above what he was commanded upon the penalty of Damnation We read Luke 17.12 of Ten Lepers that were cleansed and we know that there was an express Injunction in the Law that when they were healed they should shew themselves to the Priest and probable it is that all the Ten did according to the Law in this case only here is mention of one that did return and give the Lord Christ thanks Now though this person did no more in that Act of Thanksgiving than was a duty lying upon him in a special consideration to do and though the Nine did fulfill the Letter of the Law and so did that whereby they might escape punishment yet they did not rise up to that grace and acceptation which the other person did who did not only go to the High Priest but returned and gave thanks to his Physician also and did hereby obtain favour and high acceptation from the hands of God and Jesus Christ upon the account of such a behaviour he was as a Son of a Son-like and ingenuous frame of heart Consider that passage of the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 9.16 Sect. 5 For though I preach the Gospel I have nothing to glory of For a necessity is laid upon me and woe is me if I preach not the Gospel For though I preach the Gospel c. Meaning that this is nothing by way of special acceptation at the hands of God because he had a necessity lying upon him in respect of the Command of God yea under the Penalty of a Woe Woe is unto me c. But if I preach the Gospel willingly and with freeness of heart and soul so as if there were no express and particular Law lying upon me to necessitate me thereunto then I have somewhat to boast of for this Service I know my Lord and Master will give me a peculiarity of reward The Apostle in this place clearly distinguisheth the preaching of the Gospel when necessitated thereunto by a Command of God from the preaching of it willingly If I preach the Gospel I have nothing whereof to boast for a necessity is laid upon me c. A man that hath nothing to engage him to an Action or Service but meerly to be delivered from punishment hath nothing to boast of But saith he if I do this thing willingly I have my reward c. Therefore to preach the Gospel and to preach it willingly are two different Services by doing the one a man shall escape punishment it being obedience to a necessity lying upon him But if I preach it willingly then saith he I know I shall have consideration in abundance from the hand of my great Lord and Master It follows ver 18. What is my reward then The word is taken two waies sometimes more largely sometimes more strictly It is sometimes translated Wages sometimes Reward or that consideration which doth precisely answer in value to the work which is done and for which it is given But sometimes a reward as when it exceeds in value the work done and doth in a transcendent degree rise above the strict worthiness of the Service so then What is my reward That is How must I go to work in this great Commission which is given unto me to preach the Gospel to make my self capable of my reward Why thus saith he when I preach the Gospel that I make it without charge This noble excellent and worthy strain of the Apostle in performing the Service which was committed to him this was the ground-work of his rejoycing and that which filled him with so much confidence and boldness in the presence of God and this you will all find if you will but stir up your hearts and be ingenuous and noble towards God and not stand picking and huckstering with your hearts to know how you must do to escape hell fire under such a frame of heart you shall still be full of fears and doubtings you will not be like those that are genuine and noble and high spirited in the Service of God My Brethren we shall all find if we stir up our hearts and strengthen our hands to those excellent Commands which are apt when they are obeyed to enoble our Spirits the obedience unto them is that which will give us confidence and boldness before God When as your obedience to the other will possibly give you some kind of faint hope that you shall be saved and that you shall escape the wrath and vengeance that is to come but will hardly carry you up further but that your confidence will ever and anon be full of stands and your Enemy the Devil will be ready to triumph over you Whereas those that have given up themselves to obey their heavenly Father in those great Commands these are the men who are likely to have the Spirit of Adoption to be able to come with boldness unto God and to call God Father with a good courage Thirdly Sect. 6 For Instruction If it be the Will of God that all men especially Believers should be filled with the Spirit of God then take knowledge from hence that a being filled with the Spirit is no impossible attainment is an estate of happiness which is accessible to the endeavours and engagements of men why else should God call men unto it or impose it as a duty upon them Doth he invite or exhort the Saints to impossibilities those whom he desireth to put beauty and excellency upon doth he invite these to do things absolutely and altogether out of their reach Doth he perswade men to purchase the wind or to lay out themselves for that which can never be had or enjoyed Surely he doth not because it is not a thing that doth any waies answer the infinite grace and wisdom of God Some men indeed strive to perswade themselves and others that God commandeth many things which he intendeth not that any man should perform yea and which he knoweth are impossible for any man to perform But I trust none of us know these depths of Satan I mean are spiritually adulterous with them in our minds or thoughts or practically know them To be perswaded to think that God intends not desires not our obedience unto whatsoever he demands of us what is it but to break the very heart and to cut in sunder the very sinews of our obedience and weaken the hand of our preparations
