is termed the Lord of Hosts by Isaiah is by the Apostle Paul's interpretation the Holy Ghost And if he was worshipped by the Angels certainly he was no Angel no created Angel himself but truly God Neither can our Adversaries take Sanctuary under the wing of their common Evasion viz. by pretending that it might be the Lord of Hosts or the most High God that put the words specified into the mouth of Isaiah and yet do it too by an Angel For 1. here is no ground at all no touch or breathing of any circumstance to build such a conceit or pretense upon 2. That which the Lord of Hosts did unto Isaiah by the Ministery of an Angel in his Vision is expresly ascribed to the Angel who did minister unto him in this kind Isa 6.6 7. Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with the tongs from off the Altar and he laid it upon my mouth and said Lo this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged What God did by an Angel unto Isaiah is as we hear expresly attributed to the Angel that did it And if it had been an Angel that by order and Commission from God dictated that Prophesie unto Isaiah which here he is commanded to utter unto the People why should not this have been mentioned and the act of dictation we speak of ascribed unto the Angel as well as that other Especially considering that the Angel which is pretended to have been ministerial unto God in the latter I mean in suggesting the words of the Prophesie unto the Prophet is supposed to be an Angel of far greater worth and dignity than the other for such the Holy Ghost is supposed to be by our Adversaries viz. the supreme Angel in dignity Now it is no waies reasonable to suppose that the Act of an inferiour Agent or Instrument should be recorded and the act of a far greater Instrument in and about the same business should be buried in silence Nay 3. And lastly for this the Prophet Isaiah is expresly said ver 11. to have called him Lord who had said unto him Go tell this people c. Then said I Lord how long If men had though but a competent anoynting with that wisdom which is from above as James speaketh Jam. 3.17 and so were made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 easie to be perswaded indeed possible to be perswaded by the truth or to the truth these things might satisfie and perswade them For what greater proof or argument can there be to evince the Holy Ghost to be truly God or God by Nature as the Apostle distinguisheth than that he should be worshipped or adored by the Angels who very well know to whom worship belongeth Yea as Christ the Son of God is directly prayed unto by Stephen Acts 7.59 Lord Jesus receive my Spirit and again by John Rev. 22.20 Even so come Lord Jesus So is the Holy Ghost by the Church or Spouse of Christ Cant. 4.16 Awake thou North wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out q.d. O Spirit of God breath upon my heart and soul be thou operative by thy grace and power upon me that so my Graces my holy Dispositions and Affections may freely utter themselves in the World with sutable actions and deportments Some I know understand this as if it were rather spoken by Christ to the Holy Ghost in reference to his Church whom they conceive he calleth his Garden than by the Spouse in respect of her self but the words in the latter end of the verse seem to evince the contrary for they must needs be understood as spoken by the Spouse Let my Beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant fruits Here she styles her self his Garden because of the pleasure and delight she knew he took in her and invites him into his Garden to eat his pleasant fruits i. e. Desires him to take contentment in her Graces and Services We heard not long since that the Spirit of God is in the Scriptures resembled by the wind and why Yet more plainly than this Sect. 16 John prays for mercy and peace for the seven Churches of Asia not only from God the Father and from Jesus Christ but also from the Holy Ghost Rev. 1.4 signified by the seven Spirits before the Throne of the Father for the multiplicity of his distributions and gifts given unto men And here it may be noted that the Holy Ghost is not only joyned together with the Father and the Son by John as with them constituting one and the same object of Divine Worship but is likewise mentioned out of the order wherein they are more usually named when all three are mentioned together viz. not in the last place but in the middle between the Father and the Son which is I suppose occasioned from hence because John had more to say in the immediate sequel of the Context concerning Christ and therefore according to the usual manner of the Scriptures in like case reserved the last place in the enumeration for him though his proper place were before If any man shall here object and say That John doth not properly or directly pray in the passage mentioned to the Holy Ghost no nor yet to the Father or the Son but only wisheth Grace and Peace unto the seven Churches from them joyntly To this I answer 1. If it be conceived that John only wisheth or desireth Grace and Peace unto the Churches yet it is plain that he wisheth them equally and indifferently from the Spirit of God as well as from the Father and the Son therefore he supposeth him to be a joynt Donour with the other two of these Blessings Doubtless he would not have wished or desired them from one that had no power or right of interest to confer them and if the Holy Ghost hath power to confer them what can either God the Father or the Son have more If it be said God the Father may have an original power and the Holy Ghost a derivative or communicated power only I reply 1. Here as not the least intimation of any such difference between the power of the one and of the other in the sense at least of him that objecteth For there is a sense indeed wherein it may be admitted without any prejudice to the Deity of the Holy Ghost that he hath only a derived or communicated right or power to give Grace and Peace and the Father alone the power Original in this kind As his Personality or Subsistence in the Divine Nature or Essence is communicated unto him by and from the Father together with the Son so may all Rights and Powers belonging hereunto and founded in such a Subsistence be said to be derived and communicated unto him also But as he partakes of or subsists in the same Divine Essence with the Father and the Son so his Right
Or else secondly Relatively I mean in reference to other things to certain ends or purposes which are not essential unto the work In the former consideration or sense a work is said to be perfect when it is so well and perfectly performed that no degrees of perfection are wanting or can be added to it In the latter sense a work is said to be perfect when it is wrought after such a manner or upon such terms that it accommodates some ends and purposes of greater weight and moment than a sudden or present perfection of the work it self To explain this distinction a little and then briefly to apply it God we know in the course of Nature though as the Apostle saith he giveth to every Seed it s own body yet he doth this gradually As our Saviour in his Parable Mar. 4.28 expresseth it concerning the Seed or Grain of Corn First the blade then the ear and then the ripe or full corn in the Ear. Now the work of Providence in bringing the Seed that is sown thus by degrees to perfection is in this respect at first and for a time after viz. until the ripe Corn in the Ear imperfect because after the springing up of the Blade and after the Ear there remains somewhat further to be done to bring there to their natural and due perfection i.e. to be ripe Corn in the Ear. But now look upon this work of Providence in another consideration viz. as it is subservient to such ends and purposes as God projecteth to bring to pass by it viz. to exercise the Faith and Patience of the Husbandman in waiting upon him a convenient space for the receiving the fruit of his Labour and so to display his own Wisdom in the orderly Progression of Nature or second causes and so it is perfect all along from first to last and under every degree or advance of it and would have been less perfect in case it had been carried on and wrought otherwise I mean in case the Seed that is sown should presently upon the sowing be brought to perfection or full Corn in the Ear. Though this had been perfect in the former consideration yet in the latter it would have been imperfect and so would not have accommodated the Husbandman in his waiting with patience Now to apply the distinction All the works of the Spirit in men the work of Faith the work of Repentance or Mortification c. They are all perfect in the latter sense but not in the former We read in the Scripture as well of a little Faith as of a great Faith and a little Faith is the work of the Spirit as well as that which is great Yet a little Faith simply considered is an imperfect work because many degrees remain to be added to it to perfect or complete it but in the latter consideration the work of a little Faith in men and so of a lower degree of Mortification is as perfect a work as a greater The Reason is because the Spirit in working a work of little Faith and not of greater accommodates the righteous and wise Counsel or Design of God viz. in rewarding mens Labour Diligence and Faithfulness proportionably to their degrees not making those who have been less diligent and faithful though both in some degree equal unto those who have abounded in these above their Fellows Now we know the Wisdom and the Holiness of God have in consultation the promotion of Godliness in the World upon the highest and best terms that may be And among many waies and means wherein the God of Grace doth intend to express himself for the promoting this great Design of his there is no means more effectual than this way viz. That those who will be more diligent and more laborious and more faithful and shall more and more apply themselves to the use of such and such means that they shall be invested with such and such Priviledges in a greater measure Whereas if God should do that upon any use of means viz. if they shall pray once a month or hear the Word once a month if God shall give as much and as rich a presence of himself unto such a person as unto him who shall be diligent in the use of means Then or by means of such a procedure God should pull down that with one hand which he endeavoureth to build up with the other and would by such a course take men off from the use of means for Who would give double or treble to procure that which he might have at a lower rate This for a third sign or means of discerning who are filled with the Spirit a deep and effectual work of Mortification Fourthly Sect. 14 Another thing which argueth a man or woman to be filled with the Spirit of God is some worthy degree of Holiness where a Spirit of holiness breaths uniformly and with an equal tenour of life and conversation in the World We have heretofore shewed what holiness in the sense we now speak of it is viz. a gracious impression or propension enclining the heart and soul where it resideth unto waies and actions eminently righteous and just with a real abhorrency of the contrary or of whatsoever is sinful Indeed that holiness which we now speak of seemeth chiefly to consist in the latter A real loathing abhorring and detesting what is sinful and unclean Psal 145.17 The Lord is righteous in all his waies and holy in all his works Righteous in all his waies i. e. All his waies and works and dispensations all his interposures in the World with every Creature are all righteous and just He meaneth just in such a sense as men are able to call just for else to what purpose was it to inform the World that God was just and righteous and then to mean it to be such a kind of Justice and Righteousness which men cannot understand And holy in all his works I suppose it is according to the manner of the Scriptures where usually in the latter Clause of the Verse there is some Explication made of the former And so here the Holy Ghost having said The Lord is righteous in all his waies he addeth and he is holy in all his works As if he had said He is not simply in all that he doth just and regular No but he doth abhor with a perfect hatred all things that are contrary We know a man may do a thing out of such or such an affection or disposition or in reference to such an end that he would provide for and accomplish and yet possibly he may do the contrary But now saith David concerning God there is such a mighty propensity and going out of his heart and soul to holiness in all his works that he cannot do otherwise he hath the greatest abhorrency in his nature to do otherwise As the Wiseman saith in the Proverbs It is joy to the upright to do justly that is the Propensions of their heart and soul
stand for such actions Now all Actions which are sutable to a strong Propensity in a man are actions of joy and great delight unto him so that to do justly and righteously when the heart is full of this disposition must needs be matter of joy and of high contentment it must needs ease the heart and soul that is filled with this fulness And so God taketh a pleasure in mercy mercy is his delight because he is full of mercy his Nature and Essence is full of these gracious Principles these sweet and blessed affections and so likewise Righeousness is his delight as on the contrary because there is planted in his Nature a deep and unspeakable detestation and abhorrence of that which is sinful and unrighteous therefore he cannot come near any such Action Now the reason why I make a worthy or considerable degree in holiness an Argument or sign of a mans being filled with the Spirit of God is because the Spirit of God is a Spirit of Holiness And according to the common Maxime in Reason and in Natural Philosophy Omne Agens assimilat sibi patiens c. Every Agent endeavoureth to make the Patient like himself as fire would make all hot So water doth moysten and soften all that doth come near unto it and that will mingle with it The Spirit we know is from place to place in the Scriptures stiled the Holy Spirit this is his proper Name or Character by which he is distinguished Eph. 1.13 In whom or by whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of Promise He is here distinguished from all other Spirits and termed the holy Spirit In whom saith he after that ye believed ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise that is the Spirit promised by God or by Jesus Christ unto Believers Only this is to be remembred by way of Caution when any person is wont to appear in the Form of holiness in respect of any great and solemn detestation of some things or waies that are evil as it is observable in some that they have a great fierceness and as it were a fierce keen edge of Spirit against some kind of sins but are remiss lukewarm and neutral in respect of others being manifest and generally known or acknowledged to be sins This is no Argument of persons being filled with the Spirit of God Rom. 2.22 Thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit Sacriledge So when men shall abhor one kind of sin or abomination but yet either practice or pass by or connive at and are not troubled at the practice of another this is a sign that it is not from the Spirit of God or from any fulness with this Spirit that that abhorrence and detestation of that particular sin doth proceed and consequently this is no Argument of any great worth or value to prove that a man is filled with the Spirit of God And thus you have many great pretenders unto holiness and consequently to a being filled with the Spirit by this touchstone of truth discovered to be nothing so There may be indeed other reasons and other motives that may put them forth in a detestation of some sins but if there be other sins that they can suffer without any trouble or regret of soul certainly this is not the Spirit of God that worketh For he never teacheth men to put any such difference between abomination and abomination A fifth Particular Sect. 15 by which a man or woman may be discerned to be filled with the Spirit of God is if they be eminently godly if Godliness hath its perfect work in them i. e. if they be all really and in good earnest solicitous and careful that their waies and actions may have a direct clear and proper tendency to the glorifying or manifesting of God in the World when men without much regret or reluctancy or much pain unto the Flesh can accommodate all their occasions and affairs to the interest of God and his glory This is a great sign of their being filled with the Spirit of God For as we have formerly shewed unto you that as the heaviness of a Stone carries it downwards to its Center just so Godliness maketh the Soul hang Godward and consequently disposeth a man to a kind of solicitousness in all his waies that these may all lead in a straite Line unto the magnifying of God and the advancing of his glory The reason why we deliver this as a Property or Character of a mans being filled with the Spirit is first because the Spirit who is said to be of God or from God cannot but be conceived to be for God also i. e. perswade and encline men to make God and his Glory their Soveraign end and to set him up and his Interest here as the highest and supreme end of all their undertakings and of all their Counsels and dealings in the World And secondly The motions and workings of the Spirit in the hearts and souls of men being every way concurrent with the Gospel for the Spirit moveth not stirreth not doth not encline any mans heart or soul but in consort and in a full and express concurrence with the Gospel with the Sayings Precepts and Exhortations hereof And the Gospel being calculated as it were on purpose with the most exact and best Skill and Wisdom and Understanding to promote Godliness being a Doctrine according unto Godliness i. e. a Doctrine framed and made on purpose to promote Godliness in the World a Doctrine of such a nature and import as if God had a desire by means hereof to set up himself and to draw men unto himself Now then I say the Spirit never working but with a full concurrence with the Gospel and the Gospel being set for Godliness and for the advancement of it in the World it cannot be but that the Spirit of God must set the heart on work in order to the same end also and therefore when it appears that men are to a considerable degree industrious and earnest for the advancing of Godliness it is an indubitable sign or Character that the Spirit of God is present that he is there with a great presence with an abundance of himself and of his power Sixthly Sect. 16 Another sign of persons being filled with the Spirit of God is a like worthy degree of heavenly mindedness When mens minds and thoughts are much intent upon and taken up with heavenly things when the daily converse of the heart and soul is with things of another World when a man can sacrifice his greatest earthly accommodations and conveniences upon his spiritual and heavenly interest and when notwithstanding any state of blessedness doth accrue unto us as unto the things of this World yet a mans heart is daily in heaven when by our Faith we can rent the Vail I say when the mind and thoughts of a man are much exercised and acted about these things this is a great sign likewise that there
changed from glory to glory and be made as like unto him in felicity as far as their nature will bear in order to the rendring them capable of enriching the World with the saving knowledge of the truth where ever they shall become this being one property of felicity and true greatness and nobleness of Spirit where ever it is to dilate and utter it self for the real good benefit and comfort of all that are round about it and within its reach Of these things thou hast a large account in the ensuing Treatise both as to the provision that is made by God in the Gospel for his Saints and those that serve him as likewise the nature of him that is the chief Agent the Holy Ghost to manage and to be their Assistant in all their spiritual Works and Services which by virtue of the abundant grace of God in the Gospel they are called unto and might be partakers of he being none other than him that hath all Power in his hand both in Heaven and in Earth Not a Creature lest any man should despair of ever being strengthened with might in the inner man or should fear of ever being able to arrive unto that blessedness which is prepared for those that love God and wait for the appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ But this Holy Spirit which thou art advised to be filled withall is no less no other than the increated Spirit God blessed for ever Which in case thou hast but such a sense of thy Salvation as to be found working of it out with fear and trembling thou mayest assure thy self that it is none other than God himself who is both able and willing yea is already at work within thee and will enable thee not only to will but also to do and that according to his good pleasure whose will and good pleasure concerning the manner of his coworking in men is largely opened in this Discourse And likewise his Godhead argued and with clearness proved both by Scriptures and sound Reason As also those Grounds and Arguments that are commonly brought to prove him to be of a created and finite extraction punctually sedately and faithfully answered and the Scriptures that are brought to serve in that Warfare are dismissed and discharged from that Service And we look upon this part of the Discourse as so much the more seasonable and we hope a good hand of Divine Providence in bringing of it forth at this time inasmuch as that Spirit of Error is now stirring more effectually than of latter times to the endangering of the Everlasting Welfare of the precious Souls of Men rendering the Gospel and the Grace of God which hath appeared to all Men by Jesus Christ and that unspeakable Gift of the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God which is to remain with the Saints until his coming again as very inconsiderable Thereby making the neglect of this Grace of God and his good Spirit a thousand times more tolerable than indeed it is or is like to be unto those who shall be found to neglect so great a salvation that is brought so near unto them and that by God himself with the gracious offer of himself and his own help and assistance herein Thou hast likewise an account given thee by what means it is that the Spirit of God himself if thou shalt submit unto his most gracious Counsels herein will advance his Presence in thee whereby thou mayest have as much of his assistance as thy heart can desire Together with some Rules laid down whereby to judge whether a mans self or others be filled with the Spirit or with some other Spirit which only pretends to be the Spirit of God but is not but a Spirit of Error and Delusion very useful at all times but more especially now when Sathan that lying Spirit is playing his Last Game upon the World his time being very short he is put upon it more than ever to mingle his spiritual wickednesses with heavenly things which are his most dangerous Weapons and thereby doth greater execution than Men generally are aware of There are many Wiles and subtil Devices by which Men are taken off from attending upon the Ministry of the Gospel which is called the Ministry of the Spirit which are very mischievous and destructive it is to be feared to many and endangering more that are here detected and their nakedness laid open As also the great business of the Saints Communion with God both as to the freeness and fulness or largeness thereof discussed together with the great advantage of a large interest in God by Prayer discovered In all which there are many Scriptures clearly opened We question not but that persons who have the use and exercise of their Spiritual Senses and are to any considerable degree able to discern things that differ will find their precious time well spent in the reading hereof and will find the discourse pleasant to their Spiritual Palate and receive nourishment thereby in their inner man Good Reader We have only two Requests to make unto thee before we leave thee First â—hat if there be not in all and every passage of this Work the same height of Stile and Elegancy of Expression as is in other his Writings thou wilt excuse the Author inasmuch as it seemed good to Divine Providence to finish the daies of his mortal Pilgrimage and to gather him unto his Fathers before this Work could be made fit for Publick View And we nothing doubt but that thy Christian Candor and Ingenuity will take this for a sufficient excuse on the behalf of those things for which we Apologize Our Second Request is if thou expect to receive good by this Discourse That if at any time thou hast been prejudiced against the Author thou wilt lay all things of that nature aside as thou lovest thine own Peace and Eternal Welfare and engage with an honest heart and sincere mind in the reading hereof For although possibly there may have been some difference between him and thee and some others in some Doctrinal Points yet this being mainly Practical he and all other good men more generally agree in matters of this nature Nâ—w that the God of all Grace may fill thee with a rich Presence of his Spirit that so thou mayest be rendered most acceptable to him in all thy waies and be put into the best capacity to serve thy Generation and in the end be made partaker of the highest Glory with the Saints in light is the Desire and shall be the Prayer of The Publishers To all that desire to be filled WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT THere is a great Ambition in the Sons of Men after Fulness and so there is in the Sons of God also but the Fulness which the Sons of the latter and better Denomination do most mind and covet is of another nature and kind than that which the Sons of the other and lower Denomination are ambitious of There is an Earthly
viz. Whether he be an increated Spirit even God blessed for ever or whether a created Spirit Several Scriptures opened and argued both from the Old and New Testament proving that the Spirit spoken of in the Text is none other than Johovah or the most High God The several Pleas brought against these Scriptures by persons contrary minded taken off and rendered invalid As also some Grounds in Reason propounded and argued to prove that the Holy Ghost is very God Page 142 CHAP. VIII The most material Arguments that are generally insisted on by those who deny the Divinity of the Holy Ghost are weighed in the balance of the Sanctuary Wherein also those Scriptures which are generally insisted on by those who perswade themselves and would also perswade others that he that is the Searcher of hearts is but of a finite extraction or the Holy Spirit of God is but a Creature are all discharged from bearing that burthen which is laid upon them As also the great profitableness yea the great necessity of this Discourse though somewhat large is asserted Page 196 CHAP. IX The Second Question propounded namely How or by what meanâ— a Believer or any other Person may be filled with the Spirit of God Some difficulties removed with one Direction propounded and largely discoursed whereby men and women may understand the intent of the Exhortation and what it is that is required of them when they are commanded to be filled with the Spirit Wherein also the Grace of God and the free working of his Spirit is clearly vindicated and asserted Page 239 CHAP. X. The Resolution of the Second Question further prosecuted And six Directions more given to shew how men and women may come to be filled with the Spirit of God and what is to be done by them in order hereunto Page 279 CHAP. XI A third Question propounded viz. How a man or woman may know whether himself or others are filled with the Spirit of God or will some other Spirit that pretendeth to be the Spirit of God but is indeed a Spirit contrary to it Wherein are several Rules laid down in order to a clear understanding thereof Pro. 6.9 10. 1 Cor. 12.8 9 10. Jam. 3.17 Prov. 2.22 Chap. 9.6 Rom. 8.13 Psa 145.17 1 Cor. 2.10 11. in part opened p. 316 CHAP. XII The first Vse of the Doctrine by way of Instruction in four main Points First Shewing how comely a thing it is for men and women to be found obedient to the Commands of God in general and particularly how beautiful and honourable a thing it is for men and women to be filled with the Spirit of God and to be found acting accordingly Secondly An account given what strangers the Saints themselves are unto many great Duties and more especially unto this great Duty of being filled with the Spirit insomuch that even this Generation are as it were asleep thereunto Thirdly That this great blessedness of being filled with the Spirit is no impossible thing but is attainable by the endeavours and engagements of men Fourthly and lastly That it is the Will and Design of God that Believers should be a Royal Generation of Kings and Priests unto himself and that they should live accordingly p. 345 CHAP. XIII A Second Vse of the Doctrine being a Vse of Reproof unto all those who are Enemies unto this heavenly Exhortation and Counsel of the Holy Ghost administred unto men namely to be filled with the Spirit and who by any means obstruct the course of it A first sort are such who scoff at such a thing as a being filled with the Spirit of God A second sort of Offenders are such who perswade men that the Spirit which they are exhorted to be filled with is but a finite Spirit an Angel and not God Wherein many things are further argued proving the Holy Ghost to be the most High God Page 358 CHAP. XIV A third sort of Offenders reproved are such who instead of following the Exhortation of being filled with the Spirit take a course to be emptied of the Spirit of God Who make it matter of Conscience to turn their backs upon the Ministry of the Gospel which is called the Ministry of the Spirit Wherein the several Scriptures and Reasons by which they strengthen themselves in their evil way are examined and found bent against them And likewise the necessity of the Ministry of the Gospel and the great benefit thereof largely asserted and vindicated Page 387 CHAP. XV. Five sorts of Offenders more under the Second Head reproved First Such who are chill and cool in their respects unto the Ministry of the Gospel An account of the Causes thereof The danger of false Notions concerning God A second sort reproved for withdrawing from a lively and powerful Ministry Reasons of such miscarriages Legal and Evangelical Ministry distinguished What renders Persons duly fitted for the Ministry of the Gospel The third sort justly reprovable are such who neglect to be led by the Spirit of God How and when the Spirit of God is neglected A fourth sort justly reprovable also are such that do resist the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God The fifth and last sort of Offenders are such who refuse to sow unto the Spirit of God Page 419 CHAP. XVI The fourth and last Vse of the Doctrine being an Exhortation to use all means we are capable of in order to a being filled with the Spirit of God Three Motives propounded The first More generally taken from the nature of the Commandments of God That this Duty is one of the holy and righteous Retinue of Duties enjoyned us by God Neglect of his Commands provoketh him to Jealousie The second Motive This being known to be a Duty enjoyned by God neglected hinders the Soul from prospering in the things of its own peace The vast difference and great danger of an habitual Omission of known Duties in comparison of Duties a man is ignorant of A third Motive This is a Duty enjoyned by the Lord Christ who speaks now from Heaven The difference between God's speaking on the Earth and now speaking from Heaven Neglect of Evangelical Duties much more provoking than the neglect under the Law Heb. 12.25 in part opened A being filled with the Spirit purely Evangelical Page 452 CHAP. XVII Four Considerations more to enforce the Exhortation The fourth Motive the great benefit accruing unto men and women by a serious engagement in a course likely to issue in a being filled with the Spirit It will free men and women from foolish unclean and noysome lusts somewhat peculiar in this engagement differing from others though worthy in their kind A fifth Motive proving that in case men do what God hath and doth enable them to do in order to a being filled with the Spirit of God this their enterprize shall assuredly prosper in their hand Hope of obtaining great encouragement unto Endeavours Some more of the great Priviledges that accompany a being filled with the Spirit A
or in any form of special aspect one upon another but as it were laid together in great heaps Yet there is I confess a relative opposition between the words read and the former part of the verse plainly intimated by this adversative Particle But And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess But be filled with the Spirit Which Particle clearly implies that to be drunken with wine as we have it or as the word elsewhere frequently signifieth To drink wine freely or to be given inordinately unto it to sit upon the brink of the pit of drunkenness though possibly you may not fall into it Is a thing inconsistent with your being filled with the Spirit For wine being freely drank as it inflames a man or the body of a man So on the contrary it quencheth the Spirit in him and causeth that to abate its fervency by degrees and to withdraw more and more from the Soul or else obstructeth his entrance into a man For the clearing the sense and meaning of the words there are three things briefly to be opened First Sect. 2 What is here meant by the Spirit Secondly What it is to be filled with the Spirit Thirdly why the Apostle exhorts and perswades to a being filled or to a filling of themselves with the Spirit by occasion of the preceding dehortation viz. from being drunken with or from being given to much wine For the first There are several significations of the word Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which yet it is as clear as the Sun that the Apostle hath nothing to do with in this place 1. It sometimes signifieth the wind Joh. 3.8 2. Sometimes it signifieth courage or such a frame of heart which is opposite to despondency or extremity of fear Josh 5.1 Neither was there Spirit in them any more 3. It sometimes signifieth the mind disposition or inclination of a man Pro. 14.29 But he that is hasty or rather according to the original short of Spirit i. e. that is of a Cholerick or rash temper or disposition being not able to contain himself or hold out in patience for a little season under temptations exalteth folly 4. It sometimes signifieth the soul of a man and this is a frequent acceptation of this word in the Scripture I need not cite any instances for this places of this import are obvious and frequent Sometimes the understanding or discerning powers or faculties of the soul are signified thereby Exod. 35.21 Every one whom his Spirit made willing i. e. whose judgment and understanding in artificial work inclined him to a willingness in that kind viz. for the work of the Sanctuary There are these and several other significations of the word Spirit which by comparing the place in hand with the particularities of them it will be found as clear as the Sun at noon day that they are none of them to be understood or meant in this place and therefore for expedition sake I shall omit them Neither shall I argue against any of those several senses of the word Spirit even now mentioned That by the Spirit Sect. 3 here is meant the holy blessed and incomprehensible Spirit of God the third of the three Persons in the divine Being or Essence Besides the concurrent judgment of the best Expositors upon the place It may be evinced from the Antithesis or opposition the words read have unto the former part of the verse As also from the comportance and perfect agreement in the next verse with this signification of the word Spirit For the first the Apostle opposeth their being filled with the Spirit to their being drunken or filled with wine Now take the word Spirit in any other signification whatsoever besides that we have pitched upon viz. for the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God and you will not find any such emphatical liveliness in opposition between being drunken with wine and being filled with the Spirit you may make trial and take an account of particulars at your leisure But now between being drunk with wine and being filled with the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God there is such a strong clear and pregnant opposition that the one fighteth against and excludeth the other For he that is drunk with wine is full of the spirit of sin and of the devil and during either the act or the habit but especially the act of such a drunkenness such a person is utterly uncapable for that time in sensu composito so long as he is under the power of his drunkenness of being filled with the Spirit of God As on the contrary he that is filled with the Spirit of God is in no capacity during this his fulness of being made drunk with wine wherein is excess But Secondly That by the Spirit here is meant the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God is further evident from what the Apostle immediately subjoyns in the next verse Speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs making Melody in your hearts unto the Lord. As men that are drunken or enflamed with wine are apt to speak to themselves and to entertain one another with light vain and unsavoury mirth and Songs of carnal and sinful jollity In like manner if ye be filled with the Spirit of God you will be apt and able to speak to your selves and solace and delight your selves and be in a steady posture to teach and admonish one another with matters of a spiritual and heavenly import So that God himself will take a holy contentment in your mirth and rejoyce with you Whereas the vain and sinful mirth of the others namely of those that are drunken with wine is the hatred and abhorring of his soul But now there is no filling with the Spirit in any other sense of the word Spirit that only excepted which is pleaded for that is proper or likely to qualifie men or women for these spiritual exercises of an heavenly mirth It is only a being filled with the Spirit of God that is like to act or work the heart and soul of a man into such a posture or frame of spiritual rejoycing We might further confirm this exposition by taking into consideration all those instances in the Scriptures which are many where men are said to be filled with the Holy Ghost and by comparing them in their respective context with the Scripture in hand we might shew that the Holy Ghost there and the Spirit here are one and the same See Acts 2.4 c. 4.31 c. 9.17 c. 13.52 We read likewise of persons full of the Holy Spirit Luke 4.1 Acts 6.3 5. c. 7.55 c. 11.24 c. thus you see what is meant by the Spirit Secondly Sect. 4 What is it to be filled with the Spirit Or What is it that the Apostle means or what is the nature or property of the duty he requireth of them and which is imposed upon them when he chargeth them to be filled with the Spirit or as in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
as his own expression is seeking whom he may devour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. whom he may devour at once 1 Pet. 5.8 and with as much haste as possible may be meaning by filling them with all unrighteousness with uncleanness love of this world fearlesness of God and of his Laws Precepts and Commands For he namely Satan hath no other weapons to destroy men and women withal but these And in these and in these only lye his murthering and devouring attempts So that where he meets not with one that is greater and stronger than himself to oppose him And there is but one to stand in his way of whom the Apostle John gives this testimony That he that is in you namely the Saints is greater than he that is in the world 1 Joh. 4.4 I say When he meets not and is not encountred by this Spirit of God that is stronger than he Yea if this Spirit have not advanced in his strength and assistance by the means before spoken of to some good degree in the hearts and souls of men He namely the evil one is very likely to prevail yea and questionless will prevail over men and fill the hearts and inward parts of men with all unrighteousness covetousness love of the world c. and with all manner of sinful inclinations dispositions and propentions which will be their ruine For sin as the Apostle James testifieth when it is finished bringeth forth death Jam 1.15 When it is finished i. e. impenitently persisted in unto the last it certainly bringeth damnation or eternal destruction upon men Or if you will thus Sin when it is finished or perfected that is when it is raised hath much of strength and power in the heart and soul of a man and when they are full of sin Then it is apt and likely to bring forth death the workings and operations thereof incline and tend strongly that way yea and will certainly issue in Death as was even now hinted if it be not stopped in its way by a more than ordinary care and diligence to make resistance against it Now that Satan or the evil Spirit will certainly prevail with men and women to fill themselves with him or with his fruits unless they be filled or in a way of filling themselves with the Spirit of God is evident upon these two gradual considerations taken together First Sect. 4 If men shall be found to be wholly destitute and devoid of the Spirit of God and as it were altogether flesh so that they have not wherewith to oppose or to make any resistance against the devil or evil Spirit in any kind or at least to any considerable degree Then is it no marvel if he prevail over men For that which is flesh in men whether we take it for that which is properly so called the body or outward man considered simply as such or whether by flesh we mean that which is born of the flesh according to our Saviours expression Joh. 3.6 i.e. inordinate desires sinful inclinations and lusts that are ingendred and occasioned by the flesh I say in both these considerations whether we take the flesh either litterally or metaphorically it is wholly confederate with Satan against the soul and spiritual life of man ready to open unto him and comport with him in all his dangerous and destructive applications of himself unto them and consequently such men that are only flesh or full of it receive the Laws of their minds from the inspiration thereof and are not furnished with any principles wherewith to oppose him and as it is said concerning John the Baptist That they that persecuted him did unto him whatsoever they listed (a) Mat. 17.12 Mar. 9.13 Even so the Scriptures speak of or concerning such persons as we are now treating of That Sathan carrieth them captive at his will (b) 2 Tim. 2.26 and filleth them with what kind of lusts and uncleanness he pleaseth yea and to what degree he pleaseth When men are filled with the Holy Spirit so that it acteth with much strength and vigour in them and that they are subdued and brought under the power thereof the Scripture is used to speak of them as wholly diabled and debilitated to sin So the Apostle Paul speaketh concerning himself and of such others that were made partakers of the same anointing with him For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth 2 Cor. 13.8 So on the contrary they that are filled with the spirit of the devil have nothing in them but what is born of the flesh and therefore they can do nothing for but against the truth no not in their own souls judgments and consciences still comporting with Sathan against the truth and their own peace and comfort But It is a Question perhaps of no easie resolution Whether there be any person man or woman under heaven who is wholly destitute of the Spirit of God unless it be those which have blasphemed the Spirit of God and have stumbled at that stumbling stone which will certainly not only break but grind all to powder which shall fall under it That sin which is the seed of immortal eternal and irreconcileable hatred and alienation between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of him whosoever he be that hath committed it I mean the sin against the Holy Ghost I rather at present incline to the affirmative part of the Question and do conceive That there is no person of mankind who from or after his first enlightening by the Spirit of God upon and after his coming into the world under the guilt of any sin or sins whatsoever except that sin only before excepted that is at any time untill the day and hour of his death wholly bereaved of the presence and assistance of the Spirit of God with him Of which my apprehensions I have as I remember heretofore given some account and may possibly have occasion to speak more largely unto it hereafter But for the present Whereas some in the Scripture are said not to have the Spirit Jude the 19 verse sennsual not having the Spirit a Scripture formerly made use of upon another occasion I answer the meaning is not as if they had no degree or presence Sect. 5 or no assistance of or from the Spirit of God within them But this by not having the Spirit is meant That there was no appearance of the exercise of the Spirit is meant That there was no appearance of the exercise of the Spirit of God in them They appeared unto the judgments of men as such who had not the Spirit their lives and conversations were such which did not shew forth any presence of the Spirit of God in them A person in the Scripture Phrase is said not to have that which he doth not make use of or improve or that which he doth not seem to have For unto every one that hath saith our Saviour Mat. 25.29 shall be given and he shall
to the Argument last propounded That the Saints at least a great part of them do verily judge or think that all things considered as the weakness of their Faith their undergrowth in knowledge the unruliness and unsubduedness of their flesh and the intolerable burthen it would be unto it to be compelled to keep them company in the severe Exercises of Mortification and high acts of Self-denial c. which must be performed by those that look to lift up their heads in glory above other their Brethren the Saints in Heaven and withal how full of joy and blessed contentment it will be unto them if they shall be counted meet to enjoy be it the meanest place amongst those that are saved these things I say haply with many more considered they may conclude that it is best for them to content themselves with designing nothing higher than Salvation simply or the scantest entrance into Heaven and not to lift up their desires unto the heights of glory there Therefore the consideration mentioned doth not put them to rebuke although they do not desire part and fellowship in the highest advancements in Heaven To this I answer That it is an Objection or Plea savouring of the Flesh though it may express the case of persons in some degree spiriritual It is somewhat of kin to that award of the sluggard who as Solomon informeth us is wont to be wise in his own conceit Prov. 26.16 between one handful and two when one may be had with ease and quietness but two not without labour and trouble Better saith the Wiseman speaking of the spirit of such a fool as he here calls him is an handful with quietness than both the hands full with travel and vexation of spirit Eccles 4.6 For he that judgeth it best for him to pitch his desires upon getting into Heaven only and not to strain or raise them to the best and greatest of the enjoyments here let this his judgment proceed upon what Reasons or Considerations soever yet will it be found Erronious and therefore cannot acquit him from sin that shall build or act upon it For the Circumstances mentioned in the Objection weakness in Faith under-growth in Knowledge unsubduedness of the Flesh c. these being all sinful defects and imperfections cannot justifie such an act which under due Circumstances would be sinful But enough if not more than so hath been argued to evince it not simply lawful but even necessary as Duty makes Actions necessary for the Saints and Servants of God to kindle a spirit of this holy and heavenly Ambition even to desire to be as great in the Kingdom of Heaven as the greatest of them all I mean of the greatest of those whom the Grace and Spirit of Jesus Christ shall bring thither And thus I trust we have made good the second thing supposed in the fift and last reason of our Doctrine viz. That the Saints are under an Obligation of Duty to put themselves into a capacity of the most sublime investitures with glory which God hath prepared for the Children of men That which was assertively laid down Sect. 20 and affirmed in this Reason was that unless men shall be filled with the Spirit in the sense declared towards the beginning they are never like to be in any capacity of putting themselves into a capacity of such investitures or of sitting in any of the uppermost seats at that Table at which the Saints shall eat bread with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God But for the proof and confirmation of this we shall not need to add any thing to what we have so largely argued from the Scriptures in our demonstration of the fourth ground and reason of the Doctrine It must not be a sparing or a thin but a very rich anointing with the Spirit that will prepare and strengthen men so to wrestle against principalities against powers against the Rulers of the darkness of this World against spiritual wickedness in high places or heavenly things yea and against their own flesh and bloud also for thâ—se are their enemies likewise in their spiritual warfare that God may judge their Victories and Conquest over them worthy the greatest Triumphs in Heaven that are designed and granted here to the chief of the Worthies of Christ But for your satisfaction in this if you desire more than you have you are desired to repair with your minds and memories to what hath been upon the same or like account formerly delivered We shall now proceed to the Use and Application of the Doctrine Only there are two or three Questions relating to the Doctrine delivered that being cleared will I conceive give some further light into it CHAP. VII Three Questions propounded to give further light into the Doctrine The first of them enquired into namely who or what this Spirit mentioned in the Tex is viz. Whether he be an increated Spirit even God blessed for ever or whether a created Spirit Several Scriptures opened and argued both from the Old and New Testament proving that the Spirit spoken of in the Text is none other than Jehovah or the most high God The several Pleas brought against these Scriptures by persons contrary minded taken off and rendered invalid As also some Grounds in Reason propounded and argued to prove that the Holy Ghost is very God THe first of these Questions being occasioned by some unhappy importune spirits of Error lately gotten abroad amongst us shall be this Sect. 1 Who or what this Spirit mentioned in the Text and much spoken of in the Doctrine is Or more particularly whether he be an infinite and increated Spirit one of the Three which the Apostle John saith are one 1 Joh. 5.7 commonly known amongst us by the name of Three Persons some weaker Judgments do not like the expression Or whether he be some excellent Creature some high-born Angel or the like who is near unto God This is the first Question which we shall a little search into Whether the Spirit of God sometimes yea oft in Scripture called the Holy Ghost be truly God or a Creature The second shall be this How or in what respect and when a person man or woman may be said to be filled with the Spirit and so may be said to have obeyed the voice of the Exhortation of the Apostle The third and last shall be How a man or woman that is indeed filled with the Spirit of God may be known from a person which is filled with another spirit viz. a spirit of Vanity and Delusion There is a fourth Question every whit as necessary and edifying as any of these which we shall have occasion to speak somewhat unto afterwards when we come to the Exhortation The Tenour of which Question will be this How and by what means men and women may come to be filled with the Spirit Concerning the Question first propounded Who or what this Spirit or the Spirit of God should be whether God an
increated Spirit or whether a created Spirit Many of you that are present I suppose know that there is an Antitrinitarian Spirit that hath broken prison of late and gotten abroad amongst as very busie in making Proselytes And as in the daies of Old this Spirit laboured to fill the World with this Doctrine That only one of the Three which John as you heard saith are one viz. He that is known unto us by the name of the Father is truly God And that the other two the Son and the Holy Ghost or the Spirit are but the Father's Creatures receiving though very excellent yet only finite and limited Being from him Wherefore as Moses said unto Aaron Num. 16.46 There is wrath gone out from the Lord the Plague is begun and hereupon wisheth him to go quickly unto the Congregation to make attonement for them Even so the Plague of this most dangerous Errour we speak of being begun amongst us already and several being intangled and insnared by it It therefore concerns those who are in a special manner intrusted with the great concernments both of God and men and upon whose shoulders it lieth more especially to contend for the truth I say it concerns them to lay about them with all wisdom and faithfulness in order to the convincing gainsayers or the Adversaries of this Truth We do not intend at present to speak any thing directly and particularly for the vindication of the God-head of the Second Person The Name by which he is best known unto us is Christ But only to plead the cause of him whom we with the ancient Christians call the Third Person in the Trinity or the Holy Ghost and briefly from the Scriptures to demonstrate him to be an infinite and uncreated Spirit and truly God Amongst very many passages as well in the Old as in the New Testament which with greatest evidence demonstrate the Holy Ghost to be God we shall only insist upon some few which we judge to be most clear and convincing Exod. 4.12 Jehovah translated Lord speaketh thus to Moses Now therefore go and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say From hence it appears that it is only proper for Jehovah or him that is God to be in the mouth of the Prophets and to teach them what to say Add hereunto that which we have Num. 12.6 And he said hear now my words If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord or I Jehovah will make my self known unto him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream Now most evident it is from hence that he who spake by the Prophets and other Holy men of God as the Apostles was true Jehovah true God And hence it was that when the Prophets were about to deliver any Message to the People in the Name of God they commonly used this Preface Thus saith Jehovah or the word of Jehovah that Jehovah spake unto them or appeared unto them or the like places of this kind are without number in the Writings of the Prophets And the Apostle himself Heb. 1.1 expresly saith That God in times past spake unto the Fathers by the Prophets Now the Lord Christ himself affirmeth That it is the Spirit of God or the Holy Ghost that thus speaketh in men Take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father speaketh in you Mat. 10.19 Therefore now if it was God that spake by the Prophets then and is interpreted by Christ to be the Holy Ghost then Jehovah or the Lord in the Old Testament is the Spirit or the Holy Ghost in the New And the Apostle Peter expresly affirmeth that it was the Spirit of Christ that spake in the Prophets 1 Pet. 1.11 And elsewhere he saith that Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1.21 Thus David also a little before his departure The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue The God of Israel said the Rock of Israel spake to me 2 Sam. 23.2 And so Ezek. 2.2 And the Spirit entred into me when he spake unto me So that evident it is from these Scriptures diligently compared and laid together that the Holy Ghost who is from place to place said to have spoke unto the Prophets and Holy men of God was none other but Jehovah God himself Another place may be Lev 19.1 2. where Jehovah is said to have spake unto Moses saying Speak unto all the Congregation of the Children of Israel and say unto them Ye shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy Now he that spake these words unto Moses and ordered all these Ceremonies is in the New Testament said to be the Holy Ghost Heb. 9.8 The Holy Ghost this signifying c. Yet again Lev. 26.12 And I will walk among you and be your God and ye shall be my people compared with 1 Cor. 6.19 2 Cor. 6.16 1 Cor. 3.16 In all these places you shall find that the Saints in their Holy Assemblies are said to be the Temple of God and that God is said to be there and to walk amongst them Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you 1 Cor. 3.16 So again ver 17. For the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are 1 Cor. 6.19 What know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost c 2 Cor. 6.16 What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols For ye are the Temple of the living God c. Now these persons you see in whom God is said to dwell are said to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost And that God that dwelleth amongst them is the Holy Ghost Deut. 9.8 Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord so that the Lord was angry with you compared with Isa 63.10 But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit That which in the former place is termed a provoking the Lord unto wrath so that he was angry Is in the latter by the Evangelical Prophet termed a vexing of his holy Spirit Psal 95.7 8. The Psalm begins thus Come let us rejoyce unto Jehovah And soon after ver 7. To day if ye will hear his voice c. He that contested with and complained of the People in the Wilderness was true Jehovah as appears also from several other Scriptures And they tempted God in the Desart Psal 106.14 and Psal 78.18 Yet the Apostle Heb. 3.7 plainly affirms that it was the Holy Ghost that was tempted wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts c. So that you see by these and many other such like places which might be readily produced if need were that he called Jehovah the Lord of Hosts in the Old Testament is called the Holy Ghost in the New Yet again Isa 6.9 10. The Prophet in the beginning of
