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           Title: Pneumatologia
      Creator(s): Owen, John (1616-1683)
     Print Basis: The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1965, 1967.
   CCEL Subjects: All; Theology; Classic;
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   PNEUMATOLOGIA

   or,

   a discourse concerning the Holy Spirit

   wherein

   an account is given of his name, nature, personality, operations, and
   effects; his whole work in the old and new creation is explained; the
   doctrine concerning it vindicated from oppositions and reproaches.

   The nature and necessity of Gospel holiness; the differences between
   grace and morality, or a spiritual life unto God in evangelical
   obedience and a course of moral virtues, are stated and declared.
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   Search the Scriptures, etc. -- John v. 39.

   Ek ton theion graphan theologoumen, kai thelosin hoi echthroi, kai me.
   -- Chrysostom.
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   London: 1674.
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Prefatory note.

   The year 1674 saw issuing from the press some of the most elaborate
   productions of our author. Besides his own share in the Communion
   controversy, he published in the course of that year the second volume
   of his Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and another folio of
   equal extent and importance, the first part of his work on the Holy
   Spirit; for what is generally known under the title of "Owen on the
   Holy Spirit," is but the first half of a treatise on that subject. The
   treatise was completed in successive publications:-- "The Reason of
   Faith," in 1677; "The Causes, Ways, and Means of Understanding the Mind
   of God," etc., in 1678; "The Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer," in
   1682; and, in 1693, two posthumous discourses appeared, "On the Work of
   the Spirit as a Comforter, and as he is the Author of Spiritual Gifts."
   From the statements of Owen himself, in various parts of these works,
   as well as on the authority of Nathaniel Mather, who wrote the preface
   to the last of them, we learn that they were all included in one
   design, and must be regarded as one entire and uniform work. In Owen's
   preface to the "Reason of Faith," he expressly states, "About three
   years since I published a book about the dispensation and operations of
   the Spirit of God. That book was one part only of what I designed on
   that subject. The consideration of the work of the Holy Spirit as the
   Spirit of illumination, of supplication, of consolation, and as the
   immediate author of all spiritual offices and gifts, extraordinary and
   ordinary, is designed unto the second part of it." Uncertain, as he
   advanced in years, whether he should be spared to finish it, Owen was
   induced to issue separately the treatises belonging to the second part,
   according as he was able, under the pressure of other duties, to
   overtake the preparation and completion of them. They are now for the
   first time collected, and arranged into the order which, it is
   believed, the author would have made them assume, had he lived to
   publish an edition comprehending all his treatises on the Holy Spirit
   in the form and under the title of one work. No other liberty, however,
   is taken with the treatises than simply to number the four of them
   which were published separately, and which are contained in the next
   volume, as so many additional books, continuing and completing the
   discussion of the subject which had been begun and so far prosecuted in
   the five previous books embraced in this volume. To all of them the
   general designation pneumatologia is equally applicable. Thus arranged
   and seen in its full proportions, the work amply vindicates the
   commendation bestowed on it, as the most complete exhibition of the
   doctrine of Scripture on the person and agency of the Spirit "to be
   found in any language." As no author had previously attempted to treat
   "of the whole economy of the Holy Spirit, with all his adjuncts,
   operations, and effects," Owen urges the circumstance in extenuation of
   any want of system and lucid order in his work. If such an attempt had
   never previously been made, it is equally true that no successor has
   been found in this walk of theology who has ventured to compete with
   Owen in the fall and systematic discussion of this great theme.
   Treatises of eminent ability and value have appeared on separate
   departments of it; but in the wide range embraced in this work of Owen,
   as well as in the power, depth, and resources conspicuous in every
   chapter, it is not merely first, but single and alone in all our
   religious literature.

   The work, as we may gather from various allusions in it, was written in
   opposition to the rationalism of the early Socinians, especially as
   represented by Crellius; to the mysticism of the Quakers, a sect which
   had grown into notoriety within thirty years before the publication of
   this work; and to the irreligion of a time when the derision of all
   true piety was the passport to royal favour. That, during the religious
   fervours of the commonwealth, fanaticism of various kinds should
   appear, is no more strange than that when genuine coin is in
   circulation, attempts should be made to utter what is counterfeit and
   base. Against such fanaticism it was natural that a reaction should
   ensue, and certain divines pandered to the blind prejudice of the times
   succeeding the Restoration, by sarcastic invective against all that was
   evangelical in the creed of the Puritans and vital in personal
   godliness. Samuel Parker, in his infamous subserviency to the malice of
   the Court against dissent, and even against the common interests of
   Protestantism, distinguished himself in this assault upon the doctrines
   of grace and the distinctive principles of the Christian faith. Owen
   accordingly administers to him a rebuke in terms as severe as the calm
   dignity of his temper ever allowed him to employ in controversy; but
   the prominent aim in his whole work is to discriminate the gracious
   operations of the Spirit in the hearts of believers from the excesses
   of fanaticism on the one hand, whether as it appeared in the ruder
   sects of the age, or in the more genial mysticism of the Quaker,
   elevating his subjective experience of a spiritual light to co-ordinate
   authority with the objective revelation of God in the word; and, on the
   other hand, from the morality which, springing from no gracious
   principle, scarcely brooked an appeal to the only divine code for the
   regulation of human conduct.

   This comprehensive treatise abounds in more than Owen's usual
   prolixity; -- a feature of the work which may, perhaps, be explained by
   the consciousness under which the author seems always to labour that he
   is prosecuting an argument with opponents, rather than dealing with the
   conscience in a treatise on practical religion. He moves heavily, as if
   he were panoplied for conflict rather than girt for useful work. As he
   proceeds, however, the interest deepens; weighty questions receive
   clear elucidation; practical difficulties are judiciously resolved; and
   momentous distinctions, such as those between gospel holiness and
   common morality, and between natural and moral inability, are skilfully
   given. Indeed, many points which he brings out with sufficient
   precision, when stripped of the wordiness which encumbers them, are
   found to be identical with certain modes in the presentation of divine
   truth which have been deemed the discoveries and improvements of a
   later theology. No work of the author supplies better evidence of his
   pre-eminent skill in what may be termed spiritual ethics, -- in tracing
   the effect of religious truth on the conscience, and the varied phases
   of human feeling as modified by divine grace and tested by the divine
   word; and his reasonings would have been reputed highly philosophical
   if they had not been so very scriptural.

   It is in reference to the following work that Cecil, an acute and
   rather severe judge of books and authors, has observed, "Owen stands at
   the head of his class of divines. His scholars will be more profound
   and enlarged, and better furnished, than those of most other writers.
   His work on the Spirit has been my treasure-house, and one of my very
   first-rate books." A good abridgment of it by the Rev. G. Burder has
   appeared in more than one edition.

   In 1678, Dr Clagett, preacher to the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn,
   and one of his Majesty's chaplains in ordinary, in "A Discourse
   concerning the Operation of the Holy Spirit," etc., attempted "a
   confutation of some part of Dr Owen's work on that subject." Mr John
   Humfrey, in his "Peaceable Disquisitions," having animadverted on the
   spirit in which Clagett had dealt with Owen, Clagett published another
   volume, and promised a third on the opinions of the Fathers respecting
   the points at issue. The manuscript of this last volume was lost in a
   fire which consumed the house of a friend with whom it had been lodged.
   Henry Stebbing published, in 1719, an abridgment of the first two
   volumes. The principles of the work are not evangelical; a tone of cold
   pedantry pervades it; and the author seems as much influenced by a
   desire to differ from Owen as to discover the truth in regard to the
   points on which they differed.
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  Analysis.

   The first book of the treatise is devoted to considerations of a
   general and preliminary nature. The promise of spiritual gifts
   contained in Scripture is examined; and occasion is hence taken to
   illustrate the importance of sound views on the doctrine of the Spirit,
   from the place it holds in Scripture; from the abuses practised under
   his name; from certain pretences that were urged to inward light,
   inconsistent with the claims of the Spirit of God; from many dangerous
   opinions which had become prevalent respecting his work and influence;
   and from the opposition directly offered to the Spirit and his work in
   the world, chap. i. The name and titles of the Holy Spirit are next
   considered, ii. The evidence of his divine nature and personality
   follows, from the formula of our initiation into the covenant, Matt.
   xxviii. 19; from the visible sign of his personal existence, Matt. iii.
   16; from the personal properties ascribed to him; from the personal
   acts he performs; and from those acts towards him on the part of men
   which imply his personality. A short proof of his Godhead, from the
   divine names he receives, and the divine properties ascribed to him, is
   appended to the argument in illustration of his personality, iii. The
   work of the Spirit in the old creation, in reference to the heavens, to
   the earth, to man, and to the continued sustentation of the universe,
   is fully explained, iv. The dispensation of the Spirit is illustrated
   in reference to the Father as giving, sending him, etc., and in
   reference to his own voluntary and personal agency as proceeding,
   coming, etc., v.

   In the second book, the peculiar operations of the Holy Spirit under
   the old testament, and in preparation for the new, are considered, such
   as prophecy, inspiration, miracles, and other gifts, i. The importance
   of the Holy Spirit in the new creation is proved by the fact that he is
   the subject of the great promise in sacred Scripture respecting new
   testament times, ii. His work in reference to Christ is unfolded under
   a twofold aspect, -- 1. As it bore on himself, in framing his human
   nature, iii.; sanctifying it in the instant of conception, filling it
   with the needful grace, anointing it with extraordinary gifts,
   conveying to it miraculous powers, guiding, comforting, and supporting
   Christ, enabling him to offer himself without spot unto God, preserving
   his human nature in the state of the dead, raising it from the grave,
   and finally glorifying it; and, 2. As he secures, throughout successive
   ages, a sound and explicit testimony to the person and work of Christ,
   iv. General considerations are urged regarding the work of the Spirit
   in the new creation, as it relates to the mystical body of Christ, --
   all believers, v.

   The third book is occupied with the subject of regeneration as the
   especial work of the Spirit; it is shown not to consist in baptism
   merely, or external reformation, or enthusiastic raptures, i. The
   operations of the Spirit preparatory to regeneration are exhibited,
   such as illumination, conviction, etc., ii. Two important chapters of a
   digressive character follow, in which the condition of man by nature is
   stated, as spiritually blind and impotent, iii., and as spiritually
   dead, iv. The true nature of regeneration is next illustrated, -- first
   negatively, under which head it is proved not to consist in any result
   of moral suasion, moral suasion being defined, and the extent of its
   efficacy being fixed. No change which it can effect can be viewed as
   tantamount to regeneration, because, -- 1. It leaves the will
   undetermined; 2. Imparts no supernatural strength; 3. Is not all we
   pray for when we pray for efficient grace; 4. And does not actually
   produce regeneration or conversion. Regeneration is then considered
   positively, as implying all the moral operation which means can effect,
   and not only a moral but a physical immediate operation of the Spirit,
   and the irresistibility of this internal efficiency on the minds of
   men. After explanations to the effect that the Holy Ghost in
   regeneration acts according to our mental nature, does not act upon us
   by an influence such as inspiration, and offers no violence to the
   will, three arguments in support of this view of regeneration are
   given, -- from the collation of faith by the power of God, from the
   victorious efficacy of internal grace as attested by Scripture, and
   from the nature of the work itself as described in various terms of
   Scripture, "quickening," "regeneration," etc., and also from the terms
   in which the effect of grace on the different faculties of the soul is
   represented, v. The manner of conversion is then explained in the
   instance of Augustine, the account by that eminent father of his own
   conversion being selected to illustrate both the outward means of
   conversion, and the various degrees and effects of spiritual influence
   on the human mind, vi.

   The fourth book discusses the doctrine of sanctification, which is
   exhibited as the process completing what the act of regeneration has
   begun. A general view is then given of the nature of sanctification, as
   consisting, 1. In external dedication; and, 2. In internal
   purification, i. Its progressive character is unfolded, ii.; and that
   it is a gracious process, extending to believers only, is proved, iii.
   Sanctification, so far as it relates to the removal of spiritual
   defilement, is illustrated; and that man cannot purge himself from his
   natural pravity is proved, iv. It is shown how the Spirit and blood of
   Christ are effectual to the purgation of the heart and conscience, the
   Spirit efficaciously, the blood of Christ meritoriously, faith as the
   instrumental cause, and afflictions as a subordinate instrumentality,
   v. The positive work of sanctification follows, embracing evidence of
   two propositions: 1. That the Spirit implants a supernatural habit and
   principle enabling believers to obey the divine will, and differing
   from all natural habits, intellectual or moral; and, 2. That grace is
   requisite for every act of acceptable obedience. Under the first
   proposition four things are considered, -- the reality of the principle
   asserted; its nature in inclining the will; the power as well as the
   inclination it imparts; and, lastly, its specific difference from all
   other habits, vi. Under the second proposition the acts and duties of
   holiness are reviewed, and proof supplied of the necessity of grace for
   them, vii. The nature of the mortification of sin, as a special part of
   sanctification, is considered; directions for this spiritual exercise
   are given; particular means for the mortification of sin are specified;
   and certain errors respecting this duty corrected, viii.

   The fifth book simply contains arguments for the necessity of holiness,
   -- from the nature of God, i.; from eternal election, ii.; from the
   divine commands, iii.; from the mission of Christ, iv.; and from our
   condition in this world, v.-- Ed.
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To the readers.

   An account in general of the nature and design of the ensuing
   discourse, with the reasons why it is made public at this time, being
   given in the first chapter of the treatise itself, I shall not long
   detain the readers here at the entrance of it. But some few things it
   is necessary they should be acquainted withal, and that both as to the
   matter contained in it and as to the manner of its handling. The
   subject-matter of the whole, as the title and almost every page of the
   book declare, is, the Holy Spirit of God and his operations. And two
   things there are which, either of them, are sufficient to render any
   subject either difficult on the one hand, or unpleasant on the other,
   to be treated of in this way, both which we have herein to conflict
   withal: for where the matter itself is abstruse and mysterious, the
   handling of it cannot be without its difficulties; and where it is
   fallen, by any means whatever, under public contempt and scorn, there
   is an abatement of satisfaction in the consideration and defence of it.
   Now, all the concernments of the Holy Spirit are an eminent part of the
   "mystery" or "deep things of God;" for as the knowledge of them doth
   wholly depend on and is regulated by divine revelation, so are they in
   their own nature divine and heavenly, -- distant and remote from all
   things that the heart of man, in the mere exercise of its own reason or
   understanding, can rise up unto. But yet, on the other hand, there is
   nothing in the world that is more generally despised as foolish and
   contemptible than the things that are spoken of and ascribed unto the
   Spirit of God. He needs no furtherance in the forfeiture of his
   reputation with many, as a person fanatical, estranged from the conduct
   of reason, and all generous principles of conversation, who dares avow
   an interest in His work, or take upon him the defence thereof.
   Wherefore, these things must be a little spoken unto, if only to
   manifest whence relief may be had against the discouragements wherewith
   they are attended.

   For the first thing proposed, it must be granted that the things here
   treated of are in themselves mysterious and abstruse. But yet, the way
   whereby we may endeavour an acquaintance with them, "according to the
   measure of the gift of Christ unto every one," is made plain in the
   Scriptures of truth. If this way be neglected or despised, all other
   ways of attempting the same end, be they never so vigorous or
   promising, will prove ineffectual. What belongs unto it as to the
   inward frame and disposition of mind in them who search after
   understanding in these things, what unto the outward use of means, what
   unto the performance of spiritual duties, what unto conformity in the
   whole soul unto each discovery of truth that is attained, is not my
   present work to declare, nor shall I divert thereunto. If God give an
   opportunity to treat concerning the work of the Holy Spirit, enabling
   us to understand the Scriptures, or the mind of God in them, the whole
   of this way will be at large declared.

   At present, it may suffice to observe, that God, who in himself is the
   eternal original spring and fountain of all truth, is also the only
   sovereign cause and author of its revelation unto us. And whereas that
   truth, which originally is one in him, is of various sorts and kinds,
   according to the variety of the things which it respects in its
   communication unto us, the ways and means of that communication are
   suited unto the distinct nature of each truth in particular. So the
   truth of things natural is made known from God by the exercise of
   reason, or the due application of the understanding that is in man unto
   their investigation; for "the things of a man knoweth the spirit of a
   man that is in him." Neither, ordinarily, is there any thing more
   required unto that degree of certainty of knowledge in things of that
   nature whereof our minds are capable, but the diligent application of
   the faculties of our souls, in the due use of proper means, unto the
   attainment thereof. Yet is there a secret work of the Spirit of God
   herein, even in the communication of skill and ability in things
   natural, as also in things civil, moral, political, and artificial; as
   in our ensuing discourse is fully manifested. But whereas these things
   belong unto the work of the old creation and the preservation thereof,
   or the rule and government of mankind in this world merely as rational
   creatures, there is no use of means, no communication of aids,
   spiritual or supernatural, absolutely necessary to be exercised or
   granted about them. Wherefore, knowledge and wisdom in things of this
   nature are distributed promiscuously among all sorts of persons,
   according to the foundation of their natural abilities, and a
   superstruction thereon in their diligent exercise, without any peculiar
   application to God for especial grace or assistance, reserving still a
   liberty unto the sovereignty of divine Providence in the disposal of
   all men and their concerns.

   But as to things supernatural, the knowledge and truth of them, the
   teachings of God are of another nature; and, in like manner, a peculiar
   application of ourselves unto him for instruction is required of us. In
   these things also there are degrees, according as they approach, on the
   one hand, unto the infinite abyss of the divine essence and existence,
   -- as the eternal generation and incarnation of the Son, the procession
   and mission of the Holy Spirit, -- or, on the other, unto those divine
   effects which are produced in our souls, whereof we have experience.
   According unto these degrees, as the divine condescension is exerted in
   their revelation, so ought our attention, in the exercise of faith,
   humility, and prayer, to be increased in our inquiries into them. For
   although all that diligence, in the use of outward means, necessary to
   the attainment of the knowledge of any other useful truth, be
   indispensably required in the pursuit of an acquaintance with these
   things also, yet if, moreover, there be not an addition of spiritual
   ways and means, suited in their own nature, and appointed of God, unto
   the receiving of supernatural light and the understanding of the deep
   things of God, our labour about them will in a great measure be but
   fruitless and unprofitable: for although the letter of the Scripture
   and the sense of the propositions are equally exposed to the reason of
   all mankind, yet the real spiritual knowledge of the things themselves
   is not communicated unto any but by the especial operation of the Holy
   Spirit. Nor is any considerable degree of insight into the doctrine of
   the mysteries of them attainable but by a due waiting on Him who alone
   giveth "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of them;"
   for "the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God," and they
   to whom by him they are revealed. Neither can the Scriptures be
   interpreted aright but by the aid of that Spirit by which they were
   indited; as Hierom affirms, and as I shall afterward fully prove. But
   in the use of the means mentioned we need not despond but that, seeing
   these things themselves are revealed that we may know God in a due
   manner and live unto him as we ought, we may attain such a measure of
   spiritual understanding in them as is useful unto our own and others'
   edification. They may, I say, do so who are not slothful in hearing or
   learning, but "by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern
   both good and evil."

   Wherefore, the subject of the ensuing discourses being entirely things
   of this nature, in their several degrees of access unto God or
   ourselves, I shall give no account of any particular endeavours in my
   inquiries into them, but leave the judgment thereof unto the evidence
   of the effects produced thereby: only, whereas I know not any who ever
   went before me in this design of representing the whole economy of the
   Holy Spirit, with all his adjuncts, operations, and effects, whereof
   this is the first part (the attempt of Crellius in this kind being only
   to corrupt the truth in some few instances), as the difficulty of my
   work was increased thereby, so it may plead my excuse if any thing be
   found not to answer so regular a projection or just a method as the
   nature of the subject requireth and as was aimed at.

   In the first part of the whole work, which concerneth the name, divine
   nature, personality, and mission of the Holy Spirit, I do but declare
   and defend the faith of the catholic church against the Socinians; with
   what advantage, with what contribution of light or evidence, strength
   or order, unto what hath been pleaded before by others, is left unto
   the learned readers to judge and determine. And in what concerns the
   adjuncts and properties of His mission and operation, some may, and I
   hope do, judge themselves not unbeholden unto me for administering an
   occasion unto them of deeper and better thoughts about them.

   The second part of our endeavour concerneth the work of the Holy Spirit
   in the old creation, both in its production, preservation, and rule.
   And whereas I had not therein the advantage of any one ancient or
   modern author to beat out the paths of truth before me, I have confined
   myself to express testimonies of Scripture, with such expositions of
   them as sufficiently evidence their own truth; though also they want
   not such a suffrage from others as may give them the reputation of some
   authority.

   The like may be said of what succeeds in the next place, concerning His
   work under the New Testament, preparatory for the new creation, in the
   communication of all sorts of gifts, ordinary and extraordinary, all
   kind of skill and ability in things spiritual, natural, moral,
   artificial, and political, with the instances whereby these operations
   of this are confirmed. All these things, many whereof are handled by
   others separately and apart, are here proposed in their order with
   respect unto their proper end and design.

   For what concerns His work on the head of the new creation, or the
   human nature in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, I have been
   careful to keep severely under the bounds of sobriety, and not to
   indulge unto any curious or unwarrantable speculations. I have,
   therefore, therein not only diligently attended unto the doctrine of
   the Scripture, our only infallible rule and guide, but also expressly
   considered what was taught and believed in the ancient church in this
   matter, from which I know that I have not departed.

   More I shall not add as to the first difficulty wherewith an endeavour
   of this kind is attended, arising from the nature of the subject
   treated of. The other, concerning the contempt that is cast by many on
   all these things, must yet be farther spoken unto.

   In all the dispensations of God towards his people under the Old
   Testament, there was nothing of good communicated unto them, nothing of
   worth or excellency wrought in them or by them, but it is expressly
   assigned unto the Holy Spirit as the author and cause of it. But yet,
   of all the promises given unto them concerning a better and more
   glorious state of the church to be afterward introduced, next unto that
   of the coming of the Son of God in the flesh, those are the most
   eminent which concern an enlargement and more full communication of the
   Spirit, beyond what they were or could in their imperfect state be made
   partakers of. Accordingly, we find in the New Testament, that whatever
   concerns the conversion of the elect, the edification of the church,
   the sanctification and consolation of believers, the performance of
   those duties of obedience which we owe unto God, with our conduct in
   all the ways thereof, is, in general and particular instances, so
   appropriated unto him, as that it is withal declared that nothing of it
   in any kind can be enjoyed or performed without his especial operation,
   aid, and assistance; so careful was God fully to instruct and to secure
   the faith of the church in this matter, according as he knew its
   eternal concernments to lie therein. Yet, notwithstanding all the
   evidence given hereunto, the church of God in most ages hath been
   exercised with oppositions either to his person, or his work, or the
   manner of it, contrary unto what is promised and declared concerning
   them in the word of truth; nor doth it yet cease so to be. Yea, though
   the contradictions of some in former ages have been fierce and
   clamorous, yet all that hath fallen out of that kind hath been
   exceeding short of what is come to pass in the days wherein we live;
   for, not to mention the Socinians, who have gathered into one head, or
   rather ulcerous imposthume, all the virulent oppositions made unto His
   deity or grace by the Photinians, Macedonians, and Pelagians of old,
   there are others, who, professing no enmity unto his divine person,
   yea, admitting and owning the doctrine of the church concerning it, are
   yet ready on all occasions to despise and reproach that whole work for
   which he was promised under the Old Testament, and which is expressly
   assigned unto him in the New. Hence is it grown amongst many a matter
   of reproach and scorn for any one to make mention of his grace, or to
   profess an interest in that work of his, as his, without which no man
   shall see God, if the Scripture be a faithful testimony; and some have
   taken pains to prove that sundry things which are expressly assigned
   unto him in the gospel as effects of his power and grace are only
   filthy enthusiasms, or at least weak imaginations of distempered minds.
   Neither is there any end of calumnious imputations on them by whom his
   work is avowed and his grace professed. Yea, the deportment of many
   herein is such as that, if it were not known how effectual the efforts
   of profaneness are upon the corrupted minds of men, it would rather
   seem ridiculous and [to] be despised than to deserve any serious
   notice: for let any avow or plead for the known work of the Spirit of
   God, and it is immediately apprehended a sufficient ground to charge
   them with leaving the rule of the word to attend unto revelations and
   inspirations, as also to forego all thoughts of the necessity of the
   duties of obedience; whereas no other work of his is pleaded for, but
   that only without which no man can either attend unto the rule of the
   Scripture as he ought, or perform any one duty of obedience unto God in
   a due manner. And there are none of this conspiracy so weak or
   unlearned but are able to scoff at the mention of him, and to cast the
   very naming of him on others as a reproach. Yea, it is well if some
   begin not to deal in like manner with the person of Christ himself; for
   error and profaneness, if once countenanced, are at all times fruitful
   and progressive, and will be so whilst, darkness and corruption abiding
   on the minds of men, the great adversary is able, by his subtle malice,
   to make impressions on them. But in these things not a few do please
   themselves, despise others, and would count themselves injured if their
   Christianity should be called in question. But what value is there in
   that name or title, where the whole mystery of the gospel is excluded
   out of our religion? Take away the dispensation of the Spirit, and his
   effectual operations in all the intercourse that is between God and
   man; be ashamed to avow or profess the work attributed unto him in the
   gospel, -- and Christianity is plucked up by the roots. Yea, this
   practical contempt of the work of the Holy Spirit being grown the only
   plausible defiance of religion, is so also to be the most pernicious,
   beyond all notional mistakes and errors about the same things, being
   constantly accompanied with profaneness, and commonly issuing in
   atheism.

   The sense I intend is fully expressed in the ensuing complaint of a
   learned person, published many years ago: "In seculo hodie tam perverso
   prorsus immersi vivimus miseri, in quo Spiritus Sanctus omnino ferme
   pro ludibrio habetur: imo in quo etiam sunt qui non tantum corde toto
   eum repudient ut factis negent, sed quoque adeo blasphemi in eum
   exsurgant ut penitus eundem ex orbe expulsum aut exulatum cupiant, quum
   illi nullam in operationibus suis relinquant efficaciam; ac propriis
   vanorum habituum suorum viribus, ac rationis profanae libertati
   carnalitatique suae omnem ascribant sapientiam, et fortitudinem in
   rebus agendis. Unde tanta malignitas externae proterviae apud mortales
   cernitur. Ideoque pernicies nostra nos jam ante fores expectat," etc.
   Herein lies the rise and spring of that stated apostasy from the power
   of evangelical truth, wherein the world takes its liberty to immerge
   itself in all licentiousness of life and conversation; the end whereof
   many cannot but expect with dread and terror.

   To obviate these evils in any measure; to vindicate the truth and
   reality of divine spiritual operations in the church; to avow what is
   believed and taught by them concerning the Holy Spirit and his work who
   are most charged and reflected on for their profession thereof, and
   thereby to evince the iniquity of those calumnies under the darkness
   and shades whereof some seek to countenance themselves in their profane
   scoffing at his whole dispensation; to manifest in all instances that
   what is ascribed unto him is not only consistent with religion, but
   also that without which religion cannot consist, nor the power of it be
   preserved, -- is the principal design of the ensuing discourses.

   Now, whereas the effectual operation of the blessed Spirit in the
   regeneration or conversion of sinners is, of all other parts of this
   work, most violently opposed, and hath of late been virulently
   traduced, I have the more largely insisted thereon. And because it can
   neither be well understood nor duly explained without the consideration
   of the state of lapsed or corrupted nature, I have taken in that also
   at large, as judging it necessary so to do; for whereas the knowledge
   of it lies at the bottom of all our obedience unto God by Christ, it
   hath always been the design of some, and yet continueth so to be,
   either wholly to deny it, or to extenuate it unto the depression and
   almost annihilation of the grace of the gospel, whereby alone our
   nature can be repaired. Designing, therefore, to treat expressly of the
   reparation of our nature by grace, it was on all accounts necessary
   that we should treat of its depravation by sin also.

   Moreover, what is discoursed on these things is suited unto the
   edification of them that do believe, and directed unto their
   furtherance in true spiritual obedience and holiness, or the obedience
   of faith. Hence, it may be, some will judge that our discourses on
   these subjects are drawn out into a greater length than was needful or
   convenient, by that continual intermixture of practical applications
   which runs along in them all. But if they shall be pleased to consider
   that my design was, not to handle these things in a way of controversy,
   but, declaring and confirming the truth concerning them, to accommodate
   the doctrines treated of unto practice, and that I dare not treat of
   things of this nature in any other way but such as may promote the
   edification of the generality of believers, they will either be of my
   mind, or, it may be, without much difficulty admit of my excuse.
   However, if these things are neglected or despised by some, yea, be
   they never so many, there are yet others who will judge their principal
   concernment to lie in such discourses as may direct and encourage them
   in the holy practice of their duty. And whereas the way, manner, and
   method of the Holy Spirit, in his operations as to this work of
   translating sinners from death unto life, from a state of nature unto
   that of grace, have been variously handled by some, and severely
   reflected on with scorn by others, I have endeavoured so to declare and
   assert what the Scripture manifestly teacheth concerning them,
   confirming it with the testimonies of some of the ancient writers of
   the church, as I no way doubt but it is suited unto the experience of
   them who have in their own souls been made partakers of that blessed
   work of the Holy Ghost. And whilst, in the substance of what is
   delivered, I have the plain testimonies of the Scripture, the suffrage
   of the ancient church, and the experience of them who do sincerely
   believe, to rest upon, I shall not be greatly moved with the censures
   and opposition of those who are otherwise minded.

   I shall add no more on this head but that, whereas the only
   inconvenience wherewith our doctrine is pressed is the pretended
   difficulty in reconciling the nature and necessity of our duty with the
   efficacy of the grace of the Spirit, I have been so far from waiving
   the consideration of it, as that I have embraced every opportunity to
   examine it in all particular instances wherein it may be urged with
   most appearance of probability. And it is, I hope, at length made to
   appear, that not only the necessity of our duty is consistent with the
   efficacy of God's grace, but also, that as, on the one hand, we can
   perform no duty to God as we ought without its aid and assistance, nor
   have any encouragement to attempt a course of obedience without a just
   expectation thereof, so, on the other, that the work of grace itself is
   no way effectual but in our compliance with it in a way of duty: only,
   with the leave of some persons, or whether they will or no, we give the
   pre-eminence in all unto grace, and not unto ourselves. The command of
   God is the measure and rule of our industry and diligence in a way of
   duty; and why anyone should be discouraged from the exercise of that
   industry which God requires of him by the consideration of the aid and
   assistance which he hath promised unto him, I cannot understand. The
   work of obedience is difficult and of the highest importance; so that
   if anyone can be negligent therein because God will help and assist
   him, it is because he hates it, he likes it not. Let others do what
   they please, I shall endeavour to comply with the apostle's advice upon
   the enforcement which he gives unto it: "Work out your own salvation
   with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to
   will and to do of his own good pleasure."