though they may in a metaphorical and improper sense be said to dwell in men as Timothies Faith is said first to have dwelt in his Grand-mother Lois and in his Mother Eunice ver 5. yet in a direct or proper sense it cannot so be said of them Now where there is no necessity enforcing a Metaphorical sense a proper sense is still to be preferred besides an unproper sense here viz. by the Holy Ghost to understand the gifts or operations of the Holy Ghost would be very incongruous and hard as thus The good thing committed unto thee keep by the gifts of the Holy Ghost which dwell in us or by the Holy Ghost which in or by his gifts dwelleth in us So again Grieve not the Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption Eph. 4.30 So Isa 63.10 So it is said of the Jews of old that they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit Luk. 12.12 Acts 2.3 4. 10.44 19.6 It would be very incongruous and harsh to understand these Scriptures and many others of the like Character and import only of the gifts of the Holy Ghost Nor will it at all relieve that most dangerous Notion and Conceit which we now oppose to pretend and say Sect. 5 that though there be but one Holy Ghost or one Holy Spirit to whom the Attribute of Holiness is appropriately ascribed and he termed the Holy Spirit yet there are many other Spirits multitude of angels which are assistant unto him who may possibly be as many in number as there are Saints in the World at one time yea and possibly more so that these Spirits amongst them may attend the Saints in all places and parts of the World at one and the same time and inasmuch as there is one Supreme amongst them by whom all the rest are directed and employed in their way all that is done by them all may be ascribed unto him as because there is one head or one Principal amongst the Devils who is said to be the Prince of the Devils who is termed sometimes Sathan sometimes Beelzebub and Prince of the Devils therefore all that is done all the temptations that are managed in the World by all that are amongst them are in Scripture ascribed unto Sathan or unto the Devil indefinitely and in the Singular number and if the Devil who is confessed on all hands to be a created and finite Spirit be said in Scripture to tempt men though in never so remote places one from another at the same time why may not the Holy Ghost be said to fill men with himself upon the like terms viz. in all the places of the Earth at the same time though he be supposed to be a finite Spirit also If we had time we should plainly shew unto you that this is nothing but a piece of Sackcloath spun on purpose and devized to spread over the face of the Sun It is nothing but a vain flourish to hide this great and worthy truth of God from the eyes of the World to take off the minds and hearts of men from looking after such a worthy and blessed enjoyment as a being filled with the Spirit of God For first We shall shew you that there is not any ground in Scripture or Reason to suppose that any one Angel should have the superintendency or disposing of all the rest of the Angels to order them to their several Employments Works or Actions I say there is no word nor the least breathing or whisper of any such thing as this but the Scriptures rather look another way namely to shew that all the good and holy Angels who are employed on the behalf of the Saints receive their Commission immediately from God himself or from the Lord Christ who is represented in the Scripture as their great Lord and Master They stand charged there with Loyalty and Homage to him Heb. 1.6 When he bringeth in the first begotten in the World he saith and Tet all the Angels of God worship him And ver 14. Are they not all Ministring Spirits sent forth c They are sent forth by him whose Angels they are about their several Ministries And that is the reason too I suppose of that Expression of our Saviour Mat. 18.10 who speaking of the little ones who did believe in him saith I say unto you that in Heaven their Angels do alwaies behold the face of my Father which is in heaven Meaning that they do stand continually in the presence of God and there behold his face looking and waiting to receive some Commission or other longing for service and employment from him it is their life it is their glory and felicity to attend the services that shall be commanded them by God and therefore they do stand as Servants of a King who saith to one do this and to another do that to one go this way and to another go that way So do all the Angels in heaven stand round about the Throne of the Great God every one of them being greedy of Service to have some Message and Intimation from God what to do This therefore argueth that they do not receive their Commissien from any created