change upon experience turns to no account at all unto him in this kind But 3. And lastly his faulting of the Translation in the particular under debate doth not at all commend his skill in the Original or his acquaintance with the frequent use and signification of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived For this word almost constantly at least very frequently signifies to comfort sometimes to exhort which is of near affinity with the other but never at least to my present remembrance to plead a cause or to perform the part of an Advocate It is said of Rachel mourning for her children that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she would not be comforted Mat. 2.18 to translate it she would not be Advocated would be uncouth and next to ridiculous So our Saviour Mat. 5.4 speaking of those that mourn pronounceth them blessed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they shall be comforted not because they shall be Advocated And to pass by other instances without number the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Verbal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are no less than six times within the compass of three Verses and four times in one verse used by the Apostle Paul in the sense of comforting 2 Cor. 1.3 4. Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all comfort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who comforteth us in all our tribulation so that we are able or that we may be able 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to comfort those in tribulation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by or through the comfort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherewith we are comforted by God because as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so through Christ our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consolation aboundeth It is thrice more used in the same signification in the verse immediately following and once again in the verse after that so that there is no ground or just occasion to quarrel with the Translation we have of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor any thing gained to the cause of our Adversaries by the change But 2. To the main objection I answer Sect. 9 that however Temptations and other Actions proper to the Devil as the catching away the seed sown by filling mens hearts with wicked ness c. which are done in the World in a thousand different or distant places at one and the same time are or may be attributed to Satan or the Devil in the singular number yet our Adversaries themselves will confess that all these actions are not done in one and the same instant of time by one and the same Devil but though they may be acted by many subordinate Devils yet according to the Scripture Dialect they are or may be ascribed to him that is the head or chief of the Corporation For that is frequent in the Scriptures to attribute that unto one which is joyntly transacted by many Num. 36.2 5. There was but one of the Fachers of the Children of Gilead that spake unto Moses yet that which this one said is attributed also unto many of them I might spend time in multiplying instances in this kind but they that desire satisfaction in this may receive it abundantly by perusing a few lines in Mr. Ainsworth's Preface before his Notes on Genesis well towards the middle of the said Preface where he hath collected many such passages wherein that is ascribed unto one which yet is done by many Besides the word Devil or Sathan may be understood specifically or if you will generally for the whole species or kind of Devils or indefinitely for Devils be they fewer or more The Scripture likewise admits this construction Gen. 13.7 But we make hast Bat now those actions which are appropriate to the Holy Ghost and are done by him at one and the same time in a thousand different places in the World As the inspiring inhabiting and comforting the Saints c. are not attributed unto him as directing or commissionating other subordinate Angels to assist him in the work or as performing of them partly by them he only owning the name of them Bur saith the Text 1 Cor. 12.4 13. they are performed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. by the self-same one Spirit There are saith he diversity of gifts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the Spirit is the self-same Now this Spirit in the words immediately preceding he had called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holy Ghost And ver 13. For we have all been baptized into one body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through one Spririt and in the end of the verse have been all made to drink 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in the Scripture elsewhere he is more particularly expressed and his individuality circumscribed by our Saviour Joh 15.26 and 11.26 who styleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Spirit of truth which proceedeth from or out of the Father If our Adversaries could find the Devil who as they say performs one and the same Action at one and the same time in a thousand different places in the World to be thus individuated as the Holy Ghost from place to place is and all the particulars of that Action which is supposed to be done at one and the same time in remote places attributed unto one particular Devil so or by any such Characters or expressions distinguished from all other Devils as the Holy Ghost as we have heard is from all other Spirits there had been some colour of an Evasion from the Argument in hand Otherwise they do but like Jannes and Jambres resist the truth as they did by pretended likeness of Moses real Miracles And as those Sorceries and counterfeit Miracles which Jannes and Jambres wrought being the same in appearance to the true Miracles wrought by Moses prevailed over Pharaoh and the Aegyptians to the hardening of their hearts against God and this to their own destruction and ruine in the end So it is much to be feared that by such likenesses and Colours by which men do resist the Truth setting fair glosses upon foul faces that this will harden the hearts of men and entangle and corrupt their Judgments and God grant that it be not to their own destruction But we must hasten because the blasphemy of that error which we now oppose and which most presumptuously daringly and desperately in the face of God Angels and men strikes off the Crown of increated glory from the head of the Holy Ghost God blessed for ever hath been heretofore broken to pieces stamped and ground to powder by the learning zeal and faithfulness of many famous lights burning and shining in the Church of God of old and by some of latter times and particularly by a late Treatise published in the English Tongue by way of Answer to those twelve Arguments levied by him who hath of late revived the said Error The
Treatise is gravely and with solidity penned and worthy the perusal of those whose feer are taken in the snare of that Error or others remaining in any measure dis-satisfied about the Point Though the truth is they have as much reason to be dis-satisfied about their Christianity it self and whether Salvation is to be obtained by Jesus Christ and Faith in his bloud as to be dis-satisfied about the Holy Ghost being God We might argue the Deity of the Holy Ghost from other particulars observable Sect. 10 upon such an account from the said passages of Scripture lying yet before us As 1. That Christ saith of him that he should teach them all things 2. That he should bring to their remembrance all things that he had spake to them 3. That he proceedeth from God the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shall but only glance at them First our Saviour undertakes for the Holy Ghost that when he comes he shall teach his Disciples all truth To be able to teach all truth is a Royalty too rich to be vested in any Creature it is most worthy God himself and meet only for him The Eph. 3.9 10. Angels learn many things from the Church and from the Min stry and Dispensation of the Gospel there And the Apostle Paul himself professeth of himself and the rest of his fellow Apostles 1 Cor. 13.9 who knew more than all the World besides of the mystery of Christ and of God that they knew but in part Therefore no Angel was in a capacity to teach them all things when as they themselves were in a condition to learn some things of them If it be demanded But how can these two stand together 1. That Christ should say unto the Apostles that the Holy Ghost should teach them all things and lead them into the way of all truth And yet 2. That Paul should say notwithstanding that they knew but in part Can he be said to know but in part who hath been taught all things or led into the way of all Truth I answer 1. That the all things which the Holy Ghost according to our Saviours Promise here was to teach the Disciples is to be restrained to the business in hand which is very frequent in Scripture and so such things as were necessary and meet for them to know in order to the performance of their Apostolical Office as well in teaching as in planting Churches and ordering the Government hereof For it was not for them to know the times and seasons which God had reserved in his own hand Nor doth it follow from hence either that the Holy Ghost was not able to teach them that restrained all things or that the teaching of this restrained all things should be no sufficient proof of the Holy Ghosts being God The former of these is evident enough from the common principle in reason God and Nature as they are not defective in things that be necessary so neither do they abound in things that be superfluous And therefore if the Apostles had no need of any further knowledge of any thing which did any waies conduce to the performance of their great Office as they were Apostles It is not to be conceived that the Holy Ghost should impart such things unto them which were not expedient for them to know The latter viz. That the teaching of that limited all things we speak of especially taken with that Clause that goeth along with it and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you Joh. 14.26 is an Argument no waies defective in proof that the Holy Ghost who was to do all these things is truly God this I say is evident from hence For 1. He that shall be able to teach all that was necessary for the Apostles to know for the discharge of their great Office must be supposed to know all the heights and depths of the Scriptures all things that are contained and comprehended there For doubtless there is nothing in the Word of God but what was fitting and necessary for the Apostles to know and understand As namely the sitting and applying of all the Figures Shadows and Ceremonies under the Law to and with the Gospel and so likewise to know and understand all obscure Prophesies for otherwise they might have been foyled and intangled by their Adversaries which would have been matter of prejudice to them in the fulfilling of their Office Now then to be able to do this certainly doth prove sufficiently that he must needs be God For 1 Cor. 2.1 1. saith the Apostle what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of a man which is in him It is the Spirit within a man who knoweth all the motions of the heart all the Purposes Counsels Hopes Sorrows c. No man knows all these things but the spirit of a man which is within him which is intimous to him and upon the matter himself Even so after the same manner we may say no man knows the things of God but the spirit of God The Spirit God searcheth the deep things of God As the Spirit of a man is privy to the most secret things of a man even so the Spirit of God is privy to the secrets of God So there is no man and consequently no Spirit besides no Creature no Angel though never so great and near unto God in point of Office and Ministry that is able to search the deep things of God but only the Spirit of God which is intimately acquainted with the deep things of God 2. He that was able to bring so the Apostles remembrance whatsoever Christ had said unto them must neds be God because he must know their hearts and their thoughts and what of themselves they did remember without him and withall to know what was worn or blotted out of their memories For I suppose the meaning is not that when the Spirit comes he should be a Remembrancer unto them of such things which they remembred already and therefore it supposes that the Holy Ghost of whom it is said he should remember them of all things that Christ had formerly spoken unto them did know the state of their minds and inward parts and that he knew what things they had or did remember and what things they had forgotten and lost and accordingly shouldsupply them Which is another consideration that doth argue that certainly this Spirit of God this samje great Remembrancer of the Apostles can be no other but God 3. We might also argue from that other Clause where our Saviour describes the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of God there being no plurality of Holy Ghosts to be one individual Spirit of Truth And then denotes his Process which proceeds from or out of the Father For both words should be put in from the Father and proceeds out of the Father after an ineffable and inconceivable manner Now if any such Character as this or any near to it can be found to be given of
furnished and endued them with such properties and qualities as now he hath done That so there might be fit resemblances to train and nurture up the Minds Understandings and Reasons of men in the knowledge and apprehension of the mysteries of Christ and the great things of Eternity And I make no question but that God in Nature hath contrived and ordered the matter so with that Creature which we call the Wind that it poseth and troubles all the Philosophers that though they hear the sound of it yet not any one of them can give an account of it what it should be and whence it should come and when once it is up in motion why it should Fall Nay God hath so ordered the original of the wind and things appertaining to it at least to the Vnderstandings of men that they should not be able to give so steady an account of the rising and falling of it as they are to do of the rising and setting of the Sun that so there might be a kind of rising advantage administred unto men to conceive the better of the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God and of his Transactions and manner in doing matters with the Creatures So that now we see the Holy Ghost himself is resembled with the wind and very aptly so may be but the gifts of the Holy Ghost neither are in Scripture nor with any commodiousness of resemblance can be resembled by breathing or by wind therefore by the Holy Ghost in the place in hand cannot be meant the Gifts of the Holy Ghost but the Person of the Holy Ghost himself Again this might be made to appear further by comparing herewith several other places of Scripture by which it is evident that it was the Holy Ghost himself that was to be given unto the Apostles and to be and to abide with them Mar. 13.11 Joh. 14.16 17. So grieve not the Spirit quench not the Spirit Eph. 4.30 1 Thes 5.19 besides other places Now then if Christ said unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost there is no question but they did receive him they I mean all those to whom he thusspake Now if he were a created Angel or meer Creature how could more than one receive him at once Especially how could he be in and remain with many at the same time when these shall be dispersed and scattered up and down the World in Nations and places far distant as the Apostles we know soon after were We never read nor heard of any more than one Holy Ghost as was observed therefore the Argument in hand cannot be put off with common Evasions viz. That the Holy Ghost might be in the Apostles though never so remote at one and the same time by his Deputies or Vicegerents other inferiour Angels under his command or the like For 1. we have no ground in Scripture to conceive any such power given unto one Angel over another as that any one should be at the command or disposal of his Fellows Besides when Christ said to his Disciples Receive ye the Holy Ghost if it be supposed that there is but only one Holy Ghost and certain I am that the Scripture supposeth no more and that this Holy Ghost could be but only in one of them at the precise time of Christ's so speaking unto them which must likewise be supposed if the Holy Ghost be a finite and created Angel then it undeniably follows that though Christ indifferently said to all his Disciples Receive ye the Holy Ghost and indifferently breathed upon them all yet that he gave him unto one only and that the rest had some other Angel given unto them not the Holy Ghost We might likewise reinforce it from the words following touching the power of remitting and retaining sin conferred at the same time upon the Disciples when they received the Holy Ghost from hence I say we might re-assert our former Argument for the Divinity of the Holy Ghost viz. His power to forgive sins For the power of forgiving and retaining sins being given unto the Apostles upon their receiving of the Holy Ghost plainly sheweth that Primarily and Authoritatively it resideth in the Holy Ghost himself and that it was derived unto them only in a Ministerial way and as they were to be acted and guided by him in the administration and exercise of it And if the case were so with the Holy Ghost as our Adversaries conceit it to be viz. The Holy Ghost himself should only have a power by way of Commission from God and ministerially to forgive sins and that he is or must be regulated and bound up in the exercise of this power by his Commission as well as the Disciples were by theirs Then why might not they baptize in their own Names as well as his Besides if the Holy Ghost were Commissionated by God to forgive sins he had no power to give Commission either to the Apostles or any other to transact the same work it being a general and known Rule and this very equitable that he that is Deputed or Commissionated by another having a lawful Authority so to depute to transact any business hath no power to depute or substitute others in his stead for the transacting the business committed unto him Another Scripture or pair of Scriptures evincing the same great Truth with the former that without controversie the Holy Ghost is truly God is Acts 1.16 compared with Acts 4.24 In the former place Peter speakech thus Men and Brethren this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas c. In the latter place the Disciples express themselves thus And when they heard that they life up their voice to God with one accord and said Lord thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that in them is Who by the mouth of thy Servant David hast said Why did the Heathen rage c He who in the former place is termed the Holy Ghost is styled in the latter Lord and God who made Heaven and Earth and the Sea c To say that God may be said to speak by the mouth of David because he gave order unto the Holy Ghost to move David so or so to speak is to oppose the direct and clear Letter of the Scripture with a man 's own thoughts and these weak and groundless If it had been said that God by the mediate or intervening motions of the Holy Ghost spake so or so by the mouth of David it had been somewhat colourable for our Adversaries purpose and indeed no more or if there were any such expression to be found in all the Scripture that God spake so or so one thing or other to any person by the mediation of the Holy Ghost this had been somewhat though less than the other But now the constant tenour of the Scripture speaking as to the point in hand being either that God spake or the Lord spake or
else that the Holy Ghost spake so or so but never that God by the Holy Ghost spake either so or so it is a plain case that all these Expressions are synonymous and equivalent and that he that is in one place called God in another Lord is the same God and the same Lord with him that in other places is called the Holy Ghost It is indeed said of the Lord Christ in regard that he was man as well as God that he gave Commandments unto his Apostles by the Holy Ghost Acts 1.2 to shew that though he spake unto them in the Humane Nature and as a man yet was directed by the Holy Ghost in what he said But if it should be supposed that the Holy Ghost by whom he is said to give Commands to his Apostles were a Creature or a created Angel it had rathet been a disparagement than any manner of reverence or advantage unto them in this kind that they should be given by him and this according to the Principles of our Adversaries themselves who hold and teach that the Holy Ghost is inferiour howsoever unto Jesus Christ be he man only as they or God and man both as we say Now for one that is superiour in Gifts Wisdom and Understanding c. to be acted or directed in what he speaketh by him that is beneath him in these abilities is rather detractive from the weight and worth of what he so speaketh than any waies adding thereunto Thus we see that the Scripture seldom hath any occasion to mention or speak of the Holy Ghost but there is somewhat or other near at hand which bewrayeth him to be that which indeed he is God blessed for ever We might further argue Sect. 13 and prove the Deity of the Holy Ghost from Acts 5.3 compared with v. 4. 9. But Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thy heart to lye to the Holy Ghost and to keep back c. That which he calls Lying to the Holy Ghost in this verse he calls lying unto God in the next Why hast thou conceived this thing in thy heart thou hast not lyed unto men but unto God The Adversary finding himself somewhat hard beset with this passage after his wonted manner casts about and bestirs himself to espy how he may break loose from hence also So hard a thing is it for a man that hath an opinion of his own to establish to submit unto the Word of God though speaking plainly and without Parable One while he cavils at the Translation ver 3. and tells us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should not be translated to lye to the Holy Ghost but to counterfeit the Holy Ghost I think it not worthy your time to stand upon the exception or to shew the lightness of it especially it having been done substantially already in a discourse published in English upon the Subject we are now upon somewhile since entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or A Treatise of the Holy Ghost p. 3 4 5 6. Only by the way you may please to take notice of this that there is nothing more clear than that the Apostle Peter having charged Ananias ver 3. with suffering Satan to fill his heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether we translate it to lye unto the Holy Ghost or to belye or counterfeit the Holy Ghost interprets his meaning therein ver 4. Thou hast not lyed unto men but unto God For there is no colour or ground to think that here he chargeth him with a new sin And ver 9. he expostulateth with Sapphira his Wife Why have ye agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord Now to speak an untruth unto persons in whom there was so manifest and great a presence of the Holy Ghost as was in Peter and the rest of the Apostles was more properly a tempting him viz. whether he were Omnipotent or no and could tell when or whether men spake untruth or not and again whether he were so severe to discover it in case he knew it c. in these respects I say to lye unto the Holy Ghost is more properly a tempting him than to pretend a motion from the Holy Ghost which was not from him Besides it no waies appears that either Ananias or Sapphira did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in our Adversaries sense i.e. counterfeit the Holy Ghost or pretend that what they did in denying they sold their Possession for so much they did it by motion from the Holy Ghost neither is there the least probability of such a thing Besides some Greek Copies have the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the clause contended about reading it thus Why hath Satan filled your heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which cuts off all Pretext against the Translation But the Adversary as one while he pleaseth himself with signifying his displeasure against the Translation so otherwhile he attempts to come off from the said Contexture of Scripture which frowns so terribly upon his opinion by that trivial and common shift viz. That men may be said to lye unto God when they lye unto his Messengers and that upon this Principle because that which is done to an Embassadour or Messenger redounds to him that sent him Therefore that Ananias is said to lye unto God because he lyed unto the Holy Ghost proves no more saith he but only this that the Holy Ghost is the Messenger of God and sent by him not that he is God himself This Fig-leaf also might easily be rent and torn but that it hath been done already by the former hand we spake of For though that which is done to a Messenger Embassadour or the like whether in a way of honour or dishonour may be said to redound or in a general sense and consideration to be done to the King or Prince that sends him yet the particularity of what is done in this kind to a Messenger cannot with truth in custom of speaking be said to be done unto any other but himself It is a common saying that what measure is measured out unto Embassadours it is done unto the Person himself that is the sender of them But now this is to be understood of the general nature of that which is done Be it good or evil which is measured to an Embassadour it doth I say redound in a general way unto the King or Prince that sends him But as for the particularity of discredit which is done to the Embassadour this cannot in reason or in truth be attributed unto the Prince If the Embassadour be killed it cannot be said that the Prince is killed only that he had a very great affront offered unto him So if the Embassadour had a high reward a Chain of Gold or the like it cannot be said that the King had one only that this was done in honour to the King Take an instance or two from the Scriptures Hanun we read 2 Sam. 10.4 shaved off the one half of the beards of David's Messengers
who are sent unto us by God to preach the Gospel it is so much the more reasonable that we should hearken unto God in them and we deserve and have cause accordingly to expect to meet with so much the greater punishment from God if we do it not The reason hereof is because the more holy the Messengers which God sendeth unto us are and the more they have of himself in them so much the nearer they are unto him and proportionably so much the more honourable Hence it is that our Saviour insists upon it as an aggravation of the sin of the Scribes and Pharisees that they did not repent and believe under the Ministry of John when as he came unto them in a way of righteousness Mat. 21.32 which also he mentioneth as contributing towards the repentance and believing of the Publicans and Harlots upon his Preaching Much more might be added from the Scriptures for the confirmation of the Principle and ground you are now upon But let us work the business we have in hand by the Rule we have now explained and found straight The Question is Sect. 19 which Opinion of the two either that which affirmeth the Holy Ghost to be God truly and essentially God Or that which denieth him to be so and affirmeth him to be a Creature be of the truest and most effectual calculation for the advancement of Godliness in the World Examine them as to this Point and try them by the Rule now specified and you will easily discern to which of the two the preheminence in this kind belongeth It hath been manifest unto us by the Scripture that the greater and more honourable Agent God shall send unto men to perswade them unto Godliness to transact Affairs of any such kind or import with them especially the greatness of this Agent being made known and apprehended by men he is so much the more likely to prevail Men being naturally more inclined and disposed to mind and consider what is spoken unto them by Persons of Eminency and greatest worth than what is spoken by those of an inferiour Line Now then whether he that is really naturally and substantially God be greater in Wisdom Worth and Dignity than a Creature take it where the glory of Creation shineth with the greatest brightness is I presume no man's question every man without any hesitancy or debate in himself or doubtfulness of disputation subscribing the preheminence of Divine Being in all manner of perfection of dignity and worth above the Creature If it be thus then it is a clear case that that Opinion or Doctrine which affirmeth the Holy Ghost sent by God the Father abroad into the World unto and into the hearts and consciences of men to negotiate with them about the great business of Godliness to be truly and substantially God equal with God the Father who sendeth him is a Doctrine of a far richer and of a more glorious tendency hath ten times more spirit and life in it to promote and carry on the cause and interest of Godliness in the World than the contrary Doctrine hath I mean that which denieth the Holy Ghost to be God and affirmeth him to be a Creature only We might in the second place justifie and make good the same tenour of the comparison between the two Doctrines by another Principle and ground also which upon such an Argument as this might be framed That Doctrine which rendreth the encouragement countenance or reward promised by God unto those that shall live godly greater and more desirable is a Doctrine of a more forceable and effectual tendency towards the promotion of Godliness than that which maketh all these less and less desirable This Proposition I suppose needeth no further proof or clearing being built upon this unquestionable Principle That a great reward promised upon the same or like terms of security is a greater encouragement a more effectual motive unto action or work than a lesser Therefore I go on and assume thus But that Doctrine which affirmeth the Holy Ghost to be God rendereth the encouragement countenance and reward promised by God unto those that shall live godly much greater and more desirable than that which denieth him to be God therefore that is the Doctrine that hath the most effectual tendency for the advancement of Godliness The Reason of this latter Proposition is likewise near at hand and is this viz. Because God hath promised the gift of the Holy Ghost or at least the encrease or enlargement of this gift which is the same as to our purpose by way of encouragement and reward unto those that live godlily or that shall believe which we know is the entrance upon or the beginning of a godly life This is evident from many places of Scripture which we shall not need upon this account at present to insist upon Now it is I presume no manner of doubt but as the gift of Jesus Christ the natural Son of God unto men was and is a greater gift a greater encouragement unto men to believe in him for Justification than the gift of a meaner person would have been So likewise is the gift of such a Spirit to quicken enlighten teach comfort and support the hearts and souls of men who is naturally and substantially God himself a greater gift a far higher and greater encouragement to perswade men to believe and live holily and godlily than the gift of any inferiour or created Spirit would have been So that it appeareth by the light shining in at this window also that the Doctrine maintained by us in the Question yet depending and which asserteth the Holy Ghost to be God is far more sympathizing with the interest of Godliness in the World than the other To this we might add a third Argument to prove the Opinion which denieth the Holy Ghost to be God not to be a Doctrine according unto Godliness comparable with that which affirmeth it And that is this That doctrine which rendereth the threatnings against ungodliness lighter less considerable or more easie to be born is not a Doctrine so effectual for the advancement of Godliness as that which holdeth forth these to be more terrible but so does that Doctrine contended against CHAP. VIII The most material Arguments that are generally insisted on by those who deny the Divinity of the Holy Ghost are weighed in the balance of the Sanctuary Wherein also those Scriptures which are generally insisted on by those who perswade themselves and would also perswade others that he that is the Searcher of hearts is but of a finite extraction Or the Holy Spirit of God is but a Creature are all discharged from bearing that burthen which is laid upon them As also the great profitableness yea the great necessity of this Discourse though somewhat large is asserted LEt us hear now what our Adversaries are wont to plead for the supporting of their Cause Sect. 1 we shall find their Arguments generally to be empty subtilties built
Holy Ghost may be said to receive that which is Christs which is so far from impairing his Divinity or Godhead that it fully asserts and confirms it But this being somewhat mysterious and requiring some larger Explication we shall not at present dive into it that which hath been given is more obvious and agreeable to the words and scope of the place and sufficient to detect the vanity of the Argument built upon it in opposition to the Deity or Godhead of the Holy Ghost And this for the fifth Argument The sixth Argument riseth thus He that is sent by another is not God Sect. 12 the Holy Spirit is sent by another therefore He is not God The Minor is proved from Joh. 16.26 The Major he that ministreth is not God this is the whole compass of the sixth Argument The substance and strength of this Argument is That to be sent forth by another to minister and to receive commands are things incompatible to the Soveraign Majesty of God and that these are in Scripture affirmed of the Holy Ghost therefore he cannot be God To this we reply First That the man being a perfect Anthropomorphite notioning and conceiving that all those things which are attributed unto God in the Scriptures after the manner of men as bodily members humane passions a circumscriptiveness unto place c. are in the litteral and proper nature and formality of them to be found in him builds his Arguments upon this sandy and rotten foundation And because it is so with men that he that is sent or sent forth by another is inferiour to him that sends him though this be not alwaies so neither as we shall see presently he therefore conceiveth that when these things are spoken of Christ or of the Holy Ghost they must be understood litterally and formally of them also whereas if we do but own and acknowledge the infinity and incomprehensibleness of God we must of necessity admit of and own that Rule delivered long since by Austin and the ancient Fathers and ever and anon remembred by all learned men that have written of these things Quando humana transferuntur ad Deum c. When things properly belonging unto men are transferred over unto God they are to be understood so that no dishonour nor disparagement be offered unto the Divine Nature and whatsoever in them imports imperfection is to be separated and left behind and only that to be conceived to be meant of God which implieth perfection for whatsoever proceeds from God so far as it cometh from him hath no imperfection in it therefore nothing which includes imperfection in it so far as it includes it can be with truth attributed unto him Secondly When the Holy Ghost and there is the same consideration of the Son in this respect is in Scripture said to be sent whether by the Son as Joh. 16.26 or by the Father as Joh. 14.26 it doth not imply either subjection or inferiority to either of the Persons sending because subjection savoureth of imperfection Nor secondly doth it imply any removal from place to place for this also savoureth of Creature-like imperfection not to be present every where at once Nor thirdly doth it imply Ministery or Service properly so called i. e. The doing of any thing in the fruit and benefit whereof he that is sent hath not an equal interest or share with him that sendeth him For this also implies some kind of imperfection If you ask me What then doth it imply I answer first It implies the plurality of beings or subsistencies which we call persons in the Divine Essence for the sender and he that is sent must needs be more than one Secondly It implies another thing as namely the order of the persons between themselves For he that is sent must in order though not in nature or dignity be after him that sendeth Though there be not a superiority and inferiority one to command and another to be subject Yet notwithstanding there is an order amongst them and the order is this the Father is as the Schoolmens Expression frequently is Fons Deitatis the Fountain of the Godhead because the Son though he doth partake of the same Divine Nature and Essence with him and is every way God with him yet he hath the Sonship or Divine Person communicated unto him by God the Father So the third Person hath a divine Nature and Essence communicated unto him by a joynt spiration as they express it or by way of Procession he hath it joyntly from the Father and the Son And hence it is that you never find in Scripture that the Father is said to be sent either by the Son or by the Holy Ghost But you find concerning both the Son and the Holy Spirit sometimes the Son is said to be sent into the World by the Father and so the Spirit is said to be sent This therefore sheweth indeed the Plurality of Persons in the Divine Essence and so likewise the order of subsistence between them that there is one as it were before who hath a priority of order though not of excellency or dignity nor of greatness nor any such thing And then again that which I suppose is the principle thing meant by it viz. the Phrase of sending is that the work mode or manner of working which is proper for the Holy Ghost that this is to be performed by him according to the order that we lately shewed First the Father then the Son then the Holy Ghost So that now every one of these though as indeed they have one and the same Essence and Nature so they alwaies joyn in one and the same operation and working ad extra without yet notwithstanding they have every one of them a peculiar and an appropriate and distinct manner of working answerable to that order wherein they subsist among themselves As for example The Father beginneth the work which is proper for the Original Author of the Work and then the Son he doth something but in a mediate kind of way between the beginning and consummation or finishing of it and the Holy Ghost according to his place in his order being the third and last He worketh after the manner of him that perfecteth or finisheth or consummates the work The Father he hath laid the Counsel and Platform of Salvation for men The Son he hath carried on the work so far as to make the attonement for them And yet there remaineth something to be done for the Salvation of the World and that is the reducing and bringing men to believe in this Saviour and to accept of that Attonement which he hath made for them and this being the consummating work about the salvation of the World although the Father and the Son both have a hand in it and it is doubtless their work as well as his yet the manner of the accomplishing of it concluding wise this is appropriate unto the Holy Spirit And now because his work importeth such a thing
as this is therefore he is said to be sent sometimes by the Father sometimes by the Son And yet the same sending as I said before doth not imply as the Argument would have it as if he changed his place because he is said to be sent from heaven as if he were not resident and present there still But he is said to come from Heaven to shew that the work which he doth accomplish and bring to pass from day to day is a divine work And it is the manner of the Hebrew Dialect and Language to say that that is spoken from heaven or revealed from Heaven which is done with a high hand and in a wonderful and more than ordinary manner As when there is the unbared Arm of God then the work is said to be done from Heaven The Holy Ghost when he was sent down upon the Apostles was as much in heaven as before So much for answer to this Argument we will God willing be briefer in the rest The seventh Argument He that is the gift of God is not God Sect. 13 the Holy Ghost is the gift of God therefore he is not God The sum and substance of this Argument being contracted is this The Holy Ghost cannot be God because he is given God being himself the giver of all things and so not capable of being given and a gift or that which is given being at the disposal of him that giveth which is unworthy to conceive of God viz. that he should be at the disposal of another These three Propositions laid before us in this Argument which are Pillars and supporters of it are all weak and unsound As first That he that is the gift of God is not God or cannot be God Secondly That he that is the gift of God cannot be the giver of all things Thirdly and lastly That a gift is in the power and at the disposal of another For To the first of these God being sui Juris at the absolute disposal of himself for who shall deny him this liberty may give himself unto whom he pleaseth so that God may be both the Gift and the Giver As when the Husband or Bridegroom giveth himself to his Bride he is both Gift and Giver And thus Christ gave himself to his Church in respect of which Act of Donation he is both the Giver and the Gift And the truth is that God in giving his Spirit unto us yea though we should grant the Adversary his blasphemous Supposition viz. That the Spirit is not truly God may yet be said to give himself unto us how much more when we according to the Scriptures which teach us that the Spirit of the Lord and the Lord the Spirit are all one 2 Cor. 1.11 do believe this Spirit is God and consequently giveth himself For what is it for God to give himself unto men but by a free and voluntary disposing himself by Covenant or Promise to become theirs Did he not establish his Covenant between himself and Abraham and his seed after him for an everlasting Covenant to be a God unto him and to his seed after him Gen. 17.7 And so afterwards unto Israel this Seed of Abraham did he not say by the mouth of David Hear oh my People c. I am God even thy God Psal 50.7 What is that which is given us more than ours Or what can it be more So that the first Proposition mentioned is notoriously untrue He that is the gift of God is not God or cannot be God From the errour of this Proposition thus evicted as you have heard the weakness of the second fully appeareth many words I shall not need for confutation of it The Proposition was this He that is the gift of God is not cannot be the giver of all things If God be the giver of all things which our Adversary with the Scriptures granteth and affirmeth and withal be his own gift It is a clear case that he that is the gift of God may be yea and is the giver of all things And concerning the Spirit of God it is expresly said 1 Cor. 12.11 But all these things worketh one and the self same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will these words as he will clearly prove that those Administrations and gifts of the Holy Ghost there spoken of are not only distributed and given immediately by him but that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at full liberty of and from himself to order and make this distribution as he pleaseth which is a Character not of a derived and commissionated power but of that which is soveraign and absolute which in this case must needs be divine and appropriate unto God for it is not only said that he worketh all these things and giveth all these gifts but that he giveth and maketh distribution even as himself pleaseth Certainly there was no Commission so large as this ever given out by God for any Creature whatsoever to do by the great things of Jesus Christ and such as concern the Salvation of men to dispose and distribute of them to whom and where and to what degree he pleaseth And accordingly he that in the place last cited is termed the Spirit but all these things worketh one and the self same Spirit He is in the sixth verse expresly said to be God And there are diversities of operations but it is the same God that worketh all in all therefore certainly the Spirit of God and God himself they are one and the same these things duly considered they are impregnably express for the proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost For the third and last Proposition of the three specified viz. That a gift is in the power and at the disposal of another neither is this necessary and universally true For God as we have proved is a gift viz. of his own giving and yet is not hereby proved to be at the disposal of another but only and solely of himself so that this Argument is crazie and loose all over As for that which he adds towards the close of it it is altogether as inconsiderable as the rest viz. That if the Person of the Holy Ghost be given unto certain men then he was not Personally with them before and consequently cannot be God by the concession of his Adversaries themselves who deny not that God is alwaies personally present with all alike For the Holy Ghost is noted to be given unto some certain men in respect not simply of his Personal presence with them but in respect of the fruition and enjoyment of his Personal presence or in respect of such a presence of his Person with them which sheddeth or poureth out the love of God abroad in their hearts i. e. perswades men effectually and with power to believe the love of God towards them stirs up many holy thoughts and motions in them from time to time We do acknowledge indeed such a personal presence of his with all men alike
so that this is an errour in the foundation For first Though it be here said And the Spirit and the Bride say come yet it is not said that the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit so called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the bride say come It is the sense of some learned men that by the Spirit in this place is not meant the Holy Ghost but the Angel or Spirit which Christ is said Chap. 1.1 to have sent to signifie this Revelation unto John and who conversed with him all along hitherto Angels we know are of a spiritual nature and frequently in Scriptures termed Spirits Now to reason either a genere or a specie ad individuum from a general to a particular affirmatively is an Argument fitter for a child than for a man As thus It was a man that did such or such a thing therefore it was William or Thomas that did it such a reasoning as this is that before us The Spirit saith come therefore such or such a Spirit by name as the holiest Spirit of all saith come But grant we the Adversary that which his Argument demands that by the Spirit here is meant the Holy Ghost Yet Secondly It is not necessary to conceive that the Holy Ghost spake thus saith unto Christ come as being without the Bride but as speaking in and by the Bride Nay it cannot reasonably be conceived otherwise For if the Holy Ghost separated from and without the Bride shall say come then the Bride must be supposed to say come of her self and without the presence and assistance of the Holy Ghost In which case were she able to conceive such a Prayer as this of her self which yet she is not yet would it not be acceptable unto God no Prayer being accepted with him but that which is prayed in or by the Holy Ghost Thirdly Though here be two Agents or two Speakers I beseech you mind it mentioned the Spirit and the Bride yet here is but one Action or speaking asserted to them both here is but one Come And the Spirit and the Bride say come it is not and the Spirit saith come and again the Bride saith come No but the Spirit and the Bride together make one lip as it were between them and together they say as it were with one voice come So that this passage or expression wherein the Spirit of God and the Spouse are made joynt Agents or joynt Speakers in one and the same Action or Speech perfectly agreeth with that Notion which runs throughout the Scriptures from place to place according unto which God and the Creature are made Co-workers or joynt Agents in all that the Creature doth worthily and according to the will of God in which respect also the Act produced between them is sometimes ascribed to the one and otherwhile to the other Many Instances hereof we have heretofore given you from the Scriptures if you please let us touch one instead of many at present in this kind not formerly observed and which hath a special affinity with the place in hand Acts 15.28 The Apostles Elders and Brethren assembled at Jerusalem write thus among other things to the Church of the Gentiles For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and unto us to lay no other c. Here the Apostles and the rest with them ascribe that Act of apprehension unto themselves as well as unto the Holy Ghost though to the Holy Ghost in the first place which was raised in them by the assistance and motion of the Holy Ghost though not without the joynt concurrence of their Understandings and Wills also the meaning is not that the things spoken of seemed good unto the Apostles and the rest apart from the Holy Ghost or without the dictating of the Notion or apprehension by the Holy Ghost nor again that it seemed good unto the Holy Ghost simply considered or apart and extrinsical unto them For how then could they have told them that it seemed good unto the Holy Ghost and them But it seemed good unto the Holy Ghost and us the meaning is that the Holy Ghost did enlighten and reveal the thing unto them and gave them directions and put them upon it to send this Counsel unto the Gentiles Namely to impose upon them by way of burthen and charge no other thing but that they abstain from such and such things so that here the Holy Ghost and the Apostles are joyned together in the same Act of apprehension so in the place in hand the Spirit and the Bride they make one and the same voice together the Spirit he dictates and the Bride she uttereth Thirdly suppose it had been so expressed And the Spirit saith come and the Bride saith come That there had been two distinct Actions mentioned the one ascribed unto the Holy Ghost the other unto the Bride or Church of Christ yet neither would it have followed from hence that therefore the Holy Ghost had prayed unto Christ to come to Judgment When a Judge prescribes or dictates the form of an Oath to be taken by a Jury or any Person thereof he doth not swear or take an Oath though the other that speaketh the same words after him doth formally and properly swear In like manner the Holy Ghost may teach the Bride what she should say and put words into her mouth and say thus within the Conscience and Soul of the Church Come Lord Jesus come quickly Now though the Holy Ghost spake these words and dictated unto the Bride what she should say and pray it doth not follow that therefore he should pray himself When Christ taught his Disciples to pray Our Father c. it doth not follow that therefore he himself did pray but he did put words into the mouths of his Disciples which when they came to utter would be a Prayer properly and truly so called c. Mr Brightman understandeth the place thus The Tenth Argument levied against the Deity of the Holy Ghost is this He in whom men have not believed Sect. 16 and yet have been Disciples and Believers is not God Men have not believed in the Holy Spirit and yet have been so viz. Disciples Believers Ergo. The sum and substance of this Argument which spreads much Paper in the Author's words is this because we read in the Scriptures of some called Disciples who yet did not believe in the Holy Ghost Nor had so much as heard or known whether there were any Holy Ghost or no and withal that the Apostle Paul did not take any occasion thereupon to declare the Holy Ghost to be God Therefore certainly he is not God To this I answer and affirm by the way that from the Crown of the head unto the sole of the Foot of this Argument there is no sound part in it For first The Major Proposition which is the head of this Argument He in whom men have not believed and yet have been Disciples and Believers is not God This Proposition I say
is unsound because it is ambiguous and so is apt to abuse mens Judgments and deceive them and not to instruct them For however there is a sense wherein it is good and will hold yet there is another sense which lieth more obnoxious to mens apprehensions which is not true For he may be God the word God taken Personally on whom though men have not believed viz. Explicitely yet they may be Disciples and Believers Though it be true also on the other hand that he that believeth not in God Essentially taken cannot be a Disciple or a Believer He that believeth not that there is one God cannot be a Disciple or true Believer as the case may be But he that believes not the distinct manner of the subsistence of this one God viz. that he subsists in three which we call Persons Or that doth not believe especially explicitely and by name and under relation of any of all the three such an one may notwithstanding be a Disciple and Believer in the Scripture sense I would be loath to pronounce the hard Sentence of non-Disciple or non-Believer against all those that professedly deny the Godhead of Christ or of the Holy Ghost though there are many that are not at all tender in doing it because though explicitely and in terms they deny him yet believing there is one God and this one God being Father Son and Holy Ghost they do implicitely virtually and constructively own and acknowledge them As he that carries a Box sealed up about him wherein he thinketh there is but one Jewel he knoweth of no more yet in case there be three more he carrieth them all by carrying the Box or Case wherein they are contained In like manner he that believeth one God doth virtually believe in the Three Persons though I would not by this extenuate the greatness of the sin and dangerousness of the error of those who in words profess against the Godhead of the Holy Ghost and so of Christ though implicitely and by way of consequence they acknowledge it The ancient Jews such I mean who were Abraham's Seed were true Disciples and Believers yet did not they at least all of them explicitely believe Christ to have been or that he was the Son of God but the Proposition we are now upon is not indeed worthy the labour already bestowed upon the examination of it Vanitate suâ translucet A man may see through it Secondly That which is the Basis and main Foundation of the whole discourse of the Argument is an absolute mistake and misapprehension For the meaning of the words spoken by those who are called Disciples Acts 19.2 We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost is not that they had never heard of the name or simple being of the Holy Ghost we shall manifest the contrary hereunto presently but that they had not as yet heard whether the Holy Ghost was in actu secundo as the School-men speak i.e. whether he was abroad again in the World as formerly he was in the daies of their Fore-fathers and Prophets This to be the true and plain meaning of the words appeareth by several considerations First The Verb Substantive here used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifies the simple and absolute being or existence of a thing is oft used in the Scriptures for the being of a thing in Act Exercise or Manifestation in this sense it is used more than once by our Saviour himself The Evangelist John useth it concerning the Holy Ghost himself Joh. 7.39 This he spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet the word given inserted in our English Translation is not in the Original the Holy Ghost was not yet because that Jesus was not yet glorified was not yet i.e. was not yet abroad in the World amongst Believers in the discovery of himself by those miraculous and extraordinary gifts which afterwards he conferred upon many so when these Disciples the Argument speaketh of said that they had not so much as heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether the Holy Ghost be The meaning is that they had not heard whether he had been yet given or no viz. upon a new account the ancient account upon which as they conceived He was formerly given being expired and out of date long since Our English Translators might as well have inserted the word given in this place as in that of John mentioned and then the Clause would have run thus We have not so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost be given We have heretofore given you many instances from the Scriptures of such an Adjective sense of the Verb Substantive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as that is now contended for viz. From Mat. 5.45 Rom. 7.13 c. This sense in the second place is confirmed against that given or supposed by our Adversaries in the Argument before us from hence because these Disciples had certainly heard of the being of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit For first Being Jews which appears by their having been baptized by John's or some of his Disciples Baptism in those daies not having been carried out amongst the Gentiles and after it was come abroad unto other Gentiles they in Asia where Ephesus stood were for a time denied it Acts 16.6 being Jews I say they could not but have heard of the being of the Holy Ghost or of the Spirit of God mention hereof being so plainly and frequently made in the Scriptures I need not I suppose to cite places for this but whether they were Jews or Gentiles having been baptized with the Baptism of John it cannot be imagined but that they had heard of the being of the Holy Ghost For John when he baptized men with water admonished them to believe on him Mat. 3.11 that should come after him who he told them should baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire And there is little question to be made but that John's Disciples taught the same Doctrine in this Point with their Master Again thirdly That sense of the words which we have given makes the answer of the Disciples every whit as congruous and pertinent to Paul's question put to them if not more than that sense which the Argument supposeth Paul said unto them or demanded of them have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed They answer him according to the sense we plead We have not so much as heard whether there be any receiving of him or no or whether any other Believers have received him And fourthly and lastly for this there is this reason why these Disciples being Jews as we argued might probably say or mean than they had not so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost were now abroad in the World or no because from the time of Antiochus who miserably afflicted and wasted their Church and State the Jews were wont greatly to mourn and lament as if together with their last
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
external Act it self of sin This is done when the heart or will of man or woman falleth in with the Lust and taketh her to Wife and couple themselves with her i. e. when men approve and like of the Lust or Desire we speak of and begin to take care as the Apostle elsewhere speaks to make provision for it or to bethink themselves how they may gratifie it and fulfil it By the way when James saith as we have heard Then when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin The meaning is not as if this alwaies proved so viz. that every Lust consented unto produceth the external or complete Act of sinning there are many times Conceptions where there are no Births or bringing forth of Children many things may interpose to occasion an abortion or a consumption of that which is conceived in the womb And thus it may be and often is in the case of Lusts in their conceptions many men have for a time intended and purposed to do many things that are evil whose purposes and intentions notwithstanding have been dissolved or turned out of their way so that they never come to be put in execution This is apparent in Davids case when by Abigail's wise behaviour and advice he was taken off from his hard and bloudy intentions against Nabal and his House Therefore the Apostles meaning in saying that when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin is not to shew what is alwaies done in the case he speaks of but what is frequently done and alwaies likely or probable to be done of which kind of sayings there are very many in the Scriptures Joh. 11.9 10. If any man walk in the day saith our Saviour he stumbleth not but if a man walk in the night he stumbleth his meaning is neither to affirm that no man that walketh in the day ever stumbleth nor that every man that walketh in the night doth stumble but only that there is a probability both of the one and of the other and that they are likely either to stumble or not to stumble So likewise the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 7.32 33. The unmarried careth for the things of the Lord c. But this only by the way The business we have in hand is to give you to understand and know that that kind of lusting which hindreth your being filled with the Spirit yea and will hinder it untill it be taken away is that which is owned accepted and approved of by the will and judgement of a man or woman and for the gratifying and fulfilling whereof care is taken by men Such lusts as these are they which grieve and quench the Spirit and consequently hinder his progress motion or advance in the soul When with the Scriptures we say the Spirit is grieved we do not mean nor doth the Holy Ghost in this expression mean any thing else but only that he is turned out of the way he doth retire himself and is quiet and still men shall hear but very little from him so that there will be but very weak and faint motions and suggestions from him But we were saying unto you that all fleshly lusts in the general are obstructive to the course of the Spirit Sect. 15 in his advance or growth in the soul Now as all Lusts in the general entertained and countenanced as hath been declared in the heart and soul are malignant against and opposite unto the growth and coming on of the Spirit in the Soul so the Scriptures seem to cast an eye upon some as being of a more virulent and express antipathy in this kind than others and obstruct that blessedness of the soul we speak of with an higher hand than their fellows These are such lusts which carry in them a direct contrariety to those signal characters or properties which the Scriptures take notice of and ascribe unto the Holy Ghost We shall take notice of at present and briefly insist upon only four of these and the like number of lusts in men more directly opposite unto them First The Spirit of God is famously known throughout the Scriptures by the great attribute of holiness he is more frequently termed the holy Spirit than spoken of under any other name or expressed by any other Character whatsoever We shall not need to cite places for this The thing I presume is sufficiently known unto you all A second property which the Scriptures attribute unto the Spirit of God is Grace or a gracious disposition Heb. 10.29 He is termed The Spirit of grace And God is termed The God of all grace 1 Pet. 5.10 A third property taken notice of in the Holy Ghost by the Scriptures is his heavenliness he is said in 1 Pet. 1.12 to have been sent down from heaven which implies that his coming or sending into the World is about the affairs of heaven and that he only mindeth these so elsewhere he is said to be the Spirit which is of God 1 Cor. 2.12 14. So also in Joh. 15.26 Christ promiseth to send him from the Father all which imply him to be an heavenly and heavenly minded Spirit A fourth property and the last we shall now take notice of which the Scriptures mind in the Holy Ghost is a disposition and propensness of mind in him to be communicating and revealing the Counsels and secret things of God unto the minds and consciences of men This property of the Spirit of God which is of some assinity with the last named and gives testimony unto it is oft mentioned in the Scriptures 1 Cor. 2.10 11 12 13. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of man which is in him c. So again ver 12 13. Now we have not received the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know viz. by his discovering it unto our Judgments and Consciences the things that are freely given to us of God which things also we speak not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth And so in Joh. 16.13 Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come speaking of the Comforter he will guide you into all truth c. and he will shew you things to come c. This is another heavenly property of him who cometh from the Father to communicate and acquaint men with the great mysteries of the Counsels of God so far as it doth concern the souls of men to know them Now all such lusts and sinful dispositions being indulged and nourished which are contrary to and fight against these properties and dispositions of the Spirit are and must in reason needs be most distasteful unto him and consequently most obstructive to him in his way of advancing his blessed presence in the souls of men The first of the four Particulars attributed unto the Holy Ghost in Scripture was holiness Sect.