   These things, with sundry of the like nature, falling unavoidably under
   consideration, have drawn out these discourses unto a length much
   beyond my first design; which is also the occasion why I have forborne
   the present adding unto them those other parts of the work of the Holy
   Spirit, in prayer or supplication, in illumination with respect unto
   the belief of the Scriptures and right understanding of the mind of God
   in them, in the communication of gifts unto the church, and in the
   consolation of believers; which must now wait for another opportunity,
   if God in his goodness and patience shall be pleased to grant it unto
   us. Another part of the work of the Holy Spirit consisteth in our
   sanctification, whereon our evangelical obedience or holiness doth
   depend. How much all his operations herein also are by some despised,
   what endeavours there have been to debase the nature of
   gospel-obedience, yea, to cast it out of the hearts and lives of
   Christians, and to substitute a heathenish honesty at best in the room
   thereof, is not unknown to any who think it their duty to inquire into
   these things. Hence I thought it not unnecessary, on the occasion of
   treating concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification,
   to make a diligent and full inquiry into the true nature of evangelical
   holiness, and that spiritual life unto God which all believers are
   created unto in Christ Jesus. And herein, following the conduct of the
   Scriptures from first to last, the difference that is between them and
   that exercise of moral virtue which some plead for in their stead did
   so evidently manifest itself, as that it needs no great endeavour to
   represent it unto any impartial judgment. Only, in the handling of
   these things, I thought meet to pursue my former method and design, and
   principally to respect the reducing of the doctrines insisted on unto
   the practice and improvement of holiness; which also hath occasioned
   the lengthening of these discourses. I doubt not but all these things
   will be by some despised; they are so in themselves, and their
   declaration by me will not recommend them unto a better acceptation.
   But let them please themselves whilst they see good in their own
   imaginations; whilst the Scripture is admitted to be an infallible
   declaration of the will of God and the nature of spiritual things, and
   there are Christians remaining in the world who endeavour to live to
   God, and to come to the enjoyment of him by Jesus Christ, there will
   not want sufficient testimony against that putid figment of moral
   virtue being all our gospel holiness, or that the reparation of our
   natures and life unto God doth consist therein alone.

   In the last place succeeds a discourse concerning the necessity of
   holiness and obedience. Some regard, I confess, I had therein, though
   not much, unto the ridiculous clamours of malevolent and ignorant
   persons, charging those who plead for the efficacy of the grace of God
   and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, as though thereby
   they took away the necessity of a holy life; for who would much trouble
   himself about an accusation which is laden with as many convictions of
   its forgery as there are persons who sincerely believe those doctrines,
   and which common light gives testimony against in the conversations of
   them by whom they are received, and by whom they are despised? It was
   the importance of the thing itself, made peculiarly seasonable by the
   manifold temptations of the days wherein we live, which occasioned that
   addition unto what was delivered about the nature of evangelical
   holiness; seeing "if we know these things, happy are we if we do them."
   But yet, the principal arguments and demonstrations of that necessity
   being drawn from those doctrines of the gospel which some traduce as
   casting no good aspect thereon, the calumnies mentioned are therein
   also obviated. And thus far have we proceeded in the declaration and
   vindication of the despised work of the Spirit of God under the New
   Testament, referring the remaining instances above mentioned unto
   another occasion.

   The oppositions unto all that we believe and maintain herein are of two
   sorts:-- First, Such as consist in particular exceptions against and
   objections unto each particular work of the Spirit, whether in the
   communication of gifts or the operation of grace. Secondly, Such as
   consist in reflections cast on the whole work ascribed unto him in
   general. Those of the first sort will all of them fall under
   consideration in their proper places, where we treat of those especial
   actings of the Spirit whereunto they are opposed. The other sort, at
   least the principal of them, wherewith some make the greatest noise in
   the world, may be here briefly spoken unto:--

   The first and chief pretence of this nature is, that all those who
   plead for the effectual operations of the Holy Spirit in the
   illumination of the minds of men, the reparation of their natures, the
   sanctification of their persons, and their endowment with spiritual
   gifts, are therein and thereby enemies to reason, and impugn the use of
   it in religion, or at least allow it not that place and exercise
   therein which is its due. Hence, some of those who are otherwise minded
   affirm that it is cast on them as a reproach that they are rational
   divines; although, so far as I can discern, if it be so, it is as
   Hierom was beaten by an angel for being a Ciceronian (in the judgment
   of some), very undeservedly. But the grounds whereon this charge should
   be made good have not as yet been made to appear; neither hath it been
   evinced that any thing is ascribed by us unto the efficacy of God's
   grace in the least derogatory unto reason, its use, or any duty of man
   depending thereon. I suppose we are agreed herein, that the reason of
   man, in the state wherein we are, is not sufficient in itself to find
   out or frame a religion whereby we may please God and be accepted with
   him; or if we are not agreed herein, yet I shall not admit it as a part
   of our present controversy, wherein we suppose a religion proceeding
   from and resolved into supernatural revelation. Neither is it, that I
   know of, as yet pleaded by any that reason is able to comprehend all
   the things in their nature and being, or to search them out unto
   perfection, which are revealed unto us; for we do not directly deal
   with them by whom the principal mysteries of the gospel are rejected,
   because they cannot comprehend them, under a pretence that what is
   above reason is against it. And it may be it will be granted, moreover,
   that natural reason cannot enable the mind of a man unto a saving
   perception of spiritual things, as revealed, without the especial aid
   of the Spirit of God in illumination. If this be denied by any, as we
   acknowledge our dissent from them, so we know that we do no injury to
   reason thereby, and will rather suffer under the imputation of so doing
   than, by renouncing of the Scripture, to turn infidels, that we may be
   esteemed rational. But we cannot conceive how reason should be
   prejudiced by the advancement of the rational faculties of our souls,
   with respect unto their exercise towards their proper objects, -- which
   is all we assign unto the work of the Holy Spirit in this matter; and
   there are none in the world more free to grant than we are, that unto
   us our reason is the only judge of the sense and truth of propositions
   drawn from the Scripture or proposed therein, and do wish that all men
   might be left peaceable under that determination, where we know they
   must abide, whether they will or no.

   But the inquiry in this matter is, what reasonableness appears in the
   mysteries of our religion when revealed unto our reason, and what
   ability we have to receive, believe, and obey them as such. The latter
   part of this inquiry is so fully spoken unto in the ensuing discourses
   as that I shall not here again insist upon it; the former may in a few
   words be spoken unto. It cannot be, it is not, that I know of, denied
   by any that Christian religion is highly reasonable; for it is the
   effect of the infinite reason, understanding, and wisdom of God. But
   the question is not, what it is in itself? but what it is in relation
   to our reason, or how it appears thereunto? And there is no doubt but
   everything in Christian religion appears highly reasonable unto reason
   enlightened, or the mind of man affected with that work of grace, in
   its renovation, which is so expressly ascribed unto the Holy Spirit in
   the Scripture; for as there is a suitableness between an enlightened
   mind and spiritual mysteries as revealed, so seeing them in their
   proper light, it finds by experience their necessity, use, goodness,
   and benefit, with respect unto our chiefest good and supreme end. It
   remains, therefore, only that we inquire how reasonable the mysteries
   of Christian religion are unto the minds of men as corrupted; for that
   they are so by the entrance of sin, as we believe, so we have proved in
   the ensuing treatise. And it is in vain to dispute with any about the
   reasonableness of evangelical faith and obedience until the state and
   condition of our reason be agreed [on]. Wherefore, to speak plainly in
   the case, as we do acknowledge that reason, in its corrupted state, is
   all that any man hath in that state whereby to understand and to judge
   of the sense and truth of doctrines revealed in the Scripture, and, in
   the use of such aids and means as it is capable to improve, is more and
   better unto him than any judge or interpreter that should impose a
   sense upon him not suited thereunto; so, as to the spiritual things
   themselves of the gospel, in their own nature, it is enmity against
   them, and they are foolishness unto it. If, therefore, it be a crime,
   if it be to the impeachment and disadvantage of reason, to affirm that
   our minds stand in need of the renovation of the Holy Ghost, to enable
   them to understand spiritual things in a spiritual manner, we do
   acknowledge ourselves guilty thereof. But otherwise, that by asserting
   the efficacious operations of the Spirit of God, and the necessity of
   them unto the discharge of every spiritual duty towards God in an
   acceptable manner, we do deny that use and exercise of our own reason
   in things religious and spiritual whereof in any state it is capable,
   and whereunto of God it is appointed, is unduly charged on us, as will
   afterward be fully manifested.

   But it is moreover pretended, that by the operations we ascribe unto
   the Holy Spirit, we expose men to be deceived by satanical delusions,
   [and] open a door to enthusiasms, directing them to the guidance of
   unaccountable impulses and revelations; so making way unto all folly
   and villainy. By what means this charge can be fixed on them who
   professedly avow that nothing is good, nothing duty unto us, nothing
   acceptable unto God, but what is warranted by the Scripture, directed
   unto thereby, and suited thereunto, which is the alone perfect rule of
   all that God requires of us in the way of obedience, but only [by]
   ungrounded clamours, hath not yet been attempted to be made manifest;
   for all things of this nature are not only condemned by them, but all
   things which they teach concerning the Holy Spirit of God are the
   principal ways and means to secure us from the danger of them. It is
   true, there have been of old, and haply do still continue among some,
   satanical delusions, diabolical suggestions, and foul enthusiasms,
   which have been pretended to proceed from the Spirit of God, and to be
   of a divine original; for so it is plainly affirmed in the Scripture,
   both under the Old Testament and the New, directions being therein
   added for their discovery and disprovement. But if we must therefore
   reject the true and real operations of the Spirit of God, the principal
   preservative against our being deceived by them, we may as well reject
   the owning of God himself, because the devil hath imposed himself on
   mankind as the object of their worship. Wherefore, as to enthusiasms of
   any kind, which might possibly give countenance unto any diabolical
   suggestions, we are so far from affirming any operations of the Holy
   Ghost to consist in them, or in any thing like unto them, that we allow
   no pretence of them to be consistent therewithal. And we have a sure
   rule to try all these things by; which as we are bound in all such
   cases precisely to attend unto, so hath God promised the assistance of
   his Spirit, that they be not deceived, unto them who do it in
   sincerity. What some men intend by impulses, I know not. If it be
   especial aids, assistances, and inclinations unto duties, acknowledged
   to be such, and the duties of persons so assisted and inclined, and
   these peculiarly incumbent on them in their present circumstances, it
   requires no small caution that, under an invidious name, we reject not
   those supplies of grace which are promised unto us, and which we are
   bound to pray for; but if irrational impressions, or violent
   inclinations unto things or actions which are not acknowledged duties
   in themselves, evidenced by the word of truth, and so unto the persons
   so affected in their present condition and circumstances, are thus
   expressed, as we utterly abandon them, so no pretence is given unto
   them from any thing which we believe concerning the Holy Spirit and his
   operations: for the whole work which we assign unto him is nothing but
   that whereby we are enabled to perform that obedience unto God which is
   required in the Scripture, in the way and manner wherein it is
   required; and it is probably more out of enmity unto him than us where
   the contrary is pretended. The same may be said concerning revelations.
   They are of two sorts, -- objective and subjective. Those of the former
   sort, whether they contain doctrines contrary unto that of the
   Scripture, or additional thereunto, or seemingly confirmatory thereof,
   they are all universally to be rejected, the former being absolutely
   false, the latter useless. Neither have any of the operations of the
   Spirit pleaded for the least respect unto them; for he having finished
   the whole work of external revelation, and closed it in the Scripture,
   his whole internal spiritual work is suited and commensurate thereunto.
   By subjective revelations, nothing is intended but that work of
   spiritual illumination whereby we are enabled to discern and understand
   the mind of God in the Scripture; which the apostle prays for in the
   behalf of all believers, Eph. i. 16-19, and whose nature, God
   assisting, shall be fully explained hereafter. So little pretence,
   therefore, there is for this charge on them by whom the efficacious
   operations of the Spirit of God are asserted, as that without them we
   have no absolute security that we shall be preserved from being imposed
   on by them or some of them.

   But, it may be, it will be said at last that our whole labour, in
   declaring the work of the Spirit of God in us and towards us, as well
   as what we have now briefly spoken in the vindication of it from these
   or the like imputations, is altogether vain, seeing all we do or say
   herein is nothing but canting with unintelligible expressions. So some
   affirm, indeed, before they have produced their charter wherein they
   are constituted the sole judges of what words, what expressions, what
   way of teaching, are proper in things of this nature. But, by any thing
   that yet appears, they seem to be as unmeet for the exercise of that
   dictatorship herein which they pretend unto, as any sort of men that
   ever undertook the declaration of things sacred and spiritual.
   Wherefore, unless they come with better authority than as yet they can
   pretend unto, and give a better example of their own way and manner of
   teaching such things than as yet they have done, we shall continue to
   make Scripture phraseology our rule and pattern in the declaration of
   spiritual things, and endeavour an accommodation of all our expressions
   thereunto, whether to them intelligible or not, and that for reasons so
   easy to be conceived as that they need not here be pleaded.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Discourse concerning the Holy Spirit
     __________________________________________________________________

                                    Book I.
     __________________________________________________________________

Chapter I. General principles concerning the Holy Spirit and his work.

   1 Cor. xii. 1 opened -- Pneumatika, spiritual gifts -- Their grant
   unto, use and abuse in, that church -- Jesus, how called "anathema" --
   Impiety of the Jews -- How called "Lord" --The foundation of church
   order and worship -- In what sense we are enabled by the Spirit to call
   Jesus "Lord" -- The Holy Spirit the author of all gifts -- why called
   "God," and "The Lord" -- General distribution of spiritual gifts --
   Proper end of their communication -- Nine sorts of gifts -- Abuse of
   them in the church -- Their tendency unto peace and order -- General
   design of the ensuing discourse concerning the Spirit and his
   dispensation -- Importance of the doctrine concerning the Spirit of God
   and his operations -- Reasons hereof -- Promise of the Spirit to supply
   the absence of Christ, as to his human nature -- Concernment thereof --
   Work of the Spirit in the ministration of the gospel -- All saving good
   communicated unto us and wrought in us by him -- Sin against the Holy
   Ghost irremissible -- False pretences unto the Spirit dangerous --
   Pretences unto the spirit of prophecy under the Old Testament -- Two
   sorts of false prophets: the first; the second sort -- Pretenders under
   the New Testament -- The rule for the trial of such pretenders, 1 John
   iv. 1-3 -- Rules to this purpose under the Old and New Testaments
   compared -- A false spirit, set up against the Spirit of God, examined
   -- False and noxious opinions concerning the Spirit, and how to be
   obviated --Reproaches of the Spirit and his work -- Principles and
   occasions of the apostasy of churches under the law and gospel --
   Dispensation of the Spirit not confined to the first ages of the church
   -- The great necessity of a diligent inquiry into the things taught
   concerning the Spirit of God and his work.

   The apostle Paul, in the 12th chapter of his First Epistle to the
   Corinthians, directs their exercise of spiritual gifts, concerning
   which, amongst other things and emergencies, they had made inquiry of
   him. This the fast words wherewith he prefaceth his whole discourse
   declare: Verse 1, "Now, concerning spiritual gifts," -- Peri de ton
   pneumatikon; that is charismaton as his ensuing declaration doth
   evince. And the imagination of some, concerning spiritual persons to be
   here intended, contrary to the sense of all the ancients, is
   inconsistent with the context: [1] for as it was about spiritual gifts
   and their exercise that the church had consulted with him, so the whole
   series of his ensuing discourse is directive therein; and, therefore,
   in the close of it, contracting the design of the whole, he doth it in
   that advice, Zeloute de ta charismata ta kreittona, -- "Covet earnestly
   the best gifts," -- namely, among those which he proposed to treat of,
   and had done so accordingly, verse 31. The ta pneumatika of verse 1 are
   the ta charismata of verse 31; as it is expressed, chap. xiv. 1,
   Zeloute de ta pneumatika -- that is, charismata, -- "`Desire spiritual
   gifts,' whose nature and use you are now instructed in, as it first was
   proposed." Of these that church had received an abundant measure,
   especially of those that were extraordinary, and tended to the
   conviction of unbelievers: for the Lord having "much people in that
   city," whom he intended to call to the faith, Acts xviii. 9, 10, not
   only encouraged our apostle, against all fears and dangers, to begin
   and carry on the work of preaching there, wherein he continued "a year
   and six months," verse 11, but also furnished the first converts with
   such eminent, and some of them such miraculous gifts, as might be a
   prevalent means to the conversion of many others; for he will never be
   wanting to provide instruments and suitable means for the effectual
   attaining of any end that he aimeth at. In the use, exercise, and
   management of these "spiritual gifts," that church, or sundry of the
   principal members of it, had fallen into manifold disorders, and abused
   them unto the matter of emulation and ambition, whereon other evils did
   ensue; [2] as the best of God's gifts may be abused by the lusts of
   men, and the purest water may be tainted by the earthen vessels
   whereinto it is poured. Upon the information of some who, loving truth,
   peace, and order, were troubled at these miscarriages, 1 Cor. i. 11,
   and in answer unto a letter of the whole church, written unto him about
   these and other occurrences, chap. vii. 1, he gives them counsel and
   advice for the rectifying of these abuses. And, first, to prepare them
   aright with humility and thankfulness, becoming them who were intrusted
   with such excellent privileges as they had abused, and without which
   they could not receive the instruction which he intended them, he
   mindeth them of their former state and condition before their calling
   and conversion to Christ, chap. xii. 2, "Ye know that ye were Gentiles,
   carried away with dumb idols, even as ye were led;" os an egesthe
   apagomenoi, -- hurried with violent impressions from the devil into the
   service of idols. This he mentions not to reproach them, but to let
   them know what frame of mind and what fruit of life might be justly
   expected from them who had received such an alteration in their
   condition. [3] Particularly, as he elsewhere tells them, if they had
   not made themselves to differ from others, if they had nothing but what
   they had received, -- they should not boast nor exalt themselves above
   others, as though they had not received, chap. iv. 7; for it is a vain
   thing for a man to boast in himself of what he hath freely received of
   another, and never deserved so to receive it, as it is with all who
   have received either gifts or grace from God.

   This alteration of their state and condition he farther declares unto
   them by the effects and author of it: chap. xii. 3, "Wherefore I give
   you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth
   Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by
   the Holy Ghost." The great difference which was then in the world was
   concerning Jesus, who was preached unto them all. Unbelievers, who were
   still carried with an impetus of mind and affections after "dumb
   idols," being led and acted therein by the spirit of the devil,
   blasphemed, and said Jesus was anathema, or one accursed. They looked
   on him as a person to be detested and abominated as the common odium of
   their gods and men. Hence, on the mention of him they used to say,
   "Jesus anathema," "He is," or, "Let him be, accursed," detested,
   destroyed. And in this blasphemy do the Jews continue to this day,
   hiding their cursed sentiments under a corrupt pronunciation of his
   name: for instead of J+ShW+uaE+a, they write and call him J+ShW+u, the
   initial letters of J+iM+uaX+ ShM+W+ W+Z+iK+R+W+, -- that is, "Let his
   name and memory be blotted out;" the same with "Jesus anathema" And
   this blasphemy of pronouncing Jesus accursed was that wherewith the
   first persecutors of the church tried the faith of Christians, as Pliny
   in his epistle to Trajan, and Justin Martyr, with other apologists,
   agree; and as the apostle says, those who did thus did not so "by the
   Spirit of God," so he intends that they did it by the acting and
   instigation of the devil, the unclean spirit, which ruled in those
   children of disobedience. And this was the condition of those
   Corinthians themselves to whom he wrote, whilst they also were carried
   away after "dumb idols" On the other side, those that believed called
   Jesus "Lord," or professed that he was the Lord; and thereby avowed
   their faith in him and obedience unto him. Principally, they owned him
   to be Jehovah, the Lord over all, God blessed forever; for the name
   J+H+W+oH+ is everywhere in the New Testament expressed by Kurios, here
   used. He who thus professeth Jesus to be the Lord, in the first place
   acknowledgeth him to be the true God. And then they professed him
   therewithal to be their Lord, the Lord of their souls and consciences,
   unto whom they owed all subjection and performed all obedience; as
   Thomas did in his great confession, "My Lord and my God," John xx. 28.
   Now, as he had before intimated that those who disowned him and called
   him "accursed" did speak by the instinct and instigation of the devil,
   by whom they were acted, so he lets them know, on the other hand, that
   no man can thus own and confess Jesus to be the "Lord" but by the Holy
   Ghost. But it may be said that some acted by the unclean spirit
   confessed Christ to be the Lord. So did the man in the synagogue, who
   cried out, "I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God," Mark i. 23,
   24; and verse 34, he "suffered not the devils to speak, because they
   knew him." And the damsel possessed with a spirit of divination cried
   after the apostle and his companions, saying, "These men are the
   servants of the most high God," Acts xvi. 17. So also did the man who
   abode in the tombs, possessed with an unclean spirit, who cried out
   unto him, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most
   high God," Mark v. 7. And other testimonies to the like purpose among
   the heathen, and from their oracles, might be produced. Ans. 1. Our
   apostle speaks of such a saying of Jesus to be Lord as is accompanied
   with faith in him and subjection of soul unto him; which is from the
   Holy Ghost alone. Thus none acted by the unclean spirit can call him
   Lord. 2. These acknowledgments were either (1.) wrested from the devil,
   and were no small part of his punishment and torment; or (2.) were
   designed by him with an intention to prejudice the glory of Christ by
   his testimony, who was a liar from the beginning; and


   "Malus bonum cum simulat, tunc est pessimus."

   These things, therefore, can have here no place. [4] Hereby, then, the
   apostle informs them wherein the foundation of all church relation,
   order, and worship, did consist: for whereas they had all respect unto
   the Lordship of Christ and their acknowledgment thereof, this was not
   from themselves, but was a pure effect of the operation of the Holy
   Ghost in them and towards them. And any thing of the like kind which
   doth not proceed from the same cause and fountain is of no use to the
   glory of God, nor of any advantage unto the souls of men.

   Some think that this saying of Jesus to be the Lord is to be restrained
   unto the manner of speaking afterward insisted on; [5] for the apostle
   in the following verses treateth of those extraordinary gifts which
   many in that church were then endowed withal. None can," saith he, "say
   `Jesus is the Lord,' in an extraordinary manner, with divers tongues,
   and in prophecy, but by the Holy Ghost;" -- without his especial
   assistance, none can eminently and miraculously declare him so to be.
   And if this be so, it is likely that those before intended, who said
   Jesus was accursed, were some persons pretending to be acted, or really
   acted, by an extraordinary spirit, which the apostle declares not to be
   the Spirit of God; and so Chrysostom interprets those words of them who
   were visibly and violently acted by the devil. Many such instruments of
   his malice did Satan stir up in those days, to preserve, if it were
   possible, his tottering kingdom from ruin. But there is no necessity
   thus to restrain the words, or to affix this sense unto them; yea, it
   seems to me to be inconsistent with the design of the apostle and scope
   of the place: for intending to instruct the Corinthians, as was said,
   in the nature, use, and exercise of spiritual gifts, he first lays down
   the spring and fountain of all saving profession of the gospel, which
   those gifts were designed to the furtherance and improvement of.
   Hereupon, having minded them of their heathen state and condition
   before, he lets them know by what means they were brought into the
   profession of the gospel, and owning of Jesus to be the Lord, in
   opposition unto the dumb idols whom they had served; and this was by
   the Author of those gifts, unto whose consideration he was now
   addressing himself. The great change wrought in them, as to their
   religion and profession, was by the Holy Ghost; for no man can say that
   Jesus is the Lord, which is the sum and substance of our Christian
   profession, but by him, though some think he hath little or no concern
   at all in this matter. But to say Christ is the Lord includes two
   things:-- First, Faith in him as Lord and Saviour. So was he declared
   and preached by the angels, Luke ii. 11, "A Saviour, which is Christ
   the Lord." And this word "Lord" includes, as the dignity of his person,
   so his investiture with those offices which for our good this Lord did
   exercise and discharge. Secondly, The profession of that faith. Which
   two, where they are sincere, do always accompany each other, Rom. x.
   10; for as the saying of Jesus to be anathema did comprise an open
   disclaimer and abrenunciation of him, so the calling of him Lord
   expresseth the profession of our faith in him, and subjection unto him.
   And both these are here intended to be sincere and saving: for that
   faith and profession are intended whereby the church is built upon the
   rock; the same with that of Peter, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
   living God," Matt. xvi. 16. And that these are the works of the Holy
   Ghost, which none of themselves are sufficient for, shall, God
   assisting, be afterward abundantly declared.

   Having thus stated the original and foundation of the church, in its
   faith, profession, order, and worship, he farther acquaints them that
   the same Spirit is likewise the author of all those gifts whereby it
   was to be built up and established, and whereby the profession of it
   might be enlarged: 1 Cor. xii. 4, "Now there are diversities of gifts,
   but the same Spirit." These are the things which he intendeth to
   discourse upon, wherein he enlargeth himself in the whole ensuing
   chapter. Now, became the particulars here insisted on by him in the
   beginning of his discourse will all of them occur unto us and be called
   over again in their proper places, I shall only point unto the heads of
   the discourse in the verses preceding the 11th, which we principally
   aim at.

   Treating, therefore, peri ton pneumatikon, of these spiritual things or
   gifts in the church, he first declares their author, from whom they
   come, and by whom they are wrought and bestowed. Him he calls the
   "Spirit," verse 4; the "Lord," verse 5; "God," verse 6; and to denote
   the oneness of their author, notwithstanding the diversify of the
   things themselves, he calls him the same Spirit, the same Lord, the
   same God. The words may be understood two ways: First, That the whole
   Trinity, and each person distinctly, should be intended in them; -- for
   consider the immediate operator of these gifts, and it is the "Spirit"
   or the Holy Ghost, verse 4; consider them as to their procurement and
   immediate authoritative collation, and so they are from Christ, the
   Son, the "Lord," verse 5; but as to their first original and fountain,
   they are from "God," even the Father, verse 6: and all these are one
   and the same. But rather the Spirit alone is intended, and hath this
   threefold denomination given unto him; for as he is particularly
   denoted by the name of the "Spirit," which he useth that we may know
   whom it is that eminently he intendeth, so he calls him both "Lord" and
   "God," as to manifest his sovereign authority in all his works and
   administrations, so to ingenerate a due reverence in their hearts
   towards him with whom they had to do in this matter. And no more is
   intended in these three verses but what is summed up, verse 11, "But
   all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every
   man severally as he will."

   Secondly, With respect unto their general nature, the apostle
   distributes them into "gift," charismata, verse 4; "administrations,"
   diakoniai, verse 5; "operations," energemata, verse 6; -- which
   division, with the reasons of it, will in our progress be farther
   cleared.

   Thirdly, He declares the general end of the Spirit of God in the
   communication of them, and the use of them in the church: Verse 7, "But
   the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
   withal." Phanerosis tou Pneumatos; Syr., N+L+J+N+# D+R+W+X+H+, -- "the
   revelation of the Spirit;" that is, the gifts whereby and in whose
   exercise he manifests and reveals his own presence, power, and
   effectual operation. And the Spirit of God hath no other aim in
   granting these his enlightening gifts, wherein he manifests his care of
   the church, and declares the things of the gospel unto any man, but
   that they should be used to the profit, advantage, and edification of
   others. They are not bestowed on men to make their secular gain or
   advantage by them, in riches, honour, or reputation, -- for which ends
   Simon the magician would have purchased them with his money, Acts viii.
   18, 19, -- no, nor yet merely for the good and benefit of the souls of
   them that do receive them; but for the edification of the church, and
   the furtherance of faith and profession in others: Pros to sumpheron;
   "Ad id quod expedit, prodest;" "For that which is expedient, useful,
   profitable," -- namely, to the church, 1 Cor. vi. 12, x. 23; 2 Cor.
   viii. 10. Thus was the foundation of the first churches of the gospel
   laid by the Holy Ghost, and thus was the work of their building unto
   perfection carried on by him. How far present churches do or ought to
   stand on the same bottom, how far they are carried on upon the same
   principles, is worth our inquiry, and will in its proper place fall
   under our consideration.

   Fourthly, The apostle distributes the spiritual gifts then bestowed on
   the church, or some members of it, into nine particular heads or
   instances: as, -- 1. Wisdom; 2. Knowledge, 1 Cor. xii. 8, or the word
   of wisdom and the word of knowledge; 3. Faith; 4. Healing, verse 9; 5.
   Working of miracles; 6. Prophecy; 7. Discerning of spirits; 8. Kinds of
   tongues; 9. Interpretation of tongues, verse 10. And all these were
   extraordinary gifts, in the manner of the communication and exercise,
   which related unto the then present state of the church. What is yet
   continued analogous unto them, or holding proportion with them, must be
   farther inquired into, when also their especial nature will be
   unfolded. But now if there be that great diversity of gifts in the
   church, [6] if so much difference in their administrations, how can it
   possibly be prevented but that differences and divisions will arise
   amongst them on whom they are bestowed and those amongst whom they are
   exercised? It is true, this may so fall out, and sometimes doth so;
   and, de facto, it did so in this church of Corinth. One admired one
   gift, a second another of a different kind, and so the third.
   Accordingly, among those who had received them, one boasted of this or
   that particular gift and ability, and would be continually in its
   exercise, to the exclusion and contempt of others, bestowed no less for
   the edification of the church than his own. And so far were they
   transported with vain-glory and a desire of self-advancement, as that
   they preferred the use of those gifts in the church which tended
   principally to beget astonishment and admiration in them which heard or
   beheld them, before those which were peculiarly useful unto the
   edification of the church itself; which evil, in particular, the
   apostle rebukes at large, chap. 14. By this means the church came to be
   divided in itself, and almost to be broken in pieces, chap. i. 11, 12.
   So foolish ofttimes are the minds of men, so liable to be imposed upon,
   so common is it for their lusts, seduced and principled by the craft of
   Satan, to turn judgment into wormwood, and to abuse the most useful
   effects of divine grace and bounty! To prevent all these evils for the
   future, and to manifest how perfect a harmony there is in all these
   divers gifts and different administrations, at what an agreement they
   are among themselves in their tendency unto the same ends of the union
   and edification of the church, from what fountain of wisdom they do
   proceed, and with what care they ought to be used and improved, the
   apostle declares unto them both the author of them and the rule he
   proceedeth by in their dispensation, chap. xii. 11. "All these," saith
   he, [7] "worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every
   man severally as he will."