Angel as they themselves are but that they have it directly and immediately from God himself or from Jesus Christ as Joh. 1.51 And he saith unto him verily verily I say unto you hereafter ye shall see the heavens open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man they do not ascend and descend upon one of themselves the Inferiour upon the Superiour Angels no but on the Son of man meaning himself as they did and were to be seen soon after for they did attend upon him at his Resurrection they removed the Stone off from the Grave and they went to give notice of his rising again unto those who came to seek after him and so in his Ascension he went up with a mighty noise and is to descend again with the sound of a Trumpet Now this he calls the opening of Heaven viz. the full discovery of those heavenly things which as yet had not been made known or manifested unto the World as namely that he is the great orderer or great Lord and Master of the Angels and that they were all his Servants so that this very Notion of one Angel having the superiour command and dominion over all the rest of the Angels is contrary to Scriptures and cannot be proved from them There is no ground to conceive that whatever the Angels do throughout their whole body and in all places of the earth should be ascribed to such an Angel Sathan indeed hath a Kingdom ascribed in the Scriptures unto him Mat. 12.26 and he is said to be the Prince of the Devils as we heard but the Angels are no where said to be a Kingdom neither have they any head or chief Angel amongst them nor can it be proved that any one Angel hath a superiority over another the
and so to arm their Judgments and Consciences against them This was the reason doubtless why none of the Cities in which Christ had wrought most of his Miracles and mighty Works were drawn to repentance hereby And so likewise why so few of the Scribes and Pharisees believed in him notwithstanding so many Miracles wrought before their eyes it was the marvelous averseness both to his Doctrine and Person that quickly took off their minds and thoughts from such things whether words or works which they found medling or dealing with their Consciences that way I mean which they found in any degree enclining them to believe on him so that these means could not have their perfect work upòn their souls For whether words or works they must be kept for some time upon the mind and intellectual faculties of the soul before they can accomplish any transmutation or change there It is a common Maxime in Philosophy that no motion is effected or brought to pass in an instant There must be time for the strongest Physick to work for there is some averseness in the body against it So before there can be any such repentance and believing in the soul the means by which this must be effected must have some time to work upon the understanding and therefore if they be thrown by so soon as they begin to work the blessed change will never succeed or take place Or else because there are lying and false Miracles as well as true and very strange things are sometimes done by Magick Sorcery and by the help of Devils and the like therefore they satisfie themelves with a like conceit that the great works of Christ were of this bastard kind of Miracles and so maintained and hardned themselves in their Unbelief all his great Works and Miracles notwithstanding And I remember it was the opinion of one of the Ancient Fathers that Judas thought that his Lord and Master wrought all his great Cures and Works only by the Art of Magick and the Jews have such a conceipt of him at this day So then Miracles if the Ministers of the Gospel in these daies had the gift of them might possibly little accommodate the men who under a pretense it is to be feared so impatiently call for them Secondly Sect. 15 It argueth men and women to be of a very unworthy frame of heart and much estranged in mind and spirit from God and from the things appertaining unto him to require or stand in need of Miracles for their Conviction and Conversion to the Faith This is evident from that of our Saviour Joh. 4.48 Except ye see Signs and Wonders ye will not believe It is evident that these words are objurgatory striking at such a spirit or frame of heart in the persons to whom they were spoken Except yet see signs c. As if he had said ye Jews are of such an ill spirit and frame of heart that such means which are in themselves sufficient to perswade or bring men to believe sufficient to prevail in this kind with persons of any tolerable disposition Godward as such heavenly and authoritative teachings from holy and worthy men are these will do no execution will not convince you but you must have such means used and applied to work upon you to do you any good which are sufficient to break the Iron sinews of the most prophane stiff-necked and obdurate Infidel under heaven you must see Signs yea Wonders or Prodigies of Signs Men that are in any degree ingenuous and willing to walk up to these lower and more common principles of truth which are by nature planted in them or desirous in the least to understand and submit to the truth they stand in no need of Signs and Wonders to satisfie and convince them of the truth I mean of the truth of a more spiritual and sublime nature but only of a lightsome and rational discovery of such truth