how many pretenders have we to little less than a Prophetick Unction to mystical discoveries to a deep and further insight into the mind of God in the Scriptures and to the understanding of things there whose Notions notwithstanding the pretended fruits of such their high Anointings and Revelations being weighed in the Balance of the Sanctuary are found light and to have nothing of the mind of God or of Christ in them Therefore in the first place unless these discoveries which are pretended unto and held forth with the greatest confidence shall commend themselves for truth unto the judgments and understandings of sober and judicious men much versed and exercised in the Scriptures either from their own light or evidence or else shall be made out by light of Argument and Demonstation Whether from the Scriptures or clear Principles in reason to be real truths and such things that are every waies worthy the Wisdom Righteousness and Holiness of God they are not to be looked upon as proceeding from any fulness of the Spirit in their Authors but as the exertions and puttings forth of a Spirit of vanity and delusion in men For certainly God would not have sent Christ Jesus in the end of the World to seal vp Revelations and Prophesies and to set bounds unto the Children of men and afterward send these men to gather up what Jesus Christ hath scattered and to make perfect what he hath left imperfect Wko knoweth not that the New Testament is sealed with a Curse with dread and terrour unto the man or woman that shall either make any breach upon that which is there delivered by diminishing ought thereof and so likewise unto any that shall bring any new or further Revelation than what is already brought in there Secondly In case by the opportunity and advantage of Education Sect. 21 liberty for Study and searching into Authors and Writers or the advantage of pregnancy of Wit quickness of Apprehensions or the like any man shall attain unto a greater dexterity or ability to unfold the Scriptures and to bring many of the secrets thereof to light which have been hidden from the eyes of others this doth not necessarily argue a fulness of or a being filled with the Spirit at least in the sense wherein we have prosecuted the Doctrine hitherto i. e. a filling with the Spirit as sanctifying unless it shall appear by their lives and waies that they are really and throughly perswaded of the truth and certainty of these things which they hold forth from the Scriptures It is true many men may do great Services for the Christian World and for the Saints and that by opening the great Deeps or Fountains of the Scriptures and may cause many beams of light and Spiritual understanding to break forth and many waies of Wisdom there to appear and yet may not believe As it is with a fained Story though there may be some kind of rationality in it yet the rationality of it doth not therefore argue its truth and verity just so men may maintain the reasonableness of the Scriptures and consequently many great truths therein contained they may argue excellently and shew how one thing giveth light unto another and yet nevertheless at the bottom there may be nothing else but uncertainties and doubtings of the truth of all the Story and this hollowness and defection at the bottom and core and root of the heart is like to break out and bewray it self in such a kind of life and conversation which is unsutable unto the tenour of Scripture and unto the Genius Nature and light of the glorious Gospel which they declare or preach unto men The Reason of the Character or sign last mentioned Sect. 22 whereby to judge of any mans being filled with the Spirit is because it is the proper work of the Spirit to open and reveal unto men the Scriptures and the mind of God there so that when any person man or woman shall be found to excell in such a way upon the terms and with the cautions lately specified I mean to be richly acquainted with the mind of God in the Scripture it must needs argue a great measure of the Spirit of God in them For it is I say the property of the Spirit of God to reveal the mind of God in the Scriptures and to reveal such and such truths which have lain dormant in the bodies of the Scriptures wound up and unpublished For the Spirit of God hath reserved and set apart some particular portion of truth which is appropriate to every Age and Generation that cometh over the World which is to be opened unto it Some conceive that the seven Seals do respect several Ages and times wherein several truths are to be revealed as that in such an Age and Time when one Seal was broken up there was such a part of the mind of God let out and so at the breaking up of a second then cometh forth another part of the mind of God This is clear and experience teacheth us that every Generation and every Age have had some sealed or fallow ground of Scripture broken up unto them some considerable passage of Scripture that hath never seen the Sun that hath never been so generally understood or known by men as in the present Generation so that it being the proper work of the Spirit of God to take away the vail and covering which hath been upon the Scriptures when he findeth some person whom he doth much delight in he will single him out for this service 1 Cor. 2.10 11 c. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God That is according to Scripture Language teacheth men to search and to find out by searching the deep things of God i. e. such Counsels of his which do not lie in the surface of the Scriptures such things which cannot be seen at the first cast of a mans eye For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God Now the Notions which are bred in the Mind and in the Nature of God are of another sort of a quite different nature from those which are ingendred and conceived in the mind of men even as those impressions in bruit beasts are of a far other nature and kind from those which are in men and being of another nature and kind and also inferiour to those Notions or Impressions which are in man they cannot understand or comprehend those Notions or Impressions and those Principles of Action that are in men and by which they order and steere their course The Reason is because these Notions or Impressions that are in Men are of a superiour kind to those in Beasts and out of the reach of them or any other created being especially beneath themselves So that though it should be supposed that
though they may in a metaphorical and improper sense be said to dwell in men as Timothies Faith is said first to have dwelt in his Grand-mother Lois and in his Mother Eunice ver 5. yet in a direct or proper sense it cannot so be said of them Now where there is no necessity enforcing a Metaphorical sense a proper sense is still to be preferred besides an unproper sense here viz. by the Holy Ghost to understand the gifts or operations of the Holy Ghost would be very incongruous and hard as thus The good thing committed unto thee keep by the gifts of the Holy Ghost which dwell in us or by the Holy Ghost which in or by his gifts dwelleth in us So again Grieve not the Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption Eph. 4.30 So Isa 63.10 So it is said of the Jews of old that they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit Luk. 12.12 Acts 2.3 4. 10.44 19.6 It would be very incongruous and harsh to understand these Scriptures and many others of the like Character and import only of the gifts of the Holy Ghost Nor will it at all relieve that most dangerous Notion and Conceit which we now oppose to pretend and say Sect. 5 that though there be but one Holy Ghost or one Holy Spirit to whom the Attribute of Holiness is appropriately ascribed and he termed the Holy Spirit yet there are many other Spirits multitude of angels which are assistant unto him who may possibly be as many in number as there are Saints in the World at one time yea and possibly more so that these Spirits amongst them may attend the Saints in all places and parts of the World at one and the same time and inasmuch as there is one Supreme amongst them by whom all the rest are directed and employed in their way all that is done by them all may be ascribed unto him as because there is one head or one Principal amongst the Devils who is said to be the Prince of the Devils who is termed sometimes Sathan sometimes Beelzebub and Prince of the Devils therefore all that is done all the temptations that are managed in the World by all that are amongst them are in Scripture ascribed unto Sathan or unto the Devil indefinitely and in the Singular number and if the Devil who is confessed on all hands to be a created and finite Spirit be said in Scripture to tempt men though in never so remote places one from another at the same time why may not the Holy Ghost be said to fill men with himself upon the like terms viz. in all the places of the Earth at the same time though he be supposed to be a finite Spirit also If we had time we should plainly shew unto you that this is nothing but a piece of Sackcloath spun on purpose and devized to spread over the face of the Sun It is nothing but a vain flourish to hide this great and worthy truth of God from the eyes of the World to take off the minds and hearts of men from looking after such a worthy and blessed enjoyment as a being filled with the Spirit of God For first We shall shew you that there is not any ground in Scripture or Reason to suppose that any one Angel should have the superintendency or disposing of all the rest of the Angels to order them to their several Employments Works or Actions I say there is no word nor the least breathing or whisper of any such thing as this but the Scriptures rather look another way namely to shew that all the good and holy Angels who are employed on the behalf of the Saints receive their Commission immediately from God himself or from the Lord Christ who is represented in the Scripture as their great Lord and Master They stand charged there with Loyalty and Homage to him Heb. 1.6 When he bringeth in the first begotten in the World he saith and Tet all the Angels of God worship him And ver 14. Are they not all Ministring Spirits sent forth c They are sent forth by him whose Angels they are about their several Ministries And that is the reason too I suppose of that Expression of our Saviour Mat. 18.10 who speaking of the little ones who did believe in him saith I say unto you that in Heaven their Angels do alwaies behold the face of my Father which is in heaven Meaning that they do stand continually in the presence of God and there behold his face looking and waiting to receive some Commission or other longing for service and employment from him it is their life it is their glory and felicity to attend the services that shall be commanded them by God and therefore they do stand as Servants of a King who saith to one do this and to another do that to one go this way and to another go that way So do all the Angels in heaven stand round about the Throne of the Great God every one of them being greedy of Service to have some Message and Intimation from God what to do This therefore argueth that they do not receive their Commissien from any created Angel as they themselves are but that they have it directly and immediately from God himself or from Jesus Christ as Joh. 1.51 And he saith unto him verily verily I say unto you hereafter ye shall see the heavens open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man they do not ascend and descend upon one of themselves the Inferiour upon the Superiour Angels no but on the Son of man meaning himself as they did and were to be seen soon after for they did attend upon him at his Resurrection they removed the Stone off from the Grave and they went to give notice of his rising again unto those who came to seek after him and so in his Ascension he went up with a mighty noise and is to descend again with the sound of a Trumpet Now this he calls the opening of Heaven viz. the full discovery of those heavenly things which as yet had not been made known or manifested unto the World as namely that he is the great orderer or great Lord and Master of the Angels and that they were all his Servants so that this very Notion of one Angel having the superiour command and dominion over all the rest of the Angels is contrary to Scriptures and cannot be proved from them There is no ground to conceive that whatever the Angels do throughout their whole body and in all places of the earth should be ascribed to such an Angel Sathan indeed hath a Kingdom ascribed in the Scriptures unto him Mat. 12.26 and he is said to be the Prince of the Devils as we heard but the Angels are no where said to be a Kingdom neither have they any head or chief Angel amongst them nor can it be proved that any one Angel hath a superiority over another the
reason I conceive of this difference may be because the holy Angels continuing in their obedience and loyalty unto God are all of them great Officers and Ministers of State in his Kingdom and have not a Kingdom by themselves or apart from his Whereas Sathan with his Complices not keeping and maintaining their obedience and loyalty unto God and so not keeping their standing in his love and favour but being cast out thereof they become a Kingdom by themselves and have one in chief over them It is very probable that there are several ranks and degrees of Angels Sect. 6 from Rom. 8.38 and again from Eph. 1.21 Col. 1.16 Eph. 6.12 and some other places in Scriptures do seem to give this kind of overture viz. that there are several ranks and orders of Angels and it is not much improbable but that there is a subordination amongst them and that some are of a Superiour Order and some of an Inferiour and that every rank hath one that is the principal or superintendent over the rest of the same rank though this be but conjectural too We read indeed of Arch-Angels in the Scriptures 1 Thes 4.16 So Jude ver 9. in this latter place the Arch-Angel spoken off is called by his proper name Michael which rather imports a Species or order of such Angels than that there is only one Arch-Angel and his name Michael for if there had been but one Arch-Angel it had been more proper to have said the Arch-Angel without calling him by his proper name which ordinarily serveth to distinguish one person from another of the same Species and Dan. 10.13 Michael is called one of the chief Princes which importeth that there are more of the same order i. e. one of the Arch-Angels though perhaps the first of them as the Margin gives you the liberty of reading it Though for good order they have one that doth precede or go before yet that there should be any one that should have the sovereign power or rule and ordering of all the rest of all ranks and orders is contrary to reason and hath no footing in Scripture Concerning the other place mentioned 1 Thes 4.16 where we have it translated with a shout and with the voice of the Arch-Angel as if there were one such Angel and no more the truth is according to the original Greek it may rather be read With the voice of an Arch-Angel for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not with an Article but without and so doth signifie one of a great number Secondly The Schoolmen who have many of them addicted themselves to the study and contemplation of these things which are held forth in the Scriptures concerning the Angels whose Notions in these speculations are less to be suspected of partiality seeing they relate not to any difference and controversie between them nor yet to the establishment of the Papal Chair and therefore they in their determinations and conceptions are not like to be any whit prejudiced herein Now then they generally hold not only that there is an Order and distinct Band or Regiment of Arch-Angels but that there are many other Orders of Celestial Spirits above them as Cherubins Seraphins Dominions Thrones c. yea and that they are the lowest of all others except those that have the common name of Angels appropriate unto them and they give an account of this opinion and have their Scriptures for all these things though it may be they may not all hold weight if they be examined yet they have an appearance of reason for what they say Thirdly The Jewish Rabbies hold and teach that there are more Arch-Angels than one and they undertake to call them by their names One they call be the name Vriel a second Raphael a third Gabriel a fourth Michael a fifth Nuriel But it is also the sense of some that are more sober and considerate that there are more Arch-Angels though we meet with this name but in one or two places in the Scriptures Fourthly The Scriptures seem to imply and teach that all the Angels that are employed at any time about the Saints and for their benefit are immediately commissioned and sent forth about their respective Ministrations by God himself or by Jesus Christ to whom they stand charged with fealty and homage Heb. 1.6 a place lately insisted on upon another occasion Let all the Angels worship him Fifthly Sect. 7 In case it should be granted which yet never was nor I believe ever will be proved that there is one Angel placed by God in any such superintendency over all the rest of the Angels from whom they receive all their Orders and Commissions concerning all their transactions or all that they are to execute and do in the World yet it will not follow from hence neither that this Angel must presently be that Spirit which is surnamed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holy or the Spirit of God which is said to be given unto his Saints and those who do believe as the earnest of their inheritance by whom they are sealed up to the day of their Redemption who in Scripture is dignified as the Author and Donor of all the spiritual gifts mentioned 1 Cor. 12. with whom in the Scripture before us we are all exhorted to be filled This is no where to be found in the Scriptures neither hath it foundation nor piece of foundation there If it could I say be supposed and granted for Arguments sake that there should be an Angel in chief over all the rest yet this doth not follow that this Spirit in our Text is an Angel and not the Holy Ghost i. e. God Sixthly Though it be supposed and taken for granted that men and women are tempted unto sin and wickedness at one and the same time all the World over yet it cannot be proved that they are tempted by the Devil whether Beelzebub or any under him But every one saith James Jam. 1.14 is tempted when he is drawn away or being drawn away of his own lust and enticed meaning that there are Lusts found in every man which perform the Work or Office of a Tempter secretly perswading and enclining them unto waies and Actions which are sinful and which many times prevail in this kind when there is no other Tempter at all that hath to do with them So that the tempting of men and women unto evil in never such numbers or multitudes at one and the same time in the World doth not argue that the Devil the Prince of Devils either immediately by himself or mediately by any under-Devil tempteth them But certain it is that when ever the Saints stir or move in any good way pray meditate hear and attend the good Word of God in any part of the World that the Spirit of God is with them quickning and exciting them to these things and strengthening them in the performance thereof because there is no disposition in men unto that which is good but that which is raised
given of any different consideration wherein the action is ascribed unto God and wherein it is ascribed unto the Holy Ghost whereas for all those other Scriptures the very tenour of the words and many of the Phrases do give light sufficient whereby to discern when God is said to do such and such a thing and when the same action is attributed to the Creature and in what sense it is ascribed unto the one and unto the other Secondly The clause formerly taken notice of dividing unto every man as he will speaking of the Spirit plainly sheweth that the Spirit in working and giving the gifts here spoken of acteth in the capacity of God or of an independent being who hath power to order and manage all things according to the counsel of his will and not as a Creature for it is the Character of every Creature and second Agent or instrument not to act any thing according to his own will but according to the will of the Principal Agent 11ly That Spirit which is to fill all the Saints had need to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a searcher of the reins or knower of the heards of the Children of men otherwise how should he know when and upon what account to fill them with his presence and how to fall in with such a creature as man is in order to such an end Now we know that this Prerogative of searching the hearts and trying the reins the Scripture appropriates unto God yea and all Interpreters have acknowledged it as one of his incommunicable properties To make this therefore a universal and standing Priviledge to any created being whatsoever What is this but to rob God of that which is incommunicable and to transfer upon the Creature that which is beyond its Line a priviledge only commensurable unto him that is God himself and appropriate unto his own transcendent glory 12ly Sect. 10 Let me add one thing more which I have had occasion given me to think of and consider since I last spake unto you by means of a little book which came to my hand lately I suppose published by that importune Spirit which laboureth might and main to fill the World with dishonourable thoughts at least comparatively concerning the Holy Ghost unweariedly propagating and spreading abroad this dangerous Opinion which we oppose As it is said of some who have itching ears heaping up Teachers after their own Lusts so there are Teachers who have itching heads and are restless in drawing Disciples after them Now in this little Book in a short Epistle directed to the Christian Reader prefixed by the Author unto this Book he conjures his Reader as he tenders his own salvation that he would thoroughly examine his disputation and discourse plainly enough intimating hereby that without being of his opinion and judgment which according to the sense of those who understand the Scripture yea and sound Principles of Reason better than he judgeth that he breatheth no less than blasphemy against the Holy Ghost yet by the said conjurement of his Reader he plainly enough declares his sense to be that without being of his mind in denying the Godhead of the Holy Ghost there is no salvation Now I cannot but look upon this as little less than or next to a demonstrative Argument against that opinion which is obtruded upon the World upon those terms and that the opinion it self is erronious and of a dangerous consequence unto men For it is matter of ready observation that when men take up any new or by opinion which they desire for the honour of their names and glory of their parts and abilities to propagate in the World and being not furnished to their minds with grounds and reasons otherwise to convince and satisfie the judgments of men about them they are still wont to attempt the amusing and stumbling the Consciences and Judgments of men by a confident and importune bearing them in hand that the opinion which they commend unto them is no less than matter of eternal Life and eternal Death Thus the Jewish Doctors in the Apostles times would bear the Christians in hand Acts 15.1 That except they were circumcized after the Law of Moses they could not be saved We see here they made Circumcision a matter of life and death and that not Circumcision only or simply but Circumcision after that manner and mode But the Apostle knew better what did belong unto Circumcision and taught them a contrary Doctrine I Paul saith he say unto you if you be circumcized Christ shall profit you nothing And the truth is that such Notions and Doctrines for the most part which are thrust upon men or violently urged upon their Judgments and Consciences upon such an account as this as they stand charged as they love their Souls or desire Salvation to entertain this or that for truth these are more contrary and destructive than other to the salvation of the Promoters and Abettors of them As particularly I believe with the consent of all the ancient Fathers that this Opinion or Notion which denieth the Holy Ghost to be God is destructive unto the salvation of men destructive certainly it is whether destruction alwaies follows actually or no The tendency and course of it if it be not otherwise hindered will lead men to destruction but it may be hampered with other cross Doctrines in Christian Religion and so eternal ruine haply may be prevented The Christian Learning that was in the World in those Fathers daies could not tell how to frame and build up the body of Christian Religion nor how to make head or foot of the Gospel without this Doctrine that the Holy Ghost was one and the same God with the Father and with the Son and yet now we have a quite contrary commended unto us and thrust upon us and that upon such terms as that we hazard the loss of salvation unless we be of the same mind with them that deny the Deity of the Holy Ghost But to let you see how inconsistent men of this mind are with themselves there is another that is full of the same opinion denying both the Godhead of the Son and of the Holy Ghost that yet find faults with those that are opposite unto him for handling and writing so particularly and fully concerning the great Mysterie of the Trinity and he maketh this his pretense That however the case be if it should be so sure as we say yet we trouble and intangle the thoughts and minds of the Common people And the reason is because the Doctrine of the Trinity is no waies necessary unto salvation This is the sense of another as great a Master in his way and one who was able to say as much or more to this Opinion than they that are troublesome to us herein 13ly and lastly For this suppose we that there be some yet unsatisfied Sect. 11 that cannot tell which way to turn themselves because it may be there is so much said
Condemnation than the Gospel doth viz. They who shall determine the state of those men who hold that Christ died for all men that these cannot be in a state of Grace though this be a most plain and direct Doctrine of the Scripture and so they that teach and threaten men and women that they shall never receive Remission of sins and consequently shall not be saved unless they be twice baptized now herein they bind men over unto death upon such terms that the Gospel doth not allow of therefore such a Ministry which teacheth such things as these is a legal Ministry Again Sect. 14 Whereas the persons yet under reproof are wont to pretend likewise lowness and ordinariness of matter or of teaching in the Ministry which they have a mind to quit as one Reason of their withdrawing from it It is more than to be feared that they know not what the deficiency in a Ministry which they call lowness meaneth this being a more palpable pretense than either of the other For by lowness I suppose they mean the pressing and teaching of common and ordinary and known duties as of Love Mercy Patience Faith Temperance c. whereas the truth is that the teaching and pressing of these duties upon such terms as they may and ought to be taught and pressed upon the Consciences of men argues an excellency of power and of faithfulness in a Ministry yea is the glory of it For wherein can it reasonably be conceived that the worth and glory of a Ministry should consist but in repairing the decayed Image of God in men and in preparing and making men meet for a heavenly Kingdom Now wherein doth the Image of God we speak of in men stand but in the accomplishing and perfecting the Creature for all actions and services relating unto it and proper for it to perform As God is most absolutely and every way accomplished and that upon the highest terms of perfection for the acting of all things which are proper for him to do So likewise to put men into a rich and divine-like capacity this way that is to furnish them with all principles and dispositions and knowledge of all things fit for them to do so that nothing may lie between them and the performance of their duty but their own will this is to raise up the Image of God in men Or if you place this Image of God in men in righteousness and true holiness it cometh but to the same for that is a right Ministry indeed which hath force to raise men up unto these especially in such measures and degrees as they ought to be found in men and can qualifie men fully for their duty and service as the performance of these do for their reward and glory Therefore that Ministry which preacheth and presseth the duties of Faith Love Mercy Humility c. upon men so as really to enrich and fill the hearts and souls of men and women with them is no low Ministry but a Ministry of power and great glory And thus we have done with the second sort of Offenders against the Doctrine delivered under the second Head The folly of their Delinquency was that they turned their backs upon wholsome and sound teaching such wherein the Spirit of God delights to go forth and sate down under such teachings which do little more than beat the Air and which the Spirit of God knoweth not There is yet a third sort of Offenders against the Apostles Exhortation Sect. 15 and the Doctrine delivered from it who may be ranged also under the Second Head as being persons running a course not to be filled with the Spirit but on the contrary to be emptied of him These are such who refuse or neglect to be led by the Spirit who either do not mind or take knowledge of the leadings or motions of the Spirit do not bend the ear of the inward man to him when he secretly speaketh or else that which is as bad or rather worse when they do hear him or are sensible of his motions or leadings within them yet turn aside from him and go their own way Such undue and unworthy carriages as these in men towards the Spirit of God must of necessity grieve him and consequently occasion him to depart or withdraw himself from them For the former Are not the generality or far greater part of men and women altogether neglective of all that is acted or done by the Spirit of God within them Yea Are there not many that are ignorant whether there be any Holy Ghost any Spirit of God within them yea or no Yea many that have some belief it may be that the Spirit we now speak of may be in them who yet are ignorant and know not whether he doth any thing in one kind or other within them whether he moveth enclineth leadeth or perswadeth one way or other in them or no If you ask me But can the Spirit move or encline any person and yet this person not be moved or enclined by him Or if they be moved or enclined by him can they be ignorant of it must they not needs know it I reply First To the former of these questions That a Person may be said to be moved or enclined two waies or in a twofold sense First He may be said to be moved or enclined when that is done unto him which is apt and proper and sufficient to cause him to be moved and enclined whether he be actually moved or enclined or no. Secondly He may be said and that in the more obvious sense of the two to be moved when that force which is put to him to move and encline him prospereth to that end for which it is employed that is when the person moved doth as it were fall before the enclination and doth yield unto that which he is stirred and moved and enclined unto In the former sense a man or woman may be said to be moved perswaded or led by the Spirit this way or that unto this course or that and yet not be brought or prevailed with to walk in those waies Thus the goodness of God is said to lead men unto Repentance Rom. 2.4 who yet are not prevailed with to repent So when the Scriptures speaking of the Jews saith That they resisted the Holy Ghost it is plainly implied First That they were in a sense which must needs be the sense we now speak of led by the Spirit of God i. e. were perswaded moved and enclined by him unto waies and practices that were holy and good for otherwise how could they be said to have resisted him Resistance cannot be but only where there is some attempt or assault made therefore certainly when they did resist the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost did attempt upon their hearts and consciences to perswade them unto that which was right and pleasing in the sight of God Again Secondly It implies that they were not perswaded I mean with success or so as
that possesseth and filleth them with a windy confidence that they are the Children of God when indeed they are not because the Spirit of God is not wont to go forth nor to enter into the hearts and consciences of men but where the glorious Gospel of God is received in the truth of it We could instance in some particulars for there are as the Apostle telleth us 1 Cor. 8.5 in his daies in respect of Gods and Lords many that were Gods and Lords so called but saith he unto us there is but one c. So the truth is at this day there are amongst us and round about in this City and near to us Gospels many and Preachers many but in the mean time there is but one Gospel for us for those that know the truth as it is in Jesus And yet many of these Gospels we speak of have their spirits that do attend upon them and for the most part they do wait upon these very Gospels and Ministries that are the rankest of all others filling the Receivers of them with the greatest assurance and confidence that they are the Children of God and in the right way of worshipping and serving of him There is a Gospel which joyns Baptism with Faith in Christ by way of necessity to Justification and so to Salvation even as the Jewish Converts did Circumcision in the Apostles days of which Paul saith unto them Gal. 5.2 I say unto you if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing meaning if ye be Circumcised with an opinion of being justified thereby Christ shall profit you nothing There is another Gospel preached amongst us which teacheth you in effect and underhand yea by express and near-hand consequence that if you be elected how loosely wickedly prophanely and desperately soever ye shall live yet you are in no danger of perishing yea and that however you shall go to work God will bring you in one time or other and that he will so far change the state of affairs with you that you shall neither will nor chuse but to repent and so be saved together with several other Doctrines and Notions of like dangerous consequence and import Again thirdly Another Gospel so called ye have preached amongst you which calleth you from the Scriptures and the light of life which shineth there unto that which they call a light within them though that light be never so dark As if the Scriptures and the light within men so far as it is light and not darkness were at odds Or as if the conveying of Scripture light into the hearts and Judgments of men were like to obscure darken or obstruct and not rather to encrease brighten and perfect that light in men This kind of Gospel is of as dangerous consequence as any of the other A fourth Gospel preached abroad in the World is that all that ever will or shall be justified were justified from Eternity and that upon this account God seeth no sin in them Yea there is a Gospel which preacheth down all Preaching and denieth the usefulness thereof Many other Gospels there are so called in the World which though they be at great variance amongst themselves yet they all agree in enmity and opposition to the true Gospel of Christ like Sampson's Foxes But there is no end of enumerating these high and by kind of strains which men run into from day to day thinking thereby still to better their condition Godward As you find many in a lingring condition with sickness that think if they should but change into such a Room or into such a Bed they should be better So when men have not made a serious and consciencious improvement of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ whilest they did attend and live under the Ministry and Preaching of it but find themselves dissatisfied in their hearts and souls and not enjoying themselves upon terms of that content which they desire they think now that if they do but go forth into such other waies and walk in such other paths that then they shall be made great then they shall reign like Kings and Princes in the Profession of Jesus Christ Now the great Enemy of their Peace and of the Salvation of their souls lies in wait to meet with such occasions and advantages as these are and therefore if such Notions do but begin to bud and put forth in their first conceptions or that the hearts of men do but begin to hanker that way the Devil helps them with his perswasions to go on and then men are very apt to be perswaded that now the Spirit of God is come to them and that he doth procure them that great peace of God which they could never attain nor find from his hand before I cannot pass by that Expression though but lately handled in the Scriptures now opened 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it carrieth in it so pregnant a Testimony against that dangerous Doctrine which of late hath began to make head amongst us viz That the Holy Ghost is not God Now if it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit himself and not any other inferiour spirit subservient unto him who bears witness with the Spirits of the Saints all the World over that they are the Children of God then can he be no other than God himself who filleth all places with his presence Thus then we see a third thing Sect. 17 by means of which they that are filled with the Spirit must needs be possessed with an assurance of their attonement and peace made with God by Jesus Christ viz. they have the Spirit of Adoption within them testifying aloud and with authority with their spirits that they are the Children of God and consequently that their sins are fully attoned in his sight And this was the former particular of the two propounded by which men and women must needs be prepared and put into a rich capacity of enjoying free Communion with God We shall not need I suppose to add any thing to prove or shew that a clear assurance of a mans Attonement made with God opens an effectual door unto him for a free Communion with God This is lightsome and evident enough of it self especially if we take the word Attonement in a compleat signification I mean as it includes and carrieth with it grace and acceptation of a mans person with God For when God is actually reconciled unto a Creature and hath accepted an attonement for his sin He doth not only cease to be an Enemy unto him remaining still as a Stranger or as one from whose anger or displeasure the Person reconciled and attoned is indeed free but hath no further interest in him but upon this said reconciliation unto this Creature he becometh a most real Friend unto him and admits him into his special grace and favour Amongst men it is oft times otherwise a man doth not remain an Enemy after Attonement for that properly is imported in the word Attonement But
many places Actions are ascribed unto him that doth assist and direct and help men in the performance of them and not unto him that is the formal and immediate Agent Page 232 235 XVII That in Scripture Phrase is said properly and precisely to be of God not simply which he acteth or worketh but that which he acteth or worketh freely without any meritorious or demeritorious engagement laid upon by the Creature Page 242 XVIII Such Causes which work and contribute towards their Effects Sacramentally only are in respect of that which is literal or natural in them the poorest and lowest of all Causes 244. Yet notwithstanding they produce their effects most vigorously most powerfully and with an high hand Page ibid. XIX A man may do that which is commanded by God and yet have little thank for his labour for doing it viz. when he knoweth not that it is commanded by him Page 248 XX. God is well pleased with all such Counsels Actions and Waies of Men which are in their nature and according to a true estimate and judgment of them profitable and advantageous and he is the more and better pleased with the Counsels Actions and waies of men the richer and faller Connexion they have with their peace and happiness Pag. 248 XXI Though the Spirit be Omnipotent yet he is a voluntary Agent and so can exert and put forth his Omnipotency in what degree or manner of efficacy himself pleaseth Page 281 XXII The way to do things by the Spirit is not to forbear the doing of things or duties our selves until we find the Spirit of Grace and feel it to work upon us but to go about that which is our Duty to do in the season of it with a serious and humble acknowledgement and deep sense of our inability Page 283 XXIII It is a usual Dialect in Scripture when the Act is expressed for the means or course that is usually taken to effect it Page 284 XXIV Though there be a presence of the Spirit of God with men in the state of Nature or unregeneracy yet the Scriptures do not speak of the Spirits dwelling in men nor of their receiving him until they receive him in a greater measure or after the manner in which Believers receive him Page 285 XXV Whatsoever Action a man doth voluntarily consent unto may properly enough be said to be his especially when the Act of his Will and Consent contributes any thing towards the Action Page 286 XXVI Whosoever makes the Creature either meerly Passive in its Works or Services or willing as they say by or from a necessitation they despoil it of all capacity of being rewarded by God and so while they pretend to be the great Magnifiers of the Grace of God indeed and in truth make nothing of it Page 287 XXVII It is a Principle in Reason and Equity that they who make a regular and worthy use of a less proportion of any good thing intrusted with them should no other circumstance hindring be intrusted with a greater Page 288 XXVIII God usually walketh with Men by such Principles and Rules which are written on their hearts by the finger of Nature and which they are wont to observe and walk by in their Civil and Common Affairs Page 31 32 288 297 XXIX God's manner is not to reward nor to take knowledge of the righteousness of men until the World have taken knowledge of it Page 289 XXX The Hebrew Dialect many times uses and repeats the Antecedent for the Consequent Page 299 XXXI That is sometimes said to be dâ—ne which is done frequently or isal waies probable or likely to be done Page 301 XXXII The Connexive Particle and sometimes implieth a Motive enforcing a preceding Exhortation Page 304 XXXIII God hath built and framed the body of his Laws and Precepts given unto men upon like terms by such Principles and Rules of Wisdom and 〈◊〉 according to which prudent Law makers amongst men me went to compile and 〈◊〉 the body of those Civil or Politick Laws which they make for the benefit or use of their States or Communities respectively Pag. 348 349 XXXIV The Gospel being a Doctrine according to Godliness every limbe and vein of it must have a tendency the same way Page 363 XXXV When an Impostor perswadeth or useth means to seduce he is said to seduce though the persons thus perswaded be not actually seduced Page 399 XXXVI Comparative senses or meanings are frequently expressed in absolute and positive terms Page 407 XXXVII When Men are greatly averse from believing or repenting they are not like to bestow any serious or intense consideration upon the means by which they should be brought to do either especially if they can find out any colour or pretense to disparage them and so to arm their Consciences and Judgments against them Page 407 XXXVIII 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 Page 408 XXXIX When a man is unwilling to do a thing he may according to Scripture Dialect or manner of speaking be said to be unable to do it Page 20 21 413 XL. There is no ground to judge and determine a Ministry to be legal because the face of it is set and bent as it were to press men to the keeping of the Commands of God contained in the Moral Law Page 441 XLI A person may be said to be moved or enclined when that is done unto him which is apt and proper and sufficient to cause him to be moved and enclined whether he be actually moved or enclined or no Page 446 XLII Such a person is said to sow unto the Spirit who frequently is engaged in such waies and actions which he knows must of necessity turn unto the honour and praise of the Spirit of God Page 450 XLIII That which is delivered unto the World in the New Testament by the mouth of Jesus Christ himself or upon the account of his coming from Heaven as all that which the Holy Ghost hath further revealed by the Apostles is is more obliging and binding upon the Consciences of men and more severely punishable by God when neglected or despised than the things delivered in the Old Testament or before Christ's coming into the World were or are Page 459 XLIV It is not unusual in Emphatical Discourses to speak of one and the same person in different considerations as of two Page 459 It is usual in the Scriptures when things are more fully done or after a more rich and bountiful manner discovered to represent them as newly done Page 462 XLV It is frequent in Scripture when the Holy Ghost would reprove Men in things that be irrational to interrogate them as to the reason or ground of what they do Page 476 XLVI The Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in is oft used for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Page 501 XLVII The words Perfect and Perfection are most frequently used when applied to Men or any other Creature not in a strict or absolute but in a limited and diminutive sense but when applied to God in the strictest sense Page 501 XLVIII Verbs properly signifying action many times declare the Natures and Properties of things and what they are able apt and likely to do Page 502 XLIX Many things in Scripture are said to be done by men when it is meet they should do them or have a good ground or reason for the doing of them Page 512 L. The Verb Substantive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used which properly signifies the simple and absolute Being on Existence of a thing is oft used in the Scriptures for the Being of a thing in Act Exercise or manifestation Page 228 The End
Fulness which Filii Terrae the Children of this World or Earthly-minded men do affect and set their hearts upon viz. To have their Barns full their Purses and Chests full their Bellies full c. Psal 17.14 144.13 Ezek. 16.49 Phil. 3.19 though this be but as I may say to be full of Emptiness or as the Wiseman better expresseth it of Vanity and Vexation of Spirit for that is the best that Earthly things afford so that in the Fulness of their sufficiency they are in straights as it is Emphatically observed in Job 20.22 There are also who may woe unto them be called Filii Diaboli the Children of the Devil who mind a Fulness of a worse sort than that newly named and that is to be full of Sin Acts 5.17 13.10 45. 19.28 Rom. 1.29 Jam. 3.8 2 Pet. 2.14 Rev. 17.3 4. but this alas is to be full of Wrath and Misery for Sin hath no better Attendants and Effects But Filii Dei the Sons of God the Children of the most High do mind are ambitious of and do cover after another and better Fulness viz. To be full of Light Mat. 6.22 Of Grace and Truth Joh. 1.14 with 16. Of Joy Joh. 15.11 Acts 6.3 11 24. Rom. 15.13 1 Joh. 1.4 Of Faith Acts 6.5 8. Of Good-works Acts 9.36 Of Goodness Rom. 15.14 Of Knowledge and Assurance Col. â— 9. 2.2 Heb. 6.11 10.22 Of a full Age or perfect Stature Heb. 5.14 with Eph. 4.13 Of Mercy Jâ—m 3.17 Of Righteousness and its Fruits Phil. 1.11 To be filled with all the Fulness of God Eph. 3.19 And at last to receive a full Reward 2 Joh. v. 8. Beside all this there is one special Fulness more which they greatly desire and no less endeavour after while they are here below in Relation to all the other Fulnesses that they may be filled with them all which is to be full of the Holy Ghost or to be filled with the Spirit Luke 4.1 Acts 9.17 Eph. 5.18 and this is the thing about which the following Treatise is chiefly employed and mostly taken up and of which indeed it treats to very good purpose and to very great advantage I cannot but acknowledge to have profiâ—ed by the perusal of it and do heartily pray that the Lord who teacheth to profit will teach all that â—â—ad it to profit by it and make it instrumental to their being filled with the Spirit wherein there can be no Excess no sin as there is in being filled or drunk with Wine as the Sacred Text and truth assures us but advantages innumerable beyond all that Mirth and Glee which men presume they shall and fanfie they do attain by being filled with Wine Though I confess my self not to be of the same mind and opinion with the Learned Author in some other controverted Points yet I cannot but give my Testimony concerning this Peece That I find an excellent Spirit moving on the face and acting in the heart of it to promote the Glory of God the Power of Godliness and consequently the good of men especially of Christian men Possibly an Expression here and there may as all Humane Writings do call for a grain of Salt as we use to phrase it but as to the tenour of the whole and the tendency thereof I do judge it to be very inoffensive and not a little but very useful The Author 't is true according to his wonted Genius doth often traverse a great deal of ground and fetcheth some compasses before he come to his designed journeys-end yet he makes it pleasant too by such variety and will thereby pay the Reader for his pains and patience in following of him The Epistle of the Publishers and the Contents of the Book will give so clear and full an account of the whole that I shall need to say no more concerning it That this and all good Books may be well read and improved is the hearty Wish and Prayer of him who is a lover of all Christians yea and of all men Ralph Venning The Contents of the Chapters CHAP. I. THe Coherence and sense of the words opened What it is to be filled with the Spirit Four Doctrines raised from the words Proved from the Scriptures that it is the duty of all Christians to be filled with the Spirit Page 1 CHAP. II. The first Reason of the Doctrine propounded and argued viz. That it is the Duty of all Persons especially of all the Professors of the Gospel or Christianity to be filled with the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God Because if men be not filled or in a way of being filled with the Spirit of God they will be filled with some evil Spirit one or other Page 15 CHAP. III. The second Reason of the Doctrine without being filled with the Spirit the hearts of men and women will never serve them to do excellent things for God Acts 5.3 Ch. 13. 9 10. Ch. 20. 22. 2 Cor. 5.13 in part opened Page 41 CHAP. IV. The Doctrine demonstrated by a third ground viz. That we are never like to be any great Benefactors unto the World which yet we stand bound in duty to be unless we be filled with the Spirit He is a great Benefactor unto the World that gives a real account of his believing in Christ Why Abraham called the Father of Believers The force of Example A mans keeping the Commandments of Jesus a great benefit and accommodation unto the World in two respects Gal. 6.2 in part opened 2 Tim. 3.8 in part opened So Eph. 3.14 15 16. The Saints praying for any good thing frequently in their prayer mention the means by which God is wont to give or effect it Page 45 CHAP. V. The fourth Reason of the Doctrine propounded and argued Men are not capable of receiving the rich Consolations of the Gospel unless they be filled with the Spirit 1 Pet. 2.9 in part opened So Heb. 6.17 18. Eph. 3.17 18. 1 Pet. 1.8 Eph. 1.18 Jam. 2.13 Prov. 19.16 Acts 17.28 Mar. 4.5 and 6.16 Page 65 CHAP. VI. The fifth and last Reason of the Doctrine argued Men stand bound in duty to put themselves into a capacity of the fullest and highest rewards which God hath prepared for and holdeth forth unto the Children of men Inequality of rewards in glory argued The Parable of the Peny Mat. 20. considered The advantages of late Converts Inconveniences incident to to the early which yet may be avoided Dan. 12 3. in part opened 1 Cor. 3.8 Eph. 6.8 Gal. 6.7 1 Cor. 15.58 Rom. 6.23 Psal 138.2 Psal 25.8 10. Mat. 13.43 Phil. 3.21 2 Tim. 4.8 Mat. 20.20 21. Rom. 9.15 Mat. 5.48 Num. 25.11 12 13. 2 Thes 1.10 Eph. 1.23 2 Pet. 1.4 1 Joh. 3.3 2 Cor. 7.1 Heb. 11.10 17 18 19 26. Heb. 12.2 Joh. 17.5 Luke 22.43 Page 91 CHAP. VII Three Questions propounded to give further light into the Doctrine The first of them enquired into namely who or what this Spirit mentioned in the Text is
sixth Motive That the Reasons and Vnderstandings of men are not capable of being employed upon terms of greater benefit and advantage than in this engagement A seventh Consideration taken from the uncertainty of obtaining the things of this World by all the means that can be used and also from the uncertainty of the continuance of these things if gotten Whereas a being filled with the Spirit as it is attainable so by a perseverance in the use of means our attainments in this kind shall stand by us for ever Page 463 CHAP. XVIII The Eighth and last Motive That a being filled with the Spirit will render the Condition of men and women most desirable in this World and in that which is to come That no other course will do it but this or none without this Four things a concurrence whereof will render a man's Condition in this life most desirable 1. A freedom from all troublesome distracting and tormenting fears and cares 2. A heart and conscience abounding in Joy and Peace 3. A large and free Communion with God 4. And lastly A rich and large interest in God to be able to carry great Matters in Prayer with him Three of these insisted on 1. A being filled with the Spirit will discharge men from all troublesome and distracting fears and cares 2. The Peace and Joy of men will abound by a being filled with the Spirit 3. A third particular which renders mens Condition so desirable in the World is a free and large Communion with God 1. What is meant by Communion with God 2. What by a free Communion 3. What is meant by a large and full Communion with God 4. How this Communion renders man's Condition very desirable in the World 5. That this Priviledge must needs accompany a being filled with the Spirit What it is for God to dwell or abide in man How a man may know that God dwelleth in him by the Spirit which is given him How perfect love casteth out fear In what respect the Spirit may be said to witness with our spirits that we are the Children of God A well-grounded Confidence The Causes of a false Confidence enquired into A good Conscience a ground of Assurance Page 482 CHAP. XIX The Eighth Motive further opened in the fourth particular a being filled with the Spirit doth interest men with a rich and large Interest in God How this Interest doth arise by being filled with the Spirit of God Reasons why so little is done by Prayer now in comparison of what was done in the Primitive times Without being filled with the Spirit none of the great blessings formerly mentioned and which render a mans Condition so desirable in this World are to be obtained The Reasons whence it comes to pass And the equitableness of God's proceeding with men therein The difference between a fearless and dreadless frame of spirit that is counterfeit and that which is raised upon good Grounds A being filled with the Spirit is the only way to cause the Crown of glory to flourish on the head of a man And that with a greater measure of glory in the World which is to come Page 522 ERRATA PAge 8. Line 22. for te read to p. 14. l. 28. for of r. as p. 16. l. 23. for never r. ever p. 18. l. 23. for the inspiration thereof r. his inspiration p. 24. l. 20. for men r. man p. 60. l. 34. after on r. of p. 61. l. 8 for effecting r. affecting p. 63. l. 21 dele or doth Ibid. l. 4 r. for and r. of the. Ibid. l. 42. for of the r. and. p. 66. l. 11. for Princes r. Prophets p. 77. l. 16. for heavenly r. lovely p. 84. l 5. for it r. them p. 87. l. 10. for maniture r. manuducture p. 107. l. 2. for leaving r. left p. 109 l. 36. for of 1. as p. 121. l. last for most r. not p. 146. l. 2 for that r. though p. 162. l. 18. after whci r. it Ibid. l. 40. for in r. into p. 163. l. 41. for apparence r. appearance p. 165. l. 8. for it r. he p. 181. l. 24. for interest r. request p. 186. l. 2. r. it is the first born lb. dele it is p. 190. l. 18 for consent r. conceit p. 191. l. 10. for zealoufly r. jealously p. 213. l. 26. for or r. but. p. 216 l. 19. for undeceivedness r. underivedness p. 228. l. r. after Believer r. But. lb. 18. dele But p. 231. l. 19. for any r. an p. 236. l. 15. dele that p. 248. l. 28. add whereby p. 254. l. 34. for exhibiting r. excitings p. 268. l. 21. dele because p. 284. l. 23. for by r. for p. 289. l. 26. for having r. have p. 300. l. 21. for I r. A. p. 311. l. 25. for obtain r. attain p. 323. l. 6. dele of p. 346. l. 10. for grateful r. graceful p. 348. l. 17. for absolute r. obsolete p. 352. l. 24. for to r. who p. 354. l. 19. for picking r. higgling p. 364. l. 28. dele that p. 366. l. 25. for suits r. fruits p. 374. l. 27. dele judgeth that he p. 385. l. 8. for who r. we p. 396. l. 18. after seen r. in p. 397. l. 8 dele that p. 400. l. 24. dele of p. 423. l. 19. for chose r. choose p. 430. l. 41. for of r. for p. 445. l. 43. after yea r. there are p. 456. l. 6. for if r. which p. 375. l. 15. after sums r. are p. 484. l. 1. for where to be r. to be where p. 490. l. 11. for be r. he p. 506. l. 5. for as r. so as p. 538. l. 37. dele was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR A being filled with the Spirit Ephes 5. the latter part of the 18 verse But be filled with the SPIRIT CHAP. I. The coherence and sense of the words opened What it is to be filled with the Spirit Four Doctrines raised from the words Proved from the Scriptures that it is the duty of all Christians to be filled with the Spirit THe tenour of the former part of the verse is this Sect. 1 And be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess but be filled with the Spirit The Apostle having in the former part of this Epistle as his usual method was declared and laid down foundation-wise that great Doctrine of the Christian Religion namely justification by or through faith in Jesus Christ In the latter part thereof he builds upon this foundation Precepts and Exhortations to such duties and behaviours which may very justly and equitably be expected upon the account of such rich grace from God vouchsafed unto sinful men in their free justification by Christ Now in Precepts and Exhortations unto Christian duties there is not alwaies a dependence or relation of coherence between duty and duty or between that which goeth before and that which followeth after But Exhortations are many times like unto Solomons Proverbs which resemble Jewels or precious stones not set together in order