   I shall not at present farther open or insist upon these words.
   Frequent recourse must be had unto them in our progress, wherein they
   will be fully explicated as to what concerns the person of the Spirit,
   his will, and his operations, which are all asserted in them; for my
   purpose is, through the permission and assistance of God, to treat from
   hence of the name, nature, existence, and whole work of the Holy
   Spirit, with the grace of God through Jesus Christ in the communication
   of him unto the sons of men: a work in itself too great and difficult
   for me to undertake, and beyond my ability to manage unto the glory of
   God or the edification of the souls of them that do believe, for "who
   is sufficient for these things?" but yet I dare not utterly faint in it
   nor under it, whilst I look unto Him whose work it is, who giveth
   wisdom to them that lack it, and upbraideth them not, James i. 5. Our
   eyes, therefore, are unto him alone, who both supplieth seed to the
   sower, and when he hath done, blesseth it with an increase. The present
   necessity, importance, and usefulness of this work, are the things
   which alone have engaged me into the undertaking of it. These,
   therefore, I shall briefly represent in some general considerations,
   before I insist on the things themselves whose especial explanation is
   designed.

   First, then, we may consider, That the doctrine of the Spirit of God,
   his work and grace, is the second great head or principle of those
   gospel truths wherein the glory of God and the good of the souls of men
   are most eminently concerned. And such also it is, that without it, --
   without the knowledge of it in its truth, and the improvement of it in
   its power, -- the other will be useless unto those ends. For when God
   designed the great and glorious work of recovering fallen man and the
   saving of sinners, to the praise of the glory of his grace, he
   appointed, in his infinite wisdom, two great means thereof. The one was
   the giving of his Son for them, and the other was the giving of his
   Spirit unto them. And hereby was way made for the manifestation of the
   glory of the whole blessed Trinity; which is the utmost end of all the
   works of God. Hereby were the love, grace, and wisdom of the Father, in
   the design and projection of the whole; the love, grace, and
   condescension of the Son, in the execution, purchase, and procurement
   of grace and salvation for sinners; with the love, grace, and power of
   the Holy Spirit, in the effectual application of all unto the souls of
   men, -- made gloriously conspicuous. Hence, from the first entrance of
   sin, there were two general heads of the promise of God unto men,
   concerning the means of their recovery and salvation. The one was that
   concerning the sending of his Son to be incarnate, to take our nature
   upon him, and to suffer for us therein; the other, concerning the
   giving of his Spirit, to make the effects and fruits of the
   incarnation, obedience, and suffering of his Son, effectual in us and
   towards us. To these heads may all the promises of God be reduced. Now,
   because the former was to be the foundation of the latter, that was
   first to be laid down and most insisted on until it was actually
   accomplished. Hence, the great promise of the Old Testament, the
   principal object of the faith, hope, and expectation of believers, was
   that concerning the coming of the Son of God in the flesh, and the work
   which he was to perform. Yet was this also, as we shall see in our
   progress, accompanied with a great intermixture of promises concerning
   the Holy Spirit, to render his coming and work effectual unto us. But
   when once that first work was fully accomplished, when the Son of God
   was come, and had destroyed the works of the devil, the principal
   remaining promise of the New Testament, the spring of all the rest,
   concerneth the sending of the Holy Spirit unto the accomplishment of
   his part of that great work which God had designed. Hence, the Holy
   Ghost, the doctrine concerning his person, his work, his grace, is the
   most peculiar and principal subject of the Scriptures of the New
   Testament, and a most eminent immediate object of the faith of them
   that do believe; and this must be farther cleared, seeing we have to
   deal with some who will scarce allow him to be of any consideration in
   these matters at all. But I shall be brief in these previous
   testimonies hereunto, because the whole ensuing discourse is designed
   to the demonstration of the truth of this assertion.

   1. It is of great moment, and sufficient of itself to maintain the
   cause as proposed, that when our Lord Jesus Christ was to leave the
   world, he promised to send his Holy Spirit unto his disciples to supply
   his absence. Of what use the presence of Christ was unto his disciples
   we may in some measure conceive. They knew full well whose hearts were
   filled with sorrow upon the mention of his leaving of them, John xvi.
   5, 6. Designing to relieve them in this great distress, -- which drew
   out the highest expressions of love, tenderness, compassion, and care
   towards them, -- he doth it principally by this promise; which he
   assures them shall be to their greater advantage than any they could
   receive by the continuance of his bodily presence amongst them. And to
   secure them hereof, as also to inform them of its great importance, he
   repeats it frequently unto them, and inculcates it upon them. Consider
   somewhat of what he says to this purpose in his last discourse with
   them: John xiv. 16-18, "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: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and
   shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you;"
   that is, in and by this Holy Spirit. And verses 25-27, "These things
   have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter,
   which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
   teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
   whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you," etc. And
   chap. xv. 26, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
   you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
   the Father, he shall testify of me." And chap. xvi. 5-15, "Now I go my
   way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
   But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your
   heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that
   I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
   but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will
   reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of
   sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to
   my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of
   this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye
   cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
   will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
   whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you
   things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and
   shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine:
   therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto
   you." [8] This was the great legacy which our Lord Jesus Christ,
   departing out of this world, bequeathed unto his sorrowful disciples.
   This he promiseth unto them as a sufficient relief against all their
   troubles, and a faithful guide in all their ways. And because of the
   importance of it unto them, he frequently repeats it, and enlargeth
   upon the benefits that they should receive thereby, giving them a
   particular account why it would be more advantageous unto them than his
   own bodily presence; and, therefore, after his resurrection he minds
   them again of this promise, commanding them to act nothing towards the
   building of the church until it was accomplished towards them, Acts i.
   4, 5, 8. They would have been again embracing his human nature, and
   rejoicing in it; but as he said unto Mary, "Touch me not," John xx. 17,
   to wean her from any carnal consideration of him, so he instructs them
   all now to look after and trust unto the promise of the Holy Ghost.
   Hence is that of our apostle, "Though we have known Christ after the
   flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more," 2 Cor. v. 16; for
   although it was a great privilege to have known Christ in this world
   after the flesh, yet it was much greater to enjoy him in the
   dispensation of the Spirit. And this was spoken by the apostle, as the
   ancients judge, to rebuke the boasting of some about their seeing the
   Lord in the flesh, who were thereon called desposunoi, whom he directs
   unto a more excellent knowledge of him. It is in vain pretended that it
   was the apostles only, and it may be some of the primitive Christians,
   who were concerned in this promise, for although the Holy Ghost was
   bestowed on them in a peculiar manner and for especial ends, yet the
   promise in general belongs unto all believers unto the end of the
   world; [9] for as to what concerns his gracious operations, whatever
   the Lord Christ prayed for them, and so promised unto them (as the
   Spirit was procured for them on his prayer, John xiv. 16, 17), he
   "prayed not for it for them alone, but for them also which should
   believe on him through their word," chap. xvii. 20. And his promise is,
   to be "with his alway, even unto the end of the world," Matt. xxviii.
   20; as also, that "wherever two or three are gathered together in his
   name, there he would be in the midst of them," chap. xviii. 20; --
   which he is no otherwise but by his Spirit; for as for his human
   nature, "the heaven must receive him until the times of restitution of
   all things, Acts iii. 21. And this one consideration is sufficient to
   evince the importance of the doctrine and things which concern the Holy
   Spirit; for is it possible that any Christian should be so supinely
   negligent and careless, so unconcerned in the things whereon his
   present comforts and future happiness do absolutely depend, as not to
   think it his duty to inquire with the greatest care and diligence into
   what our Lord Jesus Christ hath left unto us, to supply his absence,
   and at length to bring us unto himself? He by whom these things are
   despised hath neither part nor lot in Christ himself; for "if any man
   have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," Rom. viii. 9.

   2. The great work of the Holy Ghost in the dispensation and
   ministration of the gospel, unto all the ends of it, is another
   evidence unto the same purpose. [10] Hence, the gospel itself is called
   "The ministration of the Spirit," 2 Cor. iii. 8, in opposition to that
   of the law, which is called the ministration of the letter and of
   condemnation. Diakonia tou Pneumatos, the "ministry of the Spirit," is
   either that ministry which the Spirit makes effectual, or that ministry
   whereby the Spirit in his gifts and graces is communicated unto men.
   And this is that which gives unto the ministry of the gospel both its
   glory and its efficacy. Take away the Spirit from the gospel and you
   render it a dead letter, and leave the New Testament of no more use
   unto Christians than the Old Testament is of unto the Jews. It is
   therefore a mischievous imagination, proceeding from ignorance,
   blindness, and unbelief, that there is no more in the gospel but what
   is contained under any other doctrine or declaration of truth, -- that
   it is nothing but a book for men to exercise their reason in and upon,
   and to improve the things of it by the same faculty: for this is to
   separate the Spirit, or the dispensation of the Spirit, from it, which
   is in truth to destroy it; and therewith is the covenant of God
   rejected, which is, that his word and Spirit shall go together, Isa.
   lix. 21. We shall, therefore, God assisting, manifest in our progress
   that the whole ministry of the gospel, the whole use and efficacy of
   it, do depend on that ministration of the Spirit wherewith, according
   to the promise of God, it is accompanied. If, therefore, we have any
   concernment in, or have ever received any benefit by, the gospel, or
   the ministration of it, we have a signal duty lying before us in the
   matter in hand.

   3. There is not any spiritual or saving good from first to last
   communicated unto us, or that we are from and by the grace of God made
   partakers of, but it is revealed to us and bestowed on us by the Holy
   Ghost. He who hath not an immediate and especial work of the Spirit of
   God upon him and towards him did never receive any especial love,
   grace, or mercy, from God. For how should he do so? Whatever God works
   in us and upon us, he doth it by his Spirit; he, therefore, who hath no
   work of the Spirit of God upon his heart did never receive either mercy
   or grace from God, for God giveth them not but by his Spirit. A
   disclaimer, therefore, of any work of the Spirit of God in us or upon
   us is a disclaimer of all interest in his grace and mercy; and they may
   do well to consider it with whom the work of the Spirit of God is a
   reproach. When they can tell us of any other way whereby a man may be
   made partaker of mercy and grace, we will attend unto it; in the
   meantime we shall prove from the Scripture this to be the way of God.

   4. There is not any thing done in us or by us that is holy and
   acceptable unto God, but it is an effect of the Holy Spirit; it is of
   his operation in us and by us. Without him we can do nothing; for
   without Christ we cannot, John xv. 5, and by him alone is the grace of
   Christ communicated unto us and wrought in us. By him we are
   regenerated; [11] by him we are sanctified; by him we are cleansed; by
   him are we assisted in and unto every good work. Particular instances
   to this purpose will be afterward insisted on and proved. And it is our
   unquestionable concernment to inquire into the cause and spring of all
   that is good in us, wherein also we shall have a true discovery of the
   spring and cause of all that is evil, without a competent knowledge of
   both which we can do nothing as we ought.

   5. God lets us know that the only peculiarly remediless sin and way of
   sinning under the gospel is to sin in an especial manner against the
   Holy Ghost. And this of itself is sufficient to convince us how needful
   it is for us to be well instructed in what concerns him; for there is
   somewhat that doth so, which is accompanied with irrecoverable and
   eternal ruin; and so is nothing else in the world. So Mark iii. 28, 29,
   "All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies
   wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme
   against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness." Or, "Whosoever speaketh
   against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
   world, neither in the world to come," Matt. xii. 32. There remains
   nothing for him who doth despite to the Spirit of grace but a "certain
   fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall
   devour the adversaries," Heb. x. 27, 29. This is that "sin unto death"
   whose remission is not to be prayed for, John v. 16: for he having
   taken upon him to make effectual unto us the great remedy provided in
   the blood of Christ for the pardon of our sins, if he in the
   prosecution of that work be despised, blasphemed, despitefully used,
   there neither is relief nor can there be pardon for that sin. For
   whence, in that case, should they arise or spring? As God hath not
   another Son to offer another sacrifice for sin, -- so that he by whom
   his sacrifice is despised can have none remaining for him, -- no more
   hath he another Spirit to make that sacrifice effectual unto us, if the
   Holy Ghost in his work be despised and rejected. This, therefore, is a
   tender place. [12] We cannot use too much holy diligence in our
   inquiries after what God hath revealed in his word concerning his
   Spirit and his work, seeing there may be so fatal a miscarriage in an
   opposition unto him as the nature of man is incapable of in any other
   instance.

   And these considerations belong unto the first head of reasons of the
   importance, use, and necessity, of the doctrine proposed to be inquired
   into. They are enough to manifest what is the concernment of all
   believers herein; for on the account of these things the Scripture
   plainly declares, as we observed before, that "he who hath not the
   Spirit of Christ is none of his," -- their portion is not in him, they
   shall have no benefit by his mediation. Men may please themselves with
   a profession of being Christians and owning the gospel, whilst they
   despise the Spirit of God, both name and thing. Their condition we
   shall examine and judge by the Scripture before we come to the end of
   this discourse. And for the Scripture itself, whoever reads the books
   of the New Testament, besides the great and precious promises that are
   given concerning him in the Old, will find and conclude, unless he be
   prepossessed with prejudice, that the whole of what is declared in
   those writings turns on this only hinge. Remove from them the
   consideration of the Spirit of God and his work, and it will be hard to
   find out what they aim at or tend unto.

   Secondly, The great deceit and abuse that hath been, in all ages of the
   church, under the pretence of the name and work of the Spirit make the
   thorough consideration of what we are taught concerning them exceeding
   necessary. Had not these things been excellent in themselves, and so
   acknowledged by all Christians, they would never have been by so many
   falsely pretended unto. Men do not seek to adorn themselves with rags,
   or to boast of what, on its own account, is under just contempt. And
   according to the worth of things, so are they liable to abuse; and the
   more excellent any thing is, the more vile and pernicious is an undue
   pretence unto it. Such have been the false pretences of some in all
   ages unto the Spirit of God and his work, whose real excellencies in
   themselves have made those pretences abominable and unspeakably
   dangerous; for the better the things are which are counterfeited, the
   worse always are the ends they are employed unto. In the whole world
   there is nothing so vile as that which pretendeth to be God, and is
   not; nor is any other thing capable of so pernicious an abuse. Some
   instances hereof I shall give, both out of the Old Testament and the
   New.

   The most signal gift of the Spirit of God, for the use of the church
   under the Old Testament, was that of prophecy. This, therefore, was
   deservedly in honour and reputation, as having a great impression of
   the authority of God upon it, and in it of his nearness unto man.
   Besides, those in whom it was had justly the conduct of the minds and
   consciences of others given up unto them: for they spake in the name of
   God, and had his warranty for what they proposed; which is the highest
   security of obedience. And these things caused many to pretend unto
   this gift who were, indeed, never inspired by the Holy Spirit; but were
   rather, on the contrary, acted by a spirit of lying and uncleanness:
   for it is very probable that when men falsely and in mere pretence took
   upon them to be prophets divinely inspired, without any antecedent
   diabolical enthusiasm, that the devil made use of them to compass his
   own designs Being given up, by the righteous judgment of God, unto all
   delusions, for belying his Spirit and holy inspirations, they were
   quickly possessed with a spirit of lying and unclean divination. So the
   false prophets of Ahab, who encouraged him to go up unto Ramoth-gilead,
   foretelling his prosperous success, 1 Kings xxii. 6, seemed only to
   have complied deceitfully with the inclinations of their master, and to
   have out-acted his other courtiers in flattery by gilding it with a
   pretence of prophecy; but when Micaiah came to lay open the mystery of
   their iniquity, it appeared that a lying spirit, by the permission of
   God, had possessed their minds, and gave them impressions, which being
   supernatural, they were deceived as well as they did deceive, verses
   19-23. This they were justly given up unto, pretending falsely unto the
   inspiration of that Holy Spirit which they had not received. And no
   otherwise hath it fallen out with some in our days, whom we have seen
   visibly acted by an extraordinary power. Unduly pretending unto
   supernatural agitations from God, they were really acted by the devil;
   a thing they neither desired nor looked after, but, being surprised by
   it, were pleased with it for a while: as it was with sundry of the
   Quakers at their first appearance.

   Now, these false prophets of old were of two sorts, both mentioned,
   Deut. xviii. 20:-- First, Such as professedly served other gods,
   directing all their prophetic actings unto the promotion of their
   worship. Such were the prophets of Baal, in whose name expressly they
   prophesied, and whose assistance they invocated: "They called on the
   name of Baal, saying, O Baal, hear us," 1 Kings xviii. 26-29. Many of
   these were slain by Elijah, and the whole race of them afterward
   extirpated by Jehu, 2 Kings x. 18-28. This put an end to his deity, for
   it is said, "he destroyed Baal out of Israel," false gods having no
   existence but in the deceived minds of their worshippers. It may be
   asked why these are called "prophets?" and so, in general, of all the
   false prophets mentioned in the Scripture. Was it because they merely
   pretended and counterfeited a spirit of prophecy, or had they really
   any such? I answer, that I no way doubt but that they were of both
   sorts. These prophets of Baal were such as worshipped the sun, after
   the manner of the Tyrians. Herein they invented many hellish mysteries,
   ceremonies, and sacrifices; these they taught the people by whom they
   were hired. Being thus engaged in the service of the devil, he actually
   possessed their minds "as a spirit of divination," and enabled them to
   declare things unknown unto other men. They, in the meantime, really
   finding themselves acted by a power superior to them, took and owned
   that to be the power of their god; and thereby became immediate
   worshippers of the devil. This our apostle declares, 1 Cor. x. 20.
   Whatever those who left the true God aimed at to worship, the devil
   interposed himself between that and them, as the object of their
   adoration. Hereby he became the "god of this world," 2 Cor. iv. 4, --
   he whom in all their idols they worshipped and adored. With a spirit of
   divination from him were many of the false prophets acted, which they
   thought to be the spirit of their god; for they found themselves acted
   by a superior power, which they could neither excuse nor resist. [13]
   Others of them were mere pretenders and counterfeits, that deceived the
   foolish multitude with vain, false predictions. Of these more will be
   spoken afterward.

   Secondly, Others there were who spake in the name, and, as they falsely
   professed, by the inspiration of the Spirit, of the holy God. With this
   sort of men Jeremiah had great contests; for in that apostatizing age
   of the church, they had got such an interest and reputation among the
   rulers and people as not only to confront his prophecies with contrary
   predictions, chap. xxviii. 1-4, but also to traduce him as a false
   prophet, and to urge his punishment according to the law, chap. xxix.
   25-27. And with the like confidence did Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah
   carry it towards Micaiah, 1 Kings xxii. 24; for he scornfully asks him,
   "Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?"
   that is, "Whereas assuredly he speaketh in me, how came he to inspire
   thee with a contrary revelation?" Ezekiel, at the same time with
   Jeremiah, was exercised and perplexed with them, chap. xiii. and xiv.;
   for this sort of persons, -- namely, false pretenders unto divine
   extraordinary revelations, -- did of old usually abound in times of
   danger and approaching desolations. The devil stirred them up to fill
   men with vain hopes, to keep them in sin and security, that destruction
   might seize upon them at unawares: and whoever take the same course in
   the time of deserved, threatened, impendent judgments, though they use
   not the same means, yet they also do the work of the devil; for
   whatever encourageth men to be secure in their sins is a false
   divination, Jer. v. 30, 31. And this sort of men is characterized by
   the prophet chap. xxiii., from verse 9 to 33; where anyone may read
   their sin and judgment. And yet this false pretending unto the spirit
   of prophecy was very far from casting any contempt on the real gift of
   the Holy Ghost therein; nay, it gave it the greater glory and lustre.
   God never more honoured his true prophets than when there were most
   false ones; neither shall ever any false pretence to the Spirit of
   grace render him less dear unto those that are partakers of him, or his
   gifts of less use unto the church.

   It was thus also under the New Testament, at the first preaching of the
   gospel. The doctrine of it at first was declared from the immediate
   revelation of the Spirit, preached by the assistance of the Spirit,
   made effectual by his work and power, [and] was accompanied in many by
   outward miraculous works and effects of the Spirit; whence the whole of
   what peculiarly belonged unto it, in opposition to the law, was called
   "The ministration of the Spirit." These things being owned and
   acknowledged by all, those who had any false opinions or dotages of
   their own to broach, or any other deceit to put upon Christians, could
   think of no more expedite means for the compassing of their ends than
   by pretending to immediate revelations of the Spirit; for without some
   kind of credibility given them from hence, they knew that their fond
   imaginations would not be taken into the least consideration. Hence the
   apostle Peter, having treated concerning the revelation of God by his
   Spirit in prophecy, under the Old Testament and the New, 2 Epist.,
   chap. i. 19-21, adds, as an inference from that discourse, a comparison
   between the false prophets that were under the Old Testament and the
   false teachers under the New, chap. ii. 1: "But there were false
   prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
   among you." And the reason of it is, because that as they pretended to
   the Spirit of the Lord in their prophecies, saying, "Thus saith the
   Lord," when he sent them not, so these ascribed all their abominable
   heresies to the inspiration of the Spirit, by whom they were not
   assisted.

   Hence is that blessed caution and rule given us by the apostle John,
   who lived to see much mischief done in the church by this pretence: 1
   Epist. chap. iv. 1-3, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the
   spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone
   out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
   confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every
   spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is
   not of God." A twofold direction doth the apostle here give unto all
   believers; the first by the way of caution, that they would not believe
   every spirit, -- that is, not receive or give credit to every doctrine
   that was proposed unto them as of immediate revelation and inspiration
   of the Spirit. He intends the same with the apostle Paul, Eph. iv. 14,
   who would not have us "carried about with every wind of doctrine," like
   vessels at sea without anchors or helms, by the "sleight of men, and
   cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" for the
   crafts and sleights intended are such as men use when they cast a mist,
   as it were, before the eyes of others whom they intend to cheat and
   defraud. So dealt false teachers with their disciples, by their
   pretences of immediate revelations. His next direction informs us how
   we may observe this caution unto our advantage; and this is, by trying
   the spirits themselves. This is the duty of all believers on any such
   pretences. They are to try these spirits, and examine whether they are
   of God or no. For the observation of this rule and discharge of this
   duty, the church of Ephesus is commended by our Lord Jesus Christ: Rev.
   ii. 2, "Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not,
   and hast found them liars;" for those who said they were apostles
   pretended therewithal to apostolical authority and infallibility, on
   the account of the immediate inspirations which they received by the
   Holy Ghost. In trying them, they tried the spirits that came unto them;
   and by this warrant may we try the spirit of the church of Rome, which
   in like manner pretends unto apostolical authority and infallibility.

   Unto these two directions the apostle subjoins the reason of the
   present watchfulness required unto the discharge of this duty:
   "Because," saith he, "many false prophets are gone out into the world."
   It is "false teachers," as Peter calls them, "bringing in damnable
   heresies," concerning whom he speaks. And he calleth them "false
   prophets," partly in an allusion unto the false prophets under the Old
   Testament, with whom they are ranked and compared by Peter, and partly
   because, as they fathered their prejudices on divine revelation, so
   these falsely ascribed their doctrines unto immediate divine
   inspiration. And on this account also he calleth them spirits: "Try the
   spirits;" for as they pretended unto the Spirit of God, so indeed for
   the most part they were acted by a spirit of error, lying, and
   delusion, -- that is, the devil himself. And therefore I no way doubt
   but that mostly those who made use of this plea, that they had their
   doctrines which they taught by immediate inspiration, did also effect
   other extraordinary operations or undiscoverable appearances of them,
   as lying miracles, by the power of that spirit whereby they were acted,
   as Matt. xxiv. 24. Hence the apostle doth not direct us to try their
   pretensions unto inspiration by putting them on other extraordinary
   works for their confirmation, for these also they made a show and
   appearance of, and that in such a manner as that they were not to be
   detected by the generality of Christians; but he gives unto all a
   blessed stable rule, which will never fail them in this case who
   diligently attend unto it; and this is, to try them by the doctrine
   that they teach,1 John iv. 2, 3. Let their doctrine be examined by the
   Scriptures, and if it be found consonant thereunto, it may be received
   without danger unto the hearers, whatever corrupt affections the
   teachers may be influenced by; but if it be not consonant thereunto, if
   it keep not up a harmony in the analogy of faith, whatever inspiration
   or revelation be pleaded in its justification, it is to be rejected, as
   they also are by whom it is declared. This rule the apostle Paul
   confirms by the highest instance imaginable: Gal. i. 8, "Though we, or
   an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which
   we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." And the apostle shows
   that, for our advantage in this trial we are to make of spirits, it is
   good to have a clear conviction of, and a constant adherence unto, some
   fundamental principles, especially such as we have reason to think will
   be the most cunningly attacked by seducers. Thus, because in those days
   the principal design of Satan was, to broach strange, false
   imaginations about the person and mediation of Christ, endeavouring
   thereby to overthrow both the one and the other, the apostle adviseth
   believers to try the spirits by this one fundamental principle of
   truth, namely, that "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh;" which contains
   a confession both of his person and mediation. This, therefore,
   believers were to demand of all new teachers and pretenders unto
   spiritual revelations in the first place, "Do you confess that Jesus
   Christ is come in the flesh?" and if they immediately made not this
   confession, they never stood to consider their other pretences, but
   turned from them, not bidding them God speed,2 John 7, 10, 11. And I
   could easily manifest how many pernicious heresies were obviated in
   those days by this short confession of faith. For some of late (as
   Grotius, following Socinus and Schlichtingius) interpreting this coming
   of Christ in the flesh of his outward mean estate and condition, and
   not in the pomp and glory of an earthly king, do openly corrupt the
   text. His coming in the flesh is the same with the "Word's being made
   flesh," John i. 14; or "God being manifest in the flesh," 1 Tim. iii.
   16, -- that is, the Son of God being made "partaker of flesh and
   blood," Heb. ii. 14; or "taking on him the seed of Abraham," verse 16,
   -- that is, his being "made of a woman," Gal. iv. 4; or his being "made
   of the seed of David according to the flesh," Rom. i. 3; or his "being
   of the fathers as to the flesh," Rom. ix. 5. And this was directly
   opposed unto those heresies which were then risen, whose broachers
   contended that Jesus Christ was but a fantasy, an appearance, a
   manifestation of divine love and power, denying that the Son of God was
   really incarnate, as the ancients generally testify. And well had it
   been for many in our days had they attended unto such rules as this;
   but through a neglect of it, accompanied with an ungrounded boldness
   and curiosity, they have hearkened in other things to deceiving
   spirits, and have been engaged beyond a recovery before they have
   considered that by their cogging deceits they have been cheated of all
   the principal articles of their faith; by which if at first they had
   steadily tried and examined them, they might have been preserved from
   their snares.

   The Jews say well that there was a double trial of prophets under the
   Old Testament, -- the one by their doctrine, the other by their
   predictions. That by their doctrine, -- namely, whether they seduced
   men from the worship of the true God unto idolatry, -- belonged unto
   all individual persons of the church. Direction for this is given,
   Deut. xiii. 1-3, "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of
   dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder
   come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee" (effect any thing by a
   seeming presence of an extraordinary power), saying, "Let us go after
   other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou
   shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of
   dreams." Let his signs and wonders be what they would, the people were
   to try them by what they taught. The judgment upon predictions was left
   unto the sanhedrim, for which directions are given, Deut. xviii. 20-22;
   and by virtue hereof they falsely and cruelly endeavoured to take away
   the life of Jeremiah, because he foretold the ruin of them and their
   city, chap. xxvi. 11. In the first place, though his sign, wonder, or
   prediction came to pass, yet the doctrine he sought to confirm by it
   being false, he was to be rejected. In the latter, the fulfilling of
   his sign acquitted him, because he taught with it nothing in point of
   doctrine that was false. The first kind of trial of the spirits of
   prophets is the duty of all believers under the gospel; and those who
   would deprive them of this liberty would make brutes of them instead of
   Christians, -- unless to believe a man knows not what, and to obey he
   knows not why, be the properties of Christians. See Rom. xii. 2; Eph.
   v. 8-12; Phil. i. 10; 1 Thess. v. 21. The other, so far as was needful
   to preserve the church in truth and peace, was provided for in those
   primitive times, whilst there was a real communication of extraordinary
   gifts of the Spirit (and so more occasion given to the false pretence
   of them, and more danger in being deceived by them), by a peculiar gift
   of discerning them, bestowed on some amongst them. 1 Cor. xii. 10,
   "Discerning of spirits" is reckoned among the gifts of the Spirit. So
   had the Lord graciously provided for his churches, that some among them
   should be enabled in an extraordinary manner to discern and judge of
   them who pretended unto extraordinary actings of the Spirit. And upon
   the ceasing of extraordinary gifts really given from God, the gift also
   of discerning spirits ceased, and we are left unto the word alone for
   the trial of any that shall pretend unto them. Now, this kind of
   pretence was so common in those days, that the apostle Paul, writing to
   the Thessalonians to caution them that they suffered not themselves to
   be deceived in their expectation and computations about the time of the
   coming of Christ, in the first place warns them not to be moved in it
   "by spirit," 2 Thess. ii. 2; that is, persons pretending unto spiritual
   revelations. Something, also, of this nature hath continued, and broken
   out in succeeding ages, and that in instances abominable and dreadful.
   And the more eminent in any season are the real effusions of the Holy
   Spirit upon the ministers of the gospel and disciples of Christ, the
   more diligence and watchfulness against these delusions are necessary;
   for on such opportunities it is, when the use and reputation of
   spiritual gifts is eminent, that Satan doth lay hold to intrude under
   the colour of them his own deceitful suggestions. In the dark times of
   the Papacy, all stories are full of satanical delusions, in fantastical
   apparitions, horrors, spectrums, and the like effects of darkness. It
   was seldom or never that any falsely pretended to the gifts and graces
   of the Holy Spirit; for these things were then of little use or request
   in the world. But when God was pleased to renew really a fresh
   communication of spiritual gifts and graces unto men, in and upon the
   Reformation, the old dreads and terrors, nightly appearances, tending
   unto deeds of darkness, vanished, and everywhere, by Satan's
   instigation, arose false pretenders to the Spirit of God; in which way
   of delusion he will still be more active and industrious, as God shall
   increase the gifts and graces of his Spirit in his churches; though as
   yet, in these latter ages, he hath not attained what he was arrived
   unto in the primitive times of the gospel. A full and clear declaration
   from the Scripture of the nature of the Holy Spirit and his operations
   may, through the blessing of God, be of use to fortify the minds of
   professors against satanical delusions counterfeiting his actings and
   inspirations; for directions unto this purpose are given us by the holy
   apostle, who lived to see great havoc made in the churches by deluding
   spirits. Knowledge of the truth, trying of spirits that go abroad by
   the doctrines of the Scriptures, dependence on the Holy Spirit for his
   teachings according to the word, are the things which to this purpose
   he commends unto us.