As the wood that is dry will readily take the fire and burn only by putting coals of fire to it whereas that which is green requireth much puffing and blowing and many times will not burn at last though all this means he used to it Therefore the persons that must have Miracles and say they cannot edifie they cannot profit by the Ministers of the Gospel in these daies because they cannot work Miracles their own tongues fall upon them as Davids Expression is by such sayings they plainly declare themselves to be persons much estranged from God to bear little love to the truth Our Saviour in the Gospel calleth the Scribes and Pharisees Mat. 12.39 16.4 An evil and adulterous Generation for seeking after a Sign or Miracle for their satisfaction about the truth of his Doctrine having occasion to speak upon the same account unto the generality of people He leaves out the word Adulterous only styling them Luke 11.29 An evil Generation for seeking after a sign Why doth our Saviour call the Scribes and Pharisees and so the Sadduces not simply an evil but an adulterous Generation also upon occasion of their seeking after a Sign We know an adulterous disposition imports the departure and estrangedness of heart and affection from the person whom we ought by reason of our Conjugal Engagement to love and affect above all others together with the bestowing of them upon some other person whom we ought not to affect in any such way Now then our Saviour calling the Scribes and Pharisees an Adulterous Generation chargeth them that their hearts and souls were wickedly and basely alienated and estranged from God unto whom they were married by Covenant and should have cleaved with their whole heart and soul and have been of one heart and spirit with him whereas now they had coupled themselves with this present World with the honours riches and pleasures thereof and thereby they did plainly bewray their nakedness in this kind in that the voice and word of God which should have been familiar unto them as the voice of a Husband should be to a Wife which they should have known without any Dispute or Argument to make them know it was become so strange unto them that they were as far to seek whether it was his Word or no as they who never knew him nor scarce had heard of him and that they required as much satisfaction to be assured thereof as might serve to satisfie the greatest stranger under heaven So that they who call for Miracles upon the account mentioned declare themselves to be of the race of the Scribes and Pharisees who are an adulterous Generation Thirdly and lastly The holy and exemplary lives Sect. 16 and righteous conversations of the Ministers of the Gospel where persons have time and opportunity to observe and know them are as authoritative and mighty to convince men of the truth of the Doctrines they teach as Miracles themselves would be 2 Tim. 3.14 Acts 28.31 And as we lately heard that our Saviour severely taxed those that would
to have come down upon Christ upon his being baptized may be clearly evinced First the opening renting or cleaving of the Heavens expresly mentioned in all these places plainly prove the Holy Ghost that is said to have come down upon Christ to be no Creature no created Angel but true God Let the Scriptures be searched from first to last we shall no where find the rending cleaving opening or bowing of the Heavens to be mentioned upon occasion of any created Angel coming down but very frequently upon any solemn or more than ordinary appearance or coming down of God himself unto men Bow the Heavens O Lord and come down Psal 144.5 2 Sam. 22.10 saith David in his affectionate addressment of himself by Prayer unto God Bow the heavens and come down i. e. Shew some Majestick and Godlike token or sign of thy Presence shew thy self like unto thy self like a God indeed in Umpiring the Affairs of the World between upright and wicked men In like manner the Prophet Isaiah or the Church of God personated by him Isa 64.1 O that thou wouldest rent the Heavens and come down Doubtless his meaning was not to desire of God that he would display the Ensign of an Angel before him and so come down to help his Church and People no but as was said before that he would appear in his appropriate and God-like Majesty It came to pass saith the Prophet Ezekiel that the Heavens were opened and I saw Visions of God Ezek. 1.1 The Heavens are never said to open or be opened but upon the account of some immediate or extraordinary appearance of God as Steven is said to have seen the Heavens opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God Acts 7.56 As for that of our Saviour in John Verily verily I say unto you that hereafter you shall see Heaven open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man Joh. 1.51 Whether we understand the place Metaphorically with some concerning more full and manifest discoveries of his Divinity that should shortly be made in the World by a more clear preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles or more literally with others of the Day of the general Judgment of the World when the Angels shall accompany him from Heaven and minister unto him during the continuance of the Judgment it no waies contradicts that Principle of truth on which we build viz. That the Heavens are never said to be opened rent or bowed down but upon