a Lottery into which a man may cast his money and yet be far enough from drawing a Prize Thirdly Doctr. 3 Whereas the Apostle layeth it upon them by way of duty to be filled with the Spirit this Doctrine ariseth That neither men nor women can expect I mean upon any sufficient yea or tolerable grounds te be filled with the Spirit of God but by the use of such means as are proper and appointed by God thereunto If the Ephesians had had any reason or ground to have expected this blessed accommodation here spoken of viz. a being filled with the Spirit of God without their endeavours for the obtaining of it it had been impertinent and needless for him to have imposed it upon them by way of duty Fourthly and lastly From the plain express and full import of the Precept or Exhortation we may observe Doctr. 4 That it is the duty of all persons especially of all the Professors of the Gospel or of Christianity to be filled with the Holy Ghost or spirit of God This being the Point that lieth most clear and large in the words read Contenting our selves with the bare mentioning the other three unless something relating unto them shall occasionally fall in in our intended discourse we shall proceed only with it First Sect. 8 for the truth of the Doctrine had we no other proofs for it from the Scriptures but the Text in hand this alone by reason of the evidence and expressness of it were sufficient to carry it But there are other Scriptures also which being well understood and throughly searched into speak and import the same thing as viz. that it is matter of duty lying upon all men especially those who do profess Christianity to be filled with the Spirit Jude v. 19. Sensual not having the Spirit namely of God as is clear from the Character he gives of the persons here spoken of unto the Christians that he writeth unto For what should be the reason why the Apostle taketh this notice of them Namely that whereas they separated themselves from the Congregation of the Saints yet were they sensual not having the Spirit who though they did pretend to a greater degree of light and more familiarity and acquaintance with the Spirit of God than other Christians did yet the Apostle tells those Christians to whom he wrote that they should not believe them because they were sensual only talking and boasting of the Spirit which conceit and confident presumption in them of their having the Spirit was the ground or occasion of their separation and dividing from the Assemblies of other Christians But the truth is saith our Apostle they are sensual not having the Spirit Nay they take a course not to have the Spirit which is by their giving themselves up to sensuality They indeed pretend to the Spirit that so they might the better satisfie themselves and others concerning the liberty which they take in the waies of the flesh such as other Christians did not take bearing themselves and others in hand that they had the warrant for their practice by special revelation And they understood their liberty better than other Christians and that they came to this priviledge by the super-Evangelical Communion which they had with the Spirit of God And yet notwithstanding all these pretences the Apostle positively concludes that these men had not the Spirit clearly implying withal that this was their sin not to have him yea and futther that their not having of him did interess them in the guilt of many other sins That it was sinful in these and is so in all others not to have the Spirit is evident from hence because they might have had and enjoyed him would they but have complied with God in the use of such means as he had vouchsafed unto them for that end And that it was nothing but sin and iniquity committed by them that kept the Spirit of God from them this may be gathered from the testimony of God himself by his Prophet Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withholden good things from you Jer. 5.25 And that the Spirit of God is withheld from none but only from those that do refuse or neglect to ask him of God by prayer is somewhat more than affirmed by Christ in this high assertive Interrogation If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that aske him Luke 11.13 So also Joh. 4.10 compared with Chap. 7.38 39. and Acts 5.32 God is said to give the Holy Ghost to them that obey him So that it was unquestionably sinful in these sensual Separatists in Jude that they had not the Spirit Now then if this was matter of sin in them not to have the Spirit It clearly follows that it was their duty and a thing that they ought to have sought after to possess and invest themselves with him And if it were a matter of duty incumbent upon them simply to have the Spirit to have him in any measure or degree then it followeth by a streight line in reason or by a necessary consequence That it was matter of duty also unto them to have him in the greatest measure and in the highest degree or proportion that they were capable of attaining unto For this is clear in reason that whatsoever is our duty simply to do if the duty or the doing of it will admit of degrees that it may be done more or loss perfectly which is the condition of most duties if not of all then it is our duty to do it in the highest degree and with the greatest perfection If it be our duty to love God simply then certainly to love him to a greater degree yea to the greatest degree of all is our duty also namely to love him with all our hearts Mark 12.30 souls mind and strength So likewise if it be our duty to love our neighbour Then is it our duty also to love him with a pure heart fervently 1 Pet. 1.22 which is the highest pitch or degree of this affection The case is the same in all other duties whatsoever and therefore we ought to endeavour and stir up our selves unto the most perfect manner of performance A duty is more our duty and nearer to the intent of the Precept or Exhortation enjoyning it when performed with much intensness of mind and spirit and when it drinketh up much of the heart and soul of him that performeth it and consequently more acceptable unto God than when it is only simply barely and cursorily performed So that this Scripture doth prove plainly enough the truth of the Doctrine in hand viz. That it is the duty of all Christians to be filled with the Spirit And if any man do fail of this grace of God and become sensual it is because he doth not comport with the Spirit in his motions and applications
of himself unto him for by this means the Spirit withdraweth his former influences from such a person and affordeth him but a faint and scanty presence of himself afterwards Again Sect. 9 from the Apostles Exhortation 1 Thes 5.19 Quench not the Spirit the truth of the Doctrine may be further argued even to a demonstration For if it be a duty lying upon Christians not to quench the Spirit i. e. Not to do any thing that may justly occasion him to cease from his wonted activity within them stirring their hearts and causing them to burn with inflamed desires after God and Jesus Christ and the things of their eternal peace I say If it be a duty to take heed of quenching the Spirit in such a way as this Then must it needs be a duty lying upon them to be filled with the Spirit the fulness of whose presence as was formerly more than hinted will cause their hearts to burn within them and as it were to mount up unto heaven in a flame It is an approved Rule frequently made use of by learned Ministers for the right understanding of the Decalogue or Moral Law That every Negative Commandment includeth the Affirmative contrary unto it As that which forbiddeth the destroying or the taking away the life of a man enjoyneth withal the preservation of his life with all tenderness and care There is another Rule delivered by some worthy Expositors of the Scriptures very necessary to acquaint us with the emphatical import of some expressions here The Rule is to this effect Adverbs of denying do very frequently import the contrary unto that word unto which they are joyned Many instances of this Rule might readily be given but this may be done upon some other occasion only for the present take notice that this Scripture agreeth to that which is imported in both these Rules This Negative dehortation Quench not the Spirit carrieth in it some such Affirmative and commanding Precept as this See that you be prudently industrious and careful with all diligence to nourish and advance the life and vigour of the Spirit of God within you entertain him with all worthy and honourable respects in your souls let him have all the obedience that he desireth or requireth of you By this means you shall be so far from quenching him in his motions and operations that he will burn like a bright flame of heavenly fire within you and work wonderfully in your souls That some such sense as this was intended by the Apostle in the said Dehortation is not obscurely intimated by that negative Precept not to despise Prophecying immediately subjoyned unto that of not quenching the Spirit especially if it be interpreted by one or both the Rules given for the interpretation of the former passage For then Not to despise Prophecying will signifie to put an high esteem upon Prophecying that is in the Ministry or Preaching of the Gospel which is done partly by a constant or frequent attendance upon it as with reverence and fear so with a lively and steady expectation of meeting with God and much good in it partly also by a consciencious subjecting all a mans waies words and works unto the authority and guidance of it Now not to despise that is to honour Prophecying upon such terms as these and duly honoured it cannot be upon any other is a direct and pregnant course to cause the Spirit to take pleasure in us and to be as fire in our breasts and bones not suffering us to be in the dark concerning any such spiritual things which are necessary or meet for us to know nor yet to be remiss negligent or cold as to waies and works that are truly honourable and worthy our high calling And what doth all this signifie being interpreted but to be filled with the Spirit Nor is there any way more dangerous unto men or more threatening the great evil and misery of being emptied of the Spirit than to despise Prophecying or the Ministry of the Gospel which is called The ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 And the Ministers of it The Ministers not of the Letter that is Not so much of the words matter or contents of the Gospel but of the Spirit Because the Spirit of God according to the counsel and good pleasure of God in this behalf is wont to joyn himself with the glorious truths of the Gospel published and proclaimed by his Messengers when he hath an intent or desire to go forth into the world and to visit the hearts and consciences of the Sons and Daughters of men See upon this account Acts 10.44 Gal. 3.2 5. And as the Spirit ordinarily cometh unto the souls of men in a golden shower of Evangelical truths rained down upon them from the mouth of a Church Angel So doth he not only continue but increase and inlarge his presence in them proportionably to that honour and obedience which is given by them unto those truths by which he was brought into their souls Therefore as the despising of Prophecying whether it be by undervaluing or neglecting the Ordinance or dispensation of it or whether it be by disobeying and casting behind their backs the holy Counsels and divine Injunctions of it is a ready way to quench the Spirit So on the contrary to have this heavenly Ordinance in high esteem and with constancy in attending upon it to joyn a reverential and awful subjection unto the voice of it in our lives and conversations is a method or means sealed by God whereby to obtain that inestimable treasure of being filled with the Spirit Thus you see how the Apostles charge of not quenching the Spirit leadeth us directly and by a clear light to the acknowledgment of this That it is every mans duty to be filled with the Spirit That other Dehortation of the same Apostle Sect. 10 Parallel in Expression and partly in sense unto the former Grieve not the holy Spirit of God Ephes 4.30 being rightly argued and searched into will give us the light of the same truth at the bottom of it But let us first consider what it is to grieve the Spirit and then we shall see by the light of the two rules mentioned in the opening of the former proof how it doth follow from hence That it is the duty of Christians to be filled with the Spirit The Spirit here spoken of is neither the Spirit of Man nor Angel as we shall have occasion to shew hereafter but the eternal Spirit of God the third Person in the Trinity Now to speak properly this Spirit is not subject unto grief nor any other Passion whatsoever But men are said to grieve the Spirit when they cause him to do and act towards them that which men are used to do under the Passion of grief Now you know that men whilst they are under the guidance of that Passion are listless and indisposed unto action Grief contracts and straightens it is of a wasting and consuming nature unto the
heart and spirit Psal 31.9 10. It makes men heavy lumpish and sad averse unto all action as if they had neither life nor soul as we use to say being like unto Davids Images That have hands and handle not feet and walk not c. Psal 115.7 And Jobs three Friends Job 2.13 cast themselves down with him upon the ground and for seven daies and seven nights together none of them speaking so much as a word unto him the reason is given because they saw that his grief was very great Meaning as Junius well interprets it That the greatness of that grief which they perceived had taken hold of the spirit and soul of their Friend so afflicted them and because that sympathy commiseration had wrought such a grief in them that they sate all this while as persons astonished and were not able to stir up themselves to comfort him by these instances you may see it is the nature of grief to contract the heart and to make men listless unto action In like manner the Spirit through the ungrateful disobedient and unworthy behaviour of men towards him is said to be grieved when by such means men have wrought him if we may so speak to the like listlessness of acting and putting forth the excellencie of his power in their hearts and souls as formerly he did and doth sometime in others On the other hand a man is never in a right posture for action or for the doing of any thing that is of any good or great concernment unto others but when he enjoyeth himself upon the highest and richest terms of satisfaction and contentment So then the Spirit of God is said to be grieved by men when they shall deal so unkindly with or by him as to reject and neglect his heavenly motions and inspirations by giving over such and such waies of honour Christian excellency and worth which they had sometime lift up their hearts and hands unto and walked with delight in them When men I say shall cease to go on in such waies as these and prefer the ignoble and base motions of the Flesh or of the World before those that come from him and which are all honourable and heavenly such a demeanour of men towards the Spirit of God grieveth him that is Maketh him listless unto action and causeth him to abate and to fall lower in his operations and to give out himself more faintly than before Whereas he had been active and ever and anon stirring and provoking them and this with efficacie and power unto this and that good way and work now he withdraweth by degrees and declineth these motions and operations upon which the soul of man becomes listless and dull to any thing of a spiritual concernment like a Ship becalmed on the Seas whose Sails a little before were filled with fresh and pleasant gales of wind carrying her amain to her desired Port. Now then if it be a duty lying upon Christians not to grieve the Spirit Then by the authority of both the Rules by which we found out the true sense of our former proof both of them being as proper and useful here it is their duty also to chear and delight the Spirit I mean to keep themselves in such a frame or posture both inwardly in heart and soul and outwardly in life and conversation that he may take delight in them And if it be the duty of Christians to be pleasing unto and compliant with the Spirit simply indefinitely and in any degree Then upon the grounds formerly argued and made good it is more their duty to endeavour with their whole heart and soul to please him in the highest Now when he taketh delight and pleasure in any man in more than an ordinary degree he will signifie not only his contentment in this kind but even the measure and degree of it also by a proportionable advancement of his gracious activity upon all occasions This is that we intend and hold forth in the Doctrine from the Apostles expression of being filled with the Spirit which also by warrant of the same authority we affirm to be a duty lying upon all Christians We shall insist only upon one proof more to confirm the truth of the Doctrine Sect. 11 Be kindly affectioned saith the Apostle one unto another c. Be not slothful in business but fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.10 11. To be fervent in Spirit especially in the Service of God or of Christ requires a great presence or fulness of the Spirit of God in a man For the Spirit of a man acted only by it self or by its own strength wisdom or goodness will never rise so high in any true and real Service of god as fervency of spirit doth import Neither will an ordinary presence or assistance of the Spirit of God himself carry the heart of a man up unto any such pitch of devotion He that will have an ear to hearken to the voice of this Exhortation of being fervent in spirit in the Service of the Lord must find out a way how to engage and how to comport with the Spirit of God that he may vouchsafe unto him a measure of his presence heaped up to make him capable of so great and worthy an undertaking Yea men I suppose cannot be fervent in spirit in doing any thing which they call or judge to be the Service of God although it be a Service of their own fansie or genius or of some worse deity unless they be acted therein by a spirit more active than their own So then if it be a duty lying upon all Christians to be fervent in spirit serving the Lord then is it a duty that beareth with the same weight upon them to be filled with the Spirit Inasmuch as the performance of the former of these duties cannot stand but by the performance of the latter so that from hence it is evident that it is a duty incumbent upon all Christians to be filled with the Spirit Besides these Scriptures now argued we might if need were increase their number for the proof of our Doctrine by arguing in like manner all those Scriptures which require such things of men that cannot be performed by men without a being filled with the Spirit such passages of these which are not a few do clearly import that it is a duty yea a duty of duties such a duty without the performance whereof great numbers of other duties will suffer and never appear in their glory Texts of this import are these with their fellows Rom 8.13 Joh. 16.24 Luke 21.36 CHAP. II. The first Reason of the Doctrine propounded and argued viz That it is the duty of all persons especially of all the Professors of the Gospel or Christianity to be filled with the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God Because if men be not filled or in a way of being filled with the Spirit of God they will be filled with some evil Spirit one or other IT is
therefore the duty of all Christians to be filled with the Spirit Sect. 1 because if they be not filled Reason 1 or do not endeavour to be filled with the Spirit of God they will certainly be filled with some one or other worse Spirit which will lead them aside into the waies of sin and vanity and of darkness and death And most certain it is the duty of all Christians to do all things that are requisite and necessary for the preventing of so great an evil and misery coming upon them as this namely of being filled with any spirit contrary to the Spirit of God and spirit of sin and wickedness whatsoever That it is simply necessary to prevent such a polution or defilement so miserable a state and condition as this is not or at least ought not to be a question unto any man who minds but to any degree the things of his peace Now that it is a duty lying upon all c. to be filled with the Spirit is evident if we shall consider that there are many other Spirits abroad in the world every one of which hath a direct antipathy to the holy Spirit of God That which the Apostle John speaketh more particularly of Doctrines Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God 1 Joh. 4.1 may be said of Spirits in general For there are many Spirits walking up and down in the World Isa 19 3. a spirit of perverseness Deut. 32.5 a spirit of whoredom Hos 4.12 a spirit of covetousness Ezek. 33.31 a spirit of slumber Rom. 11.8 a spirit of fear 2 Tim. 1.7 Now when principles or dispositions in men whether they be disposions unto vertue and holiness or unto sin and vice are grown up unto any fulness so that they put forth themselves with force and are vigorous and active in them It is usual in the Scripture language dialect or manner of speaking to express such or such principles or dispositions by the name of Spirit As when love acteth vigorously in men to express it by the name of the spirit of love So a meek and humble frame of heart by a spirit of meekness So on the other hand a perverse and froward spirit by a spirit of perverseness an inordinate love of money or inordinate coveting after riches by a spirit of covetousness Sect. 2 Now the reason of this denomination to call covetousness where it is strong and raised in men and when they favour strongly of it by the name of a spirit of covetousness and so of fear when it is active and vigorous in men by a spirit of fear There is the same consideration to be had of love meekness holiness c. for these principles or dispositions when they are active and vigorous are as well denominated unto us by the name of spirit as those which are of a contrary nature and import The reason hereof is First to shew that when principles and dispositions in men are raised to any great degree of strength and become vigorous and active and have gotten any considerable power in or over men if I may so speak they are hard to be resisted Even as Spirits or Angels who as the Psalmist saith excell or according to the Hebrew reading in the Margin are mighty in strength Psal 103.20 they are yery potent and powerful not easie to be resisted in their operations Even so it is with principles and dispositions when they are grown to any considerable height in men and become strong and potent they are hard to be resisted and therefore called by the Holy Ghost by the name of Spirit Or else happily the reason may be which I chiefly eye because all dispositions in men and principles of action whether good or evil when ever they are raised any whit high and have gotten strength within them there is some spirit or other good or evil that mingleth it self with them and by this means doth add vigour and strength unto them and doth raise them above that measure and pitch of strength and activity which they would never be raised unto without the interposure of some such Spirit good or evil properly so called It is true When holy dispositions in men are in their greatest strength and glory there is but one Spirit by which they are acted and that is the Spirit of God or the Holy Ghost who through the infiniteness of his power doth answer yea more than anwer yea even far surpass in power the innumerable company of unclean Spirits and therefore when holy dispositions and inclinations are raised in men though they be many and various and spring from different principles in the heart and soul of a man Yet this one and indivisible spirit is able through or by means of his concurrence with them and influencing of them to add strength power and energie unto them and enable every one of them to fructifie and bring forth genuine fruit according unto its respective kind But now as concerning evil and sinful principles and dispositions it is very probable that the case is far otherwise For as there is a vast number and company of devils and unclean spirits so is it no waies dissonant unto reason to conceive that they have their distinct imployments and offices One sort of them may be employed to raise stir up and strengthen a spirit of uncleanness in men Another a spirit of covetousness A third a spirit of malice and revenge A fourth a spirit of gluttony and excess c. The * Eph. 1.21 Col. 2.15 Mat. 12.25 26. Scripture and that not obscurely seems to countenance this notion viz. that they are ranged into orders and are under a kind of regiment and that they are in a straight band league and confederacy to carry on one and the same grand design And if so their nature considered viz. their wisdom and subtilty it is most probable that every one of them is imployed according to his proper genius Some because they are of a more bloudy and cruel nature than others may be employed to stir up and to strengthen in men a spirit of malice and persecution Others that are otherwaies disposed may be imployed to stir up and cherish a spirit of pride and wantonness A third sort of them whose genius lyeth that way to strengthen and increase a spirit of error But we may have occasion to speak more of this afterwards In the mean season this is that which we say in the reason in hand Sect. 3 That unless men shall take a course to be filled with the Spirit of God they will by degrees at least and perhaps sooner than they are aware be filled with some evil and contrary spirit a spirit of some sin and wickedness one or other The reason hereof is plain and near at hand because the evil and unclean Spirit that is the old Serpent Job 1.7 commonly called the Devil who walketh up and down the world compassing the earth too and fro
have abundance But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath By him that hath in the former clause to whom more shall be given must needs be meant a man that useth or imployeth that which he hath so and upon such terms that he gives an account unto the world makes it known unto men that he hath received some Talent one or more from God For otherwise if we shall take the word hath in a Grammatical and proper sense it will follow that every one shall have more given and so every one shall have abundance For all men have in such a sense of having All men have somewhat from God originally But now in as much as he namely who had the one Talent is said to have buried it in a napking therefore our Saviour presents him under this notion and character of one that had not because he did not make use or improve that which he had took no course to make it appear unto men that he had any such Talent or means from God So it is frequent and ordinary in the Scripture to express one who useth not what he hath and which giveth no testimony or account of what he hath by the Phrase of not having at all In like manner in the place under consideration where it is said that men of such a Character have not the Spirit The meaning is not that they had not the Spirit at all or in no degree But only this that they being sensual were chiefly guided and that their waies and works were influenced by the flesh and fleshly principles But as for the Spirit of God he was wholly neglected neither did they take any course to improve his presence in them nor to give any account unto men by their lives and conversations of any presence of his with them This is one consideration from whence in conjunction with that which follows it appears that he that is not filled or at least in a way of being filled with the Spirit of God is in eminent danger of being filled with an evil or contrary spirit The consideration as you heard was this that whosoever is destitute of the Spirit of God or is wholly flesh in the sense declared hath nothing wherewith to resist the unclean spirit that shall seek to enter into him and to fill him with his presence but all things which are confederate with him and assist him Secondly Sect. 6 As we intimated before our sense to be that no persons whatsoever who have not sinned the sin against the Holy Ghost which few now living if any have done but have the Spirit of God in some measure or degree in them I therefore add for the further confirmation of the reason in hand That men by the Spirit of God himself when he resideth in them in some low and ordinary degree only and when not stirred up by them being not regarded but neglected I say such a presence or residence of the Spirit of God himself in men will not put them into a meet posture or capacity to resist Sathan in case he shall engage himself which certainly he will to fill them with his spirit It is said of Christ Mar. 6.5 That being in his own Country he could do no great works there because of their unbelief The Evangelist Matthew speaking of the same thing or recording the same History Mat. 13.58 rendereth it thus That he did not many mighty works c. Now that which Matthew expresseth only in these terms That he did not Mark expressing the same thing doth it with more Emphasis and weight namely That he could there do no mighty works c. He could not work himself to be willing to do any great works he had not any motive before him to incline his will that way but on the other hand a grand diswasive from it and that which did quench and take off his will and made him listless to any such action namely their unbelief Now what a man cannot will to do he may properly enough be said not to be able to do because a consent or concurrence of the will is every whit as necessary to an action as the ability or power of acting There are two things equally necessary to every action The one is That the will be consenting thereunto The other is That the person so willing and consenting have a respective power or ability of acting when either of these shall be wanting the thing or action can never be done or performed As if a man have not a will unto a thing or action impossible it is that ever it should proceed from him or by his means Now certain it is that the will cannot rise up unto a consent and concurrence with the executive power in order to an action unless it have potent and congruous motives one or more to help it up or raise it No man can will any thing but only that which he conceiveth to be good there being no other object capable of affecting or moving the will So then the working of Miracles or great works about Nazareth the sottish and wilful unbelief of the people considered had not in the understanding of Christ rationem boni the consideration of good in it and so it was impossible that his will should be moved and affected by it to consent unto it and consequently it may very properly be said that he could not do any such things In the same dialect of speech the Spirit of God himself may be said not to be able to oppose and resit Satan in his attempting to fill men with sin and wickedness when his presence in and with men is despised and neglected when they take no knowledge of his being so near unto them nor of his gracious offers to relieve help and assist them against their spiritual enemies For though his power of executing namely for the frustrating and dissolving the attempts of Sathan which we are speaking of be not impaired nor indeed impairable to speak properly by any negligence unfaithfulness or unfruitfulness of men whatsoever Yet the exerting or putting forth of this power of his in such cases may be hindred by men namely when they shall so demean themselves towards him that he hath no consideration before him to render him willing to do it but many to make him unwilling Hence it comes to pass that the Spirit may truly and properly be said not to be able to exert his power or not to unbare his arm for the assisting of men in their resisting and vanquishing of Sathan in such attempts as we speak of Another Scripture of the same character with the others even now mentioned you have Joh. 14.17 Where our Saviour speaking of the Spirit tells his Desciples that the world cannot receive him the reason he renders is because it namely the world seeth him not neither knoweth him So that the reason why the world did not receive the Spirit in that measure that the
Disciples did is because they did not see him neither know him Though he be near unto them yea though he be in their hearts by his word yet they not minding nor contemplating this word of his nor regarding his motions in their souls but suffering the eyes of their minds to be fixed upon this present world and the sins and vanities thereof do not see him though he be near unto them and ready to do great things for them had they a mind to imploy him But their thoughts and mind being otherwise engaged and entangled they do by this means and during the Regency of such principles render themseles upon the matter in an utter incapacity of receiving the Spirit because they favour so much of the Spirit of this world and render themselves such a kind of sinners and such an unworthy generation that the Spirit of God can have no will or lust can take no pleasure or content to manifest himself unto them This is the second consideration by which you may perceive that unless men shall take a course to be filled with the Spirit of God they will lay themselves open and obnoxious to be filled with some unclean spirit or other If it be here objected Sect. 7 and said Is not the Spirit of God a gracious and free-working Spirit Objection And will he not doth he not for his own name sake as the Scriptures often speak put forth his might and strength to aide and assist men and women against Sathan and his evil practices towards them when and where he pleaseth without any motive or inducement from them by way of compliance with him or any goodness of behaviour in one kind or other towards him How then can we say that it doth depend upon any compliance of the creature Man with him or any kind of behaviour of his towards him I answer Answer most true it is That the Spirit of God is a most gracious and free-working Spirit exerting and putting forth himself rising up in his might and heavenly vigour where when and in whom he pleaseth Nor doth he receive Laws Terms or Directions from men for any of his motions or actions in the world but from himself his own grace and wisdom only Secondly I answer further That though the Spirit of God be most gracious and free in all his operations and workings Yet as the Apostle Peter speaking of the Promise of the Lord Christ concerning his coming saith The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise as some men count stackness 2 Pet. 3.9 Even so say I of the Spirit of Christ That he is neither gracious nor free-working as some men count gracious and free-working he is neither the one nor the other in any way of contrariety unto himself I mean either to his own holiness or his love of holiness in men nor yet to his wisdom or the interest of his glory but only in a direct and clear consistency with these Some mens imagination or notion concerning the gracious and free working disposition of the Spirit of God is 1. That there have been and are some men to whom he never hath nor ever will vouchsafe his gracious presence to the least degree and meerly out of his freedom hath willed never to have to do with them little or much not because of any peculiar strain of wickedness in them but meerly and only as I even now said from his own will and pleasure 2. On the other hand they conceive That God vouchsafeth such a presence unto some others so powerful and effectual that they are not able to resist the motions influences and workings of it but are necessitated thereby to repent believe and work righteousness 3. And lastly Others notion of this grace and working of the Spirit is such as if no course or strain of sin and wickedness whatsoever in men though still persisted in no impenitency no neglect or contempt whether precedent or present of the Gospel and of the great Salvation offered therein were or are any way considerable as to the obstructing or hindering the Spirit of God from vouchsafing even the richest highest and fullest measure of himself and his gracious presence unto them Now that Neither the grace of God nor the freedom of the Spirit in working is to be estimated measured or computed by any such notions or principles as these hath been already sufficiently evinced and proved and might here be done again would it not occasion too long a digression That graciousness and freedom of working which the Scripture any where yea and sound reason it self asserts unto the Spirit of God consists and shews it self in these particulars First All men without exception having sinned in Adam and thereby justly deprived themselves of all friendly converse and communion with God yea and justly incurred his high displeasure hatred and indignation There was nothing of any engaging or inviting much less of any obliging import in man to move or encline the God of Heaven to have any thing more to do with him in any way of love favour mercy goodness or the like to the daies of Eternity So that God having been pleased notwithanding this low and despicable condition of his Creature man to comport with him again upon terms of grace and reconciliation and to offer himself unto him namely to be re-enjoyed upon terms and these very possible to be performed by him and to put him into a capacity of blessedness and glory his former provocations notwithstanding must needs be matter of pure and meer grace and consequently of free grace so far as it was matter of grace at all If any shall say The misery and sad extremity of the Creature man Sect. 8 in the condition wherein he had now plunged himself Objection might be some moving cause unto God or upon God to look back again in mercy towards him And so in this respect there might be somewhat in man inviting him unto that merciful compliance with him which now he hath vouchsafed and consequently his grace in this vouchsafement is not so absolutely and purely free To this I answer Answers That no man as I suppose ever oppoed misery unto grace or freeness of grace in him that sheweth mercy or relieveth It is not repugnant to the greatest freeness of grace that can be imagined that a man should be induced to vouchsafe help shew mercy and relieve a person that is in misery yea upon the occasion thereof or that his misery should be an inducement thereunto 2. That compliance which God vouchsafed unto his Creature man considered as now misrable is not properly matter of grace or an act of grace but of mercy so that though the mercy of God out of which he hath vouchsafed means of relief unto man may be said to have been invited or wrought upon by his misery and in this respect not so absolutely free Yet this hinders not but that the grace of God properly so called out of which he hath been
his beloved Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and compounds it with a Verb which without it signified somewhat more than simply an abundance and so calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace superabounding or rather grace superredounding But where sin aboundeth grace superaboundeth or abounded much more Rom. 5.20 Thirdly Sect. 10 A third thing wherein the graciousness and freeness of the Spirit consists Huge Grot. in Rom. 5.20 is that in all that he acts and moves and works in men according to all that variety and manifoldness of working which proceeds from him at any time he doth proceed by his own Laws and these every waies gracious full of equity and sweetness and not by any thing any Law engagement or terms imposed upon him by men When men by having as the Scripture expression is that is by imploying and improving what they have viz. from the Spirit for men have nothing of any spiritual or gracious import but from him come to have more given viz. by this gracious Spirit more light more knowledge more wisdom love zeal courage faithfulness c. they come by this means to have in abundance Now they that have in this sense according to our Saviours promise this advance of his presence and growing tenour of his operation do not procure or draw it from him by any vertue or engagement of merit nor by any terms imposed upon him by the endeavours actings or improvements of their own but only the rich efficacy and vertue of his most gracious good pleasure and will who was pleased to prescribe the Law of this grace and goodness unto himself As when God justifies and saves those that believe he doth it freely of himself and from himself because he hath made this Law unto himself and established it he hath published and declared That whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ shall be justified and consequently saved he doth it freely and of meer grace not by judging himself obliged to do it by any worth or merit found in mens believing and yet he doth it constantly toties quoties and without failing as oft as he meets with believers in Jesus Christ he justifieth them he saveth them And indeed it is impossible he should do otherwise because as the A postle informeth us he cannot lie neither can he deny himself in his truth and faithfulness In like manner the Spirit of God hath prescribed unto himself the like Laws and terms for all his transactions dealings and proceedings with men according to the tenour whereof he will inlarge and advance his presence in the hearts and souls and spirits of men and will not walk contrary to them nor advance or put forth himself in any eminency of working but only where his lower or former motions have been obeyed and consented unto Yet he doth not this because men regard his presence but because he regards his own righteous counsels and purposes That which the Creature doth in this case is but a weak and inconsiderable thing to ingage such an infinite Spirit as the Spirit of God is to do such great things as those in men And as God will not save those that believe because of any merit that is in their Faith but because the counsel of his will is so to do So the Spirit of God will not do as hath been said because of any worthiness in mens compliance with him but he hath made this for a Law unto himself and honoureth his own Law and himself too by observing it To him that hath shall be given and he shall have more abundantly but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath Now we shall prove from that very passage that it is a Law which the Holy Ghost hath made and declares that he would walk by it towards the Sons and Daughters of men in all their succeeding Generations to the worlds end To him that hath that is that shews that he hath that declares that he hath that improves and imploys that which he hath namely that which is given originally to him by way of stock from the Spirit of God to him that thus hath shall be given namely by way of addition he shall have more abundantly he shall still be going on and be having and having and having he shall have and have still At last he shall have abundance he shall have a full and glorious estate in Spiritual riches in wisdom in knowledge in understanding in Faith in humility in love in zeal in temperance in patience and whatever else is necessary to enrich the soul of a man and to prepare him and put him into a capacity of the richest and highest glory So that we see this is a clear and declared method by which the Holy Ghost will proceed with men and women in his communications of himself unto them And though their be nothing in the creature to invite and move him in this kind yet nevertheless there is his own wisdom his own righteousuess and goodness by which he made this Law and imposed it upon himself these are sacred ingagements upon him to do all that he doth in the case we speak of And doubtless there was abundance of reason which did induce him to it whereof though we be not so capable for his Counsels are very deep yet something in the business may with good probability be conceived by us But for the thing it self he it seems will do it as constantly as universally at least in his ordinary dispensations as if it were the greatest injustice in him and most inconsistent with the rectitude and purity of his nature not to do it It may be here objected Sect. 11 and said that the Holy Ghost doth not observe any such Law or Rule in his actings or workings in men as now you ascribe unto him or at least tell us that he hath prescribed unto himself For doth he not sometimes come upon such men that have been formerly prophane vain and sinful above measure Doth he not sometimes come upon such men after some such manner as he came upon the A postles at the time of Pentecost like a mighty rushing wind I mean with an high hand of power and conviction and so in short time works the great work of Conversion and Repentance in them Was not Paul a stiff-necked Pharisee and Blasphemer a Persecutor of the Gospel and of the Saints all his daies before Yea as himself saith the chiefest of sinners And did not the Spirit of God come upon him as a whirlwind with a strong and high hand in an irresistible and miraculous manner to effect his Conversion To this I answer First That when with the Holy Ghost himself we say that unto him that hath shall be given and interpret this to be meant of the Holy Ghost advancing his presence and operations in men even as they hearken unto him and respectively comport with him in his preventing and lower motions And so again on the other hand
That from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath understand it of the Spirits withdrawing of himself from men and falling lower and lower in his presence and motions proportionably to mens unthankfulness neglect and opposition to him we do not conceive either of the one or the other of these Lawsor Rules as if the Holy Ghost would universally and in all cases whatsoever bind himself unto them especially to that in either of them which beareth hard upon the Creature but that our Saviours meaning was only to declare unto the world what the Common Laws or terms of the Spirits proceedings and dealings with men would be and what men were to trust to and expect ordinarily from him and so bethink themselves of behaving themselves accordingly If you ask me what I mean by that which beareth hard upon the Creature in each of the Laws or Rules mentioned I answer concerning the former Rule to him that hath shall be given if it should be meant that the Holy Ghost will give unto none but unto him that hath that is that improveth and maketh use of what he hath received this would bear hard upon the Creature By bearing hard I do not mean any manner of injustice or unrighteousness or hard dealing of the Holy Ghost towards men but only such a thing which if it should take place and be done would turn to the damage or loss of the Creature as it must needs do unto many if that the Holy Ghost should give only unto those and to none other but those that are said to have because the greatest part of men have not in the sense of this saying but the Holy Ghost may walk by this Rule that is may give to every one that hath in the sense declared and yet may give to many also that have not as a rich man may give relief to all his poor neighbours and yet sometimes give an alms to him that is a stranger also As to the latter Law From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath it is not necessary to suppose neither that this should import that the Holy Ghost should universally or in all cases without exception wholly desert or forsake him that hath not that is doth not alwaies entertain his motions respectfully and apply himself unto them Nay I suppose that in the rigour of this sense this Law is never observed by him For according to this sense it would follow that if a man should for never so short a time were it but for a day or an hour deal unkindly by the Holy Ghost neglect or reject his motions that he would out of hand totally and finally withdraw himself from him But as to this point the Scriptures frequently shew the case to be far otherwise and that the Spirit of God is full of patience and long-suffering towards men even towards froward and gain-saying men waiting a long time upon them if yet they will consider and bethink themselves of compliance with him How long ye simple ones saith the Spirit of wisdom Pro. 1.22 to foolish and froward men will ye love simplicity c. which shews that this Spirit had for a long time attended upon them And so 2 Chron. 36.15 The Lord God of their Fathers sent unto them by his Messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place And they mocked the messengers of God and despised his Prophets and misused his messengers untill the wrath of God rose upon them and there was no remedy This passage plainly sheweth that the Spirit of God fought as it were a pitched battel with them or rather with their wickedness endeavouring to overcome it He had them under his hand and was perswading and instructing them for a long time before he withdrew himself wholly from them And therefore when our Saviour threatens from him that hath not shall be taken away c. the meaning first must needs be this From him that hath not viz. within some considerable time after that the Spirit of God hath graciously intreated him and lovingly stroven with him He that doth not within the time of a man as we may say that is in which men may very well and as we use to say at leisure bethink themselves of the grand concernments of their souls and within which usually such men as do ever repent are wont to repent and return unto God from such a man the Spirit of God will withdraw Secondly Concerning that clause shall be taken away even that he hath the meaning is not as if all that such a man hath all the presence or gifts or gracious workings of the Spirit shall be withdrawn from him suddenly or at once but shall be taken away viz. by degrees and in time Such a man shall still be on the losing and declining hand as long as he is amongst the number of those that have not and at last will be stripped of all and left utterly naked Thirdly and lastly That which I would have especially to be considered in this Minatory or Penal Law asserted by the Scripture From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath is not so to be understood either as if in no case or for no accommodation either of the Gospel or of Men or of the Glory of God or the like it were dispensable or as if the Holy Ghost had so obliged himself by it that upon no occasion whatsoever he would vary from it but this Law is enacted in Heaven upon these terms that it should be the express the usual and ordinary course which the Holy Ghost would observe in treating with men about the great matters of their peace and that no man shall expect other dealings from him the said Law being most equitable and just meetest indeed to be the standing Law of his transactions with men however in some special cases a strict observance of it might not be so expedient It is very frequent in the Scriptures Sect. 12 for God to deliver and express as well threatnings as promises absolutely in respect of the tenour or form of words wherein they are delivered without the least whisper or noyse of any exception or clause of restriction when as notwithstanding both the one and the other are conditional and were by him intended for none other Instances of Conditional Promises delivered in words absolute and without mention of any Condition we may find 1 Sam 2.30 I said indeed speaking unto Ely that thy Fathers house should walk before me for ever there was no Condition expressed in this Promise of God unto Ely his Fathers house But yet it is clear in Ely his own case and the instance of his own person that God in this promise intended a Condition which he had reserved to himself which was that in case his Father and those of his Posterity should walk uprightly and serve him in the
to propose unto himself and unto his Spirit for his dealing with the world And for exceptions it is a common saying and true that an exception from a general Rule strengthens and confirms the Rule in all particulars not excepted for there is no general Rule as the saying is that hath not some exceptions Now these exceptions that are to be found from the general Rule we speak of are so far from taking it away or making any breach upon it that indeed they give great confirmation and authority unto it By that standing Rule we speak of God doth explain himself to this effect that men should not expect any extraordinary coming of the Holy Ghost upon them but wait for him in his ordinary way And the truth is those standing Laws and Rules of which we have spoken may be the result of the choisest and most excellent wisdom of the Holy Ghost and of God in ordaining them and yet it may be a point of the same wisdom likewise in some cases to act contrary to them There is a time saith the wise man to build and a time to pull down though these be contrary actions yet according to the exigency of differing times and seasons and occasions both may be done with a like wisdom So that the Holy Ghost may ordinarily walk by one rule and yet in extraordinary cases may walk by another Rule and both with uniformity unto his grace and goodness towards the world But it will be still objected That the Holy Ghost doth not move or act by any determinate Law prescribed unto himself no Sect. 17 not in his ordinary proceedings with men For doth he not many times ever and anon shew himself in his might and in the glory of his strength and power in working effectually upon the hearts and consciences of men that have been loose and vain and a long time wicked and prophane In answer hereunto we might commend unto you those particulars which we have formerly delivered upon this account to consider of But in the sixth place we shall add this to the five preceding which we will not stand now to name that persons that have been loose prophane despisers of God and the Gospel c. may on the sudden and at once seem to be truly converted and brought home unto God when that which is wrought in or upon them in this kind is but either that which some call a Sermon-sickness when the Conscience of a man is only troubled or wounded with the dreadful concernment of the things he hears but soon after recovers himself out of this fit and is the same man he was or worse than before As when Paul before Felix was reasoning of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come it is said that Felix trembled Acts 24.25 But this was but like an earthquake under which the earth is much troubled and shaken as if it would be removed out of its place but soon after recovers and returns to its wonted stability Or else the work we speak of suddenly wrought in loose sensual and prophane persons may possibly not vanish and come to nothing and yet not be a real work of Conversion yet doth it not follow that the Holy Ghost should be found therein to recede from his own Law mentioned To him that hath shall be given because possibly a man may have more in him by way of improvement within the space of one hour and perhaps in a far shorter time than another in the space of several hours yea or years and yet be an Haver too in the sense formerly declared my meaning is this That a man or woman may possibly with a less assistance of the Spirit more effectually provoke and stir up themselves and advance their minds and attentions to the hearing and considering of the Gospel the words of eternal life when they are speaking unto them than another man with a greater measure of assistance of the same Spirit may do within the space of a far longer time and yet be doing somewhat all the while As in matters of a Civil concernment one man with a lesser stock only with more diligence and wisdom may advance his estate more within the space of one year than another with a greater stock being less industrious and provident may do in three and this man may not go backward neither That hath been heretofore signified unto you that the Holy Ghost seldom or never withdraws from any man so low unless it be in the case of the unpardonable sin but that a person may by means of his gracious presence with him if he will provoke and stir up himself accordingly he may consider the things of his eternal peace and act and behave himself accordingly That God is said to open the heart of Lydia Acts 16.14 So that she attended to the things that were spoken by Paul doth not prove that Lydia had a greater presence or assistance of the Spirit of God than any other that were present at the preaching of the Gospel whereby she was converted But only notes the happy event and success which that assistance she had had in and upon her heart like unto which there was none wrought or produced in any other there present by any presence or assistance of the Spirit which they had This is a Principle or Rule according to which many things are spoken and are to be taken and understood in the Scriptures viz. that when one and the same action is raised and produced by a joynt concurrence of two different causes one principal and independent in its efficacy or working the other subordinate and dependent in the acting thereof the effect or work produced between them is sometimes as in good propriety of speech it may be ascribed to the one and sometimes to the other but more commonly to the former that which is the principal So that act of opening Lydia's heart because God was the principal agent in it and cause independent in working it though this was not could not be without Lydia's act in consenting God opened and she opened too for she repented and believed see Rev. 3.20 yet the work is ascribed only unto God But this by the way Seventhly Sect. 18 and lastly When there is any such example in reality and truth as the objection mentioneth viz. a person on the sudden converted and brought home unto God which hath formerly been loose vain and prophane there may be somewhat more than an ordinary presence of the Holy Ghost in and about the work without any declining of that Law or Rule before mentioned from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath For it is to be supposed and not at all to be doubted that even he that hath not in our Saviours sense of the word have that hath not any thing upon improvement of his original stock yet may have somewhat commodious and advantageous unto him at this turn upon the account of some other one or
expression Jam. 2.13 rejoyceth against judgment in one sense so doth judgment rejoyce against unmercifulness in another But how or in what sense mercy rejoyceth against judgment we have opened unto most of you formerly upon another occasion * In a Sermon entituled Mercy in her Exaltation we shall briefly remind you of it again Mercy is said to rejoyce against judgment because a person that is conscious to himself that he is of a merciful disposition and that he hath abounded in works of mercy stands upon a ground of advantage to be made or to become confident that God will not deal severely by him or destroy him It is a frequent Dialect in Scripture to attribute that to the abstract or form which properly belongeth to the subject as qualified therewith Charity saith Paul beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things 1 Cor. 13.7 That is not only inableth but effectually also enclineth the person who is the subject of it to do all this meaning that a person endued with Charity doth the one and the other So mercy rejoyceth against judgment that is a person in whom mercy resideth is qualified and strengthened hereby to rejoyce against judgment that is not to be afraid of judgment whether by judgment we understand an appearing before God to be judged or that Condemnation which God threatneth in his Word against wicked and unbelieving men which frequently passeth under the name of judgment it cometh much to one Now to rejoyce against a person or a thing that is terrible in it self and unto others of the same nature and condition with us imports or rather supposeth and includes a kind of neglect or non-fearing of it in him who is said thus to rejoyce Rejoyce not against me oh mine Enemy Mic. 7.8 that is Do not despise me or look upon me as if I were a People or Nation forsaken of my God because I am brought low and afflicted please not your selves over-much with my present distress be not too confident as if I should never recover out of this afflicted state and condition And as mercy in this sense is said to rejoyce against judgment so may judgment in a sense little differing be said to rejoyce against unmercifulness because of all other kind of sin or sinners it will prevail and magnifie it self against these the Judgments of God will handle unmerciful men most terribly or according to that of James in the same place he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy They that shut up their bowels of compassion as John speaketh 1 Joh. 3.17 against their Brethren that have need lye under this judgment of darkness in common with other wicked men viz. to think that God is like unto them Psa 50.21 Therefore being regardless of other mens miseries and no waies enclined to acquaint their souls with the sufferings and sorrows of any but their own they are apt to transform or change in their imaginations the glory of the most gracious and merciful God into the similitude of their own hard-heartedness towards others and so must needs be under a most sad disadvantage to apprehend and believe those most glorious things which the Gospel speaketh concerning the love and mercy and tenderness of compassion in God towards men Which yet must be clearly apprehended and steadily believed to invest the hearts and souls of men with the blessed priviledge of being lift up to Heaven upon the wing of Gospel-Consolation So then of all kind of offenders and transgressors in the World men that are straight of bowels and uncompassionate are the most uncapable of part and fellowship in the Consolatory Enjoyments of the Gospel those especially that are fullest of spirit and life the Gospel every where lowring and frowning upon them staving and beating them off from all hopes and conceit of finding mercy at the hand of God or of Salvation but only upon the change and turning of their hearts within them upside down Yea Thirdly and lastly persons in any kind who despise their waies as Solomon's expression is Pro. 19.16 who live at peradventure Sect. 10 and as we use to say hand over-head who do not narrowly and tenderly ponder all their paths lest any of them should be found too light Neither are such as these like to eat of that choice fruit that groweth on that tree which is in the midst of the Paradise of God nor to be fed with the marrow and fatness of the Gospel Consolations The reason is because it is a thousand to one but they who shall despise their waies and resolve to walk on in such and such courses de bene esse and as it were upon proof when no Letter of the Law presently and expresly riseth up against it I say it is a thousand to one but that they will be polluted in some or other of their paths and however the very neglect of enquiring at the mouth of God in the Scriptures what is his mind concerning us in all our actions and waies must needs grieve the good Spirit of God within us as indeed every practice yea and omission also doth about which his interest lieth to instruct and direct us if recourses be not made unto him accordingly Now if men shall pitch upon a course ex tempore and as we lately expressed it hand over-head and not consult with him about the goodness or lawfulness thereof this is enough to intangle us with the guilt of grieving the Spirit of God And if the good Spirit of God in men be still grieved and not again in time relieved and recovered from under this Passion certain it is that all this while men are in no capacity at all to be carried up by him into the Mount of the Gospel where the glory of the Consolations thereof shineth No if the Spirit beginneth to withdraw himself from men or forbears his wonted activeness and employment and stirring in them and doth as men who in time of solemn sorrow and grief are wont to retire themselves from their wonted company and employments Now they are in a very ill capacity and much disqualified for the enjoyment of the Consolations of the Gospel in their strength and glory Men will never be mightily strengthened as the Apostle speaketh in the inward man but by the Spirit of God nor will they ever be mightily strengthened there by him when he is grieved or upon any other terms than when he is highly pleased with the deportments and comportments of men Now these things being so first that neither men addicted to this present World secondly nor men of straight and hard bowels nor lastly men that despise their waies in any kind are meet subjects or vessels prepared to receive the waters of life from the Gospel where they are richest and sweetest and most quickning to the soul It plainly followeth that without a very great presence of the Spirit of God they are not like to arrive at or to obtain