   Thirdly, There is in the days wherein we live an anti-spirit set up and
   advanced against the Spirit of God, in his being and all his
   operations, in his whole work and use towards the church of God; for
   this new spirit takes upon him whatever is promised to be effected by
   the "good Spirit of God." This is that which some men call "the light
   within them," though indeed it be nothing but a dark product of Satan
   upon their own imaginations, or at best the natural light of
   conscience; which some of the heathens also call "a spirit." [14] But
   hereunto do they trust, as to that which doth all for them, leaving no
   room for the "promise of the Spirit of God," nor any thing for him to
   do. This teacheth them, instructs them, enlightens them; to this they
   attend as the Samaritans to Simon Magus, and, as they say, yield
   obedience unto it; and from hence, with the fruits of it, do they
   expect acceptation with God, justification and blessedness hereafter.
   And one of these two things these deluded souls must fix upon, --
   namely, that this light whereof they speak is either the Holy Spirit of
   God, or it is not. If they say it is the Spirit, it will be easy to
   demonstrate how by their so saying they utterly destroy the very nature
   and being of the Holy Ghost, as will evidently appear in our
   explication of them. And if they say that it is not the Holy Spirit of
   God which they intend thereby, it will be no less manifest that they
   utterly exclude him, on the other side, from his whole work, and
   substitute another, yea, an enemy, in his room: for another God is a
   false god; another Christ is a false Christ; and another Spirit is a
   false spirit, -- the spirit of antichrist. Now, because this is a
   growing evil amongst us, many being led away and seduced, our duty unto
   Jesus Christ and compassion for the souls of men do require that our
   utmost endeavour, in the ways of Christ's appointment, should be used
   to obviate this evil, which eateth as doth a canker; which also is
   propagated by profane and vain babblings, increasing still unto more
   ungodliness. Some, I confess, do unduly rage against the persons of
   those who have imbibed these imaginations, falling upon them with
   violence and fury, as they do also on others; -- the Lord lay it not
   unto their charge! Yet this hinders not but that, by those "weapons of
   our warfare which are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
   down of strongholds, casting down such like imaginations, and every
   high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
   bringing into captivity every thought unto the obedience of Christ," we
   ought to attempt the destruction of their errors and the breaking of
   the snares of Satan, by whom they are taken captive alive at his
   pleasure. The course, indeed, of opposing errors and false spirits by
   praying, preaching, and writing, is despised by them in whose furious
   and haughty minds ure, seca, occide, "burn, cut, and kill," are alone
   of any signification, -- that think, "Arise, Peter, kill and eat," to
   be a precept of more use and advantage unto them than all the commands
   of Jesus Christ besides; but the way proposed unto us by the Lord Jesus
   Christ himself, walked in by his holy apostles, and all the ancient,
   holy, learned writers of the church, is that which, in these matters,
   we must and shall attend unto: and that course which is particularly
   suited to obviate the evil mentioned, is, to give a full, plain,
   evident declaration from the Scripture of the nature and operations of
   the Holy Spirit of God. Hence it will be undeniably manifest what a
   stranger this pretended light is unto the true Spirit of Christ; how
   far it is from being of any real use to the souls of men; yea, how it
   is set up in opposition unto him and his work, by whom and by which
   alone we become accepted with God, and are brought unto the enjoyment
   of him.

   Fourthly, There are, moreover, many hurtful and noxious opinions
   concerning the Holy Ghost gone abroad in the world, and entertained by
   many, to the subversion of the faith which they have professed. [15]
   Such are those whereby his deity and personality are denied. About
   these there have been many contests in the world: some endeavouring
   with diligence and subtlety to promote the perverse opinions mentioned;
   others "contending," according to their duty, "for the faith once
   delivered unto the saints." But these disputations are for the most
   part so managed, that although the truth be in some of them strenuously
   vindicated, yet the minds of believers generally are but little edified
   by them; for the most are unacquainted with the ways and terms of
   arguing, which are suited to convince or "stop the mouths of
   gainsayers," rather than to direct the faith of others. Besides, our
   knowledge of things is more by their operations and proper effects than
   from their own nature and formal reason. Especially is it so in divine
   things, and particularly with respect unto God himself. In his own
   glorious being he dwelleth in light, whereunto no creature can
   approach. In the revelation that he hath made of himself by the effects
   of his will, in his word and works, are we to seek after him. By them
   are the otherwise invisible things of God made known, his attributes
   declared, and we come to a better acquaintance with him than any we can
   attain by our most diligent speculations about his nature itself
   immediately. So is it with the Holy Ghost and his personality. He is in
   the Scripture [16] proposed unto us to be known by his properties and
   works, adjuncts and operations; by our duty towards him and our
   offences against him. The due consideration of these things is that
   which will lead us into that assured knowledge of his being and
   subsistence which is necessary for the guidance of our faith and
   obedience; which is the end of all these inquiries, Col. ii. 2.
   Wherefore, although I shall by the way explain, confirm, and vindicate
   the testimonies that are given in the Scripture, or some of them, unto
   his deity and personality, yet the principal means that I shall insist
   on for the establishing of our faith in him is the due and just
   exposition and declaration of the administrations and operations that
   are ascribed unto him in the Scriptures; which also will give great
   light into the whole mystery and economy of God in the work of our
   salvation by Jesus Christ.

   Fifthly, The principal cause and occasion of our present undertaking
   is, the open and horrible opposition that is made unto the Spirit of
   God and his work in the world. There is no concernment of his that is
   not by many derided, exploded, and blasphemed. The very name of the
   Spirit is grown to be a reproach; nor do some think they can more
   despitefully expose any to scorn than by ascribing to them a "concern
   in the Spirit of God." This, indeed, is a thing which I have often
   wondered at, and do continue still so to do: for whereas in the gospel
   everything that is good, holy, praiseworthy in any man, is expressly
   assigned to the Spirit, as the immediate efficient cause and operator
   of it; and whereas the condition of men without him, not made partakers
   of him, is described to be reprobate or rejected of God, and foreign
   unto any interest in Christ; yet many pretending unto the belief and
   profession of the gospel are so far from owning or desiring a
   participation of this Spirit in their own persons, as that they deride
   and contemn them who dare plead or avow any concern in him or his
   works. Only, I must grant that herein they have had some that have gone
   before them, -- namely, the old scoffing heathens; for so doth Lucian,
   in his Philopatris [18], speak in imitation of a Christian by way of
   scorn, Lege, para tou Pneumatos dunamin tou logou labon; -- "Speak out
   now, receiving power or ability of speaking from the Spirit," or "by
   the Spirit." Certainly an attendance to the old caution. Si non caste,
   tamen caute, had been needful for some in this matter. Could they not
   bring their own hearts unto a due reverence of the Spirit of God, and
   an endeavour after the participation of his fruits and effects, yet the
   things that are spoken concerning him and his work in the whole New
   Testament, and also in places almost innumerable in the Old, might have
   put a check to their public contemptuous reproaches and scornful
   mockings, whilst they owned those writings to be of God; -- but such
   was his entertainment in the world upon his first effusion, Acts ii.
   13. Many pretences, I know, will be pleaded to give countenance unto
   this abomination; for, first, they will say, "It is not the Spirit of
   God himself and his works, but the pretence of others unto him and
   them, which they so reproach and scorn." I fear this plea or excuse
   will prove too short and narrow to make a covering unto their
   profaneness. It is dangerous venturing with rudeness and petulancy upon
   holy things, and then framing of excuses. But in reproaches of the Lord
   Christ and his Spirit men will not want their pretences, John x. 32,
   33. And the things of the Spirit of God, which they thus reproach and
   scorn in any, are either such as are truly and really ascribed unto him
   and wrought by him in the disciples of Jesus Christ, or they are not.
   If they are such as indeed are no effects of the Spirit of grace, such
   as he is not promised for, nor attested to work in them that do
   believe, as vain enthusiasms, ecstatical raptures and revelations,
   certainly it more became Christians, men professing, or at least
   pretending, a reverence unto God, his Spirit, and his word, to manifest
   to and convince those of whom they treat that such things are not
   "fruits of the Spirit," but imaginations of their own, than to deride
   them under the name of the Spirit, or his gifts and operations. Do men
   consider with whom and what they make bold in these things? But if they
   be things that are real effects of the Spirit of Christ in them that
   believe, or such as are undeniably assigned unto him in the Scripture,
   which they despise, what remains to give countenance unto this daring
   profaneness? Yea, but they say, secondly, "It is not the real true
   operations of the Spirit themselves, but the false pretensions of
   others unto them, which they traduce and expose." But will this warrant
   the course which it is manifest they steer in matter and manner? The
   same persons pretend to believe in Christ and the gospel, and to be
   made partakers of the benefits of his mediation; and yet, if they have
   not the Spirit of Christ, they have no saving interest in these things;
   for "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." If
   it be, then, only their false pretending unto the Spirit of God and his
   works which these persons so revile and scorn, why do they not deal
   with them in like manner with respect unto Christ and the profession of
   the gospel? why do they not say unto them, "You believe in Christ, you
   believe in the gospel," and thereon expose them to derision? So plainly
   dealt the Jews with our Lord Jesus Christ, Ps. xxii. 7, 8; Matt. xxi.
   38, 39. It is, therefore, the things themselves, and not the pretences
   pretended, that are the objects of this contempt and reproach. Besides,
   suppose those whom at present on other occasions they hate or despise
   are not partakers of the Spirit of God, but are really strangers unto
   the things which hypocritically they profess, -- will they grant and
   allow that any other Christians in the world do so really partake of
   him as to be led, guided, directed by him; to be quickened, sanctified,
   purified by him; to be enabled unto communion with God, and all duties
   of holy obedience by him, with those other effects and operations for
   which he is promised by Jesus Christ unto his disciples? If they will
   grant these things to be really effected and accomplished in any, let
   them not be offended with them who desire that they should be so in
   themselves, and declare themselves to that purpose; and men would have
   more charity for them under their petulant scoffing than otherwise they
   are able to exercise. It will, thirdly, yet be pleaded, "That they
   grant as fully as any the being of the Holy Ghost, the promise of him
   and his real operations; only, they differ from others as to the sense
   and exposition of those phrases and expressions that are used
   concerning these things in the Scripture, which those others abuse in
   an unintelligible manner, as making them proper which indeed are
   metaphorical." But is this the way which they like and choose to
   express their notions and apprehensions, -- namely, openly to revile
   and scorn the very naming and asserting the work of the Spirit of God,
   in the words which himself hath taught? A boldness this is, which, as
   whereof the former ages have not given us a precedent, so we hope the
   future will not afford an instance of any to follow the example. For
   their sense and apprehension of these things, they shall afterward be
   examined, so far as they have dared to discover them. In the meantime,
   we know that the Socinians acknowledge a Trinity, the sacrifice of
   Christ, the expiation of sin made thereby, and yet we have some
   differences with them about these things; and so we have with these men
   about the Spirit of God and his dispensation under the gospel, though,
   like them, they would grant the things spoken of them to be true, as
   metaphorically to be interpreted. But of these things we must treat
   more fully hereafter.

   I say it is so come to pass, amongst many who profess they believe the
   gospel to be true, that the name or naming of the Spirit of God is
   become a reproach; so also is his whole work. And the promise of him
   made by Jesus Christ unto his church is rendered useless and
   frustrated. It was the main, and upon the matter the only, supportment
   which he left unto it in his bodily absence, the only means of
   rendering the work of his mediation effectual in them and among them;
   for without him all others, as the word, ministry, and ordinances of
   worship, are lifeless and useless. God is not glorified by them, nor
   the souls of men advantaged. But it is now uncertain with some of what
   use he is unto the church; yea, as far as I can discern, whether he be
   of any or no. Some have not trembled to say and contend, that some
   things as plainly ascribed unto him in the Scripture as words can make
   an assignation of any thing, are the cause of all the troubles and
   confusions in the world! Let them have the word or tradition outwardly
   revealing the will of God, and what it is that he would have them do
   (as the Jews have both to this day); these being made use of by their
   own reason, and improved by their natural abilities, they make up the
   whole of man, all that is required to render the persons or duties of
   any accepted with God! Of what use, then, is the Spirit of God in these
   things? Of none at all, it may be, nor the doctrine concerning him,
   "but only to fill the world with a buzz and noise, and to trouble the
   minds of men with unintelligible notions." Had not these things been
   spoken, they should not have been repeated; for death lieth at the door
   in them. So, then, men may pray without him, and preach without him,
   and turn to God without him, and perform all their duties without him
   well enough; for if anyone shall plead the necessity of his assistance
   for the due performance of these things, and ascribe unto him all that
   is good and well done in them, he shall hardly escape from being
   notably derided. Yet all this while we would be esteemed Christians!
   And what do such persons think of the prayers of the ancient church and
   Christians unto him for the working of all good in them, and their
   ascriptions of every good thing unto him? [17] And wherein have we any
   advantage of the Jews, or wherein consists the pre-eminence of the
   gospel? They have the word of God, that part of it which was committed
   unto their church, and which in its kind is sufficient to direct their
   faith and obedience; for so is the "sure word of prophecy," if
   diligently attended unto, 2 Pet. i. 19. And if traditions be of any
   use, they can outvie all the world. Neither doth this sort of men want
   their wits and the exercise of them. Those who converse with them in
   the things of this world do not use to say they are all fools. And for
   their diligence in the consideration of the letter of the Scripture,
   and inquiring into it according to the best of their understanding,
   none will question it but those unto whom they and their concernments
   are unknown. And yet after all this, they are Jews still. If we have
   the New Testament no otherwise than they have the Old, -- have only the
   letter of it to philosophize upon, according to the best of our reasons
   and understandings, without any dispensation of the Spirit of God
   accompanying it to give us a saving light into the mystery of it, and
   to make it effectual unto our souls, -- I shall not fear to say, but
   that as they call themselves "Jews and are not, but are the synagogue
   of Satan," Rev. ii. 9, so we who pretend ourselves to be Christians, as
   to all the saving ends of the gospel, shall not be found in a better
   condition.

   And yet it were to be wished that even here bounds might be fixed unto
   the fierceness of some men's spirits. But they will not suffer
   themselves to be so confined. In many places they are transported with
   rage and fury, so as to stir up persecution against such as are really
   anointed with the Spirit of Christ, and that for no other reason but
   because they are so, Gal. iv. 29. Other things, indeed, are pretended
   by them, but all the world may see that they are not of such importance
   as to give countenance unto their wrath. This is the latent cause which
   stirs it up, and is oftentimes openly expressed.

   These things at present are charged only as the miscarriages of private
   persons. When they are received in churches, they are the cause of and
   an entrance into a fatal defection and apostasy. From the foundation of
   the world, the principal revelation that God made of himself was in the
   oneness of his nature and his monarchy over all. And herein the person
   of the Father was immediately represented with his power and authority;
   for he is the fountain and original of the Deity, the other persons as
   to their subsistence being of him: only, he did withal give out
   promises concerning the peculiar exhibition of the Son in the flesh in
   an appointed season, as also of the Holy Spirit, to be given by him in
   an especial manner. Hereby were their persons to be signally glorified
   in this world, it being the will of God that all "men should honour the
   Son as they honoured the Father," and the Holy Spirit in like manner.
   In this state of things, the only apostasy of the church could be
   polytheism and idolatry. Accordingly, so it came to pass. The church of
   Israel was continually prone to these abominations, so that scarcely a
   generation passed, or very few, wherein the body of the people did not
   more or less defile themselves with them. To wean and recover them from
   this sin was the principal end of the preaching of those prophets which
   God from time to time sent unto them, 2 Kings xvii. 13. And this also
   was the cause of all the calamities which befell them, and of all the
   judgments which God inflicted on them, as is testified in all the
   historical books of the Old Testament, and confirmed by instances
   innumerable. To put an end hereunto, God at length brought a total
   desolation upon the whole church, and caused the people to be carried
   into captivity out of their own land; and hereby it was so far effected
   that, upon their return, whatever other sins they fell into, yet they
   kept themselves from idols and idolatry, Ezek. xvi. 41-43, xxiii. 27,
   48. And the reason hereof was, because the time was now drawing nigh
   wherein they were to be tried with another dispensation of God; -- the
   Son of God was to be sent unto them in the flesh. To receive and obey
   him was now to be the principal instance and trial of their faith and
   obedience. They were no longer to be tried merely by their faith,
   whether they would own only the God of Israel, in opposition unto all
   false gods and idols, for that ground God had now absolutely won upon
   them; but now all is to turn on this hinge, whether they would receive
   the Son of God coming in the flesh, according to the promise. Here the
   generality of that church and people fell by their unbelief,
   apostatized from God, and became thereby neither church nor people,
   John viii. 24. They being rejected, the Son of God calls and gathers
   another church, founding it on his own person with faith, and the
   profession of it therein, Matt. xvi. 18, 19. In this new church,
   therefore, this foundation is fixed, and this ground made good, that
   Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is to be owned and honoured as we honour
   the Father, 1 Cor. iii. 11; John v. 23. And herein all that are duly
   called Christians do agree, as the church of Israel did in one God
   after their return from the captivity of Babylon. But now the Lord
   Jesus Christ being ascended unto his Father, hath committed his whole
   affairs in the church and in the world unto the Holy Spirit, John xvi.
   7-11. And it is on this design of God that the person of the Spirit may
   be singularly exalted in the church; unto whom they were so in the dark
   before, that some (none of the worst of them) professed they had not so
   much as heard whether there were any Holy Ghost or no, Acts xix. 2, --
   that is, at least, as unto the peculiar dispensation of him then
   introduced in the church. Wherefore, the duty of the church now
   immediately respects the Spirit of God, who acts towards it in the name
   of the Father and of the Son; and with respect unto him it is that the
   church in its present state is capable of an apostasy from God. And
   whatever is found of this nature amongst any, here it hath its
   beginning; for the sin of despising his person and rejecting his work
   now is of the same nature with idolatry of old, and the Jews' rejection
   of the person of the Son. And whereas there was a relief provided
   against these sins, because there was a new dispensation of the grace
   of God to ensue, in the evangelical work of the Holy Ghost, if men sin
   against him and his operations, containing the perfection and
   complement of God's revelation of himself unto them, their condition is
   deplorable.

   It may be some will say and plead, that whatever is spoken of the Holy
   Ghost, his graces, gifts, and operations, did entirely belong unto the
   first times of the gospel, wherein they were manifested by visible and
   wonderful effects, -- to those times they were confined; and,
   consequently, that we have no other interest or concern in them but as
   in a recorded testimony given of old unto the truth of the gospel. This
   is so, indeed, as unto his extraordinary and miraculous operations, but
   to confine his whole work thereunto is plainly to deny the truth of the
   promises of Christ, and to overthrow his church; for we shall make it
   undeniably evident that none can believe in Jesus Christ, or yield
   obedience unto him, or worship God in him, but by the Holy Ghost. And,
   therefore, if the whole dispensation of him and his communications unto
   the souls of men do cease, so doth all faith in Christ and Christianity
   also.

   On these and the like considerations it is that I have thought it
   necessary for myself, and unto the church of God, that the Scripture
   should be diligently searched in and concerning this great matter; for
   none can deny but that the glory of God, the honour of the gospel, the
   faith and obedience of the church, with the everlasting welfare of our
   own souls, are deeply concerned herein.

   The apostle Peter, treating about the great things of the gospel,
   taught by himself and the rest of the apostles of our Lord Jesus
   Christ, tells those to whom he wrote that in what was so preached unto
   them they had not "followed cunningly-devised fables," 2 Pet. i. 16;
   for so were the "power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" then
   reported to be in the world. What was preached concerning them was
   looked on as "cunningly-devised" and artificially-framed "fables," to
   inveigle and allure the people. This the apostle gives his testimony
   against, and withal appeals unto the divine assurance which they had of
   the holy truths delivered unto them, verses 17-21. In like manner, our
   Lord Jesus Christ himself having preached the doctrine of regeneration
   unto Nicodemus, he calls it into question, as a thing incredible or
   unintelligible, John iii. 4; for whose instruction and the rebuke of
   his ignorance, he lets him know that he spake nothing but what he
   brought with him from heaven, -- from the eternal Fountain of goodness
   and truth, verses 11-13. It is fallen out not much otherwise in this
   matter.

   The doctrine concerning the Spirit of God, and his work on the souls of
   men, hath been preached in the world. What he doth in convincing men of
   sin; what in working godly sorrow and humiliation in them; what is the
   exceeding greatness of his power, which he puts forth in the
   regeneration and sanctification of the souls of men; what are the
   supplies of grace which he bestows on them that do believe; what
   assistance he gives unto them as the Spirit of grace and supplications,
   -- hath been preached, taught, and pressed on the minds of them that
   attend unto the dispensation of the word of the gospel. Answerable
   hereunto, men have been urged to try, search, examine themselves, as to
   what of this work of the Holy Ghost they have found, observed, or had
   experience to have been effectually accomplished in or upon their own
   souls. And hereon they have been taught that the great concernments of
   their peace, comfort, and assurance, of their communion among
   themselves as the saints of God, with many other ends of their holy
   conversation, do depend. Nay, it is, and hath been constantly, taught
   them that if there be not an effectual work of the Holy Ghost upon
   their hearts, they "cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Now, these
   things, and whatever is spoken in the explication of them, are by some
   called in question, if not utterly rejected; yea, some look on them as
   "cunningly-devised fables," -- things that some not long since
   invented, and others have propagated for their advantage. Others say
   that what is delivered concerning them is hardly, if at all, to be
   understood by rational men, being only empty speculations about things
   wherein Christian religion is little or not at all concerned. Whereas,
   therefore, many, very many, have received these things as sacred
   truths, and are persuaded that they have found them realized in their
   own souls, so that into their experience of the work of the Holy Spirit
   of God in them and upon them, according as it is declared in the word,
   all their consolation and peace with God is for the most part resolved,
   as that which gives them the best evidence of their interest in him who
   is their peace; and whereas, for the present, they do believe that
   unless these things are so in and with them, they have no foundation to
   build a hope of eternal life upon, -- it cannot but be of indispensable
   necessity unto them to examine and search the Scripture diligently
   whether these things be so or no. For if there be no such work of the
   Spirit of God upon the hearts of men, and that indispensably necessary
   to their salvation; if there are no such assistances and supplies of
   grace needful unto every good duty as wherein they have been
   instructed, -- then in the whole course of their profession they have
   only been seduced by "cunningly-devised fables," their deceived hearts
   have fed upon ashes, and they are yet in their sins. It is, then, of no
   less consideration and importance than the eternal welfare of their
   souls immediately concerned therein can render it, that they diligently
   try, examine, and search into these things, by the safe and infallible
   touchstone and rule of the word, whereon they may, must, and ought, to
   venture their eternal condition. I know, indeed, that most believers
   are so far satisfied in the truth of these things and their own
   experience of them, that they will not be moved in the least by the
   oppositions which are made unto them and the scorn that is cast upon
   them; for "he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in
   himself," 1 John v. 10: but yet, as Luke wrote his Gospel to Theophilus
   "that he might know the certainty of those things wherein he had been
   instructed," Luke i. 4, -- that is, to confirm him in the truth, by an
   addition of new degrees of assurance unto him, -- so it is our duty to
   be so far excited by the clamorous oppositions that are made unto the
   truths which we profess, and in whose being such, we are as much
   concerned as our souls are worth, to compare them diligently with the
   Scripture, that we may be the more fully confirmed and established in
   them. And, upon the examination of the whole matter, I shall leave them
   to their option, as Elijah did of old: "If Jehovah be God, follow him;
   but if Baal be God, follow him." If the things which the generality of
   professors do believe and acknowledge concerning the Spirit of God and
   his work on their hearts, his gifts and graces in the church, with the
   manner of their communication, be for the substance of them (wherein
   they all generally agree) according to the Scripture, taught and
   revealed therein, on the same terms as by them received, then may they
   abide in the holy profession of them, and rejoice in the consolations
   they have received by them; but if these things, with those others
   which, in the application of them to the souls of men, are directly and
   necessarily deduced, and to be deduced from them, are all but vain and
   useless imaginations, it is high time the minds of men were disburdened
   of them.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1] Pneumatika ta semeia kalon, hoti tauta erga tou pneumatos monou,
   ouden anthropines epeispherouses spoudes, eis to ta toiauta
   thaumatourgein. -- Chrysost. in loc. So also Ambros. and Theophylact.
   in loc.

   [2] Charismata de heichon, hoi men elattona, hoi de pleio; kai touto
   aition schismatos autois egeneto, ou para ten oikeian phusin, alla para
   agnomosunen ton eilephoton; hoite gar ta meizona echontes eperonto kata
   ton ta elattona kektemenon; outoi de au palin elgoun, kai tois ta
   meizona echousin ephthonoun. -- Chrysost. in loc.

   [3] "Spiritualia illis traditurus, exemplum prioris conversationis
   memorat; ut sicut simulacrorum fuerunt forma colentes idola, et
   ducebantur duce voluntate daemoniorum; ita et colentes deum sint forma
   legis dominicae." -- Ambros. in loc.

   [4] Ti oun oudeis daimon onomazei ton Theon? ouchi hoi daimonizomenoi
   elegon oidamen se tis hei ho huios tou Theou? ouchi Paulo elegon,
   houtoi hoi anthropoi douloi tou Theou tou hupsistou eisin? alla
   mastizomenoi, all' anankazomenoi, hekontes de kai me mastigoumenoi,
   oudamnou. -- Chrysost. in loc.

   [5] Crel. de Spir. Sanc., Prolegom., pp. 29-31.

   [6] "Ex hoc capite et proximo licet conjicere quae fuerint dotes illius
   veteris ecclesiae Christianae, priusquam tot ceremoniis, opibus,
   imperiis, copiis, bellis aliisque id genus esset onerata. Nunc fere tot
   praeclara munia ad unam Potestatem redacta sunt: h. e., Christi titulo
   palliatam Tyrannidem. Quid enim aliud est potestas nisi adsit animus
   apostolicus?" -- Erasm. Annot. ad v. 4.

   [7] Apostelletai men oikonomikos, energei de autexousios. -- Basil.
   Homil. xv. de Fide.

   [8] "Spiritus Sanctus ad hoc missus a Christo, ad hoc postulatus de
   Patre ut esset doctor veritatis, Christi vicarius." -- Tertul. advers.
   Haeret. cap. xxviii."Quoniam Dominus in caelos esset abiturus,
   Paracletum discipulis necessario dabat, ne illos quodammodo pupillos,
   quod minime decebat, relinqueret; et sine advocato et quodam tutore
   desereret. Hic est enim qui ipsorum animos mentesque firmavit, qui in
   ipsis illuminator rerum divinarum fuit; quo confirmati, pro nomine
   Domini nec carceres nec vincula timuerunt: quin imo ipsas seculi
   potestates et tormenta calcaverunt, armati jam scilicet per ipsum atque
   firmati, habentes in se dona quae hic idem Spiritus ecclesiae Christi
   sponsae, quasi quaedam ornamenta distribuit et dirigit." -- Novat. de
   Trinitat."Totum ex Spiritus Sancti constat ducatu, quod devii
   diriguntur, quod impii convertuntur, quod debiles contirmantur.
   Spiritus rectus, Spiritus Sanctus, Spiritus principalis regit,
   componit, consummat et perficit, nostras inhabitat mentes, et corda
   quae possidet; nec errare patitur, nec corrumpi, nec vinci quos
   docuerit, quos possederit, quos gladio potentissimae veritatis
   accinxerit." -- Cypr. de Spir. Sanc.

   [9] "Praesentia spirituali cum eis erat ubique futurus post ascensionem
   suam, et cum tota ecclesia sua in hoc mundo usque in consummationem
   seculi: neque enim de solis apostolis potest intelligi, `sicut dedisti
   ei potestatem omnis carnis, ut onme quod dedisti ei det eis vitam
   aeternam;' sed ubique de omnibus quibus in eum credentibus vita aeterna
   datur." -- Aug. Tractat. 106, in Evangel. Johan."Munus hoc quod in
   Christo est, -- in consummationem seculi nobiscum; hoc expectationis
   nostrae solatium, hoc in donorum operationibus futurae spei pignus est;
   hoc mentium lumen, hic splendour animorum est." -- Hilar, lib. ii. 35,
   de Trinitat.

   [10] "Hic est qui prophetas in ecclesia constituit, magistros erudit,
   linguas dirigit, vertutes et sanctitates facit, opera mirabilia gerit,
   discretiones spirituum porrigit, gubernationes contribuit, consilia
   suggerit, quaeque alia sunt charismatum dona componit et digerit; et
   ideo ecclesiam Domino undique et in omnibus consummatam et perfectam
   facit." -- Tertul.

   [11] "Hic est qui operatur ex aquis secundam nativitatem, semen quoddam
   divini generis, et consecrator caelestis nativitatis; pignus promissae
   haereditatis et quasi chirographum quoddam aeternae salutis; qui nos
   Dei faciat templum et nos efficiat domum, qui interpellat divinas aures
   pro nobis gemitibus ineloquacibus, advocationis officia, et defensionis
   exhibens munera, inhabitator corporibus nostris ductus, et sanctitatis
   effector; hic est qui inexplebiles cupiditates coercet," etc. -- Novat.
   de Trinitat.

   [12] "Omnibus quidem quae divina sunt cum reverentia et vehementi cura
   opertet intendere, maxime autem his quae de Spiritus Sancti divinitate
   dicuntur, praesertim cum blasphemia in eum sine venia sit; ita ut
   blasphemantis poena tendatur non solum in omne praesens seculum, sed
   etiam in futurum. Ait quippe Salvator, blasphemanti in Spiritum Sanctum
   non esse remissionem, `neque in isto seculo neque in futuro:' unde
   magis ac magis intendere oportet quae Scripturarum de eo relatio sit:
   ne in aliquem, saltem per ignorantiam, blasphemiae error obrepat." --
   Didym, de Spir. Sanc. lib. i., Interpret. Hieron.[Didymus, from whom
   Owen quotes so copiously in the following pages, was a professor of
   theology in Alexandria, and died A.D. 396 at the age of eighty-five. He
   became blind when only four years old, and yet contrived to acquire
   great distinction for his knowledge of all the sciences of the age, and
   especially of theology. His treatise on the Holy Spirit was translated
   by Jerome into Latin, and appears among the works of that father. --
   Ed.]

   [13] Epeidan gar teletais tisi kai manganeiais katedese daimona tis eis
   anthropon, kai emanteueto ekeinos, kai manteuomenos erhripteto, kai
   esparatteto, kai enenkein tou daimonos ten hornen ouk edunato all'
   emelle diaspomenos houtos apollusthai, tois ta toiauta manganeuousi
   phesi.Lusate loipon anakta, brotos Theon ouk eti chorei. -- Chrysost.
   in 1 Cor. xii.

   [14] "Ita dico, Lucili, sacer intra nos spiritus sedet, malorum
   bonorumque nostrorum observator et custos: hic prout a nobis tractatus
   est, ita nos ipse tractat." -- Senec. Ep. xli.