some extraordinary appearance of God This is one consideration from the place cited to evince and prove the Holy Ghost coming down upon Christ to have been truly God viz. That the Heavens are said to have been opened rent or cleft at or immediately before his coming down 2. Another thing in the same passage evidently evincing the same Truth is that this Spirit of God is said to have descended and lighted upon him John adds that this Spirit abode upon him I saw saith John the Spirit descending from Heaven like a Dove and it abode on him Joh. 1.32 33. First if this Spirit were but a meer Creature a created Angel he must be supposed to have been locally and essentially absent from or out of the World some space at least before his coming down upon Christ for John saith as we heard expresly that he saw him not simply descending but descending 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from or our of Heaven therefore he was in Heaven some while at least immediately before his coming down If then he were a created Angel he could not be at the same instant of time in Heaven and in Earth too and consequently the World must needs Universally and in all and every the members of it have been utterly destitute of the Holy Ghost some while before Christ was baptized yea the Lord Christ himself must be supposed to have been wholly without the Holy Ghost untill now whereas the Scriptures make it an unquestionable Character of an ungodly man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to have the Spirit Jude v. 19. So that it clearly follows that in case the Spirit of God which descended on Christ upon his baptism was but a meer Creature or a created Angel that there was never a holy and good man in the World for some time before no nor that the Lord Christ himself was such which I know not how any man that desireth to be counted a Christian can own without trembling 2. This Spirit is not only said to have descended or come down upon Christ but also as we beard from John to have continued or remained on him Now no created Angel whatsoever is said or reasonably can be said to remain upon him Created Angels are said to minister unto him to stand by him to ascend and descend upon him are commanded to worship him c. but are no where said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to remain in him By the way this expression of the Holy Ghost's remaining on Christ signifies his uniform and equitable presence with him in the fullest or highest measure that he was capable of and that he was not subject to ebbing and flowing to rising or falling as he is in the best of men and besides it may import that this Spirit is not communicable unto any other person of mankind but only from through or by means of Christ Sed hoc obiter Again Were this Spirit of God a finite or created Angel in case he shall rest or abide upon Christ the rest of the World and all mankind besides must needs perpetually want him For nothing that is finite or that hath bounds and limits of essence and being can be or abide with one person in one place and yet be present with another person though at never such a distance form him 3. When the Evangelists report that Christ soon after his Baptism was led of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness they speak doubtless of the same Spirit which came down from Heaven upon him immediately upon his Baptizing Now it is marvellous improbable at least that He whom all the Angels of God are streightly commanded to worship should be acted and led by one of them into the Wilderness and this for such an end and purpose as to be tempted by the devil That Jesus Christ is God is I suppose evident enough from hence not only that one or some few but that all the Angels of God without exception of any are commanded to worship him Heb. 1.6 Certainly God would not command one Creature to worship another no not the Inferiour to worship the Superiour much less the Superiour to worship the Inseriour Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Luke 4.8 Now then if Jesus Christ be the Lord of all the Angels it is not like that he should be led or acted or prevailed with by any of them one or more especially into an engagement or undertaking of such a
nature as to be tempted of the Devil to combate with his greatest and most potent Enemy Masters are not wont to be led or acted by their Servants especially such Masters who are prudent and wise into undertakings of a difficult nature 4. and lastly If we look throughout the Scriptures we shall not find any Angel that ever appeared unto men in any other form likeness or shape of any other Creature but only of a man whereas we read of appearances of God himself in the forms of several other Creatures besides men He appears in a cloud of fire upon mount Sinal Exo. 24.16 17. So again in a cloud to the seventy Elders Num. 11.25 As for the Angel which is said to have appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush Exod. 3.2 and so Acts 7.30 It is evident from the fourth verse of that Chapter Exod. 3. and so from Mat. 22.31 32. that it was not a created Angel but he that is elsewhere called the Angel of the Covenant the Angel of the face and presence of God Christ himself who is called an Angel very frequently as Calvin and others the best and soundest of Interpreters teach and prove Evident it is that the Counsel and intent of God the Father in sending down the Holy Ghost from heaven in that bodily shape we heard upon his Son Jesus Christ was for the publick and solemn inauguration of him into his Prophetical Office the Great Office of preaching and publishing the Gospel unto the World This appears from that voice which was heard from Heaven which was an Interpreter of the whole Transaction This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him So then God the Father and God the Holy Ghost did together inaugurate solemnly invest Jesus Christ into his Great Prophetical Office wherein from henceforth he was to minister unto the World and immediately upon this inauguration he began to execute it That which the Father acted in the business was in that audible voice that came from Heaven That which the Holy Ghost did was by that visible appearance and lighting on him like a Dove So that the interposure or action of the one and of the other were much alike the one had little or no preheminence above the other Now it being the proper Interest of God alone and not appertaining to the Creature to raise up and send Prophets one or other certainly it was not proper for any Creature whatsoever to have a hand in the sending that Prophet of Prophets that Prophet of the World Jesus Christ A second place from the New Testament shall be that of our Saviour himself Mat. 28.19 Go ye therefore and teach all Nations Sect. 5 baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Concerning this place I suppose these two things 1. It is spoken of that Baptism which is unto Remission of sins i. e. which was given and appointed by God to secure or seal unto men the forgiveness of their sins upon their repentance whether they have already repented or no. 2. That He into whose name any person is baptized with such a Baptism as this a Baptism of this import must be in a capacity of forgiving sins upon repentance These two things supposed I argue thus If the Holy Ghost be such a Person in whose Name together with the Name of the Father and of the Son it is meet for men to be baptized then is He truly God But such a person He is c. This latter Proposition is unquestionable from the words of the Scripture before us For doubtless the Lord Christ would not have commanded his Apostles to baptize in his Name were he not a Person meet in whose NameBaptism should be administred The other Proposition cannot reasonably be denied neither because He in whose Name it is any waies meet for a person to be baptized for the Remission of sins upon Repentance must in reason be in a full capacity to give such a Remission and this not Ministerially or declaratively only For then Paul might lawfully have baptized in his own name yea every Minister of the Gospel may baptize in their own names for in this sense they are said to remit or forgive sins Joh. 20.23 Mat. 18.18 but Originally and Authoritatively For questionless it is the appropriate Priviledge or Prerogative of God thus to forgive sins it being He against whom all sin is committed and to whom men become debtors by sinning And as there is no reason or equity in it that one man should have power to forgive another man's debt especially that the Inferiour should have power to remit that which is due to the Superiour So is there much less reason to conceive that any meer Creature whatsoever hath power to forgive another Creature what it oweth unto God Upon this account it was that when Christ said to the sick of the Palsie Son thy fins be forgiven thee the Scribes and Pharisees not believing him to be God were startled at it and demanded Why doth this man speak blasphemies who can forgive sins but God alone Mar. 2.7 And the Lord Christ to justifie himself against the horrid imputation of blasphemy doth not contradict their sense in making it blaspemy for any but God to undertake to forgive sins Nor yet pleads that he had a special Warrant or Commission from God to forgive sins where he pleased but only vindicates his Godhead saying to him that was sick with Authority in his own Name Arise take up thy bed and walk and demanding of those who charged him with blasphemy Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the Palsie Thy sins are fergiven thee or to say Arise take up thy bed and walk Meaning that they could not but well enough understand and conceive that he that could say the latter with authority and effect could be no less than God and consequently might say the former without contracting the sin of blasphemy Besides it is altogether irrational to conceive that He that charged the Jews not to plow with an Oxe and an Ass together nor to wear a Garment made of Linnen and Wollen should couple the Name of an infinite and incomprehensible God and the name of a mear finite Creature together to make one and the same Name in or into which the Creatures are to be baptized For it is not here said Names but Name Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost which likewise implies that all the three here mentioned have but one and the same Name i.e. one and the same power and authority amongst them A third place from the New Testament Sect. 6 which clearly evinceth the Holy Ghost to be God is extant Joh. 3.5 Jesus answered verily verily I say unto you Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God The worke of Regeneration