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
as intimate the Holy Ghosts not being truly God but rather assert and affirm it Because the Apostle Paul teacheth us Phil. 2.12 13. that it is God and not an Angel that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure and upon this account admonisheth us to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling which admonition clearly implies these two things 1. That that working of God in men to will and to do doth not make men actually to will and to do but that over and besides that which God doth in this kind mens own endeavours to provoke them to comport with God in these preventing interposures of his are requisite and necessary Otherwise the Apostle need not to have admonished them to work out their Salvation with fear and trembling nor needs there more to be done by men for their Salvation but only to will and to do 2. The said admonition considering the ground and motive upon which it is given and administred clearly implies that God's preventing grace vouchsafed unto men termed by the Apostle His working in men to will and to do is a most dreadful engagement upon men to take the opportunity and advantage thereof to bestir themselves about the great business of their Salvation Now he doth not simply warn and charge them to work out their Salvation but to work it out with fear and trembling and that because it is God that worketh in them This clearly implies that much of this engagement would be taken off if it should be a Creature only as suppose an Angel and not God himself that should work in us to will and to do Bat Before we proceed to a fourth proof from the New Testament Sect. 7 to prove the Holy Ghost to be God we shall answer the Objections made against the Scriptures already produced and argued upon that account The first place insisted upon from the New Testament was Mat. 3.16 which mentions the opening or cleaving of the Heaven and the descending of the Spirit of God from whence we argued several things But because some of contrary judgment importunely and vainly boast that this Scripture is for them and that they desire no better advantage of ground for their opinion than what this passage affords though they cannot reasonably object or except against any thing that was delivered against their opinion from it let us here briefly weigh what their confidence in this kind amounteth unto or what there is in that plea whereon they build themselves from any thing found in this Scripture The strength which they pretend unto from the place lieth it seems in that metaphorical expression of the Holy Ghosts descending upon Christ Their notion or conceit is this He that removes and descends from one place to another cannot be God or the most high God But this is here and elsewhere attributed to the Holy Ghost Ergo. To this I reply First To the Major He that removes or descends from place to place c. 1. Simply to the principle of those men themselves who thus argue this Proposition taken in the most literal sense or construction that can be put upon it is untrue For they say and hold that even their most high God is bounded and limited in his Essence contained and comprehended within the Circle of the Heavens and that he is not Omnipresent unless haply it be in respect of his knowledge and power Though out of their bountiful respects towards him they grant him to be Omniscient and Omnipotent yet their liberality will not hold out to grant him an Immensity or an Omnipresence in respect of his Essence So that in making a capacity of removing from one place to another a demonstrative Argument of a created Essence and Being they prevaricate with their own grounds and principles and fall fowl upon their own Tenets which is a seldom failing Character of men intangled with error For if God the most high God as they love to call him be bounded in his Essence and his ordinary residence be circumscriptively in the Heavens what should hinder but that he may remove from place to place and as well as Angels or created Spirits do ascend and descend at his pleasure Therefore they that reason so as we have heard pull down with the right hand what they build up with the left But 1. As to the said Proposition simply considered and in it self true it is that he that removes descends or ascends from one place to another viz. literally properly and after the manner of Creatures or finit beings is not cannot be God the most high God But it follows not from hence that he that is figuratively and in some particular respect only said to remove or descend from place to place must needs be a Creature or some finite being For it is well known and generally acknowledged amongst Christians and men learned in the Scriptures that most of those things if not the whole sum of them which are spoken of God I mean the most High God in the Scriptures are spoken figuratively and with the exclusion of such particularities importing imperfection which the same things spoken of men or any other Creature do commonly imply and signifie So that God may in Scripture Language and indeed oft is said to remove from his place Psal 18.9 without any breach made upon the infinity of his Essence or without any repugnancy thereunto Thus Gen. 18.21 He is said to go down So Exod. 19.18 to descend or come down Hos 5.15 He is said to return to his place Now God may be said to descend or remove from place to place not because his Essence or substance of being changeth his place or ceaseth to be where it was before or beginneth to be where it was not thus to descend argues finiteness of being and limitedness of Essence and consequently imperfection and so is no waies attributeable unto God but he I say is said to descend when he makes any glorious or more than ordinary appearance or discovery of himself in one kind or other in these sublunary parts upon or near unto the earth or amongst men the ordinary place where he gives an interview of his face glory and Majesty unto his Creature being the Heavens above Even as a person that ordinarily makes his abode in the upper rooms of an house when he desires to shew himself to those below and who cannot with conveniency go up to him descends or goes down to them And God is said to return unto his place as in the expression cited from Hosea when having been graciously present with a Person or People for a time as either by a more than ordinary protection over them or by a more than ordinary communication of his Counsels unto them or the like when he shall now withdraw these signs of his gracious presence from them In such a case as this he is said to return to his place because he doth like a Prince who in his Progress
which at one and the same time is to be expedited and put in execution in all the four winds of the Heaven in places without number and these very far distant one from another and to provide that the work should be done regularly and effectually in all these places at once must in reason upon a diligent consideration of the business be judged to be greater than any Creature to have an arm far more out stretched than any Angel in Heaven therefore cercainly our Saviours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Comforter here said to be the Holy Ghost must needs be greater than a finite Angel and consequently God himself even the most High God Nor is it pertinent or much to the purpose here to pretend that the business of temptation of tempting men and women unto sin is managed and that very effectually and with too much success all the World over at one and the same time and yet he that presideth in chief over the World is but a finite Creature and is styled in the Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tempter Mat. 4.3 1 Thes 3.5 therefore why may not the work of Consolation be managed and carried on all the World over by an Angel or finite Spirit c. To this I answer 1. That there are many tempted and drawn away unto sin who are not tempted of the Devil Let no man saith James say when he is tempted I am tempted by God no let not every man when he is tempted say I am tempted of the Devil For God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man Nor doth the Devil tempt every man especially as oft as he committeth sin But every man i.e. the generality or far greater part of men is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed Jam. 1.13 14. And we know the Devil himself was tempted and drawn away with his own lust and enticed to the greatest impiety whilst yet there was no Tempter much more may men be tempted and drawn away by their own lusts So that the tempting of men all the World over at one and the same time doth not prove that therefore the Devil tempteth all the World over at the same time And the Devil himself confesseth in the Scriptures Job 1.7 that he compasseth the earth two and fre and walketh up and down in it And elsewhere it is said of him that he goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5.8 Therefore the Devil is not present all the World over at the same time doing one thing or other either by himself or by inferiour Devils his subservient instruments But now the Holy Ghost whom our Saviour calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he must of necessity be present all the World over where there is any comfort administred because no inferiour Comforter whether men themselves Ministers of God or others whether Angels or men can perform the work with effect or success without the presence and interposure of him that comforteth in chief Paul may plant and Apollo may water but it is God that giveth the encrease So then neither is he that planteth any thing nor he that watereth but God that giveth the encrease 1 Cor. 3.6 7. Neither man nor Angel is any thing i. e. comparatively or able to effect any thing of any Evangelical import without the immediate or actual presence or interposure of God therefore if the Holy Ghost were not God he could not render the Word of God effectual in the hearts of men as to matter of spiritual Consolation and that he should be termed the Comforter and not be able to comfort authoritatively of and by himself or any otherwise than as men commissionated or delegated from God ministerially to comfort is most irrational and no waies worthy to be believed But some that are otherwise minded in the business in hand except against the English Translation for translating the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Comforter when as they should have translated it the Advoeate as they have done 1 Joh. 2.1 I reply 1. That to him that is weak the Grashopper is a burthen and he that is afraid of falling is apt to catch hold of every twig in his way though it hath little or nothing in it to keep him from falling For what will be gained to the adverse cause in case the learning and judgment of the Translators should be made to bow down at the feet of him who thus excepteth And if we should condemn the Comforter to justifie and set up the Advocate will the Advocate plead his cause who stands so much for him with more strength than the Comforter Doubtless not at all For if the Holy Ghost be an Advocate in such a sense of the word Advocate as Christ is which it seems is the sense contended for he must mediate and plead the cause of all the Saints on earth as he doth with God the Father and so must know the estates and conditions of all the Saints on earth respectively and particularly and consequently must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the knower or searcher of the heart Acts 1.24 Chap. 15.8 which is the incommunicable property of God Or if he doth not know the hearts of the Saints perfectly how shall he be able to perform the part of a worthy Advocate He that is a man's Advocate had need understand his cause perfectly Or 2. If he that excepteth against the said Translation would have the Holy Ghost an Advocate in some other sense of the word viz. because he pleads the cause of the Saints at the Tribunal of their own hearts and consciences and informs these Judges I mean the consciences of the Saints respectively such things relating to his Clients upon the account of which they ought to justifie and absolve them or else because he pleads the cause of the truth and innocency of their Christian Profession before the World and the Rulers thereof when they are called before them or questioned by them according to that of our Saviour It is not you that speak but the Holy Ghost that speaketh in you Mar. 10.20 Mar. 13.11 Luke 12.12 namely by way of Apology for the Christian Profession which you make Take I say the word Advocate in either of these significations and I think there is hardly a third imaginable except that of Christ his being an Advocate the Godhead of the Holy Ghost will be every whit as much countenanced and asserted either by the one or by the other applied to him as by being styled the Comforter Yea the truth is that is cannot well be conceived how or in what respect other than in one or both of these the Holy Chost should be called or understood a Comforter Therefore the Exceptor against the said Translation in seeking the change thereof is but like a sick man who conceits if he changes either his Chamber or his Bed he shall be better and find ease whereas the
upon a mistake of the Scriptures and ignorance of the true nature of God First To prove that the Holy Ghost is not truly God they argue thus He that is distinguished from God is not God but the Holy Ghost is distinguished from God therefore he is not God To both these Propositions in order I reply first to the former and then to the latter To the Major or former Proposition I reply by distinguishing or explaining it there being a sense whereof the words are capable wherein it is to be admitted and a sense also wherein it is to be denied and so it is an ambiguous Proposition and of an uncertain signification Therefore when this Proposition saith He that is distinguished from God is not God If his meaning be this that he that is distinguished in Nature and Essence from God is not God the Proposition is most true for that which is â—inite cannot be infinite that which is Created and partaketh not of the increated Nature and Essence of God cannot be God But in this sense of the word distinguished from God the Minor is false for the Holy Spirit is not thus distinguished from God viz. in Essence and Nature as we have formerly proved Secondly The said Proposition that which is distinguished from God is not God may be understood in this sense That that Person who is distinguished from another person who is truly and really God is not God but in this sense it is false and neither is nor can be proved by the Proposers of it For such a person who is distinguished from another person who is God may be God likewise yea the same God with him though not the same person Otherwise it would follow that because the Lord Jesus Christ is often distinguished in the Scriptures from the person of God the Father as when he is called the Son of God and so when it is said that God sent him with the like and also where he is called Jesus it would follow I say that he should be truly God no more than the Spirit or Holy Ghost for these and many such like expressions in the Scriptures import a manifest distinction between him and God the Father Nor doth it therefore prove that because the Son is distinct from the Father that he is not God yea as the Scripture frequently distinguisheth between God and the Father therefore if the Proposition before us were true in the latter sense it would follow that neither should the Father be God because as I say the Scriptures distinguish him from God as Rom. 15.6 God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ You have the same expression 2 Cor. 1.3 So also Ephes 1.3 Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ So likewise Eph. 5.20 Unto God and the Father to omit others But the Author and Avoucher of the Argument now in hand cryeth ouâ— upon that distinction which is made between the Essence and Person of God terming it a wretched distinction and an ignorant refuge What he meaneth by a wretched distinction I do not well know or understand if he therefore termeth it wretched because it is poor and destitute of means or friends to support it he had small reason so to defame it For certain it is that it hath both means and Friends in abundance to support it it hath the whole glory in a manner of all the chief and choice Gifts Parts Wisdom Learning that hath been found in the Christian World from the daies of the Apostles untill now to stand by it and maintain it which have ministred Arguments and Proofs very bountifully unto it for its defense therefore in this sense it is not it cannot be wretched upon the same account he had small reason to call it an ignorant refuge That which had all the Wisdom Knowledge and Learning well nigh of all the Christian World to erect and build it cannot reasonably be suspected for an ignorant refuge If he calleth it a wretched distinction because it is the object of his hatred and he meant so to handle it so to bruise batter and deface it by bending the force of his Wit and Learning against it that hereby it should become desolate and miserable his spirit of Prophesie hath failed him at this point For the distinction is at this day notwithstanding all the contempt he hath poured upon it all that he hath done to misfigure it it is in as much honour and esteem with sober learned and understanding men as before yea his ignorant Zeal to dishonour and disparage it hath provoked the learned zeal of many to maintain it yea and to add more beauty and strength unto it But leaving his swelling words of vanity against this distinction let us hear and consider what his more sober and express Arguments or Reasons are against it First he saith That it is unheard of in Scriptures and so to be rejected it being presumption to affirm any thing of the unsearchable Nature of God which he hath not first affirmed of himself in the Scriptures these are his own words By the way before we come to reply to this Reason it is not unworthy observation how directly he treadeth in the steps of those who have a mind to oppose that which they fear they cannot solidly and substantially confute or overthrow For whereas those men whom he would be thought to oppose in his Doctrine against the Godhead of the Holy Ghost are wont to distinguish between God taken Personally and Essentially he represents them as if they distinguished between the Essence and Person of God which distinction is of a much differing import from the former I do not remember any learned man that ever asserted a distinction a real distinction of which our Adversaries seem to speak between the Essence of God and the Person of God as if the Essence or Nature of God were one thing and the Person of God or any Person in the Godhead another thing differing really from it yet the distinction of God taken Essentially and Personally is frequent amongst those who write about the Trinity How the word God may be taken sometimes Essentially and otherwhile Personally without supposing any real difference between the Essence of God and a Person in the Godhead may be shewed in due time or however may appear by what God shall enable us to speak upon the subject matter in hand But to the Reason or Argument propounded against the distinction of God taken Personally and Essentially viz. it is unheard of in the Scriptures I reply first that if he meaneth that these words Personally and Essentially are not literally or formally found in the Scriptures in this sense the truth of his Argument is granted But the pertinency and strength of it in point of proof of that which he infers from it viz. that therefore it is to be rejected is denied For it doth not follow that every distinction the terms whereof are not in expressness of words
that the word God in such Sayings as these cannot be taken Personally but of necessity must be taken Essentially viz. as signifying the Divine Nature or Essence wherin both Persons Father and Son do partake so that the sense and meaning of this Proposition is That the Father and the Son do subsist or are partakers of the same Divine Nature and Essence which Divine Nature or Essence is sometimes expressed by the word God So again when God is said to be a Spirit as Joh. 4.24 it is not to be taken Personally as if the meaning were either that the Father or the Son or the Spirit were a Spirit for though it be true of every of them that they are Spirits the Father is a Spirit and so the Son is a Spirit yet that our Saviour should here affirm it determinately or particularly of any one of them more than other no sufficient Reason can be given Therefore the meaning of our Saviour saying God is a Spirit must needs be this That the Divine Nature and Essence which is communicated to the Three Persons or wherein the Three Persons subsist and so are Essentially one and the same God that thâ—s Nature and Divine Essence is spiritual immaterial and invisible And yet more plainly Rom. 16.27 where God is termed only wise To God only wise be Glory The word God is to be taken Essentially because if it should be here taken Personally viz. for God the Father which our Adversary conceiveth and contendeth for with might and main affirming That to take God otherwise than Personally is to take him otherwise than he is and to mistake him and that there is no such acceptation of the word God in the Scriptures with the like But I say that in the place now before us To God only wise be Glory the word God must needs be taken essentially and not Personally is evident from hence because otherwise the Apostle must suppose that neither Christ nor the Holy Ghost had any wisdom in them or none considerable but God the Father only which how near or far off it is from Blasphemy I leave to sober men to determine Other places there are without number wherein the word God must needs be taken Essentially But these few produced and insisted on are sufficient for the proof thereof Therefore the distinction of God taken Personally and Essentially is not a distinction unheard of in Scriptures as our Adversarie groundlesly affirmeth unless as we noted before by being unheard of he meaneth in respect of the sound of words not in respect of the truth and substance of the matter neither do they who speak of God according to the sense and import of that distinction Affirm any thing of the unsearchable Nature of God which he hath not first affirmed of himself in the Scriptures and so are free from all the guilt of presumption upon such an account But the Adversary cannot be perswaded himself Sect. 3 nor be willing that others should be perswaded that the Scriptures should own or countenance any such distinction as that of God taken Personally and Essentially and therefore trieth his skill to make us believe that it is disclaimed by reason and accordingly levieth three Arguments or Reasons against it We shall propound them in their order as himself hath drawn them up and give replies unto them one by one First saith he It is impossible for any man if he would but endeavour to conceive the thing and not to delude himself and others with empty terms and words without understanding to distinguish the Person from the Essence of God and not to frame two Beings or things in his mind and consequently two Gods This is his first Reason to which we reply three things 1. Whereas to perswade others into his own Judgment or opinion he would put them upon endeavouring to conceive the thing distinctly to mould frame and fashion in their minds or imaginations the manner how a Divine Person should be distinguished from the Divine Nature or Essence Doth he not put men upon a direct course to make shipwrack of their Christianity and all they believe touching the Gospel and Christ Jesus For whereas there are many things plainly asserted and partly clearly supposed of the main Pillars of that Religion and Worship of God which the Gospel commendeth unto the World the mode or distinct manner whereof cannot be conceived or understood by men if so be men shall reject or deny them upon this account I mean because they cannot distinctly conceive or satisfie their imaginations how they should be they must together with the rejection of these reject all that which is built or hangs upon them which is as hath been said the main Fabrick or body of Christianity As to give an instance Because it is once and again plainly affirmed in the Gospel that a Virgin conceived and brought forth a Child and upon this Conception and Child thus brought forth we know that the whole projection and frame of the Gospel dependeth Yet who is able to conceive in his mind the distinct manner how she should or did Conceive or what the Holy Ghost particularly acted or did in order to enable or make her to Conceive or what she her self likewise did towards or about this Conception For to Conceive as well as bring forth is a Verb Active and importeth the doing of somewhat either per modum naturae or per modum voluntatis or both by her who is said to Conceive But that the whole Transaction between the Holy Ghost and the Virgin about the Conception of the Lord Jesus Christ God blessed for ever was mysterious and secret and the manner of it in respect of particulars purposely veiled by God is plainly enough intimated by the words or Phrases wherein the Holy Ghost himself expresseth the said business by the mouth of the Angel who first brought tidings from Heaven unto the Virgin of this high Favour intended by God towards her The Holy Ghost saith the Angel unto her shall come upon thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the vertue or power of the most High shall overshadow thee Luk. 1.35 Shall overshadow thee i. e. shall secretly and after a manner unknown not fit to be revealed unto men negotiate this great business with thee Now if a man should reason so or speak thus unto us about the Virgins Conception It is impossible for any man if he would but endeavour to conceive the things and not delude both himself and others with empty terms and words without understanding to understand or comprehend how a Virgin should Conceive Should he not attempt to perswade us out of the belief of the Gospel and to abandon our Christianity only upon this account because it requireth us to believe such a thing which we cannot conceive how it was or should be And what doth he less that argueth after the same manner to draw us from believing that a divine Person and the divine Essence can be
by the teaching authorizing or commanding of another really distinct from him that speaketh most certainly cannot be God Secondly A person may be said not to speak of himself the main strength subtilty and fallacy of this Argument lieth in that Phrase of himself viz. when he doth not speak of himself alone or without the co-speaking of another person with him for this you are to know and remember that many times the exclusive Particles only and alone are not expressed in the Scriptures when yet indeed they are to be necessarily understood thus Deut. 6.13 and so again 10.20 where Moses speaks thus unto the people Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him the meaning is Thou shalt serve him only or alone as our Saviour himself citing the place in the New Testament expoundeth it Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only or alone shalt thou serve Mat. 4.10 So Joh. 12.44 He that believeth on me believeth not on me but on him that sent me Believeth not on me i.e. not on me only or alone he hath not only one string to his bow for there is one besides me to support his Faith viz. my Father And our Saviour speaking of the branches of a Vine in that Parable Joh. 15. opposeth this Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to that which is wholly from another in one kind or other much less from another differing in nature and substance from the said branch but to the solitariness or sole vertue of the branch being separate from the Vine As the branch cannot bear fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of it self except it abideth in the Vine ver 4. And in the Application of the Parable ver 5. he expresseth the spiritual notion or thing which answereth it by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which importeth a separation from or exclusion of another I am the Vine ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because without me i. e. being separated or divided from me through unbelief ye can do nothing Now then in this latter sense of the Phrase speaking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of himself it is true the Holy Ghost speaks not of himself no more doth God the Father For God the Father speaks not of himself alone without the Son and without the Holy Ghost for both these speak together with him i.e. joyn in the same Action of speaking or of revealing things unto men which I suppose is that kind of speaking which is attributed to the Holy Ghost in Joh. 16.13 which is the grand Scripture wherein our Adversaries put their strength Howbeit when 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 will he speak As the Lord Christ speaketh Joh. 5.17 My Father worketh hitherto and I work meaning that he and the Father wrought together and hence it is that as the speaking i. e. the revealing of spiritual things is here attributed unto the Holy Ghost so elsewhere it is ascribed unto the Father Mat. 16.17 11.25 Joh. 6.45 And sometimes to the Son Mat. 11.27 Luke 10.22 and frequently to God indefinitely taken i.e. for God the Father Son and Holy Ghost considered as one and the same God Gal. 1.15 Phil. 3.15 and elsewhere so that when Christ for the comforting and strengthening of the Faith of his Disciples telleth them that the Spirit when he cometh shall not speak of himself his meaning is that the Testimony of the Spirit in revealing what he shall reveal unto them shall not be a single Testimony which is less creditable he shall speak and reveal nothing unto them but wherein the Father and himself shall agree We might add for the further clearing of the Phrase of himself that we find in Joh. 11.51 where the Evangelist speaketh concerning the speech of Caiaphas the High Priest that it was expedient that one man should die for the People and not the whole Nation to perish This saith the Holy Ghost here of him spake he not of himself but as being High Priest Now the meaning hereof is not as if that Caiaphas had this saying dictated unto him or as if he were any way authorized or countenanced or had the saying suggested unto him from another or that there was another that did over-rule and guide and govern his lips or his tongue in bringing forth such a saying For the meaning cannot be that he spake it from the Holy Ghost for certainly the Holy Ghost could not be the Author of any such Counsel of putting the Lord of Life to death nor any way encouraging or aiding to such a work as this but yet the Holy Ghost had a hand in the business not in suggesting the Notion or wicked Counsel into the High Priest but he did over-rule and cause his Tongue to issue such words and sayings which having another Principle in his heart it is like if he had been left unto himself he would have brought out some other kind of way and said something which would have tended to the destroying or taking away the life of Christ but that it was brought out in that form of words which had a Prophetical face in them there was some kind of interposure of the Holy Ghost as there is in many Actions and sinful Sayings of men many times their tongues are over-ruled though the substance of what they say is evil yet there are some strains in it which are from a Principle Superiour unto themselves Now I say apply we the distinction of the Phrase speaking not of himself to the Argument and you will readily find the weakness and insufficiency of it And that there are four terms which alwaies make a fallacious Syllogism that is if the same words be taken in one sense in one Proposition and in another sense in the other Proposition this now maketh four terms and so maketh the Syllogism void and inconclusive of any thing So much for this Argument He that speaketh not of himself is not God the Holy Ghost speaketh not of himself therefore he is not God If we take the Phrase speaking not of himself in the latter sense explained so the Major Proposition is false for he may be yea and truly is God who in this sense speaketh not of himself i.e. who speaketh not but in conjunction with others If you take the said words in the former sense so the Major Proposition is true but the Minor is false For the Holy Spirit doth speak of himself in this sense i. e. he speaketh the same thing with the Father and the Son and doth not speak by the motion or direction of any person or being separated from him The fourth Argument is of affinity with the former Sect. 10 and presenteth it self in this form He that heareth from another what he shall speak is not God the Holy Ghost doth so
here is nothing ascribed to the proper or immediate Agents the Apostles themselves but it is ascribed to the Holy Ghost And so again 1 Cor. 15.10 But I labour more abundantly than they all saith the Apostle yet not I but the grace of God which is in me But how doth the grace of God labour more than they All Not properly for it is not capable of speaking or journeying But because it did enable and strengthen Paul and raised his spirit and enlarged his heart and understanding to labour and fill the World with the knowledge of the Gospel therefore he saith he laboured more abundantly than they all The like Expression you have Gal. 2. the latter end I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ c. It was Paul certainly that lived and it is true likewise that the life he speaketh of Christ litterally or properly did not live in him But it was Christ the knowledge of whom and the belief of whom was Paul's life because that filled him with so much peace and comfort and joy which is that he meaneth by life Therefore that life which he lived he disclaimeth it as to himself and ascribeth it unto him who did enable him thus to do Like instances you have heard where that which is acted and done is ascribed not to the proper or immediate Agent but to that which qualifieth or enableth for the doing of it 1 Cor. 13.4 7. Charity suffereth long c. not that Charity doth this or that for the truth is that Charity doth none of these things It is not the proper or immediate Agent of these actions but only it doth dispose enable and encline the hearts of men and women to do them And so Jam. 1.20 is of a like character or form of speech The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God The meaning is that the wrath of man doth hinder or indispose men for acting that which is agreeable unto the righteous holy and just Commands of God Men by reason of their wrath if they be surprized by it are not in any good capacity to do the will or to work the righteousness of God So likewise when men work out their Salvation with fear and trembling God is said to work in them both to will and to do Phil. 2.13 because he assists and enables So in the Scripture before us the Spirit â—s said to search the deep things of God not because he himself reasons or argues himself into the knowledge of these things But because he assists guides and leads the minds and understandings of men into the knowledge of these things This to be the clear and express sense of the place is evident from verse 12. Now we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know i.e. that by him we might be directed and enabled to know the things which are freely given unto us of God Which also agreeth with that of our Saviours Joh. 16.13 When he is come he will lead you into all truth so that there is little question or rather none at all but that that is the true sense of the place in hand which hath been given I desire the Rule delivered with the several Instances that have been given for the confirmation of it may be the rather remembred and observed because the answer of the next and last Argument depends upon it But secondly If the understanding of the Spirit were distinct from the understanding of God he could not search the deep things of God because the understanding of God is infinite and how can a finite understanding reach or comprehend that which is infinite Even as the things of a man or of the understanding of a man no understanding or faculty that is beneath it or inferiour to it is able to dive into or comprehend Thirdly The sense given must needs be the true meaning of the place viz. that the Spirit is therefore said to search the deep things of God because he enableth men to search so far as is necessary for them to know because himself by his own Act in reference to himself cannot be said to search the things of God whether deep or other because searching properly implieth study or labour and diligence of enquiry and this supposeth a want of knowledge of the things searched after untill by searching they are found out but neither of these are attributable to the Spirit of God as is evident For first it is not proper to the Spirit to search and study and to come unto the knowledge of things by diligence and enquiry neither is it any way meet to be spoken of the Holy Ghost that he is destitute or ignorant of the things of God and that by labour diligence and study he searcheth them out so that this passage of Scripture is utterly a stranger to the Argument in hand Some other things are affirmed in the Argument which being weighed in the balance would be found too light But enough hath been said for the uncovering of the nakedness and to discover the inability of it to perform the device which is imagined The twelfth and last Argument we have to encounter with Sect. 18 hath upon the matter received answer already notwithstanding being the last let us hear what it hath to say He that hath a will distinct in number from that of God is not God the Holy Spirit hath a will distinct in number from that of God Ergo. The sum of this Argument is drawn up thus The Holy Ghost is said First to intercede with God or to pray unto God for the Saints Secondly He is said to do it according to the will of God Rom. 8.26 27. Therefore in respect of the latter He must needs have a will distinct from the Will of God and so cannot be God In respect of the former he must be inferiour unto God because he prayeth unto him and in this respect also cannot be God But to this Argument we reply First That whereas the Spirit is said to help our infirmities which infirmities are mentioned as lying in this That we know not what we should pray for as we ought viz. of our selves and by our own strength If the Holy Ghost should pray for us apart by himself he should not at all help our infirmities in this kind For we should or might remain under such Infirmities such Intercessions for us by the Spirit notwithstanding If it be said that the Spirit may intercede for us that our infirmities in this kind may be healed then it followeth that if our infirmities still remain as questionless they do and will do to our lives end and Paul himself was not exempted in this kind It followeth I say if so be the intercession of the Holy Ghost be that those infirmities of the Saints should be healed in case they be not healed then the Intercession of the Holy Ghost is not regarded and accepted
Spirit the Holy Spirit so much spoken of in the Scriptures to be God The debate of this Question we have already finished Another of the three Questions was How or what course a Christian or any other Person Man or Woman may and ought to take to be filled with the Spirit i.e. How or after what manner the Exhortation imposed in the Text is to be obeyed or put in execution The third and last Question was How a man or woman may either come to discern and know themselves or how others may come to the like knowledge of them whether they be filled with the Spirit I mean the Spirit of God or some other Spirit of another nature and contrary to it I suppose much light will be given by the examination of the truth in the Former of the two Questions for the decision of the Latter so that we may be somewhat the briefer here To begin then with the former of these Questions Sect. 2 how a Christian or a Believer yea or any other person may be filled with the Spirit which the Text and Doctrine mention for it will appear by the way that any other Person as well as a Believer is in a capacity though somewhat more remote of being filled with the Spirit likewise What it is to be filled with the Spirit hath been formerly declared in the opening of the Doctrine notwithstanding I conceive it is necessary for the resolution of the Question in hand that we briefly remind you of what we delivered in that kind we signified unto you that to be filled with the Spirit doth not note and import an absolute and precise fulness that is a having of the Spirit in such a precise fulness and height that there is no capacity left of having more of him No but as in Scripture Phrase a Vessel is said to be full when there is a good and sufficient and competent proportion in it and so in ordinary discourse we say a Cup is full of drink not when it is full to the brim but if there be a good quantity and proportion in it just so a fulness with the Spirit doth not suppose or imply such a uniform kind of fulness as if no man could be said to be full of the Spirit but only he that is fullest of all But if any person be acted by the Spirit or doth quit himself like unto a man he in whom the Spirit hath any considerable power of command may be truly said to be filled with the Spirit as David had many Worthies in his Army and yet they did not reach or attain unto the three first though they were worthy in their way so there may be many Christians of several sizes and degrees who yet may be said to be filled with the Spirit of God So that in propriety of Phrase it signifieth to have an actuous vigorous and operative presence of the Holy Ghost in you to enjoy his grace love and favour upon such terms as to receive from him and from the glory of his power ever and anon upon all occasions excellent quicknings incitements impulses enlargements strengthnings of heart and soul unto every worthy way and every good work to have all contrary workings motions and risings of the flesh borne down with a strong hand and swallowed up in victory so that a man or woman shall find no great no considerable opposition or turmoile as formerly from any weakness or corruption within him in his way of well-doing but only such which he shall be enabled and this at a very good rate to overcome I say when this is found to be the case and condition of any Christian it is a sign of such a presence or fulness of the Spirit of God I here describe unto you only that kind of filling with the Spirit which is the duty of all Christians as of other persons also in their way to mind look after and be industriously careful to obtain and which only I conceive is intended by the Apostle in the Text. For I do not conceive that he doth admonish and exhort the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit as if his meaning should be that he would have them be filled with such a kind of filling by which some were enabled to work miracles or reveal things secret and unrevealed in the Scriptures being yet future and to come Although I can easily believe that even such a filling with the Spirit as this at least to a considerable degree was within the reach of Christians in the Apostles daies yea and that the Apostle did exhort the Corinthians 1 Cor. 12.31 to seek after some such kind of filling as this in these words but covet earnestly after the best gifts Doubtless he would not have had them to lay out themselves with any desire after these extraordinary gifts of the Spirit as speaking with Tongues and Prophecying but that there was a means for the attaining of them But that filling with the Spirit which he commendeth to the Ephesians by way of duty in the words before us is only or at least principally such a filling as we have both formerly and even now described unto you which respecteth the effectual stirring up and strengthening of the hearts and souls of men unto waies and works of righteousness and these of the worthiest and most excellent kind and strain And yet it is not unlike but that if men and women should quit themselves worthily and with faithfulness in this Race I mean in their endeavours to be filled with the Spirit in that kind or sense we speak of there would be cast in unto them by way of heaped measure somewhat of that kind of filling also they should have a kind of first fruits of those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit also as of healing of the sick declaring things to come c. I could give an account of my apprehension in this kind and this in more particulars than one were it not for fear of lengthening out this Discourse in hand beyond what you are willing to bear Notwithstanding Sect. 3 there is one thing more necessary I conceive to be touched here also in order to your better satisfaction about the Question in hand though something as I remember hath been spoken to it formerly that is How it can stand with the weakness and unworthiness of the Creature man on the one hand and the incomprehensible Majesty and Glory of the Holy Ghost on the other hand that it should be in the power of man to procure or draw into himself i.e. into his heart and soul such a rich or glorious presence of the Spirit as that wherein our being filled with him consists Or whether in this case the Spirit may not be conceived to be obnoxious unto or in the power of man I am the rather desirous to remove this stumbling block out of the way before we go forward to give reply to the principal Question propounded because I conceive it must needs be
that kind of causes which Logicians call Causa sinè quâ non the cause without which the effect is not cannot be produced which because it contributeth little or nothing at all to the effect unless it be its bare presence therefore they call it Causa fatua the foolish cause or the fools cause I suppose for this reason because none but weak and simple Persons will insist upon this kind of cause in reasoning about effects and the Causes and Reasons of them viz. if a Question were moved Why such a man runs so swiftly He that should answer Because his head stands on his shoulders or because his heart is in his body or the like should shew himself very weak because though these be causes Sinè quibus non such causes as without which the effect of running would not or could not be performed A man could not run unless his head stood on his shoulders yet his head standing on his shoulders contributes nothing unless it be in a very remote and inconsiderable manner towards it and besides takes place in many in whom no such effect as swiftness of runing is to be found If a man should ask the reason why the Waters of the red Sea were divided when time was and stood upon heaps like a Wall on the right hand and on the left hand of the Children of Israel as they passed through He that shall say this was the reason or cause of it Moses smote these waters with the Rod in his hand should quit himself very weakly in so saying though it be probable that without this without Moses his so smiting them they would not have been so divided There is the like consideration of the falling down of the Walls of Jericho upon the Israelites compassing them about seven daies and blowing with Trumpets made of Rams horns of Naaman's cleansing from his Leprosie by washing seven times in Jordan This is an Essential or distinguishing property or Character of Sacramental causes that though there be very little or nothing in them I mean in that which is litteral natural and external in them any waies apt or likely to produce their effects as there is in natural causes to produce theirs yet notwithstanding they produce their effects most vigorously most powerfully and with an high hand The reason is because the power of God is pleased to interpose and mingle it self with these more constantly and with a higher advance for the most part than with natural causes The reason of this good pleasure of his probably may be not because Sacraments or Sacramental causes are more appropriate and peculiar Institutions or Ordinances of his than Nature or natural Causes are But because they are weak and of no strength in themselves to do that which they have to do Upon this account as he hath taught men by the light of Nature in ordering the habit of their bodies Upon their uncomely parts to put more comeliness according to that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.7 We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the power might i.e. might clearly appear to be of God and not of us So because Sacraments and Sacramental Causes are in themselves weak and without honour in respect of what Natural Causes have therefore God honours them so much the more abundantly with his strength and presence in them Sed hoc obiter Now to draw the substance of this Discourse close to the business in hand when we teach that men by hearkening unto the Counsel of God and doing that which he hath commanded in order to the obtaining of such a blessedness as a being filled with his Spirit may obtain it we neither make the Spirit obnoxious unto men but unto himself and unto his own good pleasure Nor do we attribute any thing more unto those Actions or Endeavours of men by which they obtain a being filled with him than a kind of Sacramental Efficacy and this depending only upon the gracious will and good pleasure of God God having instituted such and such means in order to this blessed end upon occasion hereof he standeth engaged to his truth and faithfulness in giving out his abundance of Grace Fifthly and lastly When we do affirm that the Spirit and so a fulness with him is attainable by men in the use of means as we do exclude all things by way of merit and likewise all such endeavours in this kind which are originally in men themselves So we do suppose that without the Spirit that is without a being prevented and without some measure of the Spirit already given no man is able to put forth his hand unto any of those works or actions whereby this same filling with the Spirit is to be obtained So that if we search the spring of these actions and waies of men whereby we affirm that the Spirit may be attained we do not find the Root in man but in something that is Extrinsical For though it be in a man yet is it not of the heart and soul of a man co-substantial with it but the root of these actions by which men are capable of filling themselves with the Spirit of God is not in themselves nor in their nature but it is in an External Agent who is God or rather indeed the Spirit of God himself as we shall shew you in the traversing of this great business For it is likely we shall have occasion to dive into that Question Whether all the men and women in the World are not prevented according to the general course of the Providence of God in governing of the World and setting forth men and women upon the Theatre of the Earth Whether they be not all prevented without asking or without any means used with so much of the Spirit of God and with such a presence of his as that thereby they are enabled to have more of him and to be filled more with him Having thus with as much brevity and plainness Sect. 5 as through the grace of God we were able to do removed that stumbling stone as we called it out of the way A conceit incident as we conceived unto some that there is no possibility for men or women to be filled with the Spirit of God by any course they can take by any means they can use We proceed now to enquire into the Scriptures what course it is that men ought to take to possess themselves of such a blessedness as a being filled with the Spirit of God imports yea and which they must take if ever they desire to be made great in the sight of God or men by being filled with the Spirit of God The first thing to be done by us in order to a being filled with the Spirit it being supposed we are clear and thoroughly satisfied about the possibility of the thing for otherwise this Corner-stone were to be laid for the building but this I say supposed the first thing to be done in direct order to a being filled with the
Wine when it is red and giveth its colour in the Cup or glass when it moveth it self upright i. e. when it springs or sparkles Prov. 23.31 Look not on it when it is red c. i.e. do not fix thine eye upon it do not continue looking on it for so the word looking oft imports his meaning is not that a man should not simply see or cast his eye upon it as if there would be danger in such a case for then he could not tell when or how to observe this Precept but his meaning is if a man will fix his eye upon it there is danger of being inflamed with inordinate love unto it So our Saviour Mat. 5.28 Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her i. e. until he lusts after her or after any such manner that he comes to lust after her hath committed adultery with her in his heart Now this sheweth when and how this lusting cometh to be propagated in the heart if there be any loveliness in the Creature this may draw our hearts forth as it were of course unto such covetings The reason why men and women hate not sin with a more vehement vigorous and perfect hatred than generally they do is partly because they do not frequently and with intenseness of mind consider the abundance of evil that is in it that violent and virulent Antipathy or contrariety that is in it to their comfort and peace in many kinds For certain it is that sin hath enough in it to set all the World on fire with enmity to it Yea as the Devil when he had sinned had that in him and upon him which being looked upon by God was sufficient to throw him down from Heaven into the bottom of Hell So likewise hath sin that in it which being clearly seen and diligently considered by men is sufficient to cast it down out of the heavens of mens love and desires into the deepest hell of their hatred and indignation So on the other hand it is as true concerning righteousness in general which Plato the Philosopher had a glimmering of And as it is with Righteousness in general so it is with and also concerning that excellent peece or member of it whereof we speak A being filled with the Spirit This is such a Master-peece of humane felicity it hath so much worth and goodness and desirableness in it that was it thoroughly known and frequently whetted upon the thoughts and minds of men and women they need take no further care how to come by such covetings after it as those now prescribed unto you as a means in the first place to obtain it unless happily it be to satisfie themselves in this that it is nothing but what is attainable For if indeed you shall look upon it as a thing absolutely out of your reach your souls will hardly put forth in coveting or desiring after it But this scruple being removed you would soon find your hearts full of those covetings and desires so full that they would not be long able to contain themselves but that they would break forth and utter themselves in such other waies and means which they shall understand to be proper and likely to obtain it If you ask me But what is there so excellent Sect. 8 so greatly desirable in this being filled with the Spirit which being known and narrowly considered by us must needs as you say set us on coveting after it and so put us into a nearer capacity of obtaining it I reply first in the general the desirableness of it is such so exceeding great that neither the Tongue of men or Angels are sufficient to express it it is of kin to the peace of God and partakes herewith in that property that it passeth all understanding so that when we shall travel many dales yea many years with our minds and understandings to search out and discover the riches of it we shall leave much hereof undiscovered and unknown But more particulary First Such a filling with the Spirit as we speak of will leave no place for foolish and hurtful lusts in one kind or other to play their parts within us which as Peter saith 1 Pet. 2.11 Fight against the soul that is against the peace comfort and prosperity of it As upon the bringing in of the Ark into the Tabernacle the Tabernacle was filled with smoak Exod. 40.34 And so in the Dedication of the Temple the Priests could not enter because of the glory there 1 Kings 8.10 11. even so when the soul when the inner Temple of the heart of a man or woman shall be filled with the Spirit of God there will be such a glory of holiness there that there will be no standing or abode for those base Companions unclean impure carnal and sensual desires and inclinations No but they will all be scattered as the Mist is scattered before the Sun when it ariseth in its might These Companions which have haunted your souls and inner man hitherto Pride Envy and Malice and inordinate love of the World Pleasure Ease and all such kind of things as these they will be sensible of the glorious presence of this Spirit of God in you they will not be able to abide it his presence will fright away all those Aliens and strangers that are contrary to him It is true the greatest filling with the Spirit that flesh and bloud is at lâ—ast ordinarily capable of obtaining will not wholly overwhelm or drown the flesh as to extinguish the motions or stirrings of it in men This is clear from many Scriptures and particularly from that of the Apostle Gal. 5.17 .. For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit When by reason of the contrary lustings between the Flesh and the Spirit he saith they cannot do the things they would he speaks not so much indeed not at all of the species kind or substance of the Action but of the spiritual and exact manner of performing it Yea cannot do the things ye would his meaning is not that though they were willing to pray yet because of the lusting of the flesh they could not pray or though they were willing to hear the word yet they could not hear but thus ye cannot pray ye cannot hear or ye cannot give Alms as ye would that is with as much Faith with as much Fervency with as much Freedom and enlargement of Heart and Soul as ye desire The Flesh will be still interrupting and mingling it self with your actions and in preciseness and strictness of speech that which a servant of God or spiritual man properly would do is not simply to pray or simply to hear or to give Alms or the like But to do these and all other services and actions after the best and purest manner without any reluctancy or gainsayingness or interruption so that when men pray and do not pray thus when they hear and give Alms and do not both the one and the other upon such terms as these they
cannot properly be said to do the things they would For that kind of Prayer which they would pray is one thing and the prayer which they do make or pray is another the Prayer which they would pray is such a prayer which in all points answereth the holiness and perfection of the Commandment given by God in that behalf that Prayer which they do pray is a Prayer many waies defective having many infirmities cleaving unto it so likewise the hearing and the giving Alms c. And in this sense it is most true that the best of men and women cannot do the things they would And in this sense also the Apostle is to be understood speaking of himself Rom. 7.18 19. How to perform that which is good I find not And again The good that I would I do not How to perform that which is good I find not i. e. I cannot find any course way or means how I may be enabled to perform that which is simply and perfectly good that which in all points answereth the holiness and spiritualness of the Law of God which is the good that I would do the object of my will and desire is not to do any thing weakly and defectively but all things after the most perfect manner and such things as these I find not i.e. by all the care that I can take nor by all the diligence that I can use I cannot find how to perform By the way the Apostle saying unto the Galatians So that ye cannot do the things that ye would is as a Sword passing through the soul of those who are called perfectionists amongst us casting down the Crown of their conceit of perfection to the ground unless they dally with the word and by perfection mean that which all understanding and sober Christians admit of and hold as well as themselves such a perfection as sometimes passeth in the Scriptures under that name and is ascribed unto the Saints viz. A comparative perfection i. e. such an excellency whether in faith or knowledge or manners or tenour of life and conversation which is in persons termed spiritual above what is found in those termed Babes in Christ and carnal there is no man that understandeth any thing in the Scriptures but acknowledgeth thus much very attainable in this life but if by perfection they mean that which is strictly and properly such viz. such a state wherein men and women sin not offend not at all the Scripture hath given express Sentence against them and their conceit of perfection over and over saying in one place Jam. 3.2 In many things we offend all In another Ye cannot do the thing ye would In a third Who liveth and sinneth not In a fourth Prov. 20.9 Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin To omit other places as full of enmity against the Doctrine of perfection as these but this only by the way But To the Point before us when we affirm Sect. 9 that a being filled with the Spirit will leave no space nor room in the heart or soul of a man or woman for any unclean worldly or sinful lusts to stand and act their parts there Our meaning is that such lusts as these will have no opportunity to magnifie themselves there to make head or gather strength whereby to be much troublesome unto us they will not be able to conceive as James speaketh Jam. 1.15 Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death As you have some Plants and Trees that with much a do will grow and live for a while in the Earth or Soyl or Air but will not thrive or flourish or bear fruit according to their kind but may be resembled to the Widow the Apostle speaketh of living in pleasure They are dead even whilst they live So likewise when ye are filled with the Spirit though the flesh will be flesh still and be ever and anon attempting and putting forth yet there will be no great heart or strength in these attempts they will be but faint and weak as despairing of any gratification or fulfilling this is evident from the Scriptures and particularly from that Gal. 5. from whence we even now heard that by reason of the contrary lustings of the Flesh against the Spirit men cannot do the things they would in the sense lately opened by reason of the interruption and opposition of the Flesh to the Spirit yet saith the Apostle in the next preceding verse Gal. 5.16 This I say then walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh or as the original hath it somewhat more emphatically ye shall at no hand or in no wise fulfil the lusts of the Flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a double negation Now to walk in the Spirit or by the Spirit is the same thing which the Apostle calls elsewhere a being led by the Spirit i. e. an uniform subjecting himself to the motions and holy suggestions or overtures of the Spirit of God in him And to walk in the Spirit or to be led by the Spirit supposeth some degree at least of being filled with the Spirit because if the Spirit do not bear and beat somewhat strong in the Souls and Consciences of men they will not be led uniformly by him because where he I mean the Spirit doth not bear to some considerable degree of strength the Flesh will overbear his motions even as a strong Tide or stream will carry a Ship down against the Wind unless it blow a stiff Gale But if men be filled with the Spirit so that the exhibitings and quicknings thereof be pregnant and lively and the impulses and bearings thereof upon the Conscience and Soul be stiff and strong and with power the inclinations motions and lustings of the Flesh will be overborne and stifled even as a Vessel upon the water meeting a stout Ship running before a strong gale of wind is easily overset and run under water by her If you be full of the Spirit these lusts themselves will fly from you and there will be no abiding for them in you they will take no pleasure at all in such a soul neither will such a Soul find much to do with them there will be an agreement on both Parties to divide and separate they are contrary one unto another and they cannot dwell together because they are not agreed and in this case the strong must keep possession and the weaker must give place And he that is in you saith John speaking of the Spirit of God is greater than he that is against you Now the World and the things of it are the Devils black Retinue and Regiment that attend upon him that promote the Affairs of his Kingdom and when the case is come to this that the Soul must be possest and inhabited by one Spirit either by him that is greater or him that is lesser and his Retinue in this case
Paul as Debtors to the Greeks and Barbarians to the wise and to the unwise Rom. 1.14 i.e. unto all persons of mankind without exception and will give you no rest in your Spirits but only whilst you are paying what you owe in this kind or at least preparing and putting your selves into a condition to pay accordingly I began to say unto you that it would make you like unto Jesus Christ himself in Prince-likeness and true greatness of Spirit it will draw you into part and fellowship and this in abundance in the same design and prevail with you to make one purse and to cast in your lot with him It will give you the considence and courage to say unto him as Jehosaphat said to King Ahab 1 Kings 22.4 I am as thou art my people as thy people my horses as thy horses you will joyn with him with all the strength you have and all the friends and power you can make in the World in that great and blessed work and engagement which is now upon his hand and which he is carrying on day and night I mean the advancement of the peace and happiness of the World For though particular men and women and these not many enjoy the rich benefit and fruit of his most gracious interposures and actings in that kind we speak of yet the compass of his design to do good and bless and save and the nature and proper tendency of his actings are as large as the World or generality of mankind Hence it is that in Scripture Language things of general and publick concernment are called the things of Jesus Christ in opposition to the concernments of particular men All seek their own not the things that are Jesus Christ's Phil. 2.21 meaning that generally mens hearts were straight and narrow extending themselves only to their own particular interest and concernments not caring for things of a general and publick concernment which are properly the Affairs and Concernment of Jesus Christ who is the Great Providor for the World who doth good and blesseth particulars as they are members of the Universal and come in his way i. e. as they walk in those wares of Righteousness and true Holiness whereunto his Desires and Endeavours are to bring the World and this in order to their Peace and Happiness Now this great and glorious design of blessing the World from the one end of it unto the other was raised in the soul of Jesus Christ by his being filled with the Spirit His anointing in this kind was not by measure Hence it came to pass that the complexion of his heart and soul for doing good was so large and comprehensive to go round about the whole Creation as is witnessed of him Acts 10.38 that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went thout doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil For God was with him Look then to what degree you shall be filled with the same Spirit wâ—◠〈…〉 Christ was filled withal your hearts will be proportionably filled 〈◊〉 the same resolution as Jesus Christ was You will be enlarged in tâ—â—â— kind your endeavours and engagements to do good will be very vast and comprehensive You will not endure to see the miserable and deplorable condition of men and women in the World in one kind or other but that you will find or feel something or other in you that will provoke you yea and after a manner will compel you to minister unto them of what you have in your hand As whilst Paul staid at Athens waiting for Silas and Timotheus His spirit was stirred in him when he saw the City wholly given to Idolatry Acts 17.16 How or unto what was his spirit stirred within him Doubtless it was to relieve them by endeavouring to break asunder if it were possible that snare of death this humour of Idolatry wherewith these poor people were taken and so to deliver them as appeareth by that which followeth in vers 17. Therefore disputed he in the Synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons and in the Market daily with them that met with him Thus then you see here is another great and worthy accommodation which a being filled with the Spirit is accompanied with which will make you like unto Princes yea like unto Jesus Christ himself You will be willing to go along with him and not so much mind or manage your own things as the things of his interest and glory You will be willing to take Christ's design along with you and still watch over that great business which he is carrying on with an high hand in the World Now who is able to estimate or compute the blessedness of such a state and frame of heart and soul as this is which we now speak of and which with the Scripture and evidence of reason otherwise we ascribe to a being filled with the Spirit The loud rejoycing of Conscience which doth accrue unto men is the natural result of such a frame of heart so enlarged and endeavours sutable unto it This great and mighty Testimony of a man's Conscience is sweeter and more desirable than life it self And we shall find the Apostle Paul make an estimate or value of it accordingly For it were better for me to die than that any man should make my glorying void 1 Cor. 9.15 From whence this glorying of his did spring we are particularly informed from his hand 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World c. He had tasted of that sweetness and incomparable satisfaction which did flow in unto him upon the account of the enlargedness of his heart and soul in the great concernments of the Gospel which made him conclude that it were better for him to die than that any man should make void his glorying in this kind How mightily did he magnifie and glory in this great Treasure viz. his rejoycing in the Testimony of his Conscience that he had served God and men with all sincerity and simplicity This he thought was enough to make the World go and do likewise Seventhly Sect. 17 By being filled with the Spirit of God you shall be enabled to pray unto God and this more effectually and with greater acceptation and upon far better terms than any other way see that known place Rom. 8.26 27. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God If this be proper to the Spirit simply and where he is in a lower and lesser degree then certainly where there is
double or treble it will he not do it If this be counted wisdom to advance a perishing and contemptible state who would not amongst us all labour to advance in such a glorious and durable state as we speak of This then is the first thing requisite to be done in order to your being filled with the Spirit of God namely to fill your Judgments and Understandings with the knowledge of all the excellent and desirable things of it together with a frequent and an effectual consideration of these most worthy and rich accommodations which must needs accrue or grow unto you by your being filled with the Spirit of God CHAP. X. The Resolution of the Second Question further prosecuted And six Directions more given to shew how men and women may come to be filled with the Spirit of God and what is to be done by them in order hereunto A Second thing to be done Sect. 1 to fill your hearts and souls with the Spirit of God is to employ and make use of him upon all your spiritual occasions and for the performance of duties When you shall at any time apply your selves unto God to do it by him as in your Prayers unto God and so your mortifying the deeds of the flesh and in searching out the deep things of God and in keeping in mind the things of God and of your own peace Now as touching these four particulars mentioned viz. Prayer Mortification understanding great Mysteries and keeping in mind these things c. The Scriptures do plainly hold forth the use and necessity of the Spirits being employed in all these chiefly and more especially than in other spiritual Services But here three Questions may be propounded First Whether we can or whether it be in our power to engage the Spirit of God in this kind Whether it be in the reach or power of a man to draw him into part or fellowship with us in such spiritual works as lie upon our hands to do Secondly How or by what means we may engage him Thirdly and lastly In case we shall be able to engage him and shall actually do it how the things that shall be thus done by the Spirit in us so engaged can be attributed unto us or we looked upon as the doers of them For the first of these Whether it be in our power thus to draw in the Spirit of God to stand by us to stand at our right hand and to be helpful unto us in our spiritual Services To this we answer in the Affirmative We are able and may do it otherwise himself would not so frequently have admonished and called upon us to do it I mean to engage him or to do things of several kinds by him Rom. 8.13 For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live This Clause but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body containeth and implieth more than an Exhortation or Charge to set the Spirit on work to mortifie the deeds of the body For it containeth a Reason to press such an Exhortation drawn from the excellent benefit and advantage that doth attend it Life Eternal you shall live if you do it Seneca hath a Saying Rogat quidem efficacissimè qui profert rogandi causas He asketh and that most effectually who expresseth reasons why he should ask so we may truly and pertinently say when the Holy Chost delivereth unto us reasons or motives whether one or more why we should be exhorted to such and such duties he doth inclusively exhort us hereunto and this after the most peircing and effectual manner Telling and promising us that if we shall mortifie the deeds of the flesh we shall live doth he not most affectionately excite and stir us up to mortifie them accordingly Now we cannot mortifie them by the Spirit but by prevailing with the Spirit in one kind or other to mortifie them Thus also Jude ver 20. But ye Beloved building up your selves in your most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost that is in or by or through the help and assistance of the Holy Ghost meaning that they should do that which they well enough understood and knew would prevail with the Holy Ghost to assist and help them in praying So again 2 Tim. 1.14 That good thing which was committed unto thee speaking of that Pattern of wholsome words and sayings of the Doctrine of the Gospel keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us He addeth these last words which dwelleth in us to put Timothy in mind that the Holy Ghost was near at hand ready and offering himself to be imployed by Christians in all the great difficult and worthy occasions of their souls and consequently to encourage him to address himself unto him I mean the Holy Ghost that he would enable him to keep i. e. to preserve in memory and mind the good things he speaketh of To these places I shall only add Gal. 5.16 This I say then walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh Walk in the Spirit I suppose his meaning is not in this Phrase that they should walk according to the direction and guidance of the Spirit which in ver 18 and elsewhere he calleth a being led by the Spirit but that they should walk thus by the strength or by the excitations and quicknings or actuations of the Spirit that they should walk as it were on the Legs of the Spirit so that he may carry them out to all they do and so interpose likewise in their doing it that the burthen and stress of the work may lie chiefly upon him and that men themselves may taste little of the difficulty bardness or offensiveness if any such thing be in it This or some such thing as this the Apostle I suppose meaneth by walking in the Spirit and by putting Christians upon it to walk in or by the Spirit he supposeth such a thing that may be done or attained by them if they will take a course thereafter But then it may be objected If we may engage the Spirit Sect. 2 and set him on work about any of those spiritual employments that have been mentioned or the like Must not we be looked upon as principal or first Movers in every such work and the Spirit as the subordinate Agent only and subservient unto men and dependent upon them in his workings To this I reply no First Because when any man doth awaken the Spirit and engage him to his assistance he is first awakened by the Spirit hereunto yea and engaged too by which the Spirit himself becometh engaged by himself for we are thus or after some such manner as this to conceive of the spiritual treaty or entercourse and of the state of affairs between the Holy Ghost and the soul of a Christian in whom he dwelleth in reference to the business now in hand First
own inability for this work we are about 1 Chron. 22.16 Arise saith David to his Son Solomon therefore and be doing and the Lord be with thee He doth not say stay untill the Lord doth come unto thee but arise and be doing So that this is the first thing to be done we must lay all thoughts of Confidence aside of any sufficiency as of our selves Secondly We must turn our selves towards the Holy Ghost with the like serious and thorough and unfeigned acknowledgment of a sufficiency in him that strength which we disclaimed in our selves we must ascribe unto him We know that the Lord Christ still requireth this acknowledgment from those who obtain any great Request as to any great matters Believe ye that I am able to do this Saith he to the blind men that came to him to be healed Mat. 9.28 So again Mar. 9.23 24. If thou canst believe all these things are possible c. The Father of the Child answered Lord I believe help my unbelief So then here is another thing whereby to interest the Holy Ghost in what we go about namely that we do acknowledge a sufficiency in the Holy Ghost But then Thirdly Sect. 4 We must acknowledge a readiness and willingness and a gracious inclinableness in the Holy Ghost to help and assist us in those things wherein it is any waies meet for him to interpose on our behalf He who doth unfeignedly acknowledge his own weakness and doth address himself unto him shall be sure to find his assistance Rom. 8.26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities c. There is a very rich and compassionate inclination in the Holy Ghost towards the Saints in respect of the great infirmities which he discerneth in them to assist stand by and relieve them in their holy endeavours To help them to perform things in an holy and humble manner upon terms of acceptation It is a usual Dialect in Scripture when the Act is expressed by the means or course that usually is taken to effect it As Joh. 1.9 Christ is said to enlighten every man that cometh into the World because he affordeth them such means and taketh such a course with them which is proper to enlighten them Even so the Spirit helpeth our infirmities that is he is ready to help our infirmities toties quoties as oft as ever he is sought unto as if he should say The Spirit knoweth how unable men are for such Actions and Services and therefore out of a kind of compassion and Sympathy in respect of their weakness he is ready to help them These gracious inclinations in him are apt to advance and express themselves in their might and power when the Creature is under a full knowledge and sense of its own weakness and a full acknowledgement of this readiness and willingness of the Spirit of God to help and to relieve The poor committeth himself unto thee Thou art the helper of the Fatherless Psal 10.14 Meaning that when the poor do commit themselves unto God then he is ready to help them there is a Synechdoche of the Species for the Genius By Fatherless he doth mean those that be not in any capacity to help themselves Now they that are under a sense that they are not able to help themselves by reason of their Poverty God is wont to come in to their relief and succour So when a man or a woman is smitten with the sense of their weakness in being not able to hold out in these services if they shall have recourse to the Spirit of God as their helper this is a Signal given unto the Spirit and he taketh the Alarm and he cometh and sheweth himself in his strength unto the Creature All these three means for the interessing of the Spirit in our Services I conceive our Saviour himself Joh. 14.16 17. chiefly pointeth at and asserteth I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him c. The World cannot receive the Holy Ghost because it seeth him not neither knoweth him that is because they have no manner of sense or discerning of him in any such property wherein he desireth to be known For we should have given notice of that though there be a presence of the Spirit of God in men in the state of Nature or Unregeneracy yet the Scriptures do nor speak of the Spirits dwelling in men nor of a mans receiving the Spirit untill they receive him in a greater measure or after the manner in which Believers receive him and as he is when he doth advance his presence in an excellent degree in them to put them upon Actions of an excellent concernment But that only by the way The World cannot receive the Holy Ghost because it seeth him not neither knoweth him that is because it hath no manner of discerning of him or at least no distinct or clear knowledge of him A man may have the sight of a Person but that deserveth not the name of the knowledge of him But when a man cometh to understand of what temper or frame he is either in respect of wisdom or goodness or as to matter of Estate or the like then he is properly said to know a man when he knoweth such things as these of him It is the manner of the Scripture to express Gradations after such a manner as this so He that keepeth Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth so here the World neither seeth him nor knoweth him that is they have not seen him much less have they any considerate knowledge of him And when our Saviour giveth the true reason why the World did not or cannot receive him meaning that they cannot according to that Principle by which the Spirit of God is resolved to give out himself i. e. they cannot go beyond God's Declaration they cannot break the Bars of Gods Decree nor the Method by which he is purposed to dispose of his own Spirit This deep ignorance which the men of the World have concerning the Holy Ghost is the reason why they cannot receive him in any supernatural or in any saving manner they cannot receive the indwellings or the inhabitation of him so as to receive strength to perform services in any spiritual or acceptable manner before God for otherwise they are capable of receiving of the Spirit in a way of common illumination They are capable of receiving of him in another sense though they are not capable of receiving him in such a manner as he is to be received so as to be led by him into the waies of life By the light of this Discourse we see that they who are not convinced of the necessity both of the presence of the Spirit of God to help them and likewise of his sufficiency and readiness and willingness to afford his presence with them are under a kind of incapacity
to receive the Spirit But on the other hand those who have the knowledge of him they are in a capacity of receiving him upon the most desirable terms and are capable of making use of him as hath been in effect said unto you In the fourth place you must pray unto God Sect. 5 or unto the Spirit of God for Prayer it self is a means which we are to make use of in order to our being filled with the Spirit We do here mention it as a part of that Method which should be observed by him who is engaged in the drawing in of the Spirit in order to a being acted by him Now then if this be agreeable to the Will of God viz. that men should pray for the gift of the Spirit and that in the lowest measure then there is no question to be made but that Prayer is as profitable means to effect it in the highest in the one as well as the other and that there is no more unlawfulness in the one than in other This then in the fourth place by way of direction how you may engage the Spirit and set him on work within you to perform what you are not like to perform by your own strength without such a presence of him to assist in your work The third and last Question was Sect. 6 In case we be able and shall actually engage the Spirit of God to assist us how the things done by him or by his assistance can be attributed unto us as the Scriptures frequently do or we be looked upon as the doers of them as we must be if ever we be rewarded for them by God To this Question we gave answer in effect formerly when we opened this unto you namely how notwithstanding men do draw in or engage the Spirit to their assistance in spiritual works and services yet they are not to be looked upon as principal Agents and the Spirit as the subordinate Agent Where we explained unto you the Agency or Efficiency of man in such works in respect of which being truly and really such as the Scriptures every where suppose them to be the said Actions and Services may truly and properly be called ours For whatsoever Action a man doth voluntarily and freely consent unto may properly enough be said to be his especially when the Act of his Will and Consent contributes any thing towards the Action Which is clearly the case in hand for whatsoever a man doth by the Spirit or by his assistance is done not only with or by means of the consent of his Will but by the more active desire and application of the Will unto the Spirit for the doing of it as we have heard yea that which is yet more and entituleth a man more clearly unto such Acts as we speak of is the contriving and studying and plotting how they may and ought to be done by the man who doth them If a man did not consider how and by what means to bring in the Spirit to his assistance the great work we speak of would not be done therefore there is no great difficulty in the question only that is to be remembred as we pass from it that they who make the Creature either meerly Passive in such Works or Services or which little easeth the business willing as we say by or from a necessitation they despoile the Creature of all capacity of being rewarded by God for such services and thus whilst they importunely pretend to be the great Magnifiers of the Grace of God they do indeed and in truth reduce it to a morsel of bread as the Scriptures speak and make nothing of it so that in them the Latine Proverb is fulfilled Stultorum gratia ingrata The grace or favour of inconsiderate persons is unacceptable or such as there is no reason why they should be thanked for it But this only by the way If you ask But why should the imploying of the Spirit of God Sect. 7 in such a manner as you have taught us be a means for a Believer to be filled with the Spirit Or how should it conduce any thing towards such a blessed effect as this is I answer That such an imploying of the Spirit as that we have described unto you is a regular use of that great Gift of the Spirit given unto us by God for the Spirit is given of God unto the Saints for this end and purpose viz. that by him and by his assistance they should do all their works which he commandeth them to do I do not say that it is the sole end but that this is one great and material end why the Holy Ghost is given unto men and why he dwelleth in the Saints 1 Cor. 2.12 Now we have received saith the Apostle not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God That is for this end amongst others and for others depending upon this that by his help duly sought and obtained by us we might be able to know and rightly to conceive apprehend and understand and likewise firmly to believe the Gospel i. e. the particular things revealed in the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ and the mind and Counsels of God concerning our salvation which things are said to be given or freely given unto us by God beeause they are there exhibited and lie in a readiness for all men to receive and know that are willing to take the course which God hath prescribed unto them for such an end There is the same consideration of other spiritual Actions and Services as these Mortification Prayer c. The Holy Ghost is given for this end and purpose that by his assistance and strength they may be able to perform these things after a worthy manner and with highest acceptation unto God If so then to answer the gracious intentions of God in giving him which is by imploying him as we have heard This must need be a direct and proper means to abound with him to have an anointing more rich and full of his presence For it is a Principle in Reason and Equity that they who make a regular and worthy use of a less proportion of any good thing intrusted with them or bestowed upon them that these should no other circumstance hindering be intrusted with a greater Upon this Foundation are these and the like Sayings in Scripture built Mat. 13.12 for whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance But whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away even that he hath So again Luke 16 10. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much Meaning it is meet that such a person who hath approved himself faithful in a less proportion of any good thing committed unto him should upon the account of his approved faithfulness therein be intrusted with more for God as hath been observed upon the like occasion usually walketh
Point That to him that hath shall be given He that is willing to sow to the Spirit it is a sign that he in the sense of this Scripture is a man that hath received the Grace of God Now they that declare that they have i. e. that take a course to make the World acknowledge that they have they that have in this sense shall have more abundantly and yet still the more they have the more they shall have and the faster and the thicker that men shall sow to the Spirit they shall still have more seed As God giveth natural Seed unto the Sower so doth he give spiritual Seed unto him that soweth unto the Spirit he shall have more strength and vigour and stronger Propensions to do well and worthily yea to abound in well doing This is a third means to be made use of in order to a being filled with the Spirit of God Fourthly Another means for the same end I mean of being filled with the Sprit is to feed and cherish to nourish and strengthen the motions of the Spirit when at any time he beginneth to burn or rise up in a little flame in the soul then toties quoties to be ready to cast spiritual oyl upon the flame that so he may advance the motions which he hath begun is another excellent and pregnant way and means to be filled with the Spirit To open this means or direction unto you it is to be supposed that the Spirit where he inhabiteth and dwelleth will ever and anon be heaving and putting forth in the hearts and souls of men he will be secretly inciting and gently moving and perswading men and women unto good waies and actions unto waies of Justice Righteousness and Goodness and the like sometimes in one kind and sometimes in another yea many times it is likely he will be moving men and perswading them to actions not simply and positively good but unto such waies and actions that are higher and more excellent and more worthy than any of those wherein they yet walk or have been accustomed or have lift up their hearts or hands unto This then is that we advise you in this means or direction that whensoever you perceive or feel the Spirit rising or moving within you unto any thing that is good worthy or meet to be done as if you live inwardly and have much and close communion and converse with your hearts and souls you may frequently find that he is When I say at any time you are sensible of any good motion conceived and raised in you that then presently you provide spiritual milk and honey to feed strengthen and nourish the tenderness of it for when these motions come from the Spirit they are at first but weak and tender and faint but you may take a course by nourishing of them that of soft and tender motions you may make them strong if you take unto you such and such considerations which are apt and proper both to continue on foot and keep alive the said motions within you and likewise to fortifie and encourage them Gentle and soft motions bearing upon your hearts and consciences are but like a soft Air or breathing of wind upon a Ships sails which help her not much on her way So the breathings of the Spirit the first rise of them are but soft and gentle but there is a proper kind of nourishment to be administred unto them which will enlarge and strengthen them Let the motions be what they will as indeed there may be a thousand motions of this kind the Scripture doth afford wherewithal to nourish them all As the Earth bringeth forth all kind of of Herbs Trees c. So the Scriptures yield a proper and peculiar kind of Nourishment a peculiar kind of consideration of truth which will fortifie and strengthen all those motions and raise them up in growth and stature As suppose it be a motion unto a more constant frequent and consciencious attendance upon the Ordinances of God's House and the Affairs there the Scriptures will fill you with motives and considerations which are apt and proper to nourish fortifie and strengthen you in this service So again suppose that the motion be to works of Charity to a more open handedness unto works of Mercy the Scripture will furnish you with nourishment for such motions also Or if the motions of the Spirit be to abandon or cast off idle and unprofitable company who are good for nothing but to waste our precious time I say the Scriptures will nourish these motions also You shall find meditations there and such words and considerations that are proper nourishment for all such motions of the Spirit as these mentioned with their fellows which will cause them to wax and grow and gather strength until it be too hard for the contrary corruptions and infirmities to hinder them My Brethren there be many choice motions from the Spirit of God which may die and never bring forth As there are many Children that die in their Infancy and never grow up unto men Even so the truth is that where there is one Motion that doth grow and come to any maturity it is to be feared that there are many thousands which for want of nourishment and because they are not propagated and encreased by adding further strength unto them die and come to nothing As it is with the Seed of Mankind in their Infancy and tender years we know that they are capable of living and growing up unto men yet are they not capable of propagating in their kind till they are grown up to some maturity Even so motions to good take them in their beginning though they are capable of growing unto their full strength yet they are not presently capable of action untill they be trained and fed up until they come to maturity Then they will beget in their own likeness then they will produce in their kind Thus we see if we desire to be filled with the Spirit of God we must do as we use to do with our new-born Infants make much of them and not despise them because they are weak No but we are to be very tender of them and to nourish them and to cherish them to minister such food unto them that will strengthen them unto or at least until they are grown to Maturity A motion which at first hath little or no strength and so cannot go abroad into any Action or Service by that time you have nourished and carefully tendered it in your hearts and souls though it was but like a grain of Mustardseed at the beginning yet being nourished and fed in your hearts after a while it will be full of strength and vigour and whereas at first it might easily have been quenched after it cometh to maturity it will be able to nourish it self Now the reason of this direction in order to a being filled with the Spirit runneth upon the former Principle which we lately mentioned viz. To
16 he is ten times over and I believe twenty times to that called the Holy Spirit and sometimes in our English Translations the Holy Ghost Now holiness as we know or at least have often heard imports separation or distance from every thing that is unclean And where holiness is in its exaltation it importeth the greatest distance from uncleanness that is possible But without dispute holiness in the Spirit of God is in the height of its exaltation It dwelleth in him bodily Therefore there must needs be the greatest distance between the Spirit of God and all manner of uncleanness The Scriptures do shew that this is the nature of holiness not simply to fly from that which polluteth and defileth but to be at the utmost distance from i◠Upon this account it is in Scripture often opposed unto uncleanness as the East is opposite unto the West as being at the greatest distance from it For God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness 1 Thes 4.7 And so Rom. 6.19 1 Cor. 7.14 And very frequently in the Scriptures you shall find a great opposition made between holiness and that uncleanness whose fulfilling polluteth and defileth the Temples of mens bodies as the lust of Adultery Fornication Incest and all impurities of such a kind which being consented unto and harboured in the souls of men and women are obstructive with an high hand to that great felicity and happiness of their being filled with the Spirit The Apostle Eph. 4.29 compared with ver 30. plainly intimates such an Antipathy between such lusts of uncleanness as these with their fruits and the Spirit of God that they are a grief unto him and consequenly as we lately opened the Metaphor unto you that his hand is weakned by them to that good work of filling men with his presence which otherwise was in his heart to have been wrought for them Let no corrupt communication proceed cut of your mouths but that which is good to the use of edifying and grieve not the holy Spirit c. Let no corrupt communication 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putrified or rotten speech such as is wont to proceed from these impure Fountains we speak of in the hearts of men and women For even as those sents and smells which are wont to breath from Laistoffs and Dunghils are noysome and offensive unto men who have their senses quick and good So are unclean Communication and rotten speech unto men who have their spiritual senses about them Now lascivious wanton unchaste or unclean communication is therefore termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corrupt or rotten because unto them that have their senses their spiritual senses sound and in a good temper and habit exercised in distinguishing things that differ such Communication and Discourse is such a kind of annoyance or offense which answers that annoyance to the bodily senses which is occasioned as was said by the fumes and smells of Laistoffs Dunghills and putrified bodies which are not simply unpleasant and offensive but of dangerous consequence also to dissolve stifle or destroy nature for otherwise there may be sents that are offensive and unpleasant and yet not Enemies unto nature nor yet of any tendency to her dissolution but for her preservation and health In like manner wanton communication and discourses are not only or simply noysome or unpleasant unto men and women that have their spiritual senses about them but have a dangerous influence also to destroy their spiritual being and that work of grace which is begun in their souls according to that of the Apostle in 1 Cor. 15.33 Evil words corrupt good manners not that they do alwaies do it but they have a property so to do they are of a destroying nature and if these destroy good manners then have they a property to do this also viz. to destroy all those good Principles out of which good manners are produced And whereas to this Exhortation that no corrupt or rotten communication should proceed out of their mouths he immediately subjoyneth And grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption he doth it by way of motive clearly implying that such communication will grieve the Spirit of God Now this connective Particle and sometimes implieth a motive enforcing the precedent Exhortation Do this and live Gen. 42.18 i. e. for you shall live by doing this Exalt her and she shall promote thee Prov. 4.8 i. e. for she shall promote thee I give thee this for thy encouragement that she shall promote thee So that the meaning of the place in hand is that such a kind of rotten communication will grieve the Spirit of God That is hath a direct tendency in it to cause the Spirit of God to do as men usually do when they are grieved as we formerly shewed withdraw themselves from those who so grieve them and grow listless unto action and have no lust to go forth in their way but retire themselves and mourn and grow solitary In like manner rotten Communication will cause the Spirit to withdraw his presence in his wonted influences he will have no desire to exert or put forth himself at least with any strength or vigour in motions or encitements to holiness c. by means whereof the Flesh will gather more and more strength and the lusts thereof encrease daily This sheweth that there is a spiritual opposition between rotten Communication or any other lusts of the Flesh and the Spirit of God So Jude ver 19. These be they who separate themselves sensual having not the Spirit Implying that they who are given over to sensual and voluptuous courses are persons who have no the Spirit I conceive this distinguishing Character that they separate themselves viz. from the Bodies and Societies of the Saints and from the Ordinances of God The Apostle would signifie this unto us that such persons as these did it under pretense of a greater measure of the Spirit some special discovery of somewhat more than had been made known unto other men As if they were of too tall a stature and growth to assemble themselves with others as men think not themselves fit company for Children so these men upon pretense of a more excellent inspiration from the Spirit of God separated themselves from other men But saith he there is this in the bottom they are sensual this separation doth not proceed from the Spirit of God nor from any further Communion more than others which they have with him But they are sensual sensual pleasures and courses have bewitched and taken away their heart And now that they may enjoy themselves in this course they must pretend to Revelation and some extraordinary Knowledge for the Saints in their Communion know no such thing but that which they know is of another nature and therefore that they might not be troubled and checked in their way they must give ear to an unclean Spirit and this they call the Spirit of God
his House 1 Kings 21.29 Yet evident it is by the tenour of the place that he was far from being a person truly believing or a person justified in the sight of God In like manner John was not a man endued with Justifying Faith as appears by the Character which the Holy Ghost gives of him 2 Kings 10.29 30. yet was God well pleased with him not only to do as great matters for him as he did for Ahab viz. To establish the Kingdom to him But likewise to continue this Kingdom unto his Posterity for four Generations howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam Jehu did not depart This is Character enough to shew that he was not a true Believe and yet the Lord said unto him Because thou hast done well c. Men may do well though they may be without justifying Faith It is no way probable that all of the Family of the Rechabites were Persons so justified in the sight of God and in favour with him yet was God well pleased with them Jer. 35.14 18.19 So the men of Niniveh were not all and every one of them in the favour and love of God they were not in the state of Justification The like may be said of the young man in the Gospel Mar. 10.21 22. It appeareth from that sad parting between the Lord Christ and him when he went away sorrowful from him you know upon what words speaking that he was not in the state of Justification in the sight of God yet nevertheless he did many things well and was in very great favour with Christ as man for it is said that Jesus beholding him loved him So then men that pray unto God for the gift of his Spirit may be accepted with God as to the obtaining of what they pray for though they be not in an estate of Justification Again secondly If we understand the Saying of the Apostle mentioned Without Faith it is impossible to please God of such a Faith which only importeth a knowledge of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of what we do or intend to do in which sense the word is sometimes used in the Scriptures And particularly thus it is twice used Rom. 14.23 He eateth not of Faith here the word Faith is taken for knowledge of the lawfulness of what a man doth I say if we understand such a kind of Faith as this then it imports no more but this that without a belief or knowledge of the lawfulness of what a man doth he cannot please God in the doing of it Now that men may know the lawfulness of praying unto God for his Spirit without Justifying Faith and consequently please God in the Action so far as to obtain what is prayed for needeth I suppose be no mans question at least if we grant or suppose that a man may believe or know and that without Justifying Faith that God hath a Spirit to give unto them that ask him Now though it be somewhat hard to conceive how a man without Justifying Faith yea and somewhat more should distinctly know or believe that God hath a Spirit to give coessential or of the same infinite being with himself yea possibly many that have Justifying Faith may be ignorant or doubtful of this as we read of some in Acts 19. that they did not know as they professed whether there were any Holy Ghost or no yet that God is able inwardly to enlighten quicken stir up and strengthen to that which is good men may know and believe without such a Faith which justifieth and to know this I mean that God is able to enlighten c. is interpretatively or constructively to know that he hath a Spirit to give because these things are proper for him to do by his Spirit and doubtless God out of his abundant Grace and Condescention unto his Creature Man will construe his Prayer as a Prayer made unto him for his Spirit who shall pray for illumination and quickning unto waies and works of well doing This for the seventh and last means we shall insist upon at present by which men and women may be filled with the Spirit of God viz. Prayer And thus much likewise for resolution of the Second Question propounded viz. How men and women may come to be filled with the Spirit and what is to be done by them in order hereunto CHAP. XI A third Question propounded viz. How a man or woman may know whether himself or others are filled with the Spirit of God or with some other Spirit that pretendeth to be the Spirit of God but is indeed a Spirit contrary to it Wherein are several Rules laid down in order to a clear understanding thereof Prov. 6.9 10. 1 Cor. 12.8 9 10. Jam. 3.17 Prov 2.22 Chap. 9.6 Rom. 8.13 Psal 145 17. 1 Cor. 2.10 11. in part opened THe Third and last Question was this Sect. 1 How a man may know or judge whether either himself or others are filled with the Spirit of God or with some other Spirit that pretendeth to be the Spirit of God but indeed is a Spirit far differing from it For reply hereunto these five things are necessary in a few words to be premised by the way First That there are a Generation of men and women in the World who cannot properly be said to be filled with any Spirit at all in one kind or other unless haply it be with that which the Scripture calleth in Rom. 11.8 a spirit of slumber or rather a spirit of sloath such as the Wiseman describeth Prov. 6.9 10. How long wilt thou sleep O sluggard When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep Yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the arms together Some there are that are of a dull heavy and of a stupified temper little active or stirring in one kind or other somewhat like unto the men of Laish Judges 18.7 who are said to have been quiet and secure and to have had no business with any man We know there are some such in the World who seem to have little sense either of the one World or of the other yea scarce to know whether they be alive or in being or no. Now though these kind of persons we speak of be as good as dead unto all manner of activeness yet if this be come upon them by any Judgment of God by reason of any preceding sin or provocation they may truly and properly enough be said to be filled with the Spirit of slumber drowsiness or floth because God hath left them in the hand and to the power of some evil spirit or other who dismantles and bereavs their nature bodies and souls of that activeness or disposition unto Action in one kind or other which is natural unto them and otherwise would be found in them But if that such a kind of temper be found in any person simply by way of Nature and not by a just recompense of reward for some former sinful miscarriages then the case is far differing I
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
This is a second thing by the way Thirdly We may add that likewise by the way that in reference to many persons the question now under consideration is Sect. 3 upon the matter no question at all I mean in this respect because they are so manifestly and so apparently filled with an unclean Spirit one or more that there is no place left for any considerable enquiry whether they be filled with the Spirit of God or no The reason is because they do plainly discover themselves to be filled with the spirit of the World Of this sort of persons are all those who live whether in the secret or open practice of those sins whether one or more which the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures expresly declares to be inconsistent with an estate of Grace and with Salvation and for which the Holy Ghost excludeth them out of heaven We have a list of several of these kinds of persons drawn up by the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Idolaters nor Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Railers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God meaning if they continue such But you are washed c. Some of these with a clause of enlargement which taketh in more than are here named we have elsewhere mentioned by the same Apostle Eph. 5 5 6. For this ye know that no Whoremonger nor Vnclean person nor the Covetous man who is an Idolater hath any c. Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience It seemeth that there was in the Apostles daies such a Generation of men like unto which we have in these daies who are called Rantors who bear men in hand being first deceived themselves they labour to deceive others also that for such things as these are even all manner of abominations though they commit them yet there is no such thing as the wrath of God coming upon them no but they can follow these wicked practices with the greatest liberty and that they understand their liberty to be such that they may do such things as these without any regret So that concerning such persons as these we need not spend time in debating the case whether they be filled with the Spirit of God or with some other Spirit contrary unto him The case is evident enough without debate As a man needs not a touchstone for a Chip or a piece of brown Paper to try whether these be good Gold or no these plainly enough discover themselves to be no Gold without the Touchstone every mans sense will inform him of it So that the Question propounded lately is chiefly or only to be managed between persons that have some colourable or plausible pretense to a being filled with the Spirit of God and such who have a real and substantial ground for such a claim Fourthly Sect. 4 That also is to be premised and remembred by the way that we do not intend to sift or examine the difference between a regenerate and an unregenerate estate nor make a discovery of those who have the sanctifying Spirit of God in any degree from amongst those who totally want it but only to search after and if it may be find out who they are that are really filled with the Spirit of God amongst those who pretend to such a fulness and how these may be manifested from the other Fifthly and lastly This also would be taken along with us Sect. 5 that the Spirit of God being a voluntary Agent doth not utter himself in all or every person whom he filleth with his presence in all the variety of his gifts And from hence it followeth that men may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of some one of his operations and yet make no appearance of the fulness of the Spirit in some other 1 Cor. 12.8 9 10. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit c. Here we may clearly see that one and the self same Spirit of God is able to fill several men with variety of gifts with several kinds of filling One may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of Knowledge another may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of Wisdom and yet may not be filled with him in some other consideration But if you ask me the difference between Wisdom and Knowledge you may conceive it thus Wisdom implieth a heavenly dexterity a faculty and ability to apply general Rules or Sayings to particular Cases to be able to find out Rules whereby to resolve Questions and Cases which another man who wanteth the Spirit of Wisdom will not be able to see As for instance Our Saviour when he was put to it by the Scribes and Pharisees to justifie the Fact of his Disciples in plucking the Ears of Corn against their unjust Clamours if he had not had a rich anointing of this gift of the Spirit of Wisdom he would not have been able to find out a passage of Scripture to have justified this Practice of theirs but you know where he findeth it and to prove the lawfulness of what his Disciples did Have ye not read saith he Mat. 12.3 4. what David did and those with him when they were hungry how that they went to the House of God and eat the Shew-bread which was not lawful for them to do And so he gives another instance of the Priests Circumcising on the Sabbath day and yet they pollute not the Sabbath Here he by the Spirit of Wisdom findeth the grounds that are contained in these passages of Scriptures laid up somewhat close out of the way of the ordinary thoughts of men It is like not any of the Apostles had been able to make use of these to plead their own cause but the Lord Jesus Christ by reason of that Spirit of Wisdom did it effectually There is the like gift of the Spirit to a degree which is discernable to those that have eyes to discern Men that are but of competent Judgments may clearly see that in some men the Spirit of God doth put forth himself in this great and happy gift of Wisdom making them able to find out grounds and passages of Scripture for the clearing and unfolding of such questions and difficulties which other men and men that are more excellent in their way in some other gifts of the Spirit are not able to do Now Knowledge noteth an understanding of the general Rules themselves and the things themselves which are delivered and asserted in the Scriptures A man may have all Knowledge as the Scriptures speak he may be able to repeat the whole Scriptures from first to last by heart and give an account of the sense and meaning of
find persons so filled with the Spirit of God that they do not give some such sign or testimony as now we speak of something to discover their temper humour and such kind of Principles within them that make them stiff that they cannot bow nor comply Their Iron Sinew is not yet broken they have not taken the course they have not dealt effectually with their hearts to bring them into subjection they have not chastened their Souls every morning as David did who had disciplined and nurtured his heart to some kind of order and compliance with God in all his occasions and affairs And so much for this Direction or the second Rule given by which we may know whether men be filled with the Spirit of God namely if they understand judgment as the Scriptures speak and then be ready in their hearts and affections to concur and to measure out to every case and business according to the exigency and requirements of it this now doth declare an excellent degree of the fulness of the Spirit of God with them And Thirdly Sect. 11 A deep degree of Mortification especially when the work is uniform spreading and stretching it self with an equal force and power unto all a mans Affections Disposition and Desires which ought to be mortified with the Deeds Fruits and Works of them This I say is another great Argument or sign of a man or womans being filled with the Spirit of God The work of Mortification is performable only by the Spirit of God and therefore where it is performed and wrought thoroughly where it appears in any degree of glory it must needs argue a great presence of the Spirit For if ye live after the flesh saith the Apostle ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Rom. 8.13 If you ask me But why doth the Apostle place the great work of Mortification in the deeds of the body in having these mortified and not rather in those sinful affections and inward dispositions from whence they proceed I reply That he placeth it here in the deeds of the body because it is principally seen and the reality and truth of it found there though the work it self lieth most in the heart and inward man yet the energy and force chiefly appeareth in the abolishing or cessation of the deeds of the flesh or of the body When such sinful and unworthy actions cease to be found in men and women whereunto others are tempted by the flesh or by the occasions of the flesh and ever and anon are practicing of them it is a sign that the work of Mortification is real and in truth yet elsewhere the same Apostle placeth it in the affections and lusts of the flesh in having these crucified or moâ—tified Gal. 5.24 And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts i.e. they that are Christs i. e. that are his Disciples or that have resigned up themselves unto him or are subject unto him have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts i.e. have pierced the flesh or outer man thorough and thorough with such sharp and effectual considerations that the strength and vigour of it as to sinful demands or actions is much spent and wasted and as the natural strength and vigour of a man that is nailed to a Cross breatheth out by degrees in that bloud that cometh from him by his wounds so have ye crucified the flesh with the affections or passions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and lusts thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the passions i. e. with all those affections which belong to the irascible part of the soul as both Philosophers and Divines call it Anger Wrath Hatred Envy Revenge c. they have crucified these i.e. they have taken a course to break the strength and to suppress the motions and breakings out of these And the lusts i.e. all those affections also which belong to the other part of the soul which they call the Concupiscible such as are Fornication Uncleanness Drunkenness Gluttony Covetousness c. So then we say that when the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts and Deeds thereof are so crucified or mortified so handled that men and women are become Meek Patient Humble Gentle long-suffering c. And again Chaste Pure Sober Temperate free from Covetousness and all this to an excellent degree it is a sign that they are full of the Spirit of God the reason is because First If these things be in any weak and imperfect degree in men Sect. 12 they proceed from the Spirit of God and must be wrought by him Secondly A being filled with the Spirit is no waies to be estimated and discerned but by a proportionable excellency or fulness of his operations and effects Now the work of mortification as hath been in part described is one of the most signal works of the Spirit and therefore where it is full or any thing rich and deep it argues a great presence of the Spirit but the truth is it is very hard to be found in any such degree as that we speak of even amongst Professours yea or Believers themselves Men and women have generally some sinful humours and dispositions or other unbroken and unsubdued either they are Cholerick Hasty Froward easily Provoked Revengeful and the like or else they are given to Pleasures Ease Voluptuousness of life desires of Riches Honour Power the great things of the World And though many keep within some tolerable compass in respect of the breaking out of these and such like unmortified affections whilst the Tempter keepeth at a distance from them and some few it may be whilst the Temptations runs somewhat low and are but ordinary yet the greatest part of the persons we speak of Professors I mean are apt to be overcome and led away Captive unto Sin by every touch of Temptation any Temptation almost that will may serve it self upon them Even as some mens Judgments are so weak that they are apt to be carried about with every wind of Doctrine as the Apostle speaks apt to take impressions of any thing that is presented unto them with the lightest appearance of truth but to find a man or woman that is able to stand their ground of innocency when any strong temptations beare hard upon them is exceeding rare which argues the work of Mortification to be very imperfect and slight in the greatest part of men and consequently that they are far from being filled with the Spirit of God If it be here demanded Sect. 13 But are not all the works of the Spirit of God perfect If he work Mortification in any person must it not needs be perfect Can any thing proceed from that which is perfect yea most perfect as the Spirit of God is but that which is perfect indeed I reply The perfection of a work may be estimated or considered two waies First Absolutely or in reference only to it self
or enfeebled thine hand now this doth argue a rich presence of the Spirit of God especially in conjunction with the other things mentioned And so again when the fruits and expressions of their love to Jesus Christ or his Saints and Followers shall be very large and fair such as shall be found in none but themselves and perhaps in here one and there one besides as when either with the poor Widow in the Gospel they shall cast in their whole substance or livelihood into the Treasury of God or else shall sacrifice some great and notable opportunity of worldly advantage upon the Service of God and of the People of God especially if they shall do this once and again and as often as any opportunity affords it self unto them this cannot but argue an excellent fulness of the Spirit of God The Tree saith our Saviour is known by the Fruit and this not only in respect of the kind or property of it which is the knowledge spoken of by our Saviour But likewise in the degree of it not only good in the kind and of the same nature but also the best of the kind for goodness Eighthly Sect. 19 Another discovering Character of a persons being filled with the Spirit of God is when he is able and willing they are both one in this case to take up any Cross though never so heavy that he shall meet withal in the way of Righteousness and of God without any declining or turning aside out of his way to avoid it This is a great sign and argument of conviction that certainly he is filled with the Spirit of God especially when he shall suffer Patience to have its perfect work as James speaks i. e. shall be content chearfully and without muttering or complaint to suffer all that God shall call him to suffer though the Iniquity of those who persecute in one kind or other abound never so much yet he will not so much as stoop or step out of the way for it but shall keep strait course in the waies of God in the view of the World there cannot be a more promising sign or symptome of a person being filled with the Spirit of God than this The reason of this is because all kinds of sufferings are contrary to the Flesh and destructive to the interest thereof and unless it be to accommodate the Flesh at some other turn and in some other way no man that can decline them will expose himself unto them but only such who are strengthened by the Spirit of God in the inward man The Apostle Paul in laying down the signs of his Apostleship 2 Cor. 12.12 presents patience under trouble a willingness to suffer all and all manner of afflictions for the Gospels sake For one among the rest If a man have a proportionable aid and assistance of the Spirit of God though he do put his shoulder under the burthen of affliction yet being acted and assisted by this Spirit the Flesh will not feel any bitterness or trouble in it Col. 1.11 Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all long suffering and patience with joyfulness 1 Thes 3.3 That no man should be moved by their afflictions He acquaints them in the precedent Verse that he had sent Timothy unto them to confirm and establish them in the Faith and in the things which they now had believed And that for this end that no man should be moved by any of those things which they suffered Therefore saith the Apostle I sent him unto you to hear of your faith lest that by any means you should be tempted implying that persecution is a sore kind of temptation this is like the Axe that is laid to the root of the Tree This he knew would put them to it and be a means even to endanger the shaking of their Faith and to tell the World that they did only make a shew of believing but were not established in the truth So again 1 Thes 1.3 5 6. Remembring without ceasing your work of faith and labour of love and your patience of hope c. For our Gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost c. As ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake having received the Word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost Now this is that I say had they not had the Holy Ghost to stand by them as they would never have received the Gospel so neither without a rich presence of him would they ever have persevered therein in a day of persecution This then is the reason of the Character or sign in the eighth place Ninthly and lastly A fulness with the Spirit of God is discernable by a rich and inward acquaintance with the mind and will of God and of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures Sect. 20 When a man or woman knows more understands more of the mind of Christ in the Gospel hath more of things secret and hidden unto others discovered and made known unto them this argues that the Spirit dwelleth plentifully in them only there are two particulars to be considered and remembred First That for men and women to pretend to a knowledge of the mind of God in the Scriptures above other persons and to be confident of their own apprehensions and conceits in this kind is nothing is no Argument or proof at all that therefore they do know the mind of Christ in the Scriptures more or better than other men or consequently that they are persons filled with the Spirit of God For all this may be men and women may see the Visions of their own hearts as the Scripture speaketh and be as confident as confidence it self can make them that they are Visions of God and verily think as Paul himself sometimes did in like case that they see the Visions of God The false Prophets of old who walked in the Spirit of falshood or as some read the words in the wind of falshood Mic. 2.11 These were as confident of their Visions as the Prophets of God could be See an instance in Zedekiah the Son of Chenaanah 1 Kings 22.11 He was so confident that he would needs make himself two Iron horns to push the Syrians withal until they were consumed Michaiah the true Prophet of God was not more confident of the Vision which he had seen And so the Pharisees in the Gospel Joh. 9.40 Are we blind also As who should say If any men in all the World doth see and know and understand the mind of God we do we can well bear that thou shouldst look upon the rest of the World the ordinary sort of people as blind but we pray thee do not make us blind also clearly implying and that with the greatest indignation that whatsoever he should speak that should intimate in the least that they should not know the mind of God that that must be most false And in these daies
and drawn forth by the Spirit of God in them Hence you see that that which is supposed or taken for granted in the Objection in hand viz. that the Devil is said to tempt all the World over at one and the same time is an airy and loose supposition and hath no stable Basis or Foundation to support it neither doth it hold parallel with the Holy Ghost because it is possible that men and women may be tempted and yet not by the Devil It is true the Devil doth compass the Earth to and fro but we see it cannot be concluded that every temptation to sin and wickedness is from the Devil because the Apostle James saith expresly that a man when he is tempted he is drawn away with his own Lust and enticed so that if there were no Devils men might be drawn away with their own Lusts Seventhly Concerning those that are tempted Sect. 8 or said to be tempted by the Devil there is no such emphatical punctual or precise limitation or appropriation of their temptations to one unclean Spirit or Devil as there is of all the variety of spiritual gifts unto one holy spirit 1 Cor. 12.4 Now there are diversities of gifts saith the Apostle but the same Spirit It is no where said that there are varieties of temptations but the same Tempter or the same tempting Spirit Again To one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit to another Faith by the same Spirit to another working of Miracles to another Prophesie to another discerning of Spirits to another divers kinds of Tongues to another the interpretation of Tongues but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit Ver. 8 9 10 11. A man would think by these expressions especially by the last but all these worketh one and the self-same Spirit that the Apostle had foreseen that there would in time rise up such a Generation of men in the Christian World whom he meant to way-lay in their errour viz. such who would deny the Divinity of the Spirit yea and would pretend and plead by way of countenance for their errour that there are many Spirits and that these amongst them perform all those operations dispense all those gifts the performance and dispensation whereof are the peculiar and appropriate praise of one and the self-same Spirit viz. that Spirit which is infinite increated and God himself Eighthly The Apostle a little before the passages now cited viz. ver 4 5. compared plainly enough teacheth or supposeth that as there are no more Lords than one notwithstanding the variety of Administrations so there are no more Spirits but one notwithstanding the great variety and diversity of gifts Now there are diversity of gifts but the same Spirit and there are differences of administrations but the same Lord the same Spirit and the same Lord. Is it not rational to infer from hence that the Apostle did not own or acknowledge any more Spirits interessed in giving or bestowing the great multiplicity and diversity of spiritual gifts which in these times especially of which the Apostle here speaketh did abound in all Christian Churches Than he did acknowledge Lords in the disposing of the several Administrations of those gifts Now those Enemies of the Spirit of God I mean to the Divinity of this Spirit with whom we have now to do do confess and acknowledge that there is but one Lord i. e. but one Jesus Christ though they count it no Sacriledge to rob him also of his equality with God they confess him indeed to be God the Scriptures in plain and express words affirming this but what manner or kind of God they would make him neither do I nor I suppose themselves well know For they deny him to be the most High God and so they seem to make him some demy-God But this only by the way By the consideration now insisted upon and suggested by the Apostle it plainly appeareth that however there be Legions of Tempters or of Devils who may tempt at the same time in several places of the World and all these temptations be ascribed to the Devil or to the Prince of Devils because of their subordination unto him in such actions yet there is no such number of these holy Spirits who fill the Saints with their presence all over the World at the same time No But that this is one and the same Spirit who upon this account must needs be God Ninthly Whereas the Apostle verse 11 of the late mentioned Chapter ascribeth such a liberty to the Spirit as to divide to every man as he pleaseth But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will Is not this also of like pregnant intimation that he looked upon him as God For hath God vested any such Prerogative in any Angel or created Spirit to govern the World to Umpire or administer the Affairs of the Children of men after their own will and pleasure Or is not the disposing and bestowing of those excellent gifts and endowments of which the Apostle speaks so much in that Contexture of Scripture mentioned a considerable vein and piece of the Government of the World For what other thing almost can we look upon that is so considerable in the Government and Ministration of the Affairs of the World as the disposing of those excellent gifts and endowments Now then he that gives out and dispenses these as he will and pleaseth is no Creature No Creature hath the Government of these Master dispensations in his own hand and at his own disposure none but God himself 10ly Comparing the said ver 11. now cited with ver 6. Sect. 9 of the Chapter we may have a light clear enough to see that the Apostle supposeth the Spirit of which he all along speaketh to be God Verse 6. He had said There are diversities of operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all And ver 11. He saith thus But all these things worketh that one and the self-same Spirit Therefore the same God of which he spake in the former verse and the same Spirit of which he speaks in the latter verse are one and the same God the working of the same things being respectively ascribed to him Nor can it with any colour of reason here be pretended that the same actions may be and frequently are in Scripture ascribed unto God and unto the Creature God is often said to save men and so Timothy is said to save men 1 Tim. 4.16 So here God may be said to work all these things and the Spirit may be said to work all these things also although it be supposed that the Spirit is a Creature The reason why this pretense will not serve here is First Because though the same attribution here in the same Contexture of Scripture he made unto God and then unto the Spirit of God yet there is not the least intimation
dissatisfaction and contradict and be contentious such ought to know and consider for their satisfaction that neither they the Apostles nor yet the Churches of God far or near had in the case mentioned any such custome which was contrary unto and differing from that which now they had commended unto them So the great Prophet David long before judged it an absurdity a thing unworthy of him to act any thing wherein he should offend against or condemn the generation of the Righteous Psal 73.15 meaning the generality of Saints or persons fearing God So that the Authority Testimony and Consent of Christians in their several Generations in matters concerning their Profession and Religion ought to be and alwaies hath been amongst the best and soundest Christians of very great esteem especially when matters in question between themselves could not be cleared issued or determined otherwise And they that in such cases would not be satisfied herewith were still looked upon by sober Christians as men of proud turbulent and unpeaceable spirits according to the saying of an ancient Writer Contra rationem nemo sobrius Contra Scripturas nemo Christianus Contra Ecclesiam nemo pacificus And it is a saying of a learned Country-man of our own Doctor White Hominem Christianum nunquam eum arbitrabor qui judicium Ecclesiae nihili fecerit Another late Writer of great note and worth hath this saying Quod per omnem Ecclesiam receptum est disputando velle in cotroversiam vocare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est Now then for the swaying and ordering of our Judgments in the Question in hand in case we be at a loss or at a stand in respect of all artificial Arguments and Proofs from the Scriptures certainly the Judgment of the Christian Churches and of the learned Teachers thereof in all Ages is of the most and safest concernment unto us What their sense in the case more generally is and from the Apostles time hath been we shall shew presently Secondly Sect. 13 Suppose this to be the case that we are travelling in a Journey we come where there is a diversity of waies one on this hand another on that hand and being strangers in the Country we know not which of the two waies leads to the place whither we are going only we are certainly informed that many sober and understanding persons who have travelled to the same place whither we are going and were careful in their Journey to find out the right way went that way for example which lieth on the right hand and that very few and these little considerable otherwise went the other way that lieth on the left hand Is it not then much more reasonable that in this uncertainty we should take that way which hath been most occupied and beaten by the feet of so many discreet and wary Travellers who we have the greatest grounds of confidence to believe are safely arrived at the place whither they intended their Journey and we intend ours also than to adventure our selves in the other way concerning which we know not whether ever any person travelling in it came in peace to his Journeys end This is the case between the two Opinions before us that which denieth the Holy Ghost to be God the same God in Essence or Substance with the Father and that which confesseth or believeth him to be God equal with the Father Now then there is on the right hand way those who say that the Holy Ghost is God the most high God And there are on the left hand those also who deny him to be the most High God But those that went on the right hand way were the generality of Christians which were most sober and most learned and fullest of Piety and Zeal who believed the Holy Ghost to be God indeed one and the same God with the Father and concerning these viz. the generality of ancient Fathers and Christian Martyrs of old and Confessours in the Primitive times and the great body of Christians taught and instructed by them we have the greatest assurance that lightly can be that these are safely arrived at the place whereunto they travelled which is the Kingdom of Heaven Whereas concerning those who have gone the other way which saith the Holy Ghost is not God but a created and finite Spirit as they are very inconsiderable as I said being compared with those that have gone the other way so were they viz. the greatest number of those few the greatest Persecutors that ever the Christian Churches met withal For it is generally acknowledged that the Arian Persecution was the greatest that ever was and that it rose from out of them And for the course of their lives they are not therein comparable to the generality of those that are gone the other way So that in such a case as this it is easie to determine what is best becoming Christians to do if they should be strangers to both the Opinions If they do not know but that the one may be as good as the other yet inasmuch as the generality and best sort of Travellers those who are of the best credit and most judicious have gone that way which we are contending for it is most safe and most acceptable in the eyes of God who loveth that men should act according to Principles of Reason for men in their judgment to go along with such For certainly after a consciencious search and enquiry about the truth in any matter of question in Christian Religion if we cannot come by the light of any Argument from the Scriptures to satisfie our selves touching the truth therein God himself doth send us for our resolution to the footsteps of the Flock and to the Shepherds Tents I mean to the Authority and Judgment of the Churches of Christ in their Generation Thirdly Sect. 14 Though God in his Law Exod. 23.2 prohibiteth men to follow a multitude to do evil what multitude soever it be and consequently to joyn with a multitude in receiving or taking up an Error yet of the two it is better I mean it is far the lesser sin and less provoking in the sight of God to follow a multitude of grave wise and consciencious persons upon the terms specified though it be as to matter of issue and event to take up an erroneous Perswasion or Opinion than it is to forsake such a multitude as we speak of grave wise c. though a man should peradventure embrace the truth it is more safe for a man to take up an error with such a Multitude than to go alone or with some few or inconsiderate or inconsiderable ones only The reason is because it is much more reasonable to expect the truth amongst a multitude of grave sober and consciencious persons who are studious of the truth than to expect it amongst a few inconsiderable persons comparatively concerning whose integrity or unfeigned love to the truth there is much more doubt and question Now this also is the case before us
16 It is the first-born of improbabilities or things that are unlikely that the Church of Christ which as the Apostle styleth it is The House of the living God 1 Tim. 3.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The pillar and ground or stay of truth in the midst whereof Jesus Christ himself delights to be continually walking and making himself known should ever since the Apostles times now for 1600 years and upwards lie wallowing in the horrid pollutions of so foul and gross an Error as to judge him who is a Creature to be God Can any man lightly be so simple as to think or imagine a snuff of a Candle to be the Sun And is there not a far greater difference between the ever blessed and incomprehensible God and any Creature of the greatest perfection that is imaginable than there is between the snuff of a Candle and the Sun Or is it worthy the belief or thoughts of any sober Christian that Jesus Christ for so many hundred of years together should not have awakened his Beloved out of such a Lethargy or sleep of death as was fallen upon her whilest she said in effect to a Stock thou art my Maker and to a Stone thou art my Redeemer Or what is it less or less unworthy than this to say unto a Creature thou art my God They who have but any tolerable thoughts of Jesus Christ his love and care over his Church cannot have such hard thoughts of him Fourthly Nor can it reasonably be imagined that the Holy Ghost would have received with so much patience and with so much silence nay with so much acceptation from the hand of the Christian World the acknowledgements of a Deity had he not been conscious to himself that they were his due and that he neither did either God the Father or the Son the least injury or wrong in receiving them at the hands of men But were he not or had he not been God he had trespassed after a very provoking and high manner against him who is God indeed in accepting his appropriate Royalties and suffering himself to be admired and adored amongst the Churches as God Doubtless the sin of receiving any acclamation from men or any thing else which is appropriate unto God alone is a sin of a very exasperating nature As it was with Herod who was struck with an Angel Acts 12.22 And we read Rev. 19.10 22.9 when John made a tender of Divine Worship to the Angel though he did not call him by the name of God yet when he did but exhibite that which was appropriate unto God the Angel would not suffer him nor admit it The Angel seemed to be exceeding tender and jealous of receiving so much as the hint or the first fruits of divine honour John thought that he that had revealed unto him such heavenly Mysteries was worthy of all honour therefore rather than not to shew himself thankful and respectful unto him for that unspeakable kindness of the Revelation he would needs give him something and having nothing at hand to repuite this high courtesie from the Angel that revealed such hidden mysteries to him but Divine Worship and honour he would bestow that upon him but the Angel would by no means suffer him to do it The truth is our Adversaries themselves at this turn do not make much scruple of this namely that Divine Honour should be given both to the Son and to the Holy Ghost and that they may and ought of duty to accept it though in the mean time they do deny the Godhead both of the One and of the Other But into the secrets of such a Notion my soul knoweth not the way how to enter nor can I comprehend or understand how they can either make Reason or truth of such a conceit to deny the Persons to be God by Nature and yet notwithstanding to judge it lawful and meet that Divine Honour should be exhibited and tendered unto them Upon what ground they can satisfie themselves in bringing together this East and West their strange opinion on the one hand and their practice which seemeth to affront it on the other hand How they can make peace between two that are at so great an enmity and distance between themselves I am not able to comprehend unless they mean by Divine Worship only something that is more Sacred or more August than the Reverence that is due unto man Bat this will not however salve the Opinion though it be formed and put into never so artificial and handsome terms Yea though it might be salved with such a sense and interpretation put upon it yet it is not worthy a Christian and especially a Teacher of others to put the mind of God or any Notion of Truth into ambiguous terms which need more unfolding than needs must for it is good to cloath the Truth in such a manner that it may be most familiar and nearest at hand to be received by the Judgments and Understandings of men But to the business in hand May the greatest Subject in a Kingdom lawfully go up into his Sovereigns Bed or require of his fellow Subjects that they swear Loyalty and Homage unto him as unto their Sovereign Or doth not the Scriptures from place to place make it Fornication Whoredom Adultery when that Worship which is appropriately due unto God is given unto any other Fifthly Sect. 17 We know that the sin of Idolatry is from place to place in the Scripture expresly numbred amongst those high provocations and misdemeanours which absolutely and peremptorily exclude from the Kingdom of God and from Salvation 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Rev. 21 8. So that they who deny the Holy Ghost to be God do hereby First Make the whole Christian World in a manner or comparatively as hath been said Fathers Martyrs Confessors and whole Christian Churches to be Idolaters Secondly By a Scripture consequence pregnant and undeniable they do adjudge them all to the vengeance of hell fire But it is a small thing with persons of a proud and peremptory spirit to sacrifice not only the names honour and reputations of the worthiest men under heaven but even their souls and salvation also upon the service of their own opinions and conceits The Lord Christ himself must be a Samaritan and have a Devil that the Scribes and Pharisees may be presumed to be in the truth And so holy and worthy men who above all the World besides have had most acquaintance with God Ignatius Justin Martyr Ireneus Epiphanius Basil Nazianzen Chrysostome Jerome Austin and who not of all those great and famous lights of the Christian World in their daies must be all Idolaters and sent down into Hell that a Crown of glory may be set upon the head of a fond Opinion little less or rather not at all less than Blasphemy and to make way that they who deny the Godhead of the Spirit may be saved For though it be hard peremptorily to deny a possibility of salvation
it matter of Conscience to turn their backs upon the Ministry of the Gospel which as the Apostle calleth it is the Ministration of the Spirit Secondly They who though they do not make it matter of Conscience to neglect or despise this Ministry yet make it no matter of Couscience diligently to attend upon it when they know otherwise how to bestow their time whether in the pursuit of their pleasures or recreation or in the service of Mammon and attending upon the World between these we might insert a third sort viz. such who though they have not turned their backs upon the Ministry and preaching of the Gospel but seem to make it some matter of Conscience to attend upon it yet have itching ears and cannot long together endure wholsome and sound Doctrine but run from Mountain to Hill from one Minister to another For the first We all know that of late years there is a strange spirit of Error and Ungodliness gone out into the World and walks up and down the Streets of your City and hath taken the heads or hearts rather of many who sometimes greatly loved or at least seemed thus to love the Assemblies of the Saints and those discoveries of himself which God is wont by his Word and the Ministry thereof to make from day to day unto them The Spirit we now speak of is a Spirit which teacheth men to say that the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts are vile and for the Ministry of the Gospel and the opening the Mysteries thereof by those that have an Anointing from heaven to do it Wherein is it to be esteemed This Spirit also reacheth and perswadeth those men to fortifie and strengthen or harden themselves in their way not only by Reasons and Arguments such as they are but by the Scriptures themselves also as if they were divided in themselves and destroyed with one hand what they build up with the other Do not men who suffer themselves to be lead by this superordinancing Spirit rather consult the emptying of themselves of the Spirit of God than their filling with him and take a course by degrees wholly to bereave and dispossess themselves of that presence of his in them which at present they do enjoy or have enjoyed formerly Where no wood is saith Solomon or as the Hebrew hath it Prov. 26.20 without wood the fire goeth out In like manner except the Spirit of God in men be fed and nourished with the fresh and new comings in of the light of the knowledge of God and of Christ his presence will languish and sink and die in a manner Hence it is that the Apostle having admonished the Thessalonians not to quench the Spirit 1 Thes 5.19 He immediately subjoyneth by way of caution ver 20. and presignification how they might and must prevent it Despise not Prophesying or as our last Translation with more agreeableness to the Original rendreth it Despise not Prophesyings in the plural number Prophesyings i.e. the opening and interpreting the Word of God by a proper gift of the Spirit for the work if this be despised i. e. made nothing of as the word signifieth then the Spirit in men and women will be quenched i. e. the vigour and activeness of his presence in men will abate and if the neglect and disesteem be long continued in will by degrees wholly cease The word Prophesyings in the Plural number seems to imply that not only or simply to despise Prophesying i. e. the Work or Ordinance it self in the general of Preaching or opening the Scriptures is the ready way to quench the Spirit but to despise the frequency of the opportunities vouchsafed by God in that kind viz. when the bountiful providence of God affordeth unto men and women frequent opportunities of attending upon the Spirit of God in the exercise of Prophesyings and when they may be diligence and wise ordering and disposing of their secular and worldly occasions without any considerable inconveniency frequently attend the openings of the mouth of God which we spake of and yet they shall frequently neglect to do it pleasing themselves with a conceipt that to attend on Prophesying on the Lord's day only is sufficient If the persons with whom we have to do in the reproof in hand Sect. 2 should ask me But why should the despising or neglecting of Prophesying or of the Ministry of the Word be the quenching of the Spirit or a way to empty us of the Spirit I reply First Suppose we could give no other reason of the thing now enquired into but only the Will and pleasure of God and could say no more in the case but this that it is the Counsel of the Will of God to make the attendance of the Creature man upon the Ministry of the Gospel where he vouchsafeth it the condition of the Spirits presence or abiding with him so that in case he doth neglect it his Spirit shall withdraw from him If there were nothing else but this Were not this enough to satisfie any man of Conscience But now the truth is that the reasons of this Counsel of the Will of God that the attendence upon the Ministry of the Gospel should be a standing means to preserve and maintain the presence of the Spirit of God the reasons I say are not so hard to come at in this case but that if the Minds Judgments and Understandings of men were impartially engaged in the enquiry after what the Scriptures speak as to matters of this nature they might be clearly discerned The reasons therefore why God hath made such a Connexion between the attending upon the Ministry of the Word and the presence of his Spirit are first because the word of God is as it were the materials or proper matter for the Holy Ghost to work on to work all his excellent and heavenly works in the hearts and souls of men As for example to work Faith Peace Joy and Righteousness and Holiness and Love c. The Holy Ghost produceth all these excellent works in the hearts of men by the truths of God in the Gospel As an Artificer worketh upon his materials and by his Art and Skil produceth his Artificial piece as a Carpenter upon his Timber or a Goldsmith upon his Metal so that if you do not furnish them with these materials they can do nothing As the Carpenter cannot work when he hath no Timber the Holy Ghost in like manner if there be no Vision no Truth no New Light coming in for him to work on he will take no pleasure nor delight to inhabit or continue there He shall saith our Saviour speaking to his Disciples of the Holy Ghost He shall receive or take of mine and shall shew it unto you Joh. 16.14 What things of his doth our Saviour mean the Holy shall take and shew Doubtless they are such things of his or relating unto him which are contained and asserted in the Gospel As his Divine Nature Humane Nature his Incarnation Conception
wherein the Holy Ghost much delighteth as Isa 60.6 22. For the other Scripture mentioned Sect. 8 1 Joh. 2.27 But the anointing which ye have received of him remaineth or abideth in you and ye need not that any man should teach you but as the anointing teacheth you c. implying that the former things which he had written to them concerning those that seduced them that is those men who went about to seduce them according to the Language of the Scripture wherein when any Impostor perswadeth or useth means to seduce he is said to seduce though the persons thus perswaded are not actually seduced As these Christians were not actually seduced and yet he writeth to them concerning those that seduced them and then he closeth his Admonition thus But saith he the anointing which ye have received of him meaning Christ abideth in you As if he had said it is true that which I have written is in order to fortifie and to strengthen you against those who go about to ensnare and entangle you but saith he you have another means and help in your selves by which to preserve your selves from them and from their snares Now by this anointing I suppose he means not properly the Holy Ghost though he was in them and according to Scripture-phrase may be very properly said to abide in them But by anointing I conceive he rather means the work of the Spirit which he had wrought in them that is the impressions of Holiness Righteousness and Goodness their love to God and Men. This is that anointing which they had received and saith he you need not that any man teach you but as this anointing teacheth you meaning that they needed not that any thing should be offered unto them but that whereof they might be competent Judges by means of those holy Principles of Righteousness and Love which the Holy Ghost had wrought and raised in them For the Gospel in the whole compass or circumference of it being a Doctrine according unto godliness men that have a Principle of Godliness rich and full and any whit raised may sent any Doctrine and if they will but consult with the Oracles in their own breasts they may find out and come to understand whether it be according unto Godliness yea or no. If it carrieth any repugnancy unto Godliness or unto Holiness then saith he you have no need of it you are better without it This anointing is truth and it is no lie As if he had said they themselves could not but know it for Godliness is a real Propensity of heart and soul unto that which is Good Just and Righteous and which maketh for the glory of God and well-being of men these are the Royal things of God not liable to any dispute whether they be true or whether they be false delusions therefore saith he having such an anointing within you you need not that any man should teach you any thing lying above the reach of this For let any Doctrine or Practice whatsoever come to you if it comport and fall in with this Principle then you may receive it And he plainly implieth here that though the same anointing teacheth all things yet they that had this anointing had need that men should teach them according as this teacheth them And the truth is that men and women that are godly and have this anointing in the fullest measure have need to be taught those things which are consonant and agreeable to this anointing and which will nourish enlarge quicken and revive it So that this place is so far from countenancing that Notion or Practice by which men turn aside from the Ministry of the Gospel that it proveth and that very clear that they indeed ought to attend upon it The persons now under reproof Sect. 9 besides what they pretend and plead directly and immediately from the Scriptures have other Arguments and Pleas to harden themselves in their Practice Let us therefore deal with them as sober men use to deal with them that are frantick and mad when they have gotten Knives or Swords wherewith they are like to do either themselves or others a mischief they wrest them out of their hands In like manner let us try by evidence and strength of reason and of truth to take away those weapons at least the chief of them wherein they put their trust One thing they pretend why they should not attend upon the Ministry of the Gospel is that the Ministers in these daies are not infallible We cannot safely depend upon them in what they teach us they may lead us into error as well as truth Is not this a Consideration sufficient to justifie us in our taking our selves off from hearing them To this I reply First By putting the question to them Whether they judge themselves to be infallible or no If they answer Affirmatively that they do judge themselves infallible which I suppose they will not then Why should not the Ministers of the Gospel be as infallible as they Besides if they be infallible What need they fear of being led aside into Error by the Ministers of the Gospel But it is like they will reply Negatively and grant that they are not infallible If so why then do they depend upon themselves or upon their own Notions or Apprehensions or upon their own senses and interpretations of Scripture May they not as well be mistaken and deceived by leaning unto these as unto such things which shall be by the Ministers of the Gospel delivered unto them Or will these persons themselves be only Sceptiques and profess that they are absolute Neutralists in all manner of Tenents and Opinions in matters of Religion or that they doubt of every thing and firmly believe nothing If they profess this they are more degenerate from men than the generality of the Heathen They firmly believe that there is one God and that he is good c. yea they are worse than the devils of whom James saith That they believe there is one God and tremble Besides such a Profession as this that men believe nothing in matters of Religion interfeers with it self for he that saith he believes nothing certainly pretends herein to know certainly that all things are doubtful yea and to know certainly that it is best for him to be of this Judgement that all things are uncertain and therefore nothing for him to believe Otherwise Why is he thus minded why doth he not rather submit to the contrary But this last Scepticism is a strain of folly not worth the contending against But to the Reason propounded Sect. 10 by which the seekers of superordinancers do make attempt to justifie their practice in giving over the Ministry of the Gospel I reply Secondly That the Scribes and Pharisees were doubtless every whit as far from being infallible as the Ministers of the Gospel now are yet our Saviour himself Mat. 23.2 3. counselled the people and his own Disciples too to hear them yea and
the World by making of the Stones of the Earth Children unto Abraham This needs no other proof but only the Testimony of so many thousands that do acknowledge themselves to be brought into Captivity unto Jesus Christ by the Ministry The Trophies of the Gospel are hung up in the sight of the World in all the parts and quarters of it it hath cast down in men and women many a strong hold many high thoughts have been thrown down by the efficacy and power of it it is of an undermining nature and of the Wisdom of the Flesh and of the World which are the Enemies that it meeteth with and hath to encounter in the course of it alas it maketh straw and stubble and rotten wood it doth detect and demonstrate the vanity and emptiness of this Wisdom and maketh it evident to the Consciences of men that if they will follow such and such Principles Notions and Apprehensions as they bring with them to the Gospel they are lost men they mistake the way of life and peace and shall most certainly come to the Chambers of death and Eternal destruction in the end And as for such things which it commendeth for truth it doth so fortifie the truth of them upon such terms of excellent demonstration conviction and power that except men be desperately bent and set upon their own ruine and destruction they cannot but give place to it and fall down before it and say of a truth this is indeed no other but the wisdom of God Thirdly That it might have been or yet may be as effectual unto the men we speak of if they would but remove that which obstructeth the efficacy and power of it is evident from many places Joh. 5.44 How can ye believe which receive honour one of another As if he had said that if they had not resolved that they would retain and not cast out from them that wicked and crooked humour and disposition of theirs viz. to seek honour one of another to seek the great things of this World and so to strengthen themselves in thier fleshly interest this way they might have believed as others did This therefore was the only thing that stood in the way of these people and was as walls and bars in the way of believing they did divide and give out their strength in seeking after honour and wealth c. and as Theives use to do divide parts amongst themselves Now so long as they were thus resolved to stick together they kept one another in their way and course upon such terms that they could not believe For by this means as the Artificers said of their Craft they had their living much of their wealth and honour came in upon the account of the credit and opinion men had of them Now when Jesus Christ did preach Doctrines contrary to the waies and policies of these men which did detect their nakedness and discover their wickedness and unworthiness they resolved to stand one by another and defend one another so that it was all one what he should say unto them they were bent upon their course For there is nothing but if men will be wilful they may withstand even the efficacy of the Gospel it self If it be here demanded Sect. 19 But is the Ministry you speak of no more efficacious or powerful than to be obnoxious unto the resistance of men Are men able by one means or other to hinder the efficacy and power of it Or is it not reasonable to conceive that the efficacy of the Ministry should consist as well in removing that out of the hearts and minds of men whatsoever it be that obstructs the efficacy of it otherwise the saving efficacy of it as in any other vertue property and power of it whatsoever Or if it be not efficacious enough to remove that out of mens waies which hindereth the saving efficacy of it wherein is it to be esteemed for any efficacy in it at all If it be not effectual to save men all the efficacy otherwise is not to be regarded I reply First That the Ministry of the Gospel cannot be conceived to be more effectual than the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God now that the Holy Ghost may be and is resisted by men appeareth Acts 7.51 where it is said that they had alwaies resisted the Holy Ghost therefore it is very clear that the Ministry of the Gospel may be resisted we know that the Arm of Christ was the mighty Arm of God his out-stretched Arm yet the Scripture saith that the unworthiness of the people was such that he could do there namely in his own Country no mighty works Mat. 13.58 Mar. 6.5 And the reason of this again was because they did not set their hearts upon the consideration of such things as he did nor upon the words which he spake therefore he could do no great works that is he had no mind or will to do them Now when a man is unwilling to do a thing he may according to Scripture Dialect and manner of speaking Gen. 39.9 2 Cor. 13.8 1 Joh. 3.9 be said to be unable to do it That Christ could not do any great work there was because it did circumstances being as they were not stand with the Wisdom by which his Will was steered nor with those Rules of Righteousness Holiness Justice and Mercy by which he was acted in his whole course So it is in the Ministry of the Gospel if men shall behave themselves at any such desperate rate of unworthiness or of slothfulness and oscitancy or especially stubbornness and stoutness of spirit that they still take hold of any pretense to oppose the truth that is coming upon them like an Armed man if men I say do suffer themselves in any such strain of Impiety and opposition against God the Ministry of the Gospel is not like to have its effect upon them in respect of the beneficial end of it it is true the Holy Ghost even when he was resisted was full of power and did vindicate himself very gloriously in the Consciences of those that did resist him and yet it is said he was resisted because he was put by from that blessed work those saving effects which otherwise he was purposed to have done and to have accomplished Even so the Ministry of the Gospel let men oppose it and let men seek Pleas and Pretenses to decline it yet nevertheless it is full of power and authority even over those who shall rebel with the highest hand against it it doth act with terrible power and conviction even upon the hearts and souls and consciences of them and leaves deep impressions of the power and glory of it Secondly The efficacy of the Ministry of the Gospel doth not stand in the actual conversion of men or in the actual edification of men nor in making of men actually willing to be converted or turned unto God for if it were to be estimated or measured by this Rule it might
it is appointed to Umpire in the hearts and consciences of men if it were not able to make good those things which it threatneth and promiseth that they are Realities and not only Notions and faint Speculations it would do no great things it would be but a powerless and faint thing As we see all the devised and fained Stories that are abroad in the World though they may please the fansies of some that hear them yet they have no great work upon them they do not move or encline them to any great undertaking And as no man will go to the charge of building a Ship to travel to the Lands of Vtopia because it is only a fained Land of pleasure and delight but no man was ever able to make good the being thereof So for the glorious and great things of the World to come which are spoken of in the Gospel unless you can get it into mens hearts to believe that these things are really so you may treate with them by this and adjure them by that and yet the Conscience not move at all upon any such account but when it shall be made known to them demonstratively that these great things are not words only nor fansies or devised Fables but that they are the same in nature and reality which they are in terms and names now the Consciences of men and women are over-awed and overcome at this point there is no standing out but only in such cases wherein men are bewitched and have their eyes blinded by the God of this World Thirdly and lastly The efficacy of the Ministry we speak of is seen in that Sect. 22 that it communicateth and deriveth the Spirit of God unto men who receive and believe it It is to be considered in this case that it is not simply appointed by God to convey the Spirit of God into the hearts and souls of men and women but that it is an Ordinance of such a nature that it is most proper for such a service for the great God as this viz. the giving forth of the Spirit into the Consciences and Souls of men 2 cor 3.6 Who also hath made us Ministers c. not of the Letter but of the Spirit Gal. 3.2 Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith So that this is unquestionably true that the Ministry of the Gospel is erected by God for the communication of the Spirit into the hearts and souls of men Even as a Conduit Pipe is a means to convey the water into our Cisterns which before were empty so the hearts souls and inward parts of the Sons and Daughters of men being to a great degree empty of the Spirit of God God hath as it were made and framed these golden Pipes of the Ministry of the Gospel to convey the Holy Ghost into the hearts and souls of men that so together with him there may be life and power and strength and all manner of divine excellencies This the Ministry of the Gospel will certainly do when it is managed like it self and where the Wisdom and gracious Counsel of God is embraced and entertained and men have done homage and have bowed the knee of their Understanding and Judgement unto it and have owned the things contained in it as from God And meet it is that such a service and subjection of the Creature unto God as this is should be immediately and out of hand rewarded by him with so great a gift as his own Spirit As if God should say Where my Advice is received and where my Counsel goeth there shall my Spirit go also This saith the Evangelist Joh. 7.39 He spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive We have done at present with the first of the second sort of Offenders who were lately designed to Reproof upon the account of this general Delinquency against the said Doctrine viz. That instead of being filled with the Spirit they take a direct course to be emptied of the Spirit altogether The particular Delinquency of these Persons is that they wholly withdraw themselves from the Ministration of the Gospel which according to the intent and declaration of the Great Founder of it God is the Ministration of the Spirit according to that of the Apostle Gal. 3.2 Received ye the Spirit by the Works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith We have taken away the Weapons from them wherein they trust and have evinced those Texts and places of Scripture upon which they bear themselves for the justification of their practice to have no manner of compliance herewith but rather being rightly understood to stand bent a contrary way We have likewise detected the insufficiency and impertinency of such other Grounds and Reasons for their Practice on which they chiefly insist and wherein their foot is taken and held in a snare of Death The Lord break the snare in sunder and deliver their souls and shew mercy to those that are yet at liberty that they be not led aside into the same Error CHAP. XV. Five sorts of Offenders more under the Second Head reproved First Such who are chill and cool in their respects unto the Ministry of the Gospel An account of the Causes thereof The danger of false Notions concerning God A second sort reproved for withdrawing from a lively and powerful Ministry Reasons of such miscarriages Legal and Evangelical Ministry distinguished What renders Persons duly fitted for the Ministry of the Gospel The third sort justly reprovable are such who neglect to be led by the Spirit of God How and when the Spirit of God is neglected A fourth sort justly reprovable also are such that do resist the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God The fifth and last sort of Offenders are such who refuse to sow unto the Spirit of God WE proceed to a second sort under this Head of Offenders against our Doctrine Sect. 1 who together with the former are summoned to hear what the Spirit of God will please to say unto them in a way of reproof to their practice also and these are of several sorts First Such who though they do not with the former make it matter of conscience wholly to desert the Ministry of the Gospel nor rise up to plead in words against the blessing of it yet are they chill and cool in their respect unto it they do not esteem it as their appointed food they are not zealous in their attendance on it their hearts are not perfect with it when they come to it they come as if they came not or cared not much whether they came or no and so they hear as if they heard not Sathan with a very slender and slight temptation may interpose at any time and separate between them and their attendance upon it We know there are many thousands amongst us of that lukewarm and unworthy temper we speak of who think it enough to wait upon God when he is speaking the
Warfare whereby the flesh is like to be promoted But how doth he prove this By an Argument drawn from Contraries thus They are so far from being carnal in the sense declared that they are mighty through God or unto God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the pulling down of strong holds and casting down imaginations meaning in the minds and hearts and judgments of men and every high thing c. clearly implying by way of Antithesis or Opposition between Carnal Weapons and the Weapons of his Warfare that he that goeth upon any such Warfare where he is to cast down the imaginations of men upon which they bear themselves high in all their evil and carnal and sinful waies is not like to be accommodated by them in the flesh no he will rather be looked upon as the greatest disturber of them in their darling Notions and Conceipts Ahab we heard but now sometime looked upon Elijah when he called him his Enemy Hast thou found me O mine Enemy If the Prophets of Baal had not Prophesied good both to Ahab and Jezebel certainly they had not eat bread at her Table as the Scriptures say they did they had done by them as they did by Michaiah who alwaies Prophesied evil Now whosoever shall Prophesie evil unto men as all they do who tell them plainly that if they will maintain such and such Principles and hold such and such Notions and walk accordingly they cannot be in the favour of God nor in the way of salvation Certainly these men shall eat no bread at any mans Table whom they will not let alone in their Notions and Conceipts which are their strong holds by which they fence themselves against the fear and apprehension of the Wrath of God All which sheweth that there is a humour in men to gratifie and reward all such Ministers that will shew mercy unto them and will not deal clearly with them in such things But the Apostles Warfare was not after the flesh as his and their Enemies was who setting up a contrary way of Preaching unto him and seeking to bring him and his Ministry out of credit told the People that Paul was a man that warred according to the flesh that fought himself here in the World that did comply with men to make an advantage of the Gospel and to ingratiate himself in their affections and good wills Now the Apostle to vindicate himself from such an imputation as this doth it upon this ground Alas saith he I war not after the flesh I have no Weapon for any such Battel the Weapons of my Warfare are these Principles and these Notions and Truths which I labour to press where-ever I come and to set the World on fire with These are not carnal but mighty unto God or through God to cast down strong holds his meaning is that the proper use and tendency of his Weapons were to encounter and beat down and to demolish those thoughts and imaginations which he met withal in the minds and in the judgments and in the hearts of men Where-ever he came he found them as it were drunken with the Wisdom of this World with apprehensions bent against the Gospel and against the Counsel of God therein concerning the Salvation of the World The World was furnished with other Notions and with other Doctrines some pleasing their fansies in one kind some in another some said there were many Gods some said there was none Now Paul was provided with Weapons God standing by him and aiding and assisting him to combate with all these conceipts and imaginations of men which were built as they thought as sure as a House founded upon a great Rock so sure that they did as it were laugh to scorn any other Doctrine or any other Principles that should be brought in opposition unto them But saith he the Weapons of my Warfare are mighty even to the casting down of such things such high things as these When I come amongst Philosophers and wise men that think themselves great in Wisdom and Understanding I batter and take them down from the height they are lifted up unto in their own thoughts and imaginations The Weapons which I level against the faces of those desperate Counsels and lying Imaginations which were exalted within them subdued them and brought them down yea brought them into Captivity unto Jesus Christ Now this is that which we observe here that such Truths and Doctrines which are bent against the thoughts and conceipts of men by which they are supported in their evil sensual and sinful waies are no weapons to fight the battels of the flesh but such Doctrines such Notions and Imaginations which qualifie the Scriptures and bring them down from the height of that holiness and purity which is natural unto them and make them to temper with men of low Spirits and of false Principles these are the Weapons that will fight the battels of the flesh and men will give large wages unto them that by such Doctrines will strengthen their hands in evil waies but they have nothing at all to reward those with that will disturbe them in their way which refie and ransack their Consciences which take from them those Weapons wherein they have trusted all the daies of their lives and in which they have had so much solace and content Which sheweth that there is an inclination and longing desire in men to be boulstered up in their evil Notions and Practices and to have their Consciences fortified against any fear or apprehension of the wrath or displeasure of God So then this is another Reason of that declining and falling off from such a Ministry of the Gospel which is burning and shining which is full of Authority and Power to a Ministry of quite another kind which is airy and stands partly in uncouth and empty Notions Speculations and Conceipts which the Scripture knoweth not partly in affectate and odd Phrases and Expressions This is another Reason I say of that aptness in men and women to fall from the former Ministry to the latter it is some lust some inordinacy of heart or mind one or other which they are not willing to part with nor yet to be in continual fear and danger of suffering reproof for othem It is true the men of that solly and weakness we speak of are wont to pretend other Reasons and Grounds of that unworthy exchange they make in the case mentioned and will not own the Reasons now specified But as the saying of the Poet was Ut verae lateant causae finguntur inanes It is frequent with men in such cases to pretend that which is not and to conceal and hide from the knowledge of men that which is to make a fair covering of Reasons that are warrantable and just to veil these that are reproachful and unworthy being indeed the true Reasons and Grounds of their Action This was Rachels Practice Gen. 31.3 4. the true reason why she sate upon the Camels Litter or Furniture was
truly and properly be said to be the disposer and dispenser of the whole and every part and parcel of it And as he is said to have spoken by the Prophets so much more may he be said now to have spoken by his Apostles For whatsoever was spoken by the Apostles was upon the account of Christ the Spirit by which they spake was purchased by Jesus Christ so that the whole and entire Systeme and body of Principles in the New Testament may all be ascribed to Jesus Christ as if he spake all and every part thereof with his own mouth Fourthly and lastly Evident is is from the opposition and comparison which the Apostle here makes between him that spake on Earth in the sense mentioned and him that speaketh from Heaven Sect. 5 and so from the greater obnoxiousness unto Wrath and Punishment in him that shall neglect and disobey the latter above that which we found in him that disobeyed the former who notwithstanding was severely punished by God Evident I say it is from these Comparisons that Evangelical Disobedience i. e. the known and customary neglect of any Precept in the Gospel is of a far more provoking nature and import and far more punishable than the Disobedience of the former Law Justice did not then require any such severe execution upon Transgressors as now it doth Upon this account God respecting the times of the Gospel threatneth Mal. 3.5 that he would be a swift Witness where it is evident that the Prophet speaks of the daies of Christ Who saith he ver 2 may abide the day of his coming And ver 3. He shall sit as a Refiner and Purifier of Silver and he shall purifie the Sons of Levie Ver. 4. Then shall the Offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord. Implying that Christ in the daies of the Gospel will call men unto and put them upon another manner of strain of holiness and righteousness and heavenly mindedness than ever they had been put upon before Behold saith he I will come near unto you in Judgment and I will be a swift Witness against the Sorcerers c. and fear ye not me saith the Lord of Hosts He would draw nigh unto them in Judgment then whereas he was at a great distance from them in that respect under the Law Forty years long saith he was I grieved with this Generation But God will not now be grieved long with any stubborn Generation of Delinquents under the Gospel though it may be he do not appear as a swift Judge in respect of Temporal Judgments yet he will some way or other be a swift Witness against them he will declare and make manifest from Heaven after a competent time and reasonable space given them to repent that he doth dislike and that he is highly displeased with their sins and wickedness and disobedience It is upon this account that John the Baptist tells the Jews Christ being come into the World to settle a new Covenant better than the former That the Axe was laid to the Root of the Tree Mat. 3.10 meaning that whereas before God laid the Axe to the Boughs of the Tree but still left the Root standing and so they did recover in time again from under many severe Judgments But Jesus Christ being now come amongst you he being sent unto the World now look to your selves if you do not every man turn from his Iniquity every man from his Abomination you will be cut down and destroyed and burnt with sire For his Fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floure c. By what hath been said we see that to despise an Evangelical Precept or Command of God hath more of provocation of guilt and demerit in it than former Transgressions and Provocations under the Law had The Reason hereof is plain viz. because though some of the Evangelical Commands be more spiritual and so more contrary unto and more grating upon the flesh and in this respect more difficult to be observed than the Precepts under the Law were yet notwithstanding all things considered the rich and glorious advantages which the Gospel affords unto men above what the Law doth to help them to obey These things considered and laid in the Balance it will appear that a despising and neglecting of God and the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel is a sin of a far greater and deeper demerit than the neglect of a Command under the Law for the more easie that obedience is which is prescribed it is of so much the greater provocation and demerit when men shall neglect to obey God having in the Gospel afforded such mighty Arguments and encouragements on the one hand to holiness and vertue and threatned destruction with eternal fire on the other hand to them that shall be disobedient For men to be disobedient under such circumstances as these is most provoking in the eyes of God So that evident it is that such persons who have greater Motives greater means to perswade them to any service if they shall neglect and be despisers of these Commands their demerit is so much the greater and their condemnation will be so much the sorer upon them But now this Command or Exhortation to be filled with the Spirit is not only Evangelical but it hath a special and peculiar property in this kind wherein it agreeth with few others because the giving of the Spirit of God viz. in such a degree as to be filled with it is appropriate to the New Testament It is usual in the Scriptures when things are more fully done and after a more rich and bountiful manner discovered to represent them as newly done though the Spirit of God was given under the Law yet the proportion and quantity of it was but scanty in comparison of what is now given under the Gospel Jesus Christ is now glorified and therefore he poureth out of his Spirit upon the Sons and Daughters of men more abundantly So that to be filled with the Spirit is a duty of such a nature that it is not only Evangelical but likewise more purely Evangelical than many other duties are This should be a great Argument which should bear upon our Spirits to perswade us to submit our selves unto the obedience thereof to gird up the loins of our minds and to go about this great duty with all readiness CHAP. XVII Four Considerations more to enforce the Exhortation The fourth Motive the great benefit accruing unto men and women by a serious engagement in a course likely to issue in a being filled with the Spirit It will free men and women from foolish unclean and noysome lusts somewhat peculiar in this engagement differing from others though worthy in their kind A fifth Motive proving that in case men do what God hath and doth enable them to do in order to a being filled with the Spirit of God this their enterprize shall assuredly prosper in their hand Hope of obtaining great encouragement unto
our cares we should ease our selves of much trouble For this is that by which men and women spoile themselves in that they take up the care of many daies at once Men will care for to morrow and for forty daies together whereas the care of one day the evil and trouble that doth attend it is sufficient unto it but the effect of this care for the time to come is to fill with trouble and feare There is indeed a fear of which Solomon speaks Prov. 28.14 when he saith Happy is the man that feareth alwaies and it is rather an evil or a misery to be freed from this fear than any matter of profit But this we say a being filled with the Spirit of God a rich anointing with this oyl will reduce the heart and soul of a man to such a pass to such a temper and frame that it shall be impenetrable invulnerable by such Arrows of cares and fears which are wont to pierce and strike thorough the hearts of other men and to slay all their comforts and peace As there are some kinds of Oyls or Oyntments as some have affirmed which are so sovereign against the impressions of hot boyling Lead or the like that they will secure men from receiving any harm by them if timely applied Whether this be true or not yet in the business before us the Scripture it self taketh notice of that great and marvellous effect of a rich anointing of the Spirit of God we speak of Psal 27.1 2 3. compared with Psal 46.1 2 3. And Psal 112.6 7 8. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom then shall I be afraid When the wicked even mine Enemies and my Foes came upon me to eat up my flesh they stumbled and fell Psal 46. God is my refuge and strength a very present help in time of trouble therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed and though the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea c. And so again Though an host of men should compass me about yet herein will I be confident Now we may easily perceive that these are very high expressions of a fearless and dreadless spirit though the Earth be moved out of its place The moving of the Earth and tossing to and fro of Mountains represent unto us things that are of a most terrible and formidable nature and very astonishing to the World We know the shaking of Mount Sinai was so terrible that Moses himself is said to fear exceedingly And so an Host of men is a thing which is most terrible yet saith he in this case though an host of men shall come marching against me yet herein will I be confident And Psal 112.6 7 8. Surely he shall not be removed for ever The Righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance he shall not be afraid of evil tydings his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord c. That which will cause the hearts of other men to fear namely evil tydings and cause them to shake and tremble like the Trees of the Forrest when they are shaken with a mighty wind will have no operation at least comparatively upon the men and women of this Character which we are now speaking of viz. which are filled with the Spirit Now the Reason why a rich anointing with the Spirit of God must fortifie the spirit and soul of a man Sect. 2 to make it inaccessible unto troublesome cares and fears is because it is a kind of spiritual intoxication answering a drunkenness with Wine to which it is opposed Be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess but be ye filled with the Spirit I conceive that by the opposition in this Comparison the Apostles intent is to shew that there is a likeness between a being filled with the Spirit and being drunk with Wine For as Drunkenness doth stupifie the natural senses doth bereave a man of the use and exercise of them so that for the time he is not capable of minding his own Concernments he is not affected with any thing that doth concern his state or health or any thing that is before him Even so or after such a manner a being filled with the Spirit doth as it were bereave a man of his carnal senses it doth reduce a man in his mind and understanding to such a state that the Flesh and the things thereof have little or no place in him it casteth him into a kind of heavenly extasie in which he is taken up with matters of another nature of a more high and excellent concernment so that the things which concern him here in the World either matters of trouble or sorrow or any other thing or concernment whatsoever little move or affect him whilest he is as it were in this heavenly extasie it doth as I said bereave him of those senses principles and thoughts which other men abound withal who are accounted sober men and wise in their Generation in the matters of this present World If we be besides our selves saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.13 it is to God There is no man that is filled with the Spirit of God but he is apt to do as one that is besides himself he doth not take knowledge doth not mind is not so much affected with such kind of things as relate to himself which other men as it were make their All in All and according to the giving out of which whether on the right hand or on the left they stand or fall they live or die they live if the World stand by them if their Silver and Gold their Health and Strength and other enjoyments continue with them but if these fail them they are dead in the Nest But it is not so with him that is filled with the Spirit of God For as it was with Lot in his fit of Drunkenness he neither perceived when his Daughters lay down by him nor yet when they rose up from him so when a man is in his heavenly rapture of a fulness of the Spirit of God he doth not much mind nor is much affected when the World lieth down by him and beareth him company nor when it riseth up and taketh its leave and departeth from him in one kind of enjoyment or other Now this being the proper nature and tendency of being filled with the Spirit to stupifie and turn the edge of natural affections which occasion trouble and sorrow in the World it must needs follow that they who are in this state must needs be under an heavenly security and their hearts like unto the upper Region where there is no impressions of any fiery Meteors but a constant and uniform serenity and tranquillity In like manner is it with the heart and inward part of a man that is filled with the Spirit of God there is no impression of any sadness or cares or tormenting fears I speak only of the usual habitual and standing frame and
condition of such a mans soul and spirit it is one thing what God may do or suffer to be done in a case not ordinary and in reference to some extraordinary end and purpose of his in the World He may give way and his Spirit may suspend his own actings though the heart and soul be full of him and so there may be some weakness and impressions of fear and sadness or the like But we speak not of what such a person may suffer at times and in cases not ordinary but we speak of the standing and habitual frame of his heart and soul and what this fulness of the Spirit doth for him and what state it putteth him in ordinarily And doubtless if it were not so God would want one great Engine to draw and work up the hearts and spirits of men and women unto the heighth of holiness For if he would have men to be Noahs and Jobs and Daniels I mean to be signally excellent in faith and holiness if he would have men like unto the tall Cedars in Lebanon he must accordingly propound and hold forth something by way of reward and recompense that shall as it were draw and work them up above the common line and the ordinary strain of the World round about them For if he should have no great priviledge to invest those withal whose labours and endeavours and diligence should surpass the labour and diligence of other men in waies of holiness and righteousness the World would be all of a level and of the same pitch the whole World of Christians and Believers would be but men of a low stature But now God as he hath gone to work having variety of considerations and rewards some rich and glorious above others to propound unto men he hath taken an effectual course to have the waies of excellency in holiness and righteousness often frequented and walked in which otherwise would have been unoccupied by the Sons and Daughters of men if he had not provided encouragements to excite or stir them up thereunto Therefore it is very reasonable to conceive that a being filled with the Spirit should be rewarded by God with some signal Priviledge namely by rendring them that are so filled free from troublesome cares and fears above the Rate and Line of those whose hearts will not serve them to rise up unto it Secondly Where there is a fulness a rich anointing of the Spirit Sect. 3 there must needs be an abundance of Peace and Joy This was a second particular of the Four a concurrence whereof must needs be conceived to make a mans Condition in the World as desirable as flesh and bloud is capable of Freedom from care and trouble is a kind of Negative Peace but it is but such a Peace whereof irrational Creatures yea Inanimate Creatures are capable as well as mene yea those that are dead have part and fellow ship in this Peace according to that of Job 3.18 19. There the Servant is free from his Master c. But that Peace which we now speak of is somewhat positive and hath a true and real existence in the soul it is a sweet composedness of the mind and spirit and conscience of a man and this well built upon grounds of knowledge by means whereof a man is whole and entire himself and at perfect liberty to serve God and men and himself in every good way and work this is that Peace which we call a positive Peac which hath Joy alwaies accompanying it We shall not upon the occasion in hand stand to scan the description according to the several parts of it this would cause too great a digression it shall suffice at present to know that the Peace which we affirm to be a fruit or effect of a being filled with the Spirit is a very blessed and desirable thing such a state or constitution of the Spirit or soul of a man which is a principal member or part of that happiness which a Creature whilst he is cloathed with flesh and bloud is capable of attaining or enjoying Now that such a Peace as that now briefly represented unto you must needs accompany a being filled with the Spirit is fully evident from the consideration of these three things one consequentially following and depending on another First He that is filled with the Spirit must needs act for God at an excellent and high rate of zeal and faithfulness Secondly He that acteth for God at such a rate as this is not much subject to be tempted and yet much less to be overcome or drawn into waies or works of sin by temptation Thirdly and lastly He that is not overcome by temptation nor drawn to provoke God by sinning cannot but enjoy much of that Peace of God which as the Apostle saith passeth all understanding To open this a little by the way A man who is of a large understanding may go on very far to conceive of the blessedness of a peaceable estate and condition he may form to himself abundance of felicity and set some kind of value thereon and may compass much ground and travel very far into this Land yet it passeth all understanding for when men have sailed with their intellectual abilities very far yet this Peace of God hath more in it more for the comfort and accommodation of the Creature than ever will be put to account than ever will be drawn out by any understanding in men But this only by the way But to return First Sect. 4 He that is filled with the Spirit whilest he is careful to maintain so blessed a priviledge must needs act at some high and more than ordinary rate of zeal and faithfulness for God For what difference else can we reasonably imagine to be between these that are filled with the Spirit and those who are not And the Scripture it self from place to place maketh it evident that persons filled with the Spirit of God have still acted and done very much as hath been said have promoted and carried on the interest of God and of Christ with a high hand in the World Yea when any persons did any thing above the ordinary Line of men for God or Christ the holy Pen-men who report and record these things to make their report in this behalf the more passable and worthy of credit in the mind and thoughts of men give notice before-hand that the persons thus acting were men full of the Holy Ghost Thus Luke Act. 6.9 10 being about to relate the Heroick Acts of Stephen First In arguing and disputing down the Synagogue of the Libertines and other Sects and then in his high Contest with the High Priests and Elders and Scribes and others present at the Council where he reproved them all sharply to their faces saying Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears c. Chap. 7.51 exposing his life hereby to their malice and rage Luke I say the Sacred Historian of these magnifick Acts of Stephen giveth special
liberty of recoursing unto God for solace help and direction together with a willingness or readiness in God to correspond or maintain intelligence with a person accordingly Secondly By a free Communion in this kind I mean a recoursing unto God from time to time for the ends and occasions specified as Paul did with a liberty and freedom of Spirit with a Princelike boldness without any mixture or touch of fear of that kind of fear which hath torment in it when a man hath no stand in his faith but is able to cry or to cry out aloud as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifieth without any faultring or fainting Abba Father Rom. 8.15 or when a man in another expression of the same Apostle is able to come boldly to the Throne of Grace Heb. 4.16 fearing no colours as our common saying is when a man can have part and fellowship with those holy Angels who behold the face of God continually though with fear yet with peace and joy also Now this we mean by a free Communion when a mans heart is so settled and so composed that he hath no incumbrance upon his faith Thirdly By a large Communion with God I mean when a man or woman hath further dealing with God than ordinary when by reason of the largeness of a mans knowledge of him and of his nature and Counsels he hath the opportunity of treating with him about more particulars and receiving answers from him touching more particulars likewise and consequently as his knowledge of God encreaseth and advanceth so his Communion with God is enlarged and advanced accordingly Thus you see what we mean in the business in hand by Communion with God and by a free and large Communion with him Now then we are to shew and make good unto you Sect. 8 that they who are filled with the Spirit are in an immediate and ready capacity of enjoying both both a free and full and large Communion with God For the first of these that which must needs afford an opportunity for a free Communion with God is First an assurance of the attonement and peace made with God by Christ or by the bloud of Christ Secondly The testimony of a good Conscience upon good grounds that humane frailties only excepted which come not into an account in the case we now speak of a man hath walked and resolveth still to walk in sincerity and simplicity of heart before him in his whole course â—â—ow then if he that is filled with the Spirit be possessed with both these or liveth under the sweet influence of them he must needs be in a good capacity of a free Communion with God Now that persons who are filled with the Spirit must needs be possessed of such an assurance of their attonement and peace made with God by the bloud of Jesus Christ appeareth thus First He that is filled with the Spirit must needs know that God dwelleth or abideth in him as the Scriptures speak Secondly That he truly and really loves God and from both these he cannot lightly but conclude his actual attonement with God by Jesus Christ And thirdly and lastly besides these the Spirit himself dwelling richly in him strongly testifies and witnesseth as much in a direct manner unto him or unto his Spirit First He that is filled with the Spirit must needs know that God dwelleth or abideth in him 1 Joh. 3.24 And he saith John that keepeth his Commandments dwelleth in him and he in him And hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us But first What is it for God to abide and dwell in a man And secondly How or upon what account do men or may men know that God doth dwell in them by the Spirit which he hath given unto them I answer first God may be said to abide or dwell in a man or woman when they are ever and anon acted and drawn forth upon all occasions which lie in their way to serve him and to do business for him and this with the same readiness of mind delight and faithfulness as himself could be supposed to do if he were in their places and conditions so that what a man or woman doth in this case for God a stander by may reasonably think that God himself did it as in a sense it is true that he doth do it and not they for he stands at their right hand assisting of them I conceive the meaning of the Scriptures when they speak of Gods dwellng in men it may be conceived after some such manner as this Two Friends live in two Countries far remote many a hundred miles perfonally distant one from the other now it must be supposed that these two Friends knew one another and each of them must also believe that the other is in being by which means these two Friends have a dwelling one in the heart of another And in this sense Christ is said to dwell in men by faith which is making way to the other dwelling As suppose a man that is in a remote Country beyond the Sea hath a very good Friend dwelling here and he hath much business to be looked after in this Country where his Friend lives Now if this Friend beyond the Seas dwell in his Friend here in his heart and soul this man will be drawn by means of his Friend that dwelleth in 〈◊〉 to look after what is for his benefit and advantage And so likewise if he dwell in his Friends mind and soul who is beyond the Seas he will act there upon the same account for the benefit and advantage of this Friend also Now what is the reason why a man is drawn forth with so much diligence and carefulness to mind his own business but because every man dwells in himself every man has an indwelling in his own heart and soul Sometimes indeed and in some cases men dwell out of themselves and depart from themselves as we use to say a man dwells where he freely and heartily loves because he doth not so much mind his own affairs being gone out of himself to that which is beloved In such a Sense as this God is said to dwell in a man when a man for Gods sake or by means of that indwelling of God in him is acted and drawn forth to mind and look after the occasions and affairs of God in the World to look after the concernments of his Kingdom and glory and of his truth and of his servants and the like So on the other hand a man may be said to dwell in God when God out of that love which he beareth unto him will act and give out himself freely for his satisfaction and peace and for the reducing his condition unto a desirable posture I say in such a case a Believer is said to dwell in God Now that it is a duty lying upon us both to abide or dwell in Christ or God and so to have God dwelling in us
with some impressions or other of God's disapprobation or displeasure until the sinner hath recollected himself by repentance and sought the face of God Thus then we see that the testimony of a good conscience especially in conjunction with the assurance that a man's Attonement is made with God must needs invest him with a rich capacity of enjoying a free Communion with God If you ask Why shall a man 's not being condemned by his heart upon the terms specified give him a right or be a regular ground of boldness or confidence towards God I reply Because as fear of shame and punishment from God are the natural results of sin especially of sin against knowledge as we lately intimated So is expectation or hope of reward or countenance from God the natural result of Righteousness and Holiness neither can God himself separate between these things I mean Righteousness and hope of reward but only by such a kind of interposure by which he should separate heat from the fire or light from the Sun as God may in a miraculous way stand between the natural force of things as when time was he stood between the heat and the fire For Righteousness and Holiness are of that nature that he that shall put forth his heart and hand to do them doth in a natural way fill his heart with hope of reward and countenance from God See upon this account Psal 19.7 8 9 10 c. 2 Cor. 1.12 Heb. 10.19.20 c. This for the second particular found in those who are filled with the Spirit the testimony of a good conscience which must needs especially being joyned with the former assurance of a man's Attonement made with God compleat his capacity of enjoying free Communion with God That all those who are filled with the Spirit of God in the sense formerly declared cannot want the Testimony we have spoken of is I suppose so clear and manifest from the contents of what hath been formerly declared upon the Scripture in hand that I conceive it no waies necessary to insist upon any further proof of it But secondly To demonstrate Sect. 19 that a being filled with the Spirit doth yet further contribute to the raising our happiness in this present life by investing us with a capacity of enjoying Communion with God we added that it must needs invest us with a capacity of a large and plentiful Communion also Now a free Communion with God as was formerly in effect said imports a liberty or freedom from any troublesome tormenting or discouraging fears in our conversings with God and in our application of our selves unto him whether by way of Meditation or Contemplation of any of his glorious Attributes or Perfections or whether by Prayer or Request or whether by way of expectation or dependence upon him for matters relating to this life or that which is to come Now in any of these three works I do not remember any but what is reducible to one of these when a man or woman is at liberty and this upon good grounds to do all this without fear I still mean without any such fear which hath trouble pain or torment in it this I call a posture or capacity of a free Communion with God and this capacity we have already shewed and proved that alwaies it accompanies such a being filled with the Spirit as that unto which you have been exhorted Now as men and women filled with the Spirit are capable of such a Communion with God as this so are they by the same means and opportunity capable of an enlarged Communion with God They are in a condition of conversing with God in all the three kinds lately specified after a more large and ample manner and about more particulars and these more spiritual and secret and matters of a more high importance than they whose anointing with the Spirit is more sparing and low Now to help you a little to understand the difference a child of three or four years of age may probably be as free in his Communion with his Parents may go unto them and speak unto them and hear them speak again unto him with as little fear or trouble as his brother who is come to maturity of years and is a man grown But yet by reason that such a Childs understanding is at persent short and scant in comparison of his Brothers who understands the things and affairs of men which the Child doth not or but very weakly and imperfectly Therefore the Childs Communion with his Parents is not so large extends not to so many particulars of such weighty concernments as his elder Brothers Communion doth I make use of this Comparison only to explain the difference between that which I call free and that which I call a full or large Communion with God not to imply that he that is in a capacity of enjoying the one may be in no capacity of enjoying the other For it hath been already said that he that is filled with the Spirit is in a capacity of enjoying both This Proposition we have proved as to the former viz. A capacity in such persons of enjoying a free Communion with God we now go forward to the proof of the other viz. that the same persons are in a capacity of enjoying the other also an ample or large Communion with God in the sense lately opened To prove this there are only these two things to be taken into consideration and shewed First That a large knowledge of God of his Attributes and Perfections of his Counsels and Decrees and other things relating to him and recorded in his word doth invest men and women with a capacity of such an ample and large Communion with him which we speak of Secondly That he that is filled with the Spirit cannot lightly if possibly but be thus enlarged in the knowledge of God with the Attributes and Perfections of God For the first of these Sect. 20 That a large knowledge of God of his Attributes Perfections Counsels and Decrees must needs invest a person with a capacity of a large Communion with him may be proved thus Only by the way before we come to the proof by the knowledge of God in this place we do not mean simply a knowing i. e. a having in a man's memory or understanding that which is written in the Scriptures of God of his Attributes Counsels Decrees c. or a being able to argue and discourse of these in a rational way and to draw Conclusions and Consequences though never so clearly directly and substantially from them it is not such a knowledge as this that will qualifie men for that full and large Communion with God The reason hereof is because a man may have such a knowledge of God his Nature and Attributes and yet believe little or nothing at all of the truth of these things which in such a sense he knoweth As Aristotle speaking of young men in reference to the excellent Principles of Morality
and be able to draw inferences from them and to follow their guidance as far as they will lead them into many particulars concerning God This is the nature of Principles and general Grounds As there was a Wheel within a Wheel in Ezekiels Vision so there may be many Considerations many Propositions concerning God that may be wound up in one Expression or one direct Saying in Scripture For there are very many things requisite to be known and understood concerning God for the investing men and women with that capacity we speak of of enjoying a large Communion with God which are not literâ tenus or in so many words expressed in the Scriptures and yet they may be plainly enough delivered and held forth here For that may be truly and properly enough said to be plainly taught and delivered which with competent diligence study and meditation may be gathered from those things which are plainly and expresly taught and delivered As Solomon Prov. 8.9 speaketh concerning Instructions end Precepts of Wisdem as the former Translation reads the place They are all plain to him that will understand i. e. whose heart is set within him to understand them who is not negligent and loose minded to such things but is willing to enquire and find out the mind of God as Lavater well expoundeth the place so may it be said of those things concerning God which are necessary to be known and understood in order to that end and purpose we speak of And that of Solomon is true That the diligent hand maketh rich Prov. 10.4 as well in Spirituals as Temporals Now all these things of God which being known put a man into a capacity of a large Communion with God are not upon any such terms laid down in the Scriptures that if we shall but spare any small time or labour we may be as fully satisfied in them as if we had seen them face to face It is no where said in the Scripture in so many words that God in these operations and workings upon the hearts and souls of men by his Word and Spirit by which he intendeth to work Faith and Conversion is resistible resistible I mean in such a sense which imports a possibility in men so wrought upon never to be actually converted or brought to believe these operations of God notwithstanding This I say is not in these words nor any other Grammatically equipollent to them to be found in the Scriptures yet it is plainly enough taught and delivered there and this in several places from whence it may be duly and clearly collected as we have heretofore made apparent unto you So again that Christ died for me in particular for the Attonement of my sin or that God intended that Christ should die for me such Positions as these though they are no where in so many words delivered yet they are delivered plainly enough in Scripture and to much satisfaction so that every man may with a little consideration see them Thus then you see what manner of knowledge of God and of his Attributes and Counsels it is as well for the nature as for the Extent Compass or Degree which is required to qualifie men and women for this large Communion with God for the nature and quality of it it must be a knowledge accompanied with a through belief of God and his Attributes for the extent or compass a knowledge which is somewhat comprehensive both concerning God his Nature Counsels and Decrees c. Now that such a knowledge of God as this must needs prepare and make men capable of a large Communion with him is evident upon this consideration viz. Communion cannot well extend further than there is a mutual knowledge of the one and of the other How can two walk together unless there be some agreement in Principles It was the Saying of Achish King of the Philistines 1 Sam. 21.15 Have I any need of mad men When his Servant brought David before him his meaning was that he could not tell well what to do with him or how to speak to him or what to imploy him about And Solomon Eccl. 5.4 speaking to the same purpose concerning God saith That he hath no delight in Fools Men that have no knowledge of God nor of his Attributes c. are like unto stocks and stones they are not at all capable of that Communion which we now speak of So likewise men and women who have but a scant knowledge of God it may be ten parts of twelve dark and but two light so far as they are ignorant their Communion with God will be obstructed and hindred and consequently their Communion with God if any at all will be very narrow and contracted I suppose we shall not need to spend time in proving Sect. 22 that those who are filled with the Spirit must needs be enlarged in the knowledge of God and much more in the belief of the truth and certainty of those things which being truly apprehended and known concerning him render them capable of this large Communion with him Where the Spirit abideth with such a fulness of his Presence he will enlighten and open the darkness of the hearts of men and will scatter that ignorance which otherwise is likely to darken them Therefore we shall pass by that enough having been argued already only a word or two to open unto you the rich and glorious accommodation which the capacity of such a free and large Communion with God as we have insisted on must needs be conceived to be unto those that are invested with it or made partakers of it although the truth is that the transcendent worth and excellency of the Priviledge we speak of is near enough at hand to be apprehended and understood by all men without the help of any discourse For shall not the joy which the Apostle Peter dignifieth with those two high Titles Unspeakable and Glorious shall not this attend a free and large Communion with God It is mentioned by our Saviour as one of the richest strains of felicity that the Elect Angels are partakers of that they stand before their heavenly Father and behold his face continually i. e. they stand before him like unto Princes undaunted unappaled they have a free and large Communion with God But that flesh and bloud the poor Children of men should arrive unto such a state and condition as to have part and fellowship with them in this their happiness and felicity is certainly a transcendent priviledge unto them It was a Reply that an old Philosopher made to a Tyrant a great Prince who asked him what good he had gotten by the study of Philosophy Why saith he I have gotten this that I can talk with the greatest Tyrant in the World without being afraid of him Now if this be a desirable thing that a man can look the greatest and proudest man in the face without being dismayed or afraid What is it for a poor Creature cloathed with flesh and
be praised so shall I be saved from mine Enemies I will pray saith he and then I do expect as it were of course Salvation and deliverance from God And so again in ver 5 6. The sorrows of hell compassed me about And what did he in this case When he saw no way of escape he dispatches his Angel unto Heaven and his Angel was sent back with deliverance he heard my voice out of his Temple and my cry came before him even into his ears And then what follows What a tempest and storm doth God presently raise against his Enemies Ver. 7 8 c. Then the Earth shook and trembled the foundations of the Hills moved and were shaken c. And so again ver 18.19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity But the Lord was my stay he delivered me because he delighted in me We know it is a thing usual with men and that which is but equal and no mans reproach or shame to be more kind and more enclinable to help those that are willing to serve them those that are respectful of them and charge their minds and thoughts with their Affairs and Concernments I say it is but reasonable that a man who is thus respected by another should shew and measure out respects proportionably to him again So God it seems uses to deal with men in this case ver 20 21. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me for I have kept the waies of the Lord and not wickedly departed from my God We see that it was not simply Prayer or David's crying unto the Lord that brought this deliverance down from Heaven unto him with so high an hand no but it was his righteousness the cleanness of his hands the keeping of himself clean in the sight of God this was that which gave power to his Prayer and caused it to prevail at that high rate with him And so Psal 6.9 10. The Lord saith he hath heard my Supplication and he will receive my Prayer And what then Let all mine Enemies be ashamed and sore vexed c. As if he had said Let them look to it all mine Enemies for I am resolved that I will pray and call upon God and I know then what will fall to their portion and therefore let them look for nothing nor expect nothing but ruine and destruction when I shall do it And in Rev. 11.5 6. It is said there concerning the two Witnesses That if any man would hurt them fire proceeded out of their mouth and devoured their Enemies and if any man will hurt them be must in this manner be killed As if he had said there is no way with them but one if they attempt any thing cruelly and unmercifully against my Witnesses their fiery Prayers and Supplications which proceed out of their mouths will destroy them And so he goes on ver 6. These have power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the day of their Prophesie and have power over waters to turn them into bleud c. Ye have heard that this Book of the Revelations runneth much upon Allegories and Types which it borrows from the Old Testament but the plain meaning of these Expressions is only this that those that should stand it out against Antichrist his Apostacies and the Idolatrous doings in those times should be able to do as great things and to bring to pass things of the like nature and consideration in their kind with those great works in the daies of Elijah and of Moses c. Ezek. 14.14 where God speaks of Noah Daniel and Job that if these men should stand before him yet they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness It is very likely that it was a received Principle amongst the Israelites that men like unto these could prevail for what they would with God and God would not deny them any thing that they asked of him For otherwise it was to no purpose to affect the people and to take them off from expectation of any help from the mediation of them or such as they were unless they had hoped for deliverance by the means of such men But now saith he it is true indeed if these men or any like unto them should stand up and intercede with me they should have somewhat more than other men they should prevail with me for themselves But as to the saving of the Nation and the preventing of the Judgment which I am now fully resolved to execute upon you it is such of such a nature and consequence that it is not fit for me to grant neither indeed would these men ask any such things at my hand if they knew the state of things between me and you and how repugnant it is to those Principles of Holiness Wisdom and Justice by which I govern the World and must govern it if I govern it like my self So God likewise telleth Jeremiah Neither lift up a cry for this people for if they pray I will not hear them Jer. 11.14 14.11 7.16 As if Jeremiah had had such an opinion that this people might have been brought off from that Judgment which God intended towards them and that God should have suffered some kind of inconveniency to have denied him if he had prayed for them and therefore to prevent him he plainly tells him that he would not have him pray for them As if God had said it is not at all out of my way to deny such Petitions and Suits as they that are wicked and stubborn put up but it would be otherwise with me in case thou shouldst pray and I must go somewhat out of my way to deny thee and therefore saith he do it not Now this passage plainly shews that such persons who excell in righteousness and that are wont to lay out themselves freely for God he is wont to express himself with an answerable freedom and bounty to them and consequently to give them power at the Throne of Grace and interest there Thus then we see how and upon what account Persons filled with the Spirit of God must needs according to the Scriptures have a great interest in God and carry a great stroke by their Prayers at the Throne of Grace viz. because they keep his Commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight Now it is a matter of easie and ready apprehension to conceive of how rich a consequence such an high Priviledge as this we have mentioned Sect. 5 and found men and women filled with the Spirit to stand possessed of must needs be to make the life of a man most desirable in this World We know for a man to have the Ear of a King or a great Potentate of the Earth so as to be able to procure his Arm to be stretched forth on his behalf as oft as he should reasonably desire it is esteemed and not altogether without cause to
when he saith he that soweth plentifully shall reap plentifully it must needs be understood comparatively in respect of him that soweth sparingly So then evident it is such a procedure of God with men as the Objection supposeth obscureth the name and glory of God in the eyes of the World Only there is one thing which we ought to be somewhat tender of Sect. 18 namely how to understand all the Promises and Declarations which God hath made in this case of what he intends and purposeth to do with men whether to understand them as engagements absolutely and universally upon him to the observation of which he is alwaies engaged or rather whether they be only to be understood and taken as a course which he intends to follow ordinarily and for the most part and in standing cases and that he doth rather declare what he would have men expect what is fit and meet for them to look for at his hand in reference to their Services than what he would absolutely and universally bind himself to do For doubâ—less as it is in humane Laws and so in Promises â—hat are of the greatest moment and consequence for the benefit and good of the State and Common-wealth unto which they relate such cases may fall out wherein the Letter of the Law is better to be waved and declined than râ—gedly to be observed and insisted upon and yet this is no prejudice to the goodness of the Law that it will not serve the tâ—rn in all cases because it is a Rule amongst Politicians and Wise men that Laws are not made for all cases whatsoever that may occur but only for ordinary and standing cases and such which most frequently fall out amongst men So this possibly may be no disparagement at all to God nor no ground of causing any disrepute upon him or dishonour that he doth sometimes step aside from some of his Promises and Declarations which he hath made in this kind if the Circumstances under which he doth it will bear it and do in an equitable and rationable way require it at his hand There is a time saith Solomon Eccl. 2.5 to gather stones and a time to cust them abroad now it may be there may be ten times the proportion of the time to gather stones of what there may be of that time which is seasonable for the throwing them abroad yet it doth not follow but that it may be as fit that stones be thrown away as gathered together So there may be such cases I suppose it will be hard to determine the contrary but that there may be such cases wherein God may refuse to go by his own Declarations and Expressions in this kind and that without being liable to any change or blot or blemish as if that God should suffer his truth to fail or that he should go contrary to his Word It is true when the Apostle saith of him he is a God that cannot lie it doth not therefore follow that he doth alwaies literally perform what he saith because that is not his meaning alwaies so to do we are not so to take his Promise nor is it so to be understood but only of ordinary cases and where there is not some special inducement one or other of greater consequence to cause him to leave it and to walk on the other hand of it Now by all that we have argued upon this Point we may see clearly that as far as we can estimate in like cases God will reward equally those that shall be equal in their service and unequally those who shall be unequal in that sense and that he hath in readiness Crowns of glory of different weight and brightness according as he seeth and beholdeth that men and women do either fall or continue low in their Service or else as they grow and proceed and rise God I say hath Crowns of glory to fit and to answer according to the Rules of his own proportion and equity Rules of his own drawing up and making he hath rewards commensurable to every mans case and to every mans faithfulness and zeal in his Service Concerning that Parable Sect. 19 Mat. 20. a passage of Scripture which seems to cross and thwart this Opinion of variety of Rewards in Heaven They that are contrary minded to us in the Point in hand understand that by the Penny here which is said to be given to the Labourâ—â— respectively is meant Eternal Life and Salvation Others upon a better ground are of a contrary Judgment and do not suppose it necessary that we should so understand it And there are some that are divided in their judgments about it who yet agree in this that Eternal Life and Salvation is not signified by it Touching the Parable I clearly find from the words of Christ which went before in Mat. 19. the last words But many that were last shall be first that the intent of it was only to make good or to declare in an Instance or Type the truth of what the Lord Christ had said that the first should be last And indeed it is the general Scope of the Parable that is to be minded and all particular clauses and carriages in it are not to be applied unto any special thing As it is with many of your Maps there are the Places and the Cities and Distances of them these are only the Scope of the Maps but there are many things by way of Ornament besides to make them pleasant to the eyes So I conceive our Saviour doth frame most of his Parables only with one edge as it were to fit and sute the business which he aims at and which he seeks to convey and stick in the minds and consciences of the Hearers But there are many Passages and Sayings in several Parables which have no special and particular relation unto the main end but only to set off the Parable and to make that as it were more fit for the understanding and pleasant to the apprehension and more convenient to be carried away by the memories of men And so we may conceive that the main scope of the Parable is only this to shew that men who stand upon their terms with a mistaken conceit of themselves and of their Services as the Jews did are out of the way And this our Saviour would teach them by the Parable when he saith they that were hired in the morning early contracted with the Housholder for so much for their days work which is said to be a Peny But for the rest who were called to the work afterward we do not find any Contract or mention made of what the Housholder should give them or what they should demand for what they do but only he tells them in the general what was meet for them should be given them he bids them go and labour and do their work faithfully and that then they should receive accordingly Now when he comes to account with these workmen he begins with those that were
Page 429 Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the Heirs of Promise the immutability of his Counsel Heb. 6.17.18 confirmed it by an Oath c. Page 67 For this is the Covenant which I will make with the House of Israel Heb. 8.10 11. c. Page 394 c. The Holy Ghost this signifying Heb. 9.8 c. Page 149 150 The Spirit of Grace Heb. 10.29 Page 305 c. Without Faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 Page 313 c. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not Heb. 12.25 c. Page 459 Then when Last hath conceived it bringeth forth sin Jam. 1.15 c. Page 299 300 Mercy rejoyceth against Judgment Jam. 2.13 Page 82 83 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are Jam. 5 17. Page 532 Whom having not seen 1 Pet. 1.8 ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing c. Page 67 68 Ye are a Royal Priesthood 1 Pet. 2.9 c. that ye should shew forth c. Page 79 Whereby are given unto us most great and precious Promises 2 Pet. 1.4 Page 133 An entrance in abundance into the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Ver. 11. Page 257 And through Covetousness shall they with fained words make Merchandise of you Ver. 2.3 Page 429 c. But the anointing which we have received of him abideth in you 1 Joh. 2.27 and you need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you Page 398 And every man that hath this hope in him parifieth himself as he is pure 1 Joh. 3.3 Page 133 If our heart condemn us not Ver. 21. then have we confidence towards God Page 511 Whatsoever we ask we receive of him Ver. 22. because we keep his Commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight Page 523 There is no fear in love Ver. 4.18 but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment he that feareth is not made perfect in love Page 128 262 501 For there are Three that bear Record in Heaven Ver. 5.7 the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One Page 179 180 Sensual Jude v. 19. not having the Spirit Page 8 9 10 19 20. He that overcometh Rev. 2.26 27. c. To him will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them Page 531 If any man would hurt them Rev. 11.5 fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their Enemies and if any man will hurt them he must in this manner be killed Page 529 And the Spirit and the Bride say come Rev. 22.17 Page 225 Some general Rules for the opening and understanding of several Scriptures in the Book I. THat every Negative Commandment includeth the Affirmative contrary unto it Page 10 c. II. Adverbs of denying do very frequently import the contrary unto that word unto which they are joyned Page 11 12 13 c. 299 III. When Principles or Dispositions in men whether they be Dispositions unto Virtue and Holiness or unto Sin or Vice are grown up unto any fulness so that they put forth themselves with force and are vigorous and active in them it is usual in the Scripture Language to express such or such Principles or Dispositions by the name of Spirit Page 15 16 c. IV. Fulness or filling in Scripture Language do not alwaies indeed very seldom if at all signifie an absolute or exact fulness or a filling up to the brim but things or persons in Scripture Phrase are said to be full or filled with a thing when they have a good rich and plentiful proportion of it Page 4 V. It is ordinary in Scriptures to express one who useth not what he hath and which giveth no testimony or account of what he hath by the Phrase of not having at all Page 19 20 28 29 VI. The gracious and free working of the Spirit wherein it doth consist and wherein it doth not Page 22 23 24 25 26 The Object of Grace and the Object of Mercy wherein they differ one from another Page 23 24 VII It is frequent in the Scriptures for God to deliver and express as well Threatnings as Promises absolutely in respect of the tenour or form of words wherein they are delivered without the least whisper or noise of any Exception or Clause of Restriction when as notwithstanding both the one and the other are conditional and were by him intended for none other Page 30 31 VIII When one and the same Action is raised and produced by a joynt concurrence of two different causes one principal and independent in its efficacy or working the other subordinate and dependent in the acting thereof the effect or work produced between them is sometimes as in good propriety of speech it may be ascribed to the one and sometimes to the other but more commonly to the former as that which is the principal Page 39 IX It is the manner of the Saints throughout the Scriptures and so it was observed by Christ himself in his Prayer that whenever they make any great request unto God they do not simply mention or insist upon what they desire but they desire it in Gods way and by that means by which they knew that God was wont or likely to confer it Page 59 60 X. When any thing is prescribed or mentioned by way of means in order to such or such an end though the proportion of the means be not expressed yet it is to be estimated and judged of by the nature and quality of the end to be obtained thereby Page 60 XI In Scripture Phrase persons many times are said to do that not only which they actually or at present do but which they may or have opportunity and means and are like to do And sometimes it speaketh of men as doing that which is their duty and what they ought to do whether they actually and indeed do it or no Page 68 XII When Grace is opposed to Works it is not opposed to Works simply much less any kind of Works but to Works in point of Merit and as in the strictect justice they deserve that he who doth them should be justified by God In this sense Grace is opposed to Works in Justification Page 69 XIII It is a frequent Dialect in Scripture to attribute that to the abstract or form which properly belongeth to the Subject as qualified therewith Page 82 83 XIV The Holy Ghost sometimes useth the same word not only in the same Contexture of Scripture but even in the same Sentence to signifie things that are only Analogically or in proportion the same and not the same properly or specifically Page 98 99 XV. This Particle or Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated for whom is to be taken Adjectively and not meerly nominally or pronominally that is not as signifying naked or meer Subjects but Subjects so and so qualified or disposed Page 125 XVI In
every obscure and knotty passage Such a man as can do this is an excellent man too and full of the Spirit of God in respect of Knowledge and yet this man possibly may not be able or dexterous to apply or bring those things and general Principles that he knows and sute them with particular cases and questions which are brought to him and laid before him whereas another that hath not half his knowlege may be able to do it and to give a plainer and fuller satisfaction unto him that shall propound a Case or difficulty unto him So that this we would have you take notice of by the way that the Spirit of God hath variety of gifts and therefore we are not to estimate a man as not filled with the Spirit because he is not dexterous at every turn These things being premised we now proceed to the Question Now then whether a person man or woman Sect. 6 who pretendeth to be filled with the Spirit of God be indeed filled with this or any other Spirit contrary unto it may be discerned or discovered for the most part by these considerations First When a man is of a cool calm and yielding temper and deportment in his own matters his own proper and personal concernments in the World and upon occasion shall be apt to be raised and stirred in his spirit about the things of God this is a sign of very great probability at least that such a person is full of the Spirit of God For First The genius and property of the Spirit of God may be discerned and judged of by the nature and property of that Wisdom which as James saith Jam. 3.17 is from above and this as he informs us is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy c. meaning that it disposeth men and women to those worthy properties that where it is received it works their hearts and souls to these gracious dispositions it makes men first pure it disposeth and enclines men and women to avoid all pollution with sin above any other thing whatsoever it perswadeth men not to meddle not to have to do with sin upon any terms whether of Pleasure Profit Honour or whatsoever And then next to this it teacheth men to be peaceable gentle easie to be entreated c. which is to be understood chiefly in a mans own Affairs and Concernments and in his ordinary Converse with men for otherwise this Wisdom teacheth men to be as stiff and resolute in the Affairs of Jesus Christ and the Gospel as Paul was Gal. 2.5 when he yielded not gave not place no not for an hour as he saith to certain false Brethren who went about to incumber the Gospel with matters of Judaism And again when he withstood another to his face who was not a false Brother but equal to himself a great Apostle I mean Peter in a business of the Gospel wherein as he saith he was to be blamed Verse 11. and yet again when he fought with beasts at Ephesus after the manner of men 1 Cor. 15.32 Now then as it is the genius and property of that Wisdom we speak of that Wisdom which is from above thus to mould and fashion the minds and manners of men So is it the property of the Spirit of God also to do the like because this Spirit worketh not upon men but by the mediation of this Wisdom and works only such dispositions and inclinations which this Wisdom worketh This then is that we say that when men and women are very peaceably disposed and of a yielding and quiet spirit in their own worldly Affairs and yet when occasions require are apt to quit themselves like men of courage and resolution this argues that they have a very rich anointing of the Spirit of God I add this latter particular viz. That they are apt to be zealous and stirred in Spirit in and about the things of God because otherwise a softness or quietness of disposition about their own Affairs may be rather the result of their own natural complexion or constitution than any effect of the Wisdom from above or of the Spirit of God working in and by this Wisdom For though peaceableness of spirit gentleness easiness to be entreated c. be the fruits or effects of the wisdom from above viz. in the most of those in whom they are found yet it doth not follow from thence but that there may be in some persons impressions or qualities like unto these from another original or cause The Woods Pastures and Fields produce of their own accord some kind of Herbs and Fruits like unto those and of the same name or denomination with those which grow in our Gardens by sowing setting and planting yet are they but of a wild kind and nature neither so fair nor fit for use as these every palate will be able to distinguish between the one and the other As it is between those two sorts of of Eunuches which our Saviour distingusheth in the Gospel thus that some are such from their mothers wombs others have made themselves such Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 19.12 Meaning that they have been perswaded and prevailed with by the Gospel to embrace a single life that so they might with more freedom of mind and with less distraction and incumbrance of secular Affairs attend the Service of God and of his Gospel intimating withal that the former kind of Eunuch was little considerable with God little set by in comparison of this latter In like manner some have a kind of goodness and facileness of disposition with some other impressions of morality commendable in their kind and commodious to a degree both unto the persons themselves who are endued with them and unto others which yet spring naturally in them but these are not like unto those of the same name or denomination that are begotten and planted in the hearts and inward parts of men and women by the Gospel and Ministry of it The Gospel is termed the incorruptible Seed of the Word which liveth for evermore There is a kind of excellency and glory which goes along with the Word of God which leaves a lively Impression or Character of it self upon those holy dispositions and qualifications which are planted or begotten by it in the hearts and souls of men which doth distinguish them from those moral qualifications planted in men and women by the hand of Nature But this only by the way The sum of what we laid down in the Character or Rule of Dijudication now in hand whereby to judge of men and women that be filled with the Spirit of God is this He that is as a weaned Child in his own Matters but is strong and active as a Giant in the Affairs of Jesus Christ and of the Gospel he I say is like to be a person so filled with the Holy Ghost But if a man be forward and full of heat in the matters of Religion