   [15] "Quoniam quidam temeritate potius quam recta via etiam in superna
   eriguntur, et haec de Spiritu Sancto jactitant, quae neque in
   Scripturis lecta, nec a quoquam ecclesiasticorum veterum usurpata sunt,
   compulsi sumus creberrimae exhortationi fratrum cedere, quaeque sit
   nostra de eo opinio etiam Scripturarum testimoniis comprobare; ne
   imperitia tanti dogmatis, hi qui contraria opponunt decipiant eos qui
   sine discussione sollicita in adversariorum sententiam statim
   pertrahuntur." -- Didym. De Spir. Sanc. lib. i.

   [16] "Appellatio Spiritus Sancti, et ea quae monstratur ex ipsa
   appellatione substantia, penitus ab his ignoratur, qui extra sacram
   Scripturam philosophantur: solummodo enim in nostratibus literis et
   notio ejus et vocabulum refertur tam in nobis quam in veteribus." --
   Didym. de Spir. Sanc. lib. i.

   [17] "Adesto Sancte Spiritus, et paraclesin tuam expectantibus illabere
   caelitus, sanctifica templum corporis nostri et consecra in habitaculum
   tuum; desiderantes te animas tua praesentia laetifica, dignam te
   habitatore domum compone; adorna thalamum tuum, et quietis tuae
   reclinatorium circumda varietatibus virtutum; sterne pavimenta
   pigmentis; niteat mansio tua carbunculis flammeis, et gemmarum
   splendoribus; et omnium Chrismatum intrinsecus spirent odoramenta;
   affatim balsami liquor fragrantia sua cubiculum suum imbuat; et abigens
   inde quicquid tabidum est, quicquid corruptelae seminarium, stabile et
   perpetuum hoc facias gaudium nostrum, et creationis tuae renovationem
   in decore immarcessibili solides in aeternum." -- Cypr., de Spir. Sanc.
     __________________________________________________________________

Chapter II. The name and titles of the Holy Spirit.

   Of the name of the Holy Spirit -- Various uses of the words R+W+uX+a
   and pneuma -- R+W+uX+a for the wind or any thing invisible with a
   sensible agitation, Amos iv. 13 -- Mistakes of the ancients rectified
   by Hierom -- R+W+uX+a metaphorically for vanity, metonymically for the
   part or quarter of any thing; for our vital breath, the rational soul,
   the affections, angels good and bad -- Ambiguity from the use of the
   word, how to be removed -- Rules concerning the Holy Spirit -- The name
   "Spirit," how peculiar and appropriate unto him -- Why he is called the
   "Holy Spirit" -- Whence called the "Good Spirit," the "Spirit of God,"
   the "Spirit of the Son" -- Acts ii. 33, 1 Pet. i. 10, 11, explained --
   1 John iv. 3, vindicated.

   Before we engage into the consideration of the things themselves
   concerning which we are to treat, it will be necessary to speak
   something unto the name whereby the third person in the Trinity is
   commonly known and peculiarly called in the Scripture. This is the
   "Spirit," or the "Holy Spirit," or the "Holy Ghost," as we usually
   speak. And this I shall do that we be not deceived with the homonymy of
   the word, nor be at a loss in the intention of those places of
   Scripture where it is used unto other purposes: for it is so that the
   name of the second person, ho Logos, "the Word," and of the third to
   Pneuma, "the Spirit," are often applied to signify other things; I
   mean, those words are so. And some make their advantages of the
   ambiguous use of them. But the Scripture is able of itself to manifest
   its own intention and meaning unto humble and diligent inquirers into
   it.

   It is, then, acknowledged that the use of the words R+W+uX+a and pneuma
   in the Old Testament and New is very various; yet are they the words
   whereby alone the Holy Spirit of God is denoted. Their peculiar
   signification, therefore, in particular places is to be collected and
   determined from the subject-matter treated of in them, and other
   especial circumstances of them. This was first attempted by the most
   learned Didymus of Alexandria, whose words, therefore, I have set down
   at large, and shall cast his observations into a more perspicuous
   method, with such additions as are needful for the farther clearing of
   the whole matter. [18] First, In general, R+W+uX+a and pneuma signify a
   wind or spirit, -- that is, any thing which moves and is not seen. So
   the air in a violent agitation is called R+W+uX+a: Gen. viii. 1,
   W+aJ+aE+B+R+ #L+H+iJ+M% R+W+uX+a E+aL+H+o#oR+Zj; -- "And God made a
   wind," or "spirit," that is, a strong and mighty wind, "to pass over
   the earth," for the driving and removal of the waters. So pneuma is
   used, John iii. 8, To pneuma hopou thelei pnei k.t.l., -- "The wind
   bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
   not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth;" which is a proper
   description of this first signification of the word. It is an agitation
   of the air which is unseen. So Ps. i. 4. And in this sense, sometimes
   it signifies a "great and strong wind," -- that is, R+W+uX+a
   N+uD+W+L+oH+ W+X+oZ+oQ+, 1 Kings xix. 11; and sometimes a cool and soft
   wind, or a light easy agitation of the air, such as often ariseth in
   the evenings of the spring or summer. So Gen. iii. 8, "God walked in
   the garden" L+R+W+uX+a H+aJ+uW+M%, "in the cool of the day;" that is,
   when the evening air began to breathe gently, and moderate the heat of
   the day. So in the poet, --


   "Solis ad occasum, quum frigidus aera vespe

   Temperat."

   Virg. Geor.iii. 336.

   "At the going down of the sun, when the cold evening tempers the heat
   of the air." And some think this to be the sense of that place, Ps.
   civ. 4, "Who maketh his angels R+W+uX+W+T+, spirits," -- swift, agile,
   powerful as mighty winds. But the reader may consult our Exposition on
   Heb. i. 7.

   This is one signification of the word R+W+uX+a, or this is one thing
   denoted by it in the Scripture. So, among many other places, expressly
   Amos iv. 13, "For, lo," J+W+ZJR+ H+oR+iJ+M% W+uB+R+# R+W+uX+a, he that
   formeth the mountains, and createth the spirit," that is, "the wind."
   The LXX. render this place, Stereon bronten kai ktizon pneuma; -- "Who
   establisheth the thunder, and createth the spirit;" though some copies
   read, ta ore, "the mountains." And the next words in the text,
   W+uM+aG+uJ+D+ L+#oD+oM% M+aH+Shu:iJ+X+W+, [19] -- "And declareth unto
   man what is his thought," they render, Kai apangellon eis anthropous
   ton Christon autou, -- "And declareth unto men his Christ," or his
   Anointed, or his Messiah; for they took M+aH+Shu:iJ+X+W+ for
   M+ShiJ+X+W+ by inadvertency, and not for want of points or vowels as
   some imagine, seeing the mistake consists in the casting out of a
   letter itself. And thence the old Latin translation renders the words,
   "Firmans tonitruum, et creans Spiritum, et annuncians in homines
   Christum suum;" which Hierom rectified into "Formans montes, et creans
   ventum, et annuntians homini eloquium suum," discovering in his comment
   the mistake of the LXX. But it is certain that, from the ambiguity of
   the word R+W+uX+a in this place, with the corrupt translations making
   mention of Christ in the next words, some who of old denied the deity
   of the Holy Spirit mightily insisted on it to prove him a creature; as
   may be seen in Didymus, Ambrose, Hierom, Hilary, and the ancients
   generally. But the context determines the signification of the word
   beyond all just exceptions. It is the power of God in making and
   disposing of things here below, whether dreadful for their greatness
   and height, as the mountains; or mighty and effectual in their
   operations, as the wind; or secret in their conceptions, as the
   thoughts of men; or stable in their continuance, as the night and day,
   the evening and morning, without the least respect to Christ or the
   Spirit, that it treateth of.

   And I cannot but observe from hence the great necessity there is of
   searching the original text in the interpretation of the Scriptures, as
   it might be evidenced by a thousand other instances; but one we may
   take from two great and learned men, who were contemporaries in the
   Latin church, in their thoughts on this place.

   The one is Ambrose, who, interpreting these words in his second book,
   De Spiritu Sancto, lib. ii. cap. 6, being deceived by the corrupt
   translation mentioned, "Annuncians in homines Christum suum," is forced
   to give a very strained exposition of that which, in truth, is not in
   the text, and to relieve himself also with another corruption in the
   same place, where "forming the mountains" is rendered by "establishing
   the thunder;" and yet, when he hath done all, he can scarce free
   himself of the objection about the creation of the Spirit, which he
   designs to answer. His words are, "Siquis propheticum dictum, ideo
   derivandum putet ad interpretationem Spiritus Sancti; quia habet,
   `annuncians in homines Christum suum,' is ad incarnationis Dominicae
   mysteria dictum facilius derivabit. Nam si te movet quia Spiritum
   dixit, et hoc non putas derivandum ad mysterium assumptionis humanae;
   prosequere scripturas et invenies optime congruere de Christo, de quo
   bene convenit aestimari, quia firmavit tonitrua adventu suo; vim
   videlicet et sonum coelestium scripturarum; quarum velut quodam tonitru
   mentes nostrae redduntur attonitae, ut timere discamus, et reverntiam
   coelestibus deferamus oraculis. Denique, in Evangelio fratres Domini
   filii tonitru dicebantur. Et cum vox Patris facta esset dicentis ad
   Filium, `Et honorificavi te, et iterum honorificabo,' Judaei dicebant,
   `Tonitruum factum est illi.' " And hereon, with some observations to
   the same purpose, he adds, "Ergo tonitrua ad sermones Domini retulit,
   quorum in omnem terram exivit sonus; Spiritum autem hoc loco animam,
   quam suscepit rationabilem et perfectam intelligimus." The substance of
   his discourse is, that treating of Christ (who indeed is neither
   mentioned nor intended in the text), he speaks of "confirming the
   thunder" (which nowhere here appears), by which the sound of the
   Scriptures and preaching of the word is intended; the spirit that was
   created being the human soul of Jesus Christ. Nor was he alone in this
   interpretation. Didym. lib. 2 de Spiritu Sancto, Athanas. ad Serapion,
   Basil. lib. 4. contra Eunom., amongst the Grecians, are in like manner
   entangled with this corruption of the text; as was also Concil.
   Sardicen. in Socrat. lib. 2 cap. 20.

   The other person intended is Hierom, who, consulting the original, as
   he was well able to do, first translated the words, "Quia ecce formans
   montes, et creans ventum, et annuncians homini eloquium suum," declares
   the mistake of the LXX. and the occasion of it:-- "Pro montibus qui
   Hebraice dicuntur H+oR+J+iM%; soli LXX. bronten, id est, tontitruum,
   verterunt. Cur autem illi Spiritum et nos dixerimus ventum, qui
   Hebraice R+W+uX+a vocatur, causa manifesta est: quodque sequitur,
   `Annuncians homini eloquium suum,' LXX. transtulerunt, Apangellon eis
   anthropous ton Christon autou, verbi similitudine, et ambiguitate
   decepti." So he shows that it is not M+ShiJ+X+W+ in the text, but
   M+aH+Shu:iJ+X+W+; -- that is, saith he, "juxta Aquilam, homilian autou;
   Symmachum, to phonema autou; juxta Theodotionem, ton logon autou; juxta
   quintam editionem, ten adoleschian autou.

   And as Sh:iJ+X+a, whence the word is, signifies both to meditate and to
   speak, so the word itself intends a conceived thought, to be spoken
   afterward. And that W+ here is reciprocal, not relative. And to this
   purpose is his ensuing exposition, "Qui confirmat montes, ad cujus
   vocem coelorum cardines et terrae fundamenta quatiuntur. Ipse qui creat
   spiritum, quem in hoc loco non Spiritum Sanctum, ut haeretici
   suspicantur, sed ventum intelligimus, sive spiritum hominis, annuncians
   homini eloquium ejus, qui cogitationum secreta cognoscit," Hieron. in
   loc.

   Secondly, Because the wind, on the account of its unaccountable
   variation, inconstancy, and changes, is esteemed vain, not to be
   observed or trusted unto, -- whence the wise man tells us that "he that
   observeth the wind shall not sow," Eccles. xi. 4, -- the word is used
   metaphorically to signify vanity: Eccles. v. 16, "What profit hath he
   that hath laboured L+oR+W+uX+a, for the wind?" So Mic. ii. 11, "If a
   man walk" W+oShQ+R+; R+W+uX+a, "with the wind and falsehood;" -- that
   is, in vanity, pretending to a spirit of prophecy; and falsehood,
   vainly, foolishly, falsely boasting. So Job xv. 2, "Should a wise man
   utter" D+aE+aT+ R+W+uX+a "knowledge of wind?" vain words, with a
   pretence of knowledge and wisdom; and he calls them D+iB+R+J+ R+W+uX+a,
   "words of wind," chap. xvi. 3. So also Jer. v. 13, "And the prophets
   shall become L+R+W+uX+a, wind," or be vain, foolish, uncertain, and
   false, in their predictions. But pneuma is not used thus metaphorically
   in the New Testament.

   Thirdly, By a metonymy, also, it signifies any part or quarter, as we
   say, of the world from whence the wind blows; as also a part of any
   thing divided into four sides or quarters. So Jer. lii. 23, "There were
   ninety and six pomegranates R+W+uX+oH+, towards a wind;" that is, on
   the one side of the chapiter that was above the pillars in the temple.
   Ezek. v. 12, "I will scatter a third part" L+K+oL+ R+W+uX+a, "into all
   the winds," or all parts of the earth. Hence, the "four quarters" of a
   thing lying to the four parts of the world are called its four winds,
   #aR+B+uaE+ R+W+uX+W+T+, 1 Chron. ix. 24; whence are the tessares
   anemoi, "the four winds," in the New Testament, Matt. xxiv. 31. This is
   the use of the word in general with respect unto things natural and
   inanimate, and every place where it is so used gives it [a] determinate
   sense.

   Again, [Fourthly], These words are used for any thing that cannot be
   seen or touched, be it in itself martial and corporeal, or absolutely
   spiritual and immaterial. So the vital breath which we and other living
   creatures breathe is called: Everything wherein was N+iShM+aT+R+W+uX+a
   X+aJ+uiJ+M%, "the breath of the spirit of life," Gen. vii. 22, -- that
   vital breath which our lives are maintained by in respiration. So Ps.
   cxxxv. 17; Job xix. 17; which is a thing material or corporeal. But
   most frequently it denotes things purely spiritual and immaterial, as
   in finite substances it signifies the rational soul of man: Ps. xxxi.
   5, "Into thine hand I commit" R+W+uX+iJ+, that is, "my spirit." They
   are the words whereby our Saviour committed his departing soul into the
   hands of his Father, Luke xxiii. 46, to pneuma mou. So Ps. cxlvi. 4,
   T+uZJ# R+W+uX+W+, -- "His breath," say we, "goeth forth; he returneth
   to his earth." It is his soul and its departure from the body that is
   intended. This is R+W+uX+a B+uN+J+ H+o#oD+oM%, that "spirit of the sons
   of man that goeth upward," when the "spirit of a beast goeth downward
   to the earth," or turneth to corruption, Eccles. iii. 21: see chap.
   viii. 8, xii. 7. Hence, --

   Fifthly, By a metonymy also, it is taken for the affections of the mind
   or soul of man, and that whether they be good or evil: Gen. xlv. 27,
   "The spirit of Jacob revived;" he began to take heart and be of good
   courage. Ezek. xiii. 3, "The prophets that walk" #aX+aR+ R+W+uX+oM%,
   "after their own spirit" -- that is, their own desires and
   inclinations, -- when, indeed, they had no vision, but spake what they
   had a mind unto. Num. xiv. 24, Caleb is said to have "another spirit"
   than the murmuring people, -- another mind, will, purpose, or
   resolution. It is taken for prudence, Josh. v. 1; anger, or the
   irascible faculty, Eccles. vii. 9 fury, Zech. vi. 8. "He shall cut off
   the spirit of princes" [Ps. lxxvi. 12]; that is, their pride,
   insolency, and contempt of others. Pneuma in the New Testament
   frequently intends the intellectual part of the mind or soul, and that
   as it is active, or in action, Luke i. 47; Rom. i. 9; -- and ofttimes
   is taken for the mind in all its inclinations, in its whole habitual
   bent and design, 1 Thess. v. 23.

   [Sixthly], Angels also are called spirits:-- good angels, Ps. civ. 4;
   (and it may be an angel is intended, 1 Kings xviii. 12;) and evil
   angels or devils, 1 Kings xxii. 21, 22; for that spirit who appeared
   before the Lord, and offered himself to be a lying spirit in the mouths
   of Ahab's prophets, was no other but he who appeared before God, Job i.
   6, who is called "Satan." These in the New Testament are called
   "unclean spirits," Matt. x. 1; and the observation of the ancients,
   that Satan is not called a spirit absolutely, but with an addition or
   mark of distinction, holds only in the New Testament. [20] And because
   evil spirits are wont to torment the minds and bodies of men, therefore
   evil thoughts, disorders of mind, wicked purposes, disquieting and
   vexing the soul, arising from or much furthered by melancholy
   distempers, are called, it may be, sometimes "an evil spirit." The case
   of Saul shall be afterward considered.

   In such variety are these words used and applied in the Scripture,
   because of some very general notions wherein the things intended do
   agree. For the most part, there is no great difficulty in discovering
   the especial meaning of them, or what it is they signify in the several
   places where they occur. Their design and circumstances as to the
   subject-matter treated of determine the signification. And
   notwithstanding the ambiguous use of these words in the Old and New
   Testament, there are two things clear and evident unto our purpose:--
   First, That there is in the holy Scriptures a full, distinct revelation
   or declaration of the Spirit, or the Spirit of God, [21] as one
   singular, and every way distinct from everything else that is
   occasionally or constantly signified or denoted by that word "Spirit."
   And this not only a multitude of particular places gives testimony
   unto, but also the whole course of the Scripture supposeth, as that
   without an acknowledgment whereof nothing else contained in it can be
   understood or is of any use at all; for we shall find this doctrine to
   be the very life and soul which quickens the whole from first to last.
   Take away the work and powerful efficacy of the Holy Spirit from the
   administration of it, and it will prove but a dead letter, of no saving
   advantage to the souls of men; and take away the doctrine concerning
   him from the writing of it, and the whole will be unintelligible and
   useless. Secondly, That whatever is affirmed of this Holy Spirit, the
   Spirit of God, it all relates either to his person or his operations,
   and these operations of his being various, are sometimes, by a
   metonymy, called "spirit;" whereof afterward. I shall not, therefore,
   need to prove that there is a Holy Spirit distinct from all other
   spirits whatever, and from everything else that on several occasions is
   signified by that name; for this is acknowledged by all that
   acknowledge the Scriptures, yea, it is so by Jews and Mohammedans, as
   well as all sorts of Christians. And, indeed, all those false
   apprehensions concerning him which have at this day any countenance
   given unto them may be referred unto two heads:-- 1. That of the modern
   Jews, who affirm the Holy Ghost to be the influential power of God;
   which conceit is entertained and diligently promoted by the Socinians.
   2. That of the Mohammedans, who make him an eminent angel, and
   sometimes say it is Gabriel; which, being traduced from the Macedonians
   of old, hath found some defenders and promoters in our days.

   This, then, being the name of him concerning whom we treat, some things
   concerning it and the use of it, as peculiarly applied unto him, are to
   be premised: [22] for sometimes he is called the "Spirit" absolutely;
   sometimes the "Holy Spirit," or, as we speak, the "Holy Ghost;"
   sometimes the "Spirit of God," the "good Spirit of God," the "Spirit of
   truth" and "holiness;" sometimes the "Spirit of Christ" or "of the
   Son." The first absolutely used denotes his person; the additions
   express his properties and relation unto the other persons.

   In the name Spirit two things are included:-- First, His nature or
   essence, -- namely, that he is a pure, spiritual, or immaterial
   substance; for neither the Hebrews nor the Greeks can express such a
   being in its subsistence but by R+W+uX+a and pneuma, a spirit. Nor is
   this name, firstly, given unto the Holy Spirit in allusion unto the
   wind in its subtlety, agility, and efficacy; [23] for these things have
   respect only unto his operations, wherein, from some general
   appearances, his works and effects are likened unto the wind and its
   effects, John iii. 8. But it is his substance or being which is first
   intended in this name. [24] So it is said of God, chap. iv. 24, Pneuma
   ho Theos; -- "God is a Spirit;" that is, he is of a pure, spiritual,
   immaterial nature, not confined unto any place, and so not regarding
   one more than another in his worship; as is the design of the place to
   evince. It will therefore be said, that on this account the name of
   "Spirit" is not peculiar unto the third person, seeing it contains the
   description of that nature which is the same in them all; for whereas
   it is said, "God is a Spirit," it is not spoken of this or that person,
   but of the nature of God abstractedly. I grant that so it is; [25] and
   therefore the name "Spirit" is not, in the first place,
   characteristical of the third person in the Trinity, but denotes that
   nature whereof each person is partaker. But, moreover, as it is
   peculiarly and constantly ascribed unto him, it declares his especial
   manner and order of existence; so that wherever there is mention of the
   "Holy Spirit," his relation unto the Father and Son is included
   therein; for he is the Spirit of God. And herein there is an allusion
   to somewhat created, -- not, as I said, to the wind in general, unto
   whose agility and invisibility he is compared in his operations, but
   unto the breath of man; for as the vital breath of a man hath a
   continual emanation from him, and yet is never separated utterly from
   his person or forsaketh him, so doth the Spirit of the Father and the
   Son proceed from them by a continual divine emanation, still abiding
   one with them: for all those allusions are weak and imperfect wherein
   substantial things are compared with accidental, infinite things with
   finite, and those that are eternal with those that are temporary.
   Hence, their disagreement is infinitely more than their agreement; yet
   such allusions doth our weakness need instruction from and by. Thus he
   is called R+W+uX+a P+uiJ+W+, Ps. xxxiii. 6, "The Spirit" or "breath of
   the mouth of the Lord," or "of his nostrils;" as Ps. xviii. 15, wherein
   there is an eminent allusion unto the breath of a man. Of the manner of
   this proceeding and emanation of the Spirit from the Father and the
   Son, so far as it is revealed, and as we are capable of a useful
   apprehension of it, I have treated elsewhere. And from hence, or the
   subsistence of the Holy Spirit in an eternal emanation from the Father
   and Son, as the breath of God, did our Saviour signify his
   communication of his gifts unto his disciples by breathing on them:
   John xx. 22, Enephusese; and because in our first creation it is said
   of Adam that God J+iP+uaX+ B+u#aP+oJ+W+ N+iShM+aT+ X+aJ+uiJ+M%,
   "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life," Gen. ii. 7. He hath
   the same appellation with respect unto God, Ps. xviii. 15. Thus is he
   called the "Spirit." And because, as we observed before, the word
   pneuma is variously used, Didymus, de Spiritu Sancto, lib. iii.,
   supposeth that the prefixing of the article to doth distinguish the
   signification, and confine it to the Holy Ghost in the New Testament.
   Ofttimes no doubt it doth so, but not always, as is manifest from John
   iii. 8, where to is joined with pneuma, and yet only signifies "the
   wind." But the subject treated of, and what is affirmed of him, will
   sufficiently determine the signification of the word, where he is
   called absolutely "The Spirit."

   Again; He is called, by way of eminency, the Holy Spirit, or the Holy
   Ghost. [26] This is the most usual appellation of him in the New
   Testament; and it is derived from the Old: Ps. li., R+W+uX+a
   Q+oD+ShK%o, "The Spirit of thy Holiness," or "Thy Holy Spirit" Isa.
   lxiii. 10, 11, R+W+uX+a Q+oD+ShW+, "The Spirit of his Holiness," or
   "His Holy Spirit." Hence are R+W+uX+a H+aQ+uoD+W+Sh and R+W+uX+a
   H+aQ+uD+Sh, "The Holy Spirit," and "The Spirit of Holiness," in common
   use among the Jews. In the New Testament he is to Pneuma to Hagion,
   "That Holy Spirit." And we must inquire into the special reasons of
   this adjunct. Some suppose it is only from his peculiar work of
   sanctifying us, or making us holy: for this effect of sanctification is
   his peculiar work, and that of what sort soever it be; whether it
   consist in a separation from things profane and common, unto holy uses
   and services, or whether it be the real infusion and operation of
   holiness in men, it is from him in an especial manner. And this also
   manifesteth him to be God, for it is God alone who sanctifieth his
   people: Lev. xx. 8, "I am Jehovah which sanctify you." And God in that
   work ascribes unto himself the title of Holy in an especial manner, and
   as such would have us to consider him: chap. xxi. 8, "I the Lord, which
   sanctify you, am holy." And this may be one reason of the frequent use
   of this property with reference unto the Spirit.

   But this is not the whole reason of this name and appellation: for
   where he is first so mentioned, he is called "The Spirit of God's
   Holiness," Ps. li. 11, Isa. lxiii. 10, 11; and in the New Testament
   absolutely "The Spirit of Holiness," Rom. i. 4 And this respects his
   nature, in the first place, and not merely his operations. [27] As God,
   then, absolutely is called "Holy," "The Holy One," and "The Holy One of
   Israel," being therein described by that glorious property of his
   nature whereby he is "glorious in holiness," Exod. xv. 11, and whereby
   he is distinguished from all false gods, ("Who is like unto thee, O
   Jehovah, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness?") so
   is the Spirit called "Holy" to denote the holiness of his nature. And
   on this account is the opposition made between him and the unholy or
   unclean spirit: Mark iii. 29, 30, "He that shall blaspheme against the
   Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness: because they said, He hath an
   unclean spirit." And herein first his personality is asserted; for the
   unclean spirit is a person, and if the Spirit of God were only a
   quality or accident, as some fancy and dream, there could no
   comparative opposition be made between him and this unclean spirit, --
   that is, the devil. So also are they opposed with respect unto their
   natures. His nature is holy, whereas that of the unclean spirit is evil
   and perverse. This is the foundation of his being called "Holy," even
   the eternal glorious holiness of his nature. And on this account he is
   so styled also with respect unto all his operations; for it is not only
   with regard unto the particular work of regeneration and
   sanctification, or making of us holy, but unto all his works and
   operations, that he is so termed: for he being the immediate operator
   of all divine works that outwardly are of God, and they being in
   themselves all holy, be they of what kind soever, he is called the
   "Holy Spirit." Yea, he is so called to attest and witness that all his
   works, all the works of God, are holy, although they may be great and
   terrible, and such as to corrupt reason may have another appearance; in
   all which we are to acquiesce in this, that the "Holy One in the midst
   of us will do no iniquity," [Hos. xi. 9], Zeph. iii. 5. The Spirit of
   God, then, is thus frequently and almost constantly called "Holy," to
   attest that all the works of God, whereof he is the immediate operator,
   are holy: for it is the work of the Spirit to harden and blind
   obstinate sinners, as well as to sanctify the elect; and his acting in
   the one is no less holy than in the other, although holiness be not the
   effect of it in the objects. So, when he came to declare his dreadful
   work of the final hardening and rejection of the Jews, -- one of the
   most tremendous effects of divine Providence, a work which, for the
   strangeness of it, men "would in no wise believe though it were
   declared unto them," Acts xiii. 41, -- he was signally proclaimed Holy
   by the seraphims that attended his throne, Isa. vi. 3, 9-12; John xii.
   40; Acts xxviii. 25, 26.

   There are, indeed, some actions on men and in the world that are
   wrought, by God's permission and in his righteous judgment, by evil
   spirits; whose persons and actings are placed in opposition to the
   Spirit of God. So 1 Sam. xvi. 14, 15, "The Spirit of the Lord departed
   from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's
   servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth
   thee." So also verse 23, "The evil spirit from God was upon Saul." So
   chap. xviii. 10, xix. 9. This spirit is called, R+W+uX+a#L+H+iJ+M%
   R+oE+oH+, -- an evil spirit of God," chap. xvi. 15; and absolutely
   R+W+uX+a#L+X+iJ+M% -- "a spirit of God," verse 23, where we have
   supplied "evil" in the translation. But these expressions are to be
   regulated and explained by verse 14, where he is called
   R+W+uX+aR+oE+oH+ M+#T+ J+H+W+oH+, -- "an evil spirit from the Lord;"
   that is, appointed and commissioned by him for the punishing and
   terrifying of Saul: for as the Spirit of the Lord departed from him, by
   withdrawing his assistance and influential operations, whereby he had
   wrought in him those gifts and abilities of mind which fitted him unto
   the discharge of his kingly office, upon the first impressions whereof
   he was "turned into another man" from what he was in his private
   condition, chap. x. 6-9; so the evil spirit came upon him to excite out
   of his own adust melancholy, discontents, fears, a sense of guilt, as
   also to impress terrifying thoughts and apprehensions on his
   imagination; for so it is said," An evil spirit from the Lord"
   B+iE+X+aT+uW+u, chap. xvi. 14, "terrified him," frightened him with
   dreadful agitations of mind. And, that we may touch a little on this by
   the way, the foundation of this trouble and distress of Saul lay in
   himself: for as I do grant that he was sometimes under an immediate
   agitation of body and mind from the powerful impressions of the devil
   upon him, -- for under them it is said he "prophesied in the midst of
   the house," 1 Sam. xviii. 10, which argues an extraordinary and
   involuntary effect upon him, -- yet principally he wrought by the
   excitation and provocation of his personal distempers, moral and
   natural; for these have in themselves a great efficacy in cruciating
   the minds of guilty persons. So Tacitus observes out of Plato, Annal.
   lib. vi. 6, "Neque frustra praestantissimus sapientiae firmare solitus
   est, si recludantur tyrannorum mentes, posse aspici laniatus et ictus;
   quando, ut corpora verberibus, ita saevitia, libidine, malis consultis,
   animus dilaceretur;" -- "The most eminent wise man was not wont in vain
   to affirm, that if the minds of tyrants were laid open and discovered,
   it would be seen how they were cruciated and punished; seeing that as
   the body is rent and torn by stripes, so is the mind by cruelty, lusts,
   evil counsels and undertakings." So he, as I suppose from Plato de
   Repub. lib. ix., where Socrates disputes sundry things to that purpose.
   And another Roman historian gives us a signal instance hereof in
   Jugurtha, after he had contracted the guilt of many horrible
   wickednesses. [28]

   And yet this work in itself is of the same kind with what God sometimes
   employs holy angels about, because it is the execution of his righteous
   judgments. So it was a "watcher and an holy one" that in such a case
   smote Nebuchadnezzar with a sudden madness and frenzy, Dan. iv. 13-17

   To return; As he is called the Holy, so he is the Good Spirit of God:
   Ps. cxliii. 10, R+iW+uX+K%o TjW+B+oH+ T+uaN+X+N+iJ+; -- "Thy Spirit is
   good; lead me into the land of uprightness;" so ours:-- rather, "Thy
   good Spirit shall lead me;" or, as Junius, "Spiritu tuo bone deduc me,"
   -- "Lead me by thy good Spirit." The Chaldee here adds Q+W+D+ShK%o, --
   "The good Spirit of thy holiness" or "Thy holy good Spirit." Didymus,
   lib. ii. de Spir. Sanc., says that some copies here read to hagion, a
   remembrance whereof is in the ms. of Thecla, and not elsewhere. So Neh.
   ix. 20, "Thou gavest them" R+iW+uX+K%o H+aTjuW+B+oH+, "thy good Spirit
   to instruct them." And he is called so principally from his nature,
   which is essentially good, as "there is none good but one, that is,
   God," Matt. xix. 17; as also from his operations, which are all good as
   they are holy; and unto them that believe are full of goodness in their
   effects. Crell. Prolegom., p. 7, distinguisheth between this good
   Spirit and the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost; for this good Spirit he
   would confine unto the Old Testament, making it the author or cause of
   those gifts of wisdom, courage, prudence, and government, that were
   granted unto many of the people of old. So it is said of Bezaleel, that
   he was "filled with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and understanding,
   and in knowledge," Exod. xxxi. 3; so xxxv. 31; -- "That is," saith he,
   "with this `good Spirit of God.'" So also, it is pretended, in all
   those places where the Spirit of God is said to "come on" men to enable
   them unto some great and extraordinary work, as Judges iii. 10. But
   this is plainly to contradict the apostle, who tells us that there are,
   indeed, various operations, but one Spirit; and that the one and
   self-same Spirit worketh all these things as he pleaseth, 1 Cor. xii.
   6, 11. And if from every different or distinct effect of the Spirit of
   God we must multiply spirits, and assign every one of them to a
   distinct spirit, no man will know what to make of the Spirit of God at
   last. [29] Probably, we shall have so many feigned spirits as to lose
   the only true one. As to this particular instance, David prays that God
   would "lead him by his good Spirit," Ps. cxliii. 10. Now, certainly,
   this was no other but that Holy Spirit which he prays in another place
   that the Lord would not take from him: Ps. li. 11, "Take not thy Holy
   Spirit from me;" which is confessed to be the Holy Ghost. This he also
   mentions, 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his
   word was in my tongue." And what Spirit this was Peter declares, 2
   Epist. i. 21, "Holy men of God spake in old time as they were moved by
   the Holy Ghost." So vain is this pretence.

   Again; He is commonly called the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of the
   Lord; so, in the first mention of him, Gen. i. 2, R+W+uX+a #L+H+iJ+M%,
   "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." And I doubt not
   but that the name #L+H+iJ+M%, "Elohim," which includes a plurality in
   the same nature, is used in the creation and the whole description of
   it to intimate the distinction of the divine persons; for presently
   upon it the name Jehovah is mentioned also, chap. ii. 4, but so as
   Elohim is joined with it. But that name is not used in the account
   given us of the work of creation, because it hath respect only unto the
   unity of the essence of God. Now, the Spirit is called the "Spirit of
   God" originally and principally, as the Son is called the "Son of God;"
   for the name of "God" in those enunciations is taken personally for the
   Father, -- that is, God the Father, the Father of Christ, and our
   Father, John xx. 17. And he is thus termed hupostatikos, upon the
   account of the order and nature of personal subsistence and distinction
   in the holy Trinity. The person of the Father being "fons et origo
   Trinitatis," the Son is from him by eternal generation, and is
   therefore his Son, the Son of God; whose denomination as the Father is
   originally from hence, even the eternal generation of the Son. So is
   the person of the Holy Spirit from him by eternal procession or
   emanation. Hence is that relation of his to God even the Father, whence
   he is called the "Spirit of God." And he is not only called Pneuma tou
   Theou, the "Spirit of God," but Pneuma to ek tou Theou, "the Spirit
   that is of God," which proceedeth from him as a distinct person. [30]
   This, therefore, arising from and consisting in his proceeding from
   him, he is called, metaphorically, "The breath of his mouth," as
   proceeding from him by an eternal spiration. On this foundation and
   supposition he is also called, secondly, "The Spirit of God"
   diakritikos, to difference him from all other spirits whatever; as,
   thirdly, also, because he is promised, given, and sent of God, for the
   accomplishment of his whole will and pleasure towards us. The instances
   hereof will be afterward considered. But these appellations of him have
   their foundation in his eternal relation unto the Father, before
   mentioned.

   On the same account originally, he is also called the Spirit of the
   Son: "God hath sent forth the Spirit of the Son into your hearts," Gal.
   iv. 6; -- and the Spirit of Christ: "What time the Spirit of Christ
   which was in them did signify," 1 Pet. i. 11. So Rom. viii. 9, "But ye
   are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of
   God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is
   none of his." [31] The Spirit, therefore, of God and the Spirit of
   Christ are one and the same; for that hypothetical proposition, "If any
   man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," is an inference
   taken from the words foregoing, "If so be that the Spirit of God dwell
   in you." And this Spirit of Christ, verse 11, is said to be the "Spirit
   of him that raised up Christ from the dead." Look, then, in what sense
   he is said to be the Spirit of God, -- that is, of the Father, -- in
   the same he is said to be the Spirit of the Son. And this is because he
   proceedeth from the Son also; and for no other reason can he be so
   called, at least not without the original and formal reason of that
   appellation. Secondarily, I confess he is called the "Spirit of Christ"
   because promised by him, sent by him, and that to make effectual and
   accomplish his work towards the church. But this he could not be unless
   he had antecedently been the Spirit of the Son by his proceeding from
   him also: for the order of the dispensation of the divine persons
   towards us ariseth from the order of their own subsistence in the same
   divine essence; and if the Spirit did proceed only from the person of
   the Father, he could not be promised, sent, or given by the Son.
   Consider, therefore, the human nature of Christ in itself and
   abstractedly, and the Spirit cannot be said to be the Spirit of Christ;
   for it was anointed and endowed with gifts and graces by him, as we
   shall show. And if from hence he may be said to be the Spirit of
   Christ, without respect unto his proceeding from him as the Son of God,
   then he may be also said to be the Spirit of every believer who hath
   received the unction, of is anointed with his gifts and graces; for
   although believers are so, as to measure and degree, unspeakably
   beneath what Christ was, who received not the Spirit by measure, yet as
   he is the head and they are the members of the same mystical body,
   their unction by the Spirit is of the same kind. But now the Spirit of
   God may not be said to be the Spirit of this or that man who hath
   received of his gifts and graces. David prays, "Take not thy Holy
   Spirit from me," -- not "my Holy Spirit." And he is distinguished from
   our spirits even as they are sanctified by him: Rom. viii. 16, "The
   Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit." No more, then, can he
   be said to be the Spirit of Christ merely upon the account of his
   communications unto him, although in a degree above all others
   inconceivably excellent; for with respect hereunto he is still called
   the Spirit of God or the Father, who sent him, and anointed the human
   nature of Christ with him.

   It will be said, perhaps, that he is called the "Spirit of Christ"
   because he is promised, given, and poured out by him. So Peter speaks,
   Acts ii. 33, "Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy
   Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." But in this
   regard, namely, as given by Christ the mediator, he is expressly called
   the Spirit of the Father; he was given as the promise of the Father:
   for so he is introduced speaking, verse 17, "It shall come to pass in
   the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh."
   And so our Saviour tells his disciples that he would "pray the Father,
   and he should give them another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth,"
   John xiv. 16, 17. Nor is he otherwise the Spirit of Christ, originally
   and formally, but as he is the Spirit of God, -- that is, as Christ is
   God also. On this supposition I grant, as before, that he may
   consequently be called the "Spirit of Christ," because promised and
   sent by him, because doing his work, and communicating his grace,
   image, and likeness to the elect.

   And this is yet more plain, 1 Pet. i. 10, 11, "Of which salvation the
   prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the
   grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time
   the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." And this Spirit is
   said absolutely to be the "Holy Ghost," 2 Pet. i. 21. So, then, the
   Spirit that was in the prophets of old, in all ages since the world
   began, before the incarnation of the Son of God, is called the "Spirit
   of Christ," -- that is, of him who is so. Now, this could not be
   because he was anointed by that Spirit, or because he gave it afterward
   to his disciples; for his human nature did not exist in the time of
   their prophesying. Those, indeed, who receive him after the unction of
   the human nature of Christ may be said in some sense to receive the
   Spirit of Christ, because they are made partakers of the same Spirit
   with him, to the same ends and purposes, according to their measure;
   but this cannot be so with respect unto them who lived and prophesied
   by him, and died long before his incarnation. Wherefore, it is pleaded
   by those who oppose both the deity of Christ and the Spirit, which are
   undeniably here attested unto, that the Spirit here, whereby they
   cannot deny the Holy Ghost to be intended, is called the "Spirit of
   Christ," because the prophets of old, who spake by him, did principally
   prophesy concerning Christ and his grace, and delivered great mysteries
   concerning them. So Christ is made in this place the object of the
   Spirit's teaching, and not the author of his sending! So Crell.
   Prolegom., pp. 13, 14. But why, then, is he not called the "Spirit of
   God" also on this reason, because the prophets that spake by him
   treated wholly of God, the things and the will of God? This they will
   not say, for they acknowledge him to be the "virtue and power of God,
   inherent in him and proceeding from him." But, then, whereas God even
   the Father is a person, and Christ is a person, and the Spirit is said
   to be the "Spirit of God" and the" Spirit of Christ," whence doth it
   appear that the same expression must have different interpretations,
   and that the Spirit is called the "Spirit of God" because he is so, and
   proceedeth from him, but the "Spirit of Christ" because he is not so,
   but only treateth of him? The answer is ready, -- namely, "Because the
   Father is God, but Christ is not, and therefore could not give the
   Spirit when he was not." This is an easy answer, -- namely, to deny a
   fundamental truth, and to set up that denial in an opposition unto a
   clear testimony given unto it. But the truth is, this pretended sense
   leaves no sense at all in the words: for if the Spirit which was in the
   prophets be called the "Spirit of Christ" only because he did
   beforehand declare the things of Christ, -- that is, his "sufferings
   and the glory that did follow," -- and that be the sole reason of that
   denomination, then the sense or importance of the words is this,
   "Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit -- `which did signify
   when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ' -- which was in
   them did signify when he testified beforehand the sufferings of
   Christ;" for according to this interpretation, the Spirit of Christ is
   nothing but the Spirit as testifying beforehand of him, and thence
   alone is he so called, -- the absurdity whereof is apparent unto all.

   But countenance is endeavoured unto this wresting of the Scripture from
   1 John iv. 3, "Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
   come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that of antichrist,
   whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it
   in the world;" -- for say some, "The spirit of antichrist is said to be
   in the world, when antichrist was not as yet come." But the spirit here
   intended is not called the spirit of antichrist because it declared and
   foretold the things of antichrist before his coming; on which account
   alone they allow the Spirit of God in the prophets of old to be called
   the "Spirit of Christ:" they have, therefore, no countenance from this
   place, which fails them in the principal thing they would prove by it.
   Again, supposing these words, "Whereof ye have heard that it should
   come, and even now already is it in the world," are to be interpreted
   of the spirit mentioned, and not of antichrist himself, yet no more can
   be intended but that the false teachers and seducers which were then in
   the world acted with the same spirit as antichrist should do at his
   coming; and so there is no conformity between these expressions.
   Besides, the spirit of antichrist was then in the world, as was
   antichrist himself. So far as his spirit was then in the world, so far
   was he so also; for antichrist and his spirit cannot be separated. Both
   he and it were then in the world in their forerunners, who opposed the
   truth of the gospel about the incarnation of the Son of God and his
   sufferings. And, indeed, the spirit of antichrist in this place is no
   more but his doctrine, -- antichristian doctrine, which is to be tried
   and rejected. Neither is any singular person intended by antichrist,
   but a mysterious opposition unto Christ and the gospel, signally headed
   by a series of men in the latter days. He, therefore, and his spirit
   began to be together in the world in the apostles' days, when the
   "mystery of iniquity" began to "work," 2 Thess. ii. 7. There is,
   therefore, no countenance to be taken from these words unto the
   perverting and wresting of that other expression concerning the Spirit
   of Christ in the prophets of old. This, therefore, is the formal reason
   of this appellation: The Holy Spirit is called the "Spirit of the Son,"
   and the "Spirit of Christ," upon the account of his procession or
   emanation from his person also. Without respect hereunto he could not
   be called properly the "Spirit of Christ;" but on that supposition he
   may be. He is so denominated from that various relation and respect
   that he hath unto him in his work and operations. Thus is the Spirit
   called in the Scripture, these are the names whereby the essence and
   subsistence of the third person in the Holy Trinity are declared. How
   he is called on the account of his offices and operations will be
   manifested in our progress.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [18] "Quia vero Spiritus vocabulum multa significat, enumerandum est
   breviter quibus rebus nomen ejus aptetur. Vocatur spiritus et ventus,
   sicut in Ezechiele cap. v.: Tertiam partem disperges in spiritum; hoc
   est, in ventum. Quod si volueris secundum historiam illud sentire, quod
   scriptum est, In spiritu violento conteres naves Tharcis, non aliud ibi
   spiritus quam ventus accipitur. Nec non Salomon inter multa hoc quoque
   munus a Deo accepit ut sciret violentias spirituum; non aliud in hoc se
   accepisse demonstrans, quam scire rapidos ventorum flatus, et quibus
   causis eorum natura subsistat. Vocatur et anima spiritus, ut in Jacobi
   epistola, Quomodo corpus tuum sine spiritu mortuum est. Manifestissime
   enim spiritus hic nihil aliud nisi anima nuncupatur. Juxta quam
   intelligentiam Stephanus animam suam spiritum vocans: Domine, inquit,
   Jesu, suscipe spiritum meum, Acts vii. Illud quoque quod in Ecclesiaste
   dicitur, Quis scit an spiritus hominis ascendat sursum, et spiritus
   jumenti descendat deorsum? Eccl. iii. Considerandum utrumnam et pecudum
   animae spiritus appellentur. Dicitur etiam excepta anima, et excepto
   spiritu nostro, spiritus alius quis esse in homine, de quo Paulus
   scribit: Quis enim scit hominum ea quae sunt hominis, nisi spiritus
   hominis qui in eo est? 1 Cor. ii. 11 ... Sed et in alio loco idem
   apostolus a nostro spiritu Spiritum Dei secernens ait, Ipse Spiritus
   testimonium perhibet spiritui nostro, Rom. viii.; hoc significans, quod
   Spiritus Dei, id est, Spiritus Sanctus, testimonium spiritui nostro
   praebeat, quem nunc diximus esse spiritum hominis. Ad Thessalonicenses
   quoque, Integer, inquit, spiritus vester et anima et corpus, 1 Thess.
   v.:-- Appellantur quoque supernae rationabilesque virtutes, quas solet
   Scriptura angelos et fortitudines nominare, vocabulo spiritus ut ibi,
   Qui facis angelos tuos spiritus; et alibi, Nonne omnes sunt
   administratores spiritus? Heb. i. ... Rationales quoque aliae
   creaturae, et de bono in malum sponte propria profluentes, spiritus
   pessimi et spiritus appellantur immundi; sicut ibi, Cum autem spiritus
   immundus exierit ab homine, Matt. xii., et in consequentibus, assumit
   septem alios spiritus nequiores se. Spiritus quoque daemones in
   Evangeliis appellantur: sed et hoc notandum, nunquam simpliciter
   spiritum sed cum aliquo additamento spiritum significari contrarium, ut
   spiritus immundus et spiritus daemonis; hi vero qui sancti sunt
   spiritus absque ullo additamento spiritus simpliciter appellantur.
   Sciendum quoque quod nomen spiritus et voluntatem hominis et animi
   sententiam sonet. Volens quippe apostolus virginem non solum corpore
   sed et mente sanctam esse, id est, non tantum corpore, sed et motu
   cordis interno, ait, Ut sit sancta corpore et spiritu, 1 Cor. vii.,
   voluntatem spiritu, et corpore opera, significans. Considera utrum hoc
   ipsum in Esaia sonet quod scriptum est, Et scient qui spiritu errant
   intellectum, Isa. xxix. 24 ... Et super omnia vocabulum spiritus,
   altiorem et mysticum in Scripturis sanctis significat intellectum; ut
   ibi, Litera occidit, spiritus autem vivificat, 2 Cor. iii. -- Haec
   juxta possibilitatem nostri ingenii, quot res spiritus significet,
   attigimus. -- Nonnunquam autem spiritus et Dominus noster Jesus
   Christus, id est, Dei Filius, appellatur: Dominus autem spiritus est,
   ut ante diximus: ubi etiam illud adjunximus, spiritus Deus est, non
   juxta nominis communionem, sed juxta naturae substantiaeque consortium.
   -- Porro ad haec necessario devoluti sumus, ut quia frequenter
   appellatio spiritus, in Scripturis est respersa divinis, non labamur in
   nomine sed unumquodque secundum locorum varietates et intelligentias
   accipiamus. Omni itaque studio ac diligentia vocabulum Spiritus, ubi et
   quomodo appellatum sit contemplantes, sophismata eorum et fraudulentas
   decipulas conteramus, qui Spiritum Sanctum asserunt creaturam. Legentes
   enim in propheta, Ego sum firmans tonitruum, et creans spiritum, Amos
   iv. 13, ignorantia multiplicis in hac parte sermonis putaverunt
   Spiritum Sanctum ex hoc vocabulo demonstrari; cum in praesentiarum
   spiritus nomen ventum sonet ... Ergo ut praelocuti sumus, quomodo
   unumquodque dictum sit, consideremus ne forte per ignorantiam in
   barathrum decidamus erroris." -- Didym. de Spir. Sanc. lib. iii.

   [19] So the word is constantly given by Owen. The J+ is uniformly
   elided from modern editions of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the word
   stands thus M+aH+Shu:X+W+. The origin of the mistake to which Owen
   refers is more apparent from the way in which the word is printed, but
   the insertion of the J+ seems without authority. -- Ed.

   [20] "Discant (homines) Scripturae sanctae consuetudinem, nunquam
   spiritum perversum absolute, sed cum additamento aliquo spiritum
   nuncupari: sicut ibi, Spiritu fornicationis seducti sunt; et in
   Evangelio, Cum autem spiritus immundus exierit de homine; et caetera
   his similia." -- Hieron. Comment. in Hab. cap. ii.

   [21] "Qui Spiritum negavit, et Deum Patrem negavit et Filium; quoniam
   idem est Spiritus Dei, qui Spiritus Christi est," cap. 3. "Unum autem
   esse Spiritum nemo dubitaverit; etsi de uno Deo plerique dubitaverunt,"
   cap. 4. -- Ambros. de Spir. Sanc. lib. i.

   [22] Onoma autou pneuma hagion, pneuma aletheias, pneuma tou Theou,
   pneuma kuriou, pneuma tou Patros, pneuma Christou, kai houto kalei
   auton he graphe. Mallon de auto heauto kai pneuma Theou, kai pneuma to
   ek tou Theou. -- Chrysost. de Adorand. Spir.

   [23] Crell. Prolegom.

   [24] "Sanctificationis bonitatisque vocabulum, et ad Patrem, et ad
   Filium, et ad Spiritum Sanctum aeque refertur; sicut ipsa quoque
   appellatio Spiritus. Nam et Pater Spiritus dicitur ut ibi, Spiritus est
   Deus, Joan. iv. 24. Et Filius Spiritus, Dominus, inquit, Spiritus ejus,
   2 Cor. iii. 17. Spiritus autem Sanctus semper Spiritus Sancti
   appellatione censetur; non quod ex consortio tantum nominis Spiritus
   cum Patre ponatur et Filio, sed quod una natura unum possideat et
   nomen." -- Didym. de Spir. Sanc. lib. iii.

   [25] "Multa sunt testimonia, quibus hoc evidenter ostenditur, et Patris
   et Filii ipsum esse Spiritum, qui in Trinitate dicitur Spiritus
   Sanctus. Nec ob aliud existimo ipsum proprie vocari Spiritum, cum etiam
   si de singulis interrogemur, non possimus non Patrem et Filium Spiritum
   dicere; quoniam Spiritus est Deus, id est, non Corpus est Deus sed
   Spiritus; hoc proprie vocari oportuit eum, qui non est unus eorum, sed
   in quo communitas apparet amborum." -- August. Tractat. xcix. in Johan.

   [26] Anothen para Theou katiousa epi tous andras hagious dorea, hen
   pneuma hagion onomazousin hoi hieroi prophetai. -- Justin Mart.

   [27] Legetai toinun pneuma hagion. Haute gar estin he kuria kai prote
   prosegoria he emphantikoteran echousa ten dianoian, kai peristasa tou
   hagiou pneumatos ten phusin. -- Chrysost. ub. Sup.

   [28] "Neque post id locorum Jugurthae dies aut nox ulla quieta fuere:
   neque loco, neque mortali cuiquam, aut tempori, satis credere: civis,
   hostis, juxta metuere: circumspectare omnia, et omni strepitu
   pavescere: alio atque alio loco, saepe contra decus regium requiescere:
   interdum, somno excitus arreptis armis tumultum facere: ita formidine,
   quasi vecordia, agitari." -- Bell. Jugur. lxxii.

   [29] "Nemo suspicetur alium Spiritum Sanctum fuisse in Sanctis, nimirum
   ante adventum Domini, et alium in apostolis caeterisque discipulis, et
   quasi homonymum in differentibus esse substantiis; possumus quidem
   testimonia de divinis literis exhibere, quia idem Spiritus et in
   apostolis et in prophetis fuerit. Paulus in epistola quam ad Hebraeos
   scribit, de Psalmorum volumine testimonium proferens, a Spiritu Sancto
   id dictum esse commemorat." -- Didym. de Spir. Sanc. lib. i.

   [30] Hina mepote akousantes hemeis pneuma Theou, nomisomen de
   oikeioteta legesthai pneuma Theou, eisagei he graphe to pneuma to
   hagion, kai prostithesi tou Theou, to ek Theou. Allo de to tou Theou,
   kai allo to ek Theou. Theou men gar ouranos kai ge hos per auto
   pepoiemena. Ek Theou de ouden legetai, ei me ho ek tes ousias esti. --
   Chrysost. de Spir. Sanc.

   [31] Eiper pneuma Theou oikei en humin, -- ide pneuma Theou. Ei de tis
   pneuma Christou ouk echei, -- kai men echren eipein, ei de tis pneuma
   Theou ouk echei, all' heipe pneuma Christou. Eipe Theou pneuma kai,
   epegage to pneuma tou Christou. Ei de tis pneuma Christou ouk echei,
   houtos ouk estin autou, alla touto heipen, hina deixe hoti en pneuma,
   kai ison estin eipein pneuma Theou, kai pneuma Christou. -- Ibid.
     __________________________________________________________________

Chapter III. Divine nature and personality of the Holy Spirit proved and
vindicated.

   Ends of our consideration of the dispensation of the Spirit --
   Principles premised thereunto -- The nature of God the foundation of
   all religion -- Divine revelation gives the rule and measure of
   religious worship -- God hath revealed himself as three in one --
   Distinct actings and operations ascribed unto these distinct person;
   therefore the Holy Spirit a divine distinct person -- Double opposition
   to the Holy Spirit -- By some his personality granted and his deity
   denied -- His personality denied by the Socinians -- Proved against
   them -- The open vanity of their pretences -- Matt. xxviii. 19, pleaded
   -- Appearance of the Spirit under the shape of a dove explained and
   improved -- His appearance as fire opened -- His personal subsistence
   proved -- Personal properties assigned unto him -- Understanding --
   Argument from hence pleaded and vindicated -- A will -- John iii. 8,
   James iii. 4, cleared -- Exceptions removed -- Power -- Other personal
   ascriptions to him, with testimonies of them, vindicated and explained.

   We shall now proceed to the matter itself designed unto consideration,
   -- namely, the dispensation of the Spirit of God unto the church; and I
   shall endeavour to fix what I have to offer upon its proper principles,
   and from them to educe the whole doctrine concerning it. And this must
   be so done as to manifest the interest of our faith, obedience, and
   holy worship, in the whole and each part of it; for these are the
   immediate ends of all divine revelations, according to that holy maxim
   of our blessed Saviour, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do
   them." To this end the ensuing principles are to be observed:--

   First, The nature and being of God is the foundation of all true
   religion and holy religious worship in the world. The great end for
   which we were made, for which we were brought forth by the power of God
   into this world, is to worship him and to give glory unto him; for he
   "made all things for himself," or his own glory, Prov. xvi. 4, to be
   rendered unto him according to the abilities and capacities that he
   hath furnished them withal, Rev. iv. 11. And that which makes this
   worship indispensably necessary unto us, and from whence it is holy or
   religious, is the nature and being of God himself. There are, indeed,
   many parts or acts of religious worship which immediately respect (as
   their reason and motive) what God is unto us, or what he hath done and
   doth for us; but the principal and adequate reason of all divine
   worship, and that which makes it such, is what God is in himself.
   Because he is, -- that is, an infinitely glorious, good, wise, holy,
   powerful, righteous, self-subsisting, self-sufficient, all-sufficient
   Being, the fountain, cause, and author of life and being to all things,
   and of all that is good in every kind, the first cause, last end, and
   absolutely sovereign Lord of all, the rest and all-satisfactory reward
   of all other beings, -- therefore is he by us to be adored and
   worshipped with divine and religious worship. Hence are we in our
   hearts, minds, and souls, to admire, adore, and love him; his praises
   are we to celebrate; him [are we] to trust and fear, and so to resign
   ourselves and all our concernments unto his will and disposal; to
   regard him with all the acts of our minds and persons, answerably to
   the holy properties and excellencies of his nature. This it is to
   glorify him as God; for seeing "of him, and through him, and to him are
   all things," to him must be "glory for ever," Rom. xi. 36. "Believing
   that God thus is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
   seek him," is the ground of all coming unto God in his worship, Heb.
   xi. 6. And herein lies the sin of men, that the "invisible things of
   God being manifest unto them, even his eternal power and Godhead," yet
   "they glorify him not as God," Rom. i. 19-21. This is to honour,
   worship, fear God for himself; that is, on the account of what he is
   himself. Where the divine nature is, there is the true, proper, formal
   object of religious worship; and where that is not, it is idolatry to
   ascribe it to or exercise it towards any. And this God instructs us in,
   in all those places where he proclaims his name and describes his
   eternal excellencies, and that either absolutely or in comparison with
   other things. All is, that we may know him to be such a one as is to be
   worshipped and glorified for himself, or his own sake.

   Secondly, The revelation that God is pleased to make of himself unto us
   gives the rule and measure of all religious worship and obedience. His
   being, absolutely considered, as comprehending in it all infinite,
   divine perfections, is the formal reason of our worship; but this
   worship is to be directed, guided, regulated, by the revelation he
   makes of that being and of those excellencies unto us. This is the end
   of divine revelation, -- namely, to direct us in paying that homage
   which is due unto the divine nature. I speak not now only of positive
   institutions, which are the free effects of the will of God, depending
   originally and solely on revelation, and which, therefore, have been
   various and actually changed; but this is that which I intend:-- Look,
   what way soever God manifesteth his being and properties unto us, by
   his works or his word, our worship consisteth in a due application of
   our souls unto him according to that manifestation of himself.

   Thirdly, God hath revealed or manifested himself as three in one, and,
   therefore, as such is to be worshipped and glorified by us; -- that is,
   as three distinct persons, subsisting in the same infinitely holy, one,
   undivided essence. This principle might be, and, had not that labour
   been obviated, ought to have been, here at large confirmed; it being
   that which the whole ensuing discourse doth presuppose and lean upon.
   And, in truth, I fear that the failing of some men's profession begins
   with their relinquishment of this foundation. It is now evident unto
   all that here hath been the fatal miscarriage of those poor deluded
   souls amongst us whom they call Quakers; and it is altogether in vain
   to deal with them about other particulars, whilst they are carried away
   with infidelity from this foundation. Convince any of them of the
   doctrine of the Trinity, and all the rest of their imaginations vanish
   into smoke. And I wish it were so with them only. There are others, and
   those not a few, who either reject the doctrine of it as false, or
   despise it as unintelligible, or neglect it as useless, or of no great
   importance. I know this ulcer lies hid in the minds of many, and cannot
   but expect when it will break out, and cover the whole body with its
   defilements whereof they are members But these things are left to the
   care of Jesus Christ. The reason why I shall not in this place insist
   professedly on the confirmation and vindication of this fundamental
   truth is, because I have done it elsewhere, as having more than once
   publicly cast my mite into this sanctuary of the Lord; for which and
   the like services, wherein I stand indebted unto the gospel, I have met
   with that reward which I did always expect. For the present I shall
   only say, that on this supposition, that God hath revealed himself as
   three in one, he is in all our worship of him so to be considered. And,
   therefore, in our initiation into the profession and practice of the
   worship of God, according to the gospel, we are in our baptism engaged
   to it, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
   Ghost," Matt. xxviii. 19. This is the foundation of our doing all the
   things that Christ commands us, as verse 20. Unto this service we are
   solemnly dedicated, namely, of God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; as
   they are each of them equally participant of the same divine nature.

   Fourthly, These persons are so distinct in their peculiar subsistence
   that distinct actings and operations are ascribed unto them. And these
   actings are of two sorts:-- 1. Ad intra, which are those internal acts
   in one person whereof another person is the object. And these acts ad
   invicem, or intra, are natural and necessary, inseparable from the
   being and existence of God. So the Father knows the Son and loveth him,
   and the Son seeth, knoweth, and loveth the Father. In these mutual
   actings, one person is the object of the knowledge and love of the
   other: John iii. 35, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all
   things into his hand." Chap. v. 20, "The Father loveth the Son." Matt.
   xi. 27, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any
   man the Father, save the Son." John vi. 46, "None hath seen the Father,
   save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father." This mutual
   knowledge and love of Father and Son is expressed at large, Prov. viii.
   22-31; which place I have opened and vindicated elsewhere. And they are
   absolute, infinite, natural, and necessary unto the being and
   blessedness of God. So the Spirit is the mutual love of the Father and
   the Son, knowing them as he is known, and "searching the deep things of
   God." And in these mutual, internal, eternal actings of themselves,
   consists much of the infinite blessedness of the holy God. Again, 2.
   There are distinct actings of the several persons ad extra; which are
   voluntary, or effects of will and choice, and not natural or necessary.
   And these are of two sorts:-- (1.) Such as respect one another; for
   there are external acts of one person towards another: but then the
   person that is the object of these actings is not considered absolutely
   as a divine person, but with respect unto some peculiar dispensation
   and condescension. So the Father gives, sends, commands the Son, as he
   had condescended to take our nature upon him, and to be the mediator
   between God and man. So the Father and the Son do send the Spirit, as
   he condescends in an especial manner to the office of being the
   sanctifier and comforter of the church. Now, these are free and
   voluntary acts, depending upon the sovereign will, counsel, and
   pleasure of God, and might not have been, without the least diminution
   of his eternal blessedness. (2.) There are especial acts, ad extra,
   towards the creatures. [32] This the whole Scripture testifieth unto,
   so that it is altogether needless to confirm it with particular
   instances. None who have learned the first principles of the doctrine
   of Christ, but can tell you what works are ascribed peculiarly to the
   Father, what to the Son, and what to the Holy Ghost. Besides, this will
   be manifested afterward in all the distinct actings of the Spirit;
   which is sufficient for our purpose.

   Fifthly, Hence it follows unavoidably that this Spirit of whom we treat
   is in himself a distinct, living, powerful, intelligent, divine person;
   for none other can be the author of those internal and external divine
   acts and operations which are ascribed unto him. But here I must stay a
   little, and confirm that foundation which we build upon; for we are in
   the investigation of those things which that one and self-same Spirit
   distributeth according to his own will. And it is indispensably
   necessary unto our present design that we inquire who and what that one
   and selfsame Spirit is, seeing on him and his will all these things do
   depend. And we do know, likewise, that if men prevail in the opposition
   they make unto his person, it is to no great purpose to concern
   ourselves in his operations; for the foundation of any fabric being
   taken away, the superstructure will be of no use nor abide.

   The opposition that is made in the world against the Spirit of God
   doctrinally may be reduced unto two heads; for some there are who grant
   his personality, or that he is a distinct self-subsisting person, but
   they deny his deity, deny him to be a participant of the divine nature,
   or will not allow him to be God. A created finite spirit they say he
   is, but the chiefest of all spirits that were created, and the head of
   all the good angels. Such a spirit they say there is, and that he is
   called the "Spirit of God," or the "Holy Ghost," upon the account of
   the work wherein he is employed. This way went the Macedonian heretics
   of old, and they are now followed by the Mohammedans; and some of late
   among ourselves have attempted to revive the same frenzy. But we shall
   not need to trouble ourselves about this notion. The folly of it is so
   evident that it is almost by all utterly deserted; for such things are
   affirmed of the Holy Ghost in the Scripture as that to assert his
   personality and deny his deity is the utmost madness that anyone can
   fall into in spiritual things. Wherefore, the Socinians, the present
   great enemies of the doctrine of the holy Trinity, and who would be
   thought to go soberly about the work of destroying the church of God,
   do utterly reject this plea and pretence. But that which they advance
   in the room of it is of no less pernicious nature and consequence: for,
   granting the things assigned to him to be the effects of divine power,
   they deny his personality, and assert that what is called by the name
   of the "Spirit of God," or the "Holy Spirit," is nothing but a quality
   in the divine nature, or the power that God puts forth for such and
   such purposes; which yet is no new invention of theirs. [33] I do not
   design here professedly to contend with them about all the concernments
   of this difference; for there is nothing of importance in all their
   pretences or exceptions, but it will in one place or other occur unto
   consideration in our progress. I shall only at present confirm the
   divine personality of the Holy Ghost with one argument; which I will
   not say is such as no man can return the show of an answer unto, -- for
   what is it that the serpentine wits of men will not pretend an answer
   unto, or an exception against, if their lusts and prejudices require
   them so to do? -- but I will boldly say it is such as that the gates of
   hell shall never prevail against it in the hearts of true believers,
   the strengthening of whose faith is all that in it I do aim at. And if
   it do not unto all unprejudiced persons evince the truth and reality of
   the divine personality of the Holy Ghost, it must certainly convince
   all men that nothing which is taught or delivered in the Scripture can
   possibly be understood.

   One consideration, which hath in part been before proposed, I shall
   premise, to free the subject of our argument from ambiguity; and this
   is, that this word or name "Spirit" is used sometimes to denote the
   Spirit of God [34] himself, and sometimes his gifts and graces, the
   effects of his operations on the souls of men. And this our adversaries
   in this cause are forced to confess, and thereon in all their writings
   distinguish between the Holy Spirit and his effects. This alone being
   supposed, I say, it is impossible to prove the Father to be a person,
   or the Son to be so (both which are acknowledged), any other way than
   we may and do prove the Holy Ghost to be so; for he to whom all
   personal properties, attributes, adjuncts, acts, and operations, are
   ascribed, and unto whom they do belong, and to whom nothing is or can
   be truly and properly ascribed but what may and doth belong unto a
   person, is a person, and him are we taught to believe so to be. So know
   we the Father to be a person, as also the Son; for our knowledge of
   things is more by their properties and operations than by their
   essential forms. Especially is this so with respect to the nature,
   being, and existence of God, which are in themselves absolutely
   incomprehensible. Now, I shall not confirm the assumption of this
   argument with reference unto the Holy Ghost from this or that
   particular testimony, nor from the assignation of any single personal
   property unto him, but from the constant, uniform tenor of the
   Scripture in ascribing all these properties unto him. And we may add
   hereunto, that things are so ordered, in the wisdom of God, that there
   is no personal property that may be found in an infinite divine nature
   but it is in one place or other ascribed unto him.

   There is no exception can be laid against the force of this argument,
   but only that some things, on the one hand, are ascribed unto the
   Spirit which belong not unto a person, nor can be spoken of him who is
   so; and, on the other, that sundry things that properly belong to
   persons are in the Scripture figuratively ascribed unto such things as
   are not so. Thus, as to the first head of this exception, the Holy
   Spirit is said to be "poured out," to be "shed abroad," to be "an
   unction," or the like; of all which expressions we shall treat
   afterward. What then? shall we say that he is not a person, but only
   the power of God? Will this render those expressions concerning him
   proper? How can the virtue of God, or the power of God, be said to be
   poured out, to be shed abroad, and the like? Wherefore, both they and
   we acknowledge that these expressions are figurative, as many things
   are so expressed of God in the Scripture, and that frequently; and what
   is the meaning of them under their figurative colours we shall
   afterward declare. This, therefore, doth not in the least impeach our
   argument, unless this assertion were true generally, that whatever is
   spoken of figuratively in the Scripture is no person; which would leave
   no one in heaven or earth. On the other side, it is confessed that
   there are things peculiar unto rational subsistents or persons, which
   are ascribed sometimes unto those that are not so. Many things of this
   nature, as to "hope," to "believe," to "bear," are ascribed unto
   charity, 1 Cor. xiii. 7. But everyone presently apprehends that this
   expression is figurative, the abstract being put for the concrete by a
   metalepsis, and charity is said to do that which a man endued with that
   grace will do. So the Scripture is said to "see," to "foresee," to
   "speak," and to "judge," which are personal actings; but who doth not
   see and grant that a metonymy is and must be allowed in such
   assignations, that being ascribed unto the effect, the Scripture, which
   is proper to the cause, the Spirit of God speaking in it? So the
   heavens and the earth are said to "hear," and the fields, with the
   trees of the forest, to "sing" and "clap their hands," by a
   prosopopoeia. Now, concerning these things there is no danger of
   mistake. The light of reason and their own nature therein do give us a
   sufficient understanding of them; and such figurative expressions as
   are used concerning them are common in all good authors. Besides, the
   Scripture itself, in other places innumerable, doth so teach and
   declare what they are, as that its plain and direct proper assertions
   do sufficiently expound its own figurative enunciations: for these and
   such like ascriptions are only occasional; the direct description of
   the things themselves is given us in other places. But now with respect
   unto the Spirit of God all things are otherwise. The constant uniform
   expressions concerning him are such as declare him to be a person
   endowed with all personal properties, no description being anywhere
   given of him inconsistent with their proper application to him.

   If a sober, wise, and honest man should come and tell you that in such
   a country, where he hath been, there is one who is the governor of it,
   that doth well discharge his office, -- that he heareth causes,
   discerneth right, distributes justice, relieves the poor, comforts them
   that are in distress; supposing you gave him that credit which honesty,
   wisdom, and sobriety do deserve, would you not believe that he intended
   a righteous, wise, diligent, intelligent person, discharging the office
   of a governor? What else could any man living imagine? But now suppose
   that another unknown person, or, so far as he is known, justly
   suspected of deceit and forgery, should come unto you and tell you that
   all which the other informed you and acquainted you withal was indeed
   true, but that the words which he spake have quite another intention;
   for it was not a man or any person that he intended, but it was the sun
   or the wind that he meant by all which he spake of him: for whereas the
   sun by his benign influences doth make a country fruitful and
   temperate, suited to the relief and comfort of all that dwell therein,
   and disposeth the minds of the inhabitants unto mutual kindness and
   benignity, he described these things figuratively unto you, under the
   notion of a righteous governor and his actions, although he never gave
   you the least intimation of any such intention; -- must you not now
   believe that either the first person, whom you know to be a wise,
   sober, and honest man, was a notorious trifler, and designed your ruin,
   if you were to order any of your occasions according to his reports, or
   that your latter informer, whom you have just reason to suspect of
   falsehood and deceit in other things, hath endeavoured to abuse both
   him and you, to render his veracity suspected, and to spoil all your
   designs grounded thereon? One of these you must certainly conclude
   upon. And it is no otherwise in this case. The Scripture informs us
   that the Holy Ghost rules in and over the church of God, appointing
   overseers of it under him; that he discerns and judgeth all things;
   that he comforteth them that are faint, strengthens them that are weak,
   is grieved with them and provoked by them who sin; and that in all
   these, and in other things of the like nature innumerable, he worketh,
   ordereth, and disposeth all "according to the counsel of his own will."
   Hereupon it directeth us so to order our conversation towards God that
   we do not grieve him nor displease him, telling us thereon what great
   things he will do for us; on which we lay the stress of our obedience
   and salvation. Can any man possibly, that gives credit to the testimony
   thus proposed in the Scripture, conceive any otherwise of this Spirit
   but as of a holy, wise, intelligent person? Now, whilst we are under
   the power of these apprehensions, there come unto us some men,
   Socinians or Quakers, whom we have just cause on many other accounts to
   suspect, at least, of deceit and falsehood; and they confidently tell
   us that what the Scripture speaks concerning the Holy Spirit is indeed
   true, but that in and by all the expressions which it useth concerning
   him, it intendeth no such person as it seems to do, but "an accident, a
   quality, an effect, or influence of the power of God," which
   figuratively doth all the things mentioned, -- namely, that hath a will
   figuratively, and understanding figuratively, discerneth and judgeth
   figuratively, is sinned against figuratively, and so of all that is
   said of him. Can any man that is not forsaken of all natural reason as
   well as spiritual light choose now but determine that either the
   Scripture designed to draw him into errors and mistakes about the
   principal concernments of his soul, and so to ruin him eternally; or
   that these persons, who would impose such a sense upon it, are indeed
   corrupt seducers, that seek to overthrow his faith and comforts? Such
   will they at last appear to be. I shall now proceed to confirm the
   argument proposed:--

   1. All things necessary to this purpose are comprised in the solemn
   form of our initiation into covenant with God. Matt. xxviii. 19, our
   Lord Jesus Christ commands his apostles to "disciple all nations,
   baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
   Holy Ghost" This is the foundation we lay of all our obedience and
   profession, which are to be regulated by this initial engagement. Now,
   no man will or doth deny but that the Father and the Son are distinct
   persons. Some, indeed, there are who deny the Son to be God; but none
   are so mad as to deny him to be a person, though they would have him
   only to be a man; -- all grant him, whether God and man, or only man,
   to be a distinct person from the Father. Now, what confusion must this
   needs introduce, to add to them, and to join equally with them, as to
   all the concerns of our faith and obedience, the Holy Ghost, if he be
   not a divine person even as they! If, as some fancy, he be a person
   indeed, but not one that is divine, but a creature, then here is openly
   the same honour assigned unto him who is no more as unto God himself.
   This elsewhere the Scripture declares to be idolatry to be detested,
   Gal. iv. 8, Rom. i. 25. And if he be not a person, but a virtue and
   quality in God, and emanation of power from him, concerning which our
   adversaries teratologousi, speak things portentous and unintelligible,
   what sense can any man apprehend in the words?

   Besides, whatever is ascribed unto the other persons, either with
   respect unto themselves or our duty towards them, is equally ascribed
   unto the Holy Ghost; for whatsoever is intended by the "name" of the
   Father and of the Son, he is equally with them concerned therein. It is
   not the name "Father," and the name "Son," but the name of "God," that
   is, of them both, that is intended. It is a name common to them all,
   and distinctly applied unto them all; but they have not in this sense
   distinct or diverse names. And by the "name" of God either his being or
   his authority is signified; for other intention of it none have been
   able to invent. Take the "name" here in either sense, and it is
   sufficient as to what we intend: for if it be used in the first way,
   then the being of the Spirit must be acknowledged to be the same with
   that of the Father; if in the latter, he hath the same divine authority
   with him. He who hath the nature and authority of God is God, -- is a
   divine person.

   Our argument, then, from hence is not merely from his being joined with
   the Father and the Son, for so, as to some ends and purposes, any
   creatures may be joined with them (this our adversaries prove from Acts
   xx. 32, Eph. vi. 10, Phil. iii. 10, 2 Thess. i. 9, and might do it from
   other places innumerable, although the first of these will not confirm
   what it is produced to give countenance unto, -- Schlichting. de
   Trinitat. ad Meisner., p. 605); but it is from the manner and end of
   his being conjoined with the Father and the Son, wherein their "name,"
   -- that is, their divine nature and authority, -- is ascribed unto him,
   that we argue.

   Again; We are said to be baptized eis to onoma, "into his name." And no
   sense can be affixed unto these words but what doth unavoidably include
   his personality; for two things they may and do intend, nor any thing
   else but what may be reduced unto them:-- First, Our religious owning
   the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in all our divine worship, faith, and
   obedience. Now, as we own and avow the one, so we do the other; for we
   are alike baptized into their name, [35] equally submitting to their
   authority, and equally taking the profession of their name upon us. If,
   then, we avow and own the Father as a distinct person, so we do the
   Holy Ghost. Again; by being baptized into the name of the Father, and
   of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we are sacredly initiated and
   consecrated, or dedicated, unto the service and worship of the Father,
   Son, and Holy Ghost. This we take upon us in our baptism. Herein lies
   the foundation of all our faith and profession, with that engagement of
   ourselves unto God which constitutes our Christianity. This is the
   pledge of our entrance into covenant with God, and of our giving up
   ourselves unto him in the solemn bond of religion. Herein to conceive
   that anyone who is not God as the Father is, who is not a person as he
   is also, and the Son likewise, is joined with them for the ends and in
   the manner mentioned, without the least note of difference as to deity
   or personality, is a strange fondness, destructive of all religion, and
   leading the minds of men towards polytheism. And as we engage into all
   religious obedience unto the Father and Son herein, to believe in them,
   trust, fear, honour, and serve them, so we do the same with respect
   unto the Holy Ghost; which how we can do, if he be not as they are, no
   man can understand.

   We do not, then, in this case, from hence merely plead our being
   baptized into the "Holy Ghost," as some pretend; nor, indeed, are we
   said so to be. Men may figuratively be said to be baptized into a
   doctrine, when their baptism is a pledge and token of their profession
   of it. So the disciples whom the apostle Paul met with at Ephesus, Acts
   xix. 3, are said to be baptized eis to Ioannou baptisma, "into the
   baptism of John," -- that is, the doctrine of repentance for the
   forgiveness of sins, whereof his baptism was a pledge. So also the
   Israelites are said to be baptized eis Mousen, "into Moses," 1 Cor. x.
   2, because he led and conducted them through the sea, when they were
   sprinkled with the waves of it as a token of their initiation into the
   rites and ceremonies which he was to deliver unto them. But we are said
   to be baptized into his "name;" which is the same with that of the
   Father and Son. And certainly this proposal of God as Father, Son, and
   Holy Ghost, to be the object of all our faith and worship, and our
   engagement hereunto required as the foundation of all our present
   religion and future hopes, being made unto us, and that under one and
   the same name; if the doctrine of a Trinity of persons, subsisting in
   the same undivided essence, be not taught and declared in these words,
   we may justly despair of ever having any divine mystery manifested unto
   us.

   2. His appearance in and under a visible sign argues his personal
   existence. This is related, Matt. iii. 16; Luke iii. 22; John i. 32.
   Luke speaks first in general that he descended en eidei somatiko, "in a
   bodily shape" or appearance; and they all agree that it was the shape
   of a dove under which he appeared. The words in Matthew are, Heide to
   Pneuma tou Theou katabainon hosei peristeran kai erchomenon ep' auton;
   -- "He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting" (or
   rather coming) "upon him." "He," that is John the Baptist, not Christ
   himself. The relative, autos, refers in this place to the more remote
   antecedent; for although "he," that is Christ himself, also saw the
   descending of the Holy Spirit, yet I suppose this relates unto that
   token which was to be given of him unto John, whereby he should know
   him, John i. 32, 33. The following words are ambiguous: for that
   expression, "like a dove," may refer to the manner of his descending,
   -- descending (in a bodily shape) as a dove descends; or they may
   respect the manner of his appearance, -- he appeared like a dove
   descending. And this sense is determined in the other evangelists to
   the bodily shape wherein he descended. He took the form or shape of a
   dove to make a visible representation of himself by; for a visible
   pledge was to be given of the coming of the Holy Ghost on the Messiah,
   according to the promise, and thereby did God direct his great
   forerunner to the knowledge of him. Now, this was no real dove. That
   would not have been a thing so miraculous as this appearance of the
   Holy Ghost is represented to be. And the text will not bear any such
   apprehension, though it was entertained by some of the ancients; for it
   is evident that this shape of a dove came out of heaven. He saw the
   heavens opened and the dove descending; that is, out of heaven, which
   was opened to make way, as it were, for him. Moreover, the expression
   of the opening of the heavens is not used but with respect unto some
   appearance or manifestation of God himself. And so (or which is the
   same) the bowing of the heavens is often used: Ps. cxliv. 5, "Bow thy
   heavens, O Lord, and come down;" 2 Sam. xxii. 10; Isa. lxiv. 1; Ezek.
   i. 1, "The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God;" so Acts vii.
   56. God used not this sign but in some manifestation of himself; and
   had not this been an appearance of God, there had been no need of
   bowing or opening the heavens for it. And it is plainly said that it
   was not a dove, but the shape or representation of a dove. It was
   heidos somatikon, "a bodily shape;" and that peristeras, "of a dove."

   As, then, at the beginning of the old creation, the Spirit of God
   M+R+aX+P+T+, "incubabat," came and fell on the waters, cherishing the
   whole, and communicating a prolific and vivific quality unto it, as a
   fowl or dove in particular gently moves itself upon its eggs, until,
   with and by its generative warmth, it hath communicated vital heat unto
   them; so now, at the entrance of the new creation, he comes as a dove
   upon him who was the immediate author of it, and virtually comprised it
   in himself, carrying it on by virtue of his presence with him. And so
   this is applied in the Syriac ritual of baptism, composed by Severinus,
   in the account given of the baptism of Christ: W+R+W+X+# D+Q+W+D+Sh#
   B+D+M+W+T+ J+W+N+# P+R+X+T+ N+X+T+T+ W+E+L+ R+J+Sh# D+B+R+# ShK+N+T+
   W+E+L+ M+J+# R+H+P+T+; -- "And the Spirit of Holiness descended, flying
   in the likeness of a dove, and rested upon him, and moved on the
   waters." And in the assumption of this form there may be some respect
   unto the dove that brought tidings to Noah of the ceasing of the flood
   of waters, and of the ending of the wrath of God, who thereon said that
   he would curse the earth no more, Gen. viii. 11, 21, for herein also
   was there a significant representation of him who visited poor, lost
   mankind in their cursed condition, and proclaimed peace unto them that
   would return to God by him, the great peace-maker, Eph. ii. 14-17. And
   this work he immediately engaged into on the resting of this dove upon
   him. Besides, there is a natural aptness in that creature to represent
   the Spirit that rested on the Lord Jesus; for the known nature and
   course of a dove is such as is meet to mind us of purity and harmless
   innocency. Hence is that direction, "Be harmless as doves," Matt. x.
   16. So also the sharpness of its sight or eyes, as Cant. i. 15, iv. 1,
   is fixed on to represent a quick and discerning understanding, such as
   was in Christ from the resting of the Spirit upon him, Isa. xi. 2-4.

   The shape thereof that appeared was that of a dove, but the substance
   itself, I judge, was of a fiery nature, an ethereal substance, shaped
   into the form or resemblance of a dove. It had the shape of a dove, but
   not the appearance of feathers, colours, or the like. This also
   rendered the appearance the more visible, conspicuous, heavenly, and
   glorious. And the Holy Ghost is often compared to fire, because he was
   of old typified or represented thereby; for on the first solemn
   offering of sacrifices there came fire from the Lord for the kindling
   of them. Hence Theodotion of old rendered W+aJ+uShaE+ J+H+W+oH+, Gen.
   iv. 4, "The Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering," by
   Enepurisen ho Theos, "God fired the offering of Abel;" sent down fire
   that kindled his sacrifice as a token of his acceptance. However, it is
   certain that at the first erection of the altar in the wilderness, upon
   the first sacrifices, "fire came out from before the Lord, and consumed
   upon the altar the burnt-offering and the fat; which when all the
   people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces," Lev. ix. 24. And
   the fire kindled hereby was to be perpetuated on the altar, so that
   none was ever to be used in sacrifice but what was traduced from it.
   For a neglect of this intimation of the mind of God were Nadab and
   Abihu consumed, chap. x. 1, 2. So was it also upon the dedication of
   the altar in the temple of Solomon: "Fire came down from heaven and
   consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices," 2 Chron. vii. 1; and a
   fire thence kindled was always kept burning on the altar. And in like
   manner God bare testimony to the ministry of Elijah, 1 Kings xviii. 38,
   39. God by all these signified that no sacrifices were accepted with
   him where faith was not kindled in the heart of the offerer by the Holy
   Ghost, represented by the fire that kindled the sacrifices on the
   altar. And in answer hereunto is our Lord Jesus Christ said to offer
   himself "through the eternal Spirit," Heb. ix. 14. It was, therefore,
   most probably a fiery appearance that was made. And in the next bodily
   shape which he assumed it is expressly said that it was fiery: Acts ii.
   3, "There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire;" which was
   the visible token of the coming of the Holy Ghost upon them. And he
   chose, then, that figure of tongues to denote the assistance which, by
   the miraculous gift of speaking with divers tongues, together with
   wisdom and utterance, he furnished them withal for the publication of
   the gospel. And thus, also, the Lord Christ is said to "baptize with
   the Holy Ghost and with fire," Matt. iii. 11. Not two things are
   intended, but the latter words, "and with fire," are added exegetikos,
   and the expression is hen dia duoin, -- with the Holy Ghost, who is a
   spiritual, divine, eternal fire. So God absolutely is said to be a
   "consuming fire," Heb. xii. 29, Deut. iv. 24. And as in these words,
   "He shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire," there is a
   prospect unto what came to pass afterward, when the apostles received
   the Holy Ghost with a visible pledge of fiery tongues, so there seems
   to be a retrospect, by way of allusion unto what is recorded, Isa. vi.
   6, 7; for a living or "fiery coal from the altar," where the fire
   represented the Holy Ghost, or his work and grace, having touched the
   lips of his prophet, his sin was taken away, both as to the guilt and
   filth of it. And this is the work of the Holy Ghost, who not only
   sanctifieth us, but, by ingenerating faith in us, and the application
   of the promise unto us, is the cause and means of our justification
   also, 1 Cor. vi. 11, Tit. iii. 4-7, whereby our sins on both accounts
   are taken away. So also his efficacy in other places is compared unto
   fire and burning: Isa. iv. 4, 5, "When the Lord shall have washed away
   the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of
   Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the
   spirit of burning." He is compared both to fire and water, with respect
   unto the same cleansing virtue in both. So also Mal. iii. 2. Hence, as
   this is expressed by "the Holy Ghost and fire" in two evangelists,
   Matt. iii. 11, Luke iii. 16; so in the other two there is mention only
   of the "Holy Ghost," Mark i. 8, John i. 33, the same thing being
   intended. I have added these things a little to clear the manner of
   this divine appearance, which also belongs unto the economy of the
   Spirit.

   Now, I say that this appearance of the Holy Ghost in a bodily shape,
   wherein he was represented by that which is a substance and hath a
   subsistence of its own, doth manifest that he himself is a substance
   and hath a subsistence of his own; for if he be no such thing, but a
   mere influential effect of the power of God, we are not taught right
   apprehensions of him but mere mistakes by this appearance, for of such
   an accident there can be no substantial figure or resemblance made but
   what is monstrous. It is excepted by our adversaries (Crell. de Natur.
   Spir. Sanc.), "That a dove is no person, because not endued with an
   understanding, which is essentially required unto the constitution of a
   person; and therefore," they say, "no argument can thence be taken for
   the personality of the Holy Ghost" But it is enough that he was
   represented by a subsisting substance; which if they will grant him to
   be, we shall quickly evince that he is endued with a divine
   understanding, and so is completely a person. And whereas they farther
   object, "That if the Holy Ghost in the appearance intended to manifest
   himself to be a divine person, he would have appeared as a man, who is
   a person, for so God, or an angel in his name, appeared under the Old
   Testament," it is of no more importance than the preceding exception.
   The Holy Ghost did manifest himself as it seemed good unto him; and
   some reasons for the instructive use of the shape of a fiery dove we
   have before declared. Neither did God of old appear only in a human
   shape. He did so sometimes in a burning fiery bush, Exod. iii. 2, 4;
   sometimes in a pillar of fire or a cloud, chap. xiv. 24. Moreover, the
   appearances of God, as I have elsewhere demonstrated, under the Old
   Testament, were all of them of the second person; and he assumed a
   human shape as a preludium unto, and a signification of, his future
   personal assumption of our nature. No such thing being intended by the
   Holy Ghost, he might represent himself under what shape he pleased.
   Yea, the representation of himself under a human shape had been
   dangerous and unsafe for us; for it would have taken off the use of
   those instructive appearances under the Old Testament teaching the
   incarnation of the Son of God. And also, that sole reason of such
   appearances being removed, -- namely, that they had all respect unto
   the incarnation of the second person, -- as they would have been by the
   like appearance of the third, there would have been danger of giving a
   false idea of the Deity unto the minds of men; for some might from
   thence have conceived that God had a bodily shape like unto us, when
   none could ever be so fond as to imagine him to be like a dove. And
   these, with the like testimonies in general, are given unto the divine
   personality of the Holy Spirit. I shall next consider those personal
   properties which are particularly and distinctly ascribed unto him.

   First, Understanding or wisdom, which is the first inseparable property
   of an intelligent subsistence, is so ascribed unto him in the acts and
   effects of it: 1 Cor. ii. 10, "The Spirit searcheth all things, yea,
   the deep things of God." What Spirit it is that is intended is declared
   expressly, verse 12, "Now we have not received to pneuma tou kosmou,
   the spirit of the world," are not acted by the evil spirit; alla to
   Pneuma to ek tou Theou, "but the Spirit which is of God," -- a signal
   description of the Holy Ghost. So he is called "His Spirit," verse 10,
   "God hath revealed these things unto us by his Spirit." Now, to search
   is an act of understanding; and the Spirit is said to search, because
   he knoweth: Verse 11, "What man knoweth the things of a man, save the
   spirit of man which is in him?" -- which is intimate unto all its own
   thoughts and counsels; "even so the things of God knoweth no man, but
   the Spirit of God." And by him are they revealed unto us, for by him
   "we know the things that are freely given to us of God," verse 12.
   These things cannot be spoken of any but a person endued with
   understanding. And he thus "searcheth ta bathe tou Theou, the deep
   things of God," -- that is, the mysteries of his will, counsel, and
   grace; -- and is, therefore, a divine person that hath an infinite
   understanding; as it is said of God, #J+N% X+Q+R+ L+iX+B+W+uN+oT+W+,
   Isa. xl. 28, There is no end," measure, or investigation, "of his
   understanding;" Ps. cxlvii. 5, there is "no number of his
   understanding," -- it is endless, boundless, infinite. It is excepted
   (Schlichting. de Trinitat., p. 605) "That the Spirit is not here taken
   for the Spirit himself, nor doth the apostle express what the Spirit
   himself doth, but what by the assistance of the Holy Ghost men are
   enabled to do. By that believers are helped to search into the deep
   counsels of God." But as this exception is directly against the words
   of the text, so the context will by no means admit of it; for the
   apostle giveth an account how the wisdom, counsels, and deep things of
   God, which the world could not understand, were now preached and
   declared unto the church. "God," saith he, "hath revealed them unto us
   by his Spirit." But how cometh the Spirit himself, the author of these
   revelations, to be acquainted with these things? This he hath from his
   own nature, whereby he knoweth or "searcheth all things, yea, the deep
   things of God." It is, therefore, the revelation made by the Spirit
   unto the apostles and penmen of the scripture of the New Testament, --
   who were acted by the Holy Ghost in like manner as were the holy men of
   old, 2 Pet. i. 21, -- which the apostle intendeth, and not the
   illumination and teaching of believers in the knowledge of the
   mysteries by them revealed, whereof the apostle treateth in these
   words. But who is this Spirit? The same apostle tells us that the
   "judgments of God are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out,"
   Rom. xi. 33; and asketh, "Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who
   hath been his counsellor?" verse 34. And yet this Spirit is said to
   "search all things, yea, the deep things of God;" such as to all
   creatures are absolutely unsearchable and past finding out. This, then,
   is the Spirit of God himself, who is God also; for so it is in the
   prophet from whence these words are taken, "Who hath directed the
   Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?" Isa. xl.
   13.

   It will not relieve the adversaries of the Holy Ghost, though it be
   pleaded by them that he is compared with and opposed unto the "spirit
   of a man," 1 Cor. ii. 11, which, they say, is no person; for no
   comparisons hold in all circumstances. The spirit of a man is his
   rational soul, endued with understanding and knowledge. This is an
   individual intelligent substance, capable of a subsistence in a
   separate condition. Grant the Spirit of God to be so far a person, and
   all their pretences fall to the ground. And whereas it is affirmed by
   one among ourselves, though otherwise asserting "the deity of the Holy
   Ghost" (Goodwin, p. 175), "That this expression, of `searching the
   things of God,' cannot be applied directly to the Spirit, but must
   intend his enabling us to search into them, because to search includes
   imperfection, and the use of means to come to the knowledge of any
   thing," it is not of weight in this matter; for such acts are ascribed
   unto God with respect unto their effects. And searching being with us
   the means of attaining the perfect knowledge of any thing, the
   perfection of the knowledge of God is expressed thereby. So David prays
   that God would "search him, and know his heart," Ps. cxxxix. 23. And he
   is often said to "search the hearts of men," whereby his infinite
   wisdom is intimated, whereunto all things are open and naked. So is his
   Spirit said to "search the deep things of God," because of his infinite
   understanding and the perfection of his knowledge, before which they
   lie open. And as things are here spoken of the Spirit in reference unto
   God the Father, so are they spoken of him in reference unto the Spirit:
   Rom. viii. 27, "He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind
   of the Spirit." Add hereunto that this Spirit is the author of wisdom
   and understanding in and unto others, and therefore he must have them
   in himself; and that not virtually or casually only, but formally also.
   1 Cor. xii. 8, wisdom and knowledge are reckoned among the gifts
   bestowed by him. For those of faith and tongues, it is enough that they
   are in him virtually; but wisdom and understanding, they cannot be
   given by any but he that is wise and understandeth what he doth; and
   hence is he called expressly a "Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of
   counsel and knowledge," Isa. xi. 2. I might confirm this by other
   testimonies, where other effects of understanding are ascribed unto
   him, as 1 Tim. iv. 1; 1 Pet. i. 11; 2 Pet. i. 21; but what hath been
   spoken is sufficient unto our purpose.

   Secondly, A will is ascribed unto him. This is the most eminently
   distinguishing character and property of a person. Whatever is endued
   with an intelligent will is a person; and it cannot by any fiction,
   with any tolerable congruity, be ascribed unto any thing else, unless
   the reason of the metaphor be plain and obvious. So when our Saviour
   says of the wind that it bloweth hopou thelei, "as it willeth," or
   listeth, John iii. 8, the abuse of the word is evident. All intended
   is, that the wind, as unto us, is anupeuthunos, and not at all at our
   disposal, acts not by our guidance or direction. And no man is so
   foolish as not to apprehend the meaning of it, or once to inquire
   whether our Saviour doth properly ascribe a will to the wind or no. So
   James iii. 4. The words rendered by us, "Turned about with a very small
   helm, whithersoever the governor listeth," are in the original, Hopou
   an he horme tou euthunontos bouletai; in which the act of willing is
   ascribed to the horme, the impetus or inclination of the governor,
   which yet hath not a will. But the horme in that place is not the prote
   kinesis of the philosophers, the motus primo-primus, or the first
   agitation or inclination of the mind; but it is the will itself under
   an earnest inclination, such as is usual with them who govern ships by
   the helms in storms. Hereunto the act of willing is properly ascribed,
   and he in whom it is proved to be is a person. Thus, a will acting with
   understanding and choice, as the principle and cause of his outward
   actions, is ascribed unto the Holy Ghost: 1 Cor. xii. 11, "All these
   worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man
   severally as he will." He had before asserted that he was the author
   and donor of all the spiritual gifts which he had been discoursing
   about, verses 4-6. These gifts he declares to be various, as he
   manifests in nine instances, and all variously disposed of by him,
   verses 8-10. If now it be inquired what is the rule of this his
   distribution of them, he tells us that it is his own will, his choice
   and pleasure. What can be spoken more fully and plainly to describe an
   intelligent person, acting voluntarily with freedom and by choice, I
   know not.

   We may consider what is excepted hereunto. They say (Schlichting. p.
   610) "That the Holy Ghost is here introduced as a person by a
   prosopopoeia, -- that the distribution of the gifts mentioned is
   ascribed unto him by a metaphor; and by the same or another metaphor he
   is said to have a will, or to act as he will." But is it not evident
   that if this course of interpreting, or rather of perverting, Scripture
   may be allowed, nothing of any certainty will be left unto us therein?
   It is but saying this or that is a metaphor, and if one will not serve
   the turn, to bring in two or three, one on the neck of another, and the
   work is done; -- the sense intended is quite changed and lost. Allow
   this liberty or bold licentiousness, and you may overthrow the being of
   God himself and the mediation of Christ, as to any testimony given unto
   them in the Scripture. But the words are plain, "He divideth to every
   man severally as he will." And for the confirmation of his deity,
   though that be out of question on the supposition of his personality, I
   shall only add from this place, that he who hath the sovereign disposal
   of all spiritual gifts, having only his own will, which is infinitely
   wise and holy, for his rule, he is "over all, God blessed for ever."

   Thirdly, Another property of a living person is power. A power whereby
   anyone is able to act according to the guidance of his understanding
   and the determinations of his will, declares him to be a person. It is
   not the mere ascription of power absolutely, or ability unto any thing,
   that I intend; for they may signify no more but the efficacy wherewith
   such things are attended in their proper places, as instruments of the
   effects whereunto they are applied. In this sense power is ascribed to
   the word of God, when it is said to be "able to save our souls," James
   i. 21; and Acts xx. 32, "the word of God's grace" is said to be "able
   to build us up, and to give us an inheritance among all them which are
   sanctified," if that place intend the word written or preached
   (whereinto I have made inquiry elsewhere): but these things are clearly
   interpreted in other places. The word is said to be "able," yea, to be
   the "power of God unto salvation," Rom. i. 16, because God is pleased
   to use it and make it effectual by his grace unto that end. But where
   power, divine power, is absolutely ascribed unto anyone, and that
   declared to be put forth and exercised by the understanding and
   according to the will of him to whom it is so ascribed, it doth
   undeniably prove him to be a divine person; for when we say the Holy
   Ghost is so, we intend no more but that he is one who by his own divine
   understanding puts forth his own divine power. So is it in this case:
   Job xxxiii. 4, "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the
   Almighty hath given me life." Creation is an act of divine power, the
   highest we are capable to receive any notion of; and it is also an
   effect of the wisdom and will of him that createth, as being a
   voluntary act, and designed unto a certain end. All these, therefore,
   are here ascribed to the Spirit of God. It is excepted (Schlichting.
   pp. 613-615) "That by the `Spirit of God' here mentioned no more is
   intended but our own vital spirits, whereby we are quickened, called
   the `Spirit of God' because he gave it." But this is too much
   confidence. The words are, R+W+uX+a#L+ E+oSh:oT+N+iJ+ W+N+iShM+aT+
   ShaD+uaJ+ T+uX+aJ+uN+iJ+. There were two distinct divine operations in
   and about the creation of man. The first was the forming of his body
   out of the dust of the earth; this is expressed by E+oSh:oH+, and
   J+oZJaR+; -- "he made," "he formed." And secondly, the infusion of a
   living or quickening soul into him, called N+iShM+aT+ X+aJ+uiJ+M%, or
   "the breath of life." Both these are here distinctly mentioned; the
   first ascribed to the Spirit of God, the other to his breath, -- that
   is, the same Spirit considered in a peculiar way of operation in the
   infusion of the rational soul. Such is the sense of these figurative
   and enigmatical words, "God breathed into man the breath of life," --
   that is, by his Spirit he effected a principle of life in him; as we
   shall see afterward.

   Isa. xi. 2, As he is called a "Spirit of wisdom and understanding," so
   is he also of "might" or power. And although it may be granted that the
   things there mentioned are rather effects of his operations than
   adjuncts of his nature, yet he who affecteth wisdom and power in others
   must first have them himself. To this purpose also is that demand, Mic.
   ii. 7, "Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened," or shortened? that is,
   in his power; that he cannot work and operate in the prophets and his
   church as in former days; and the same prophet, chap. iii. 8, affirms
   that he is "full of power, and of judgment, and of might, by the Spirit
   of the Lord." These things were wrought in him by his power, as the
   apostle speaks to the same purpose, Eph. iii. 16.

   Those by whom this truth is opposed do lay out all their strength and
   skill in exceptions, I may say cavils, against some of these particular
   testimonies and some expressions in them; but as to the whole argument,
   taken from the consideration of the design and scope of the Scripture
   in them all, they have nothing to except.

   To complete this argument, I shall add the consideration of those works
   and operations of all sorts which are ascribed to the Spirit of God;
   which we shall find to be such as are not capable of an assignation
   unto him with the least congruity of speech or design of speaking
   intelligibly, unless he be a distinct, singular subsistent or person,
   endued with divine power and understanding. And here what we desired
   formerly might be observed must be again repeated. It is not from a
   single instance of every one of the works which we shall mention that
   we draw and confirm our argument; for some of them, singly considered,
   may perhaps sometimes be metaphorically ascribed unto other causes,
   which doth not prove that therefore they are persons also, -- which
   contains the force of all the exceptions of our adversaries against
   these testimonies; -- but as some of them, at least, never are nor can
   be assigned unto any but a divine person, so we take our argument from
   their joint consideration, or the uniform, constant assignation of them
   all unto him in the Scriptures: which renders it irrefragable. For the
   things themselves, I shall not insist upon them, because their
   particular nature must be afterward unfolded.

   First, He is said to teach us: Luke xii. 12, "The Holy Ghost shall
   teach you what ye ought to say." John xiv. 26, "The Comforter, which is
   the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
   you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance." 1 John ii.
   27, He is the "anointing which teacheth us all things;" how and whence
   he is so called shall be afterward declared. He is the great Teacher of
   the church, unto whom the accomplishment of that great promise is
   committed, "And they shall be all taught of God," John vi. 45. It is
   sad with the church of God when her teachers are removed into a corner,
   and her eyes see them not; but better lose all other teachers, and that
   utterly, than to lose this great Teacher only: for although he is
   pleased to make use of them, he can teach effectually and savingly
   without them where they are removed and taken away; but they cannot
   teach without him unto the least spiritual advantage. And those who
   pretend to be teachers of others, and yet despise his teaching
   assistance, will one day find that they undertook a work which was none
   of theirs. But as unto our use of this assertion, it is excepted "That
   the apostle affirms that nature also teaches us: 1 Cor. xi. 14, `Doth
   not even nature itself teach you?' now, nature is not a person." This
   is the way and manner of them with whom we have to do. If any word in a
   testimony produced by us have been anywhere used metaphorically, though
   it be never so evident that it is so used in that place, instantly it
   must have the same figurative application in the testimony excepted
   against, although they can give no reason why it should so signify! And
   if this course of excepting be allowed, there will be nothing left
   intelligible in the Scripture, nor in any other author, nor in common
   conversation in the world; for there is scarce any word or name of [a]
   thing but, one where or other, is or hath been abused or used
   metaphorically. In particular, nature in this place of the apostle is
   said to teach us objectively, as the heavens and earth teach us in what
   we learn from them; for it is said to teach us what we may learn from
   the customs and actings of them who live, proceed, and act, according
   to the principles, dictates, and inclinations of it. Everyone sees that
   here is no intimation of an active teaching by instruction, or a real
   communication of knowledge, but it is said figuratively to do what we
   do with respect unto it. And not only in several places, but in the
   same sentence, a word may be used properly with respect unto one thing
   and abusively with respect unto another; as in that saying of the poet,
   --


   "Disce, puer, virtutem ex me, verumque laborem;

   Fortunam ex aliis:"

   [AEn. xii. 435.]

   for virtue and industry are to be learned properly, but fortune, as
   they called it, or prosperous events, are not so. These things,
   therefore, are very different, and their difference is obvious unto
   all. But we insist not merely on this or that particular instance. Let
   any man not absolutely prepossessed with prejudice read over that
   discourse of our Saviour unto his disciples, wherein he purposely
   instructs them in the nature and work of the Spirit of God, on whom, as
   it were, he then devolved the care of them and the gospel, according
   unto the promise, John xiv., xv., xvi., and he will need no farther
   instruction or confirmation in this matter. He is there frequently
   called "The Comforter," the name of a person, and that vested with an
   office, with respect unto the work that he would do; and "Another
   Comforter," in answer and conformity unto the Lord Christ, who was one
   Comforter and a person, as all grant, chap. xiv. 16, 26. If he be not
   so, the intention of this expression with these circumstances must be
   to deceive us, and not instruct us. He tells them, moreover, that he is
   one whom the world neither sees nor knows, but who abideth with and
   dwelleth in believers, verse 17; one whom the Father would send, and
   who would come accordingly, and that to teach them, to lead and guide
   them and to bring things to their remembrance, verse 26; a Comforter
   that should come and testify or bear witness unto him, chap. xv. 26;
   one that should be sent of him, "to reprove the world of sin, and of
   righteousness, and of judgment," chap. xvi. 7, 8, and to abide with his
   disciples, to supply his own bodily absence. So is he said to "speak,"
   "guide," "teach," "hear," to "receive of Christ's and to show it unto
   others," chap. xiv. 26, xvi. 13, 14, with sundry other things of the
   same nature and importance. And these things are not spoken of him
   occasionally or in transitu, but in a direct continued discourse,
   designed on purpose by our Lord Jesus Christ to acquaint his disciples
   who he was, and what he would do for them. And if there were nothing
   spoken of him in the whole Scripture but what is here declared by our
   Saviour, all unprejudiced men must and would acknowledge him to be a
   divine person. And it is a confidence swelling above all bounds of
   modesty, to suppose that because one or other of these things is or may
   be metaphorically or metaleptically ascribed unto this or that thing
   which are not persons, when the figurativeness of such an ascription is
   plain and open, that therefore they are all of them in like manner so
   ascribed unto the Holy Ghost in that discourse of our Saviour unto his
   disciples, wherein he designed the instruction of them, as above
   declared. Of the same nature is that which we discoursed before
   concerning his searching of all things, from 1 Cor. ii. 10; which as it
   proves him to be an understanding agent, so it undeniably denotes a
   personal action. Such also are the things mentioned, Rom. viii. 16, 26:
   He "helpeth our infirmities," he "maketh intercession for us," he
   himself "beareth witness with our spirit;" the particular meaning of
   all which expressions shall be afterward inquired into. Here the only
   refuge of our adversaries is to cry up a prosopopoeia (Schlichting. p.
   627) But how do they prove it? Only by saying that "these things belong
   properly to a person, which the Spirit is not." Now, this is nothing
   but to set up their own false hypothesis against our arguments, and,
   not being able to contend with the premises, to deny the conclusion.

   There are two other places of this nature, both to the same purpose,
   sufficient of themselves to confirm our faith in the truth pleaded for;
   and these are, Acts xiii. 2, 4, "As they ministered unto the Lord, and
   fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work
   whereunto I have called them. So they, being sent forth by the Holy
   Ghost, departed." The other is chap. xx. 28, "Take heed therefore unto
   yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath
   made you overseers." These places hold a good correspondence; and what
   is reported in an extraordinary case, as matter of fact, in the first,
   is doctrinally applied unto ordinary cases in the latter. And two
   things are remarkable in the first place:-- 1. The Holy Ghost's
   designation of himself as the person unto whom and whose work Barnabas
   and Saul were to be separated and dedicated. Saith he, Aphorisate de
   moi, not "Separate me," as in our translation, making the Spirit only
   the author of the command, but "Separate unto me;" which proposeth him
   also as the object of the duty required, and the person whose work was
   to be attended. Who or what, then, is intended by that pronoun "me?"
   Some person is directed unto and signified thereby; nor can any
   instance be given where it is so much as figuratively used, unless it
   be in a professed parable. That remains, therefore, to be inquired
   into, Who is intended in that word "me?" And the words are the words of
   the Holy Ghost: "The Holy Ghost said, Separate unto me;" he, therefore,
   alone is intended. All the answer which the wit and diligence of our
   adversaries can invent is, that "these words are ascribed unto the Holy
   Ghost because the prophets that were in the church of Antioch spake
   therein by his instinct and inspiration." But in this evasion there is
   no regard unto the force of our argument; for we do not argue merely
   from his being said to speak, but from what is spoken by him, "Separate
   unto me," and do inquire whether the prophets be intended by that word
   or no? If so, which of them? for they were many by whom the Holy Ghost
   spake the same thing, and some one must be intended in common by them
   all; and to say that this was any of the prophets is foolish, indeed
   blasphemous. 2. The close of the second verse confirms this application
   of the word, "For the work whereunto I have called them." This
   confessedly is the Holy Ghost. Now, to call men to the ministry is a
   free act of authority, choice, and wisdom; which are properties of a
   person, and none other. Nor is either the Father or the Son in the
   Scripture introduced more directly clothed with personal properties
   than the Holy Ghost is in these places. And the whole is confirmed,
   verse 4, "So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed." He
   called them, by furnishing them with ability and authority for their
   work; he commanded them to be set apart by the church, that they might
   be blessed and owned in their work; and he sent them forth, by an
   impression of his authority on their minds, given them by those former
   acts of his. And if a divine person be not hereby described, I know not
   how he may so be.

   The other text speaks unto the same purpose. Acts xx. 28, it is
   expressly said that the Holy Ghost made the elders of the church the
   overseers of it. The same act of wisdom and authority is here again
   assigned unto him. And here is no room left for the evasion insisted
   on; for these words were not spoken in a way of prophecy, nor in the
   name of the Holy Ghost, but concerning him. And they are explicatory of
   the other; for he must be meant in these expressions, "Separate unto me
   those whom I have called," by whom they are made ministers. Now, this
   was the Holy Ghost; for he makes the overseers of the church. And we
   may do well to take notice, that if he did so then, he doth so now; for
   they were not persons extraordinarily inspired or called that the
   apostle intends, but the ordinary officers of the church. And if
   persons are not called and constituted officers, as at the first, in
   ordinary cases, the church is not the same as it was. And it is the
   concernment of those who take this work and office upon them to
   consider what there is in their whole undertaking that they can ascribe
   unto the Holy Ghost. Persons furnished with no spiritual gifts or
   abilities, entering into the ministry in the pursuit of secular
   advantages, will not easily satisfy themselves in this inquiry when
   they shall be willing, or be forced, at the last to make it.

   There remains yet one sort of testimonies to the same purpose, which
   must briefly be passed through: and they are those where he is spoken
   of as the object of such actings and actions of men as none but a
   person can be; for let them be applied unto any other object, and their
   inconsistency will quickly appear. Thus he is said to be tempted of
   them that sin: "How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the
   Spirit of the Lord," Acts v. 9. In what sense soever this word is used,
   -- whether in that which is indifferent, to try, as God is said to
   tempt Abraham, or in that which is evil, to provoke or induce to sin,
   -- it never is, it never can be, used but with respect unto a person.
   How can a quality, an accident, an emanation of power from God, be
   tempted? None can possibly be so but he that hath an understanding to
   consider what is proposed unto him, and a will to determine upon the
   proposal made. So Satan tempted our first parents; so men are tempted
   by their own lusts; so are we said to tempt God when we provoke him by
   our unbelief, or when we unwarrantably make experiments of his power;
   -- so did they "tempt the Holy Ghost" who sinfully ventured on his
   omniscience, as if he would not or could not discover their sin; or on
   his holiness, that he would patronize their deceit. In like manner,
   Ananias is said to "lie to the Holy Ghost," verse 3; and none is
   capable of lying unto any other but such an one as is capable of
   hearing and receiving a testimony, for a lie is a false testimony given
   unto that which is spoken or uttered in it. This he that is lied unto
   must be capable of judging and determining upon; which without personal
   properties of will and understanding none can be. And the Holy Ghost is
   here so declared to be a person as that he is declared to be one that
   is also divine; for so the apostle Peter declares in the exposition of
   the words, verse 4, "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." These
   things are so plain and positive that the faith of believers will not
   be concerned in the sophistical evasions of our adversaries. In like
   manner, he is said to be resisted, Acts vii. 51; which is the moral
   reaction or opposition of one person unto another. So also is he said
   to he grieved, or we are commanded not to grieve him, Eph. iv. 30; as
   they of old were said to have "rebelled and vexed the Holy Spirit of
   God," Isa. lxiii. 10. A figurative expression is allowed in these
   words. Properly, the Spirit of God cannot be grieved or vexed; for
   these things include such imperfections as are incompetent unto the
   divine nature. But as God is said to "repent" and to be "grieved at his
   heart," Gen. vi. 6, when he would do things correspondent unto those
   which men will do or judge fit to be done on such provocations, and
   when he would declare what effects they would produce in a nature
   capable of such perturbations; so on the same reason is the Spirit of
   God said to be grieved and vexed. But this can no way be spoken of him
   if he be not one whose respect unto sin may, from the analogy unto
   human persons, be represented by this figurative expression. To talk of
   grieving a virtue or an actual emanation of power, is to speak that
   which no man can understand the meaning or intention of. Surely he that
   is thus tempted, resisted, and grieved by sin and sinners, is one that
   can understand, judge, and determine concerning them; and these things
   being elsewhere absolutely spoken concerning God, it declares that he
   is so with respect unto whom they are mentioned in particular.

   The whole of the truth contended for is yet more evident in that
   discourse of our Saviour, Matt. xii. 24. The Pharisees said, "He doth
   not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils." And Jesus
   answered, verse 28, "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then
   the kingdom of God is come unto you." Verses 31, 32, "Wherefore I say
   unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men:
   but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto
   men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be
   forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall
   not be forgiven him." To the same purpose, see Luke xii. 8-10. The
   Spirit is here expressly distinguished from the Son, as one person from
   another. They are both spoken of with respect unto the same things in
   the same manner, and the things mentioned are spoken concerning them
   universally in the same sense. Now, if the Holy Ghost were only the
   virtue and power of God, then present with Jesus Christ in all that he
   did, Christ and that power could not be distinctly spoken against, for
   they were but one and the same. The Pharisees blasphemed, saying, that
   "he cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils." A person they
   intended, and so expressed him by his name, nature, and office. To
   which our Saviour replies, that he cast them out by the Spirit of God,
   -- a divine person, opposed to him who is diabolical. Hereunto he
   immediately subjoins his instruction and caution, that they should take
   heed how they blasphemed that Holy Spirit, by assigning his effects and
   works to the prince of devils. And blasphemy against him directly
   manifests both what and who he is, especially such a peculiar blasphemy
   as carrieth an aggravation of guilt along with it above all that human
   nature in any other instance is capable of. It is supposed that
   blasphemy may be against the person of the Father: so was it in him who
   "blasphemed the name of Jehovah and cursed" by it, Lev. xxiv. 11. The
   Son, as to his distinct person, may be blasphemed; so it is said here
   expressly; -- and thereon it is added that the Holy Ghost also may be
   distinctly blasphemed, or be the immediate object of that sin which is
   declared to be inexpiable. To suppose now that this Holy Ghost is not a
   divine person is for men to dream whilst they seem to be awake.

   I suppose by all these testimonies we have fully confirmed what was
   designed to be proved by them, -- namely, that the Holy Spirit is not a
   quality, as some speak, residing in the divine nature; not a mere
   emanation of virtue and power from God; not the acting of the power of
   God in and unto our sanctification; but a holy intelligent subsistent
   or person. And in our passage many instances have been given, whence it
   is undeniably evident that he is a divine, self-sufficient,
   self-subsisting person, together with the Father and the Son equally
   participant of the divine nature. Nor is this distinctly much disputed
   by them with whom we have to do; for they confess that such things are
   ascribed unto him as none but God can effect: wherefore, denying him so
   to be, they lay up all their hopes of success in denying him to be a
   person. But yet, because the subject we are upon doth require it, and
   it may be useful to the faith of some, I will call over a few
   testimonies given expressly unto his deity also.

   First, he is expressly called God; and having the name of God properly
   and directly given unto him, with respect unto spiritual things, or
   things peculiar unto God, he must have the nature of God also. Acts v.
   3, Ananias is said to "lie to the Holy Ghost." This is repeated and
   interpreted, verse 4, "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." The
   declaration of the person intended by the "Holy Ghost" is added for the
   aggravation of the sin, for he is "God." The same person, the same
   object of the sin of Ananias, is expressed in both places; and,
   therefore, the Holy Ghost is God. The word for lying is the same in
   both places, pseudomai, only it is used in a various construction.
   Verse 3, it hath the accusative case joined unto it: Pseusasthai se to
   Pneuma to hagion, -- that "thou shouldst deceive," or think to deceive,
   or attempt to deceive, "the Holy Ghost." How? By lying unto him, in
   making a profession in the church wherein he presides of that which is
   false. This is explained, verse 4, by epseuso to Theo, "thou hast lied
   unto God;" the nature of his sin being principally intended in the
   first place, and the object in the latter. Wherefore, in the progress
   of his discourse, the apostle calls the same sin, a "tempting of the
   Spirit of the Lord," verse 9; it was the Spirit of the Lord that he
   lied unto, when he lied unto God. These three expressions, "The Holy
   Ghost," "God," "The Spirit of the Lord," do denote the same thing and
   person, or there is no coherence in the discourse. It is excepted "That
   what is done against the Spirit is done against God, because he is sent
   by God." It is true, as he is sent by the Father, what is done against
   him is morally and as to the guilt of it done against the Father. And
   so our Saviour tells us with respect unto what was done against
   himself; for saith he, He that despiseth me despiseth him that sent
   me." But directly and immediately, both Christ and the Spirit were
   sinned against in their own persons. He is God [who is] here provoked.
   So also he is called "Lord," in a sense appropriate unto God alone: 2
   Cor. iii. 17, 18, "Now the Lord is that Spirit;" and, "We are changed
   from glory to glory," apo Kuriou Pneumatos, "by the Lord the Spirit,"
   or the Spirit of the Lord; where also divine operations are ascribed
   unto him. What is affirmed to this purpose, 1 Cor. xii. 6-8, hath been
   observed in the opening of the beginning of that chapter at the
   beginning of our discourse. The same, also, is drawn by just
   consequence from the comparing of Scriptures together, wherein what is
   spoken of God absolutely in one place is applied directly and
   immediately unto the Holy Ghost in another. To instance in one or two
   particulars: Lev. xxvi. 11, 12, "I will," saith God, "set my tabernacle
   among you; and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye
   shall be my people." The accomplishment of this promise the apostle
   declares, 2 Cor. vi. 16, "Ye are the temple of the living God; as God
   hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their
   God, and they shall be my people." How and by whom is this done? 1 Cor.
   iii. 16, 17, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
   Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him
   shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which ye are." If it
   were, then, God who of old promised to dwell in his people, and to make
   them his temple thereby, then is the Holy Spirit God; for he it is who,
   according to that promise, thus dwelleth in them. So Deut. xxxii. 12,
   speaking of the people in the wilderness, he saith, "The Lord alone did
   lead him;" and yet, speaking of the same people, at the same time, it
   is said, that "the Spirit of the Lord did lead them, and caused them to
   rest," Isa. lxiii. 14. "The Spirit of the Lord," therefore, is Jehovah,
   or Jehovah alone did not lead them. That, also, which is called in the
   same people their "sinning against God, and provoking the Most High in
   the wilderness," Ps. lxxviii. 17, 18, is termed their "rebelling
   against and vexing the Holy Spirit," Isa. lxiii. 10, 11. And many other
   instances of an alike nature have been pleaded and vindicated by
   others.

   Add hereunto, in the last place, that divine properties are assigned
   unto him, as eternity, Heb. ix. 14, he is the "eternal Spirit;" --
   immensity, Ps. cxxxix. 7, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" --
   omnipotency, Mic. ii. 7, "The Spirit of the Lord is not straitened,"
   compared with Isa. xl. 28; "The power of the Spirit of God," Rom. xv.
   19; -- prescience, Acts i. 16, This scripture must be fulfilled, "which
   the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas;" --
   omniscience, 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11, "The Spirit searcheth all things, yea,
   the deep things of God;" -- sovereign authority over the church, Acts
   xiii. 2, 4, xx. 28. The divine works, also, which are assigned unto him
   are usually, and to good purpose, pleaded in the vindication of the
   same truth; but these in the progress of our discourse I shall have
   occasion distinctly to consider and inquire into, and, therefore, shall
   not in this place insist upon them. What hath been proposed, cleared,
   and confirmed, may suffice as unto our present purpose, that we may
   know who he is concerning whom, -- his works and grace, -- we do design
   to treat.

   I have but one thing more to add concerning the being and personality
   of the Holy Spirit; and this is, that in the order of subsistence, he
   is the third person in the holy Trinity. So it is expressed in the
   solemn numeration of them, where their order gives great direction unto
   gospel worship and obedience: Matt. xxviii. 19, "Baptizing them in the
   name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This order,
   I confess, in their numeration, because of the equality of the persons
   in the same nature, is sometimes varied. So, Rev. i. 4, 5, "Grace be
   unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to
   come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from
   Jesus Christ." The Holy Spirit, under the name of the seven Spirits
   before the throne of God, because of his various and perfect operations
   in and towards the church, is reckoned up in order before the Son,
   Jesus Christ. And so in Paul's euctical conclusion unto his epistles,
   the Son is placed before the Father: 2 Cor. xiii. 14, "The grace of the
   Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
   Ghost, be with you all." And some think that the Holy Ghost is
   mentioned in the first place, Col. ii. 2, "The acknowledgment of the
   mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ." In this expression
   of them, therefore, we may use our liberty, they being all one, "God
   over all, blessed for ever." But in their true and natural order of
   subsistence, and consequently of operation, the Holy Spirit is the
   third person; for as to his personal subsistence, he "proceedeth from
   the Father and the Son," being equally the Spirit of them both, as hath
   been declared. This constitutes the natural order between the persons,
   which is unalterable. On this depends the order of his operation; for
   his working is a consequent of the order of his subsistence. Thus the
   Father is said to send him, and so is the Son also, John xiv. 16, 26,
   xvi. 7. And he is thus said to be sent by the Father and the Son,
   because he is the Spirit of the Father and Son, proceeding from both,
   and is the next cause in the application of the Trinity unto external
   works. But as he is thus sent, so his own will is equally in and unto
   the work for which he is sent; as the Father is said to send the Son,
   and yet it was also his own love and grace to come unto us and to save
   us. And this ariseth from hence, that in the whole economy of the
   Trinity, as to the works that outwardly are of God, especially the
   works of grace, the order of the subsistence of the persons in the same
   nature is represented unto us, and they have the same dependence on
   each other in their operations as they have in their subsistence. The
   Father is the fountain of all, as in being and existence, so in
   operation. The Son is of the Father, begotten of him, and, therefore,
   as unto his work, is sent by him; but his own will is in and unto what
   he is sent about. The Holy Spirit proceedeth from the Father and the
   Son, and, therefore, is sent and given by them as to all the works
   which he immediately effecteth; but yet his own will is the direct
   principle of all that he doth, -- he divideth unto every one according
   to his own will. And thus much may suffice to be spoken about the being
   of the Holy Spirit, and the order of his subsistence in the blessed
   Trinity.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [32] "In hac divini magisterii schola, Pater est qui docet et instruit;
   Filius qui arcana Dei nobis revelat et aperit; Spiritus Sanctus qui nos
   replet et imbuit. A Patre potentiam, a Filio sapientiam, a Spiritu
   Sancto accipimus innocentiam. Pater eligit, Filius diligit, Spiritus
   Sanctus conjungit et unit." -- Cypr. de Baptismo Christi.

   [33] " `Haec autem omnia operatur unus atque idem Spiritus, dividens
   singulis prout vult;' unde dicentes operatricem, et ut ita dicam,
   distributricem naturam Spiritus Sancti, non abducamur ab his qui
   dicunt, operationem et non substantiam Dei esse Spiritum Sanctum. Et ex
   aliis quoque plurimis locis subsistens natura demonstratur Spiritus
   Sancti." -- Didym. de Spir. Sanc. lib. ii.

   [34] Epeideper to doroumenon to pneuma to hagion esti, kaleitai kai to
   doron homonumos to charismati. -- Chrysost."Nec existimare debemus
   Spiritum Sanctum secundum substantias esse divisum quia multitudo
   bonorum dicatur, -- impassibilis enim et indivisibilis atque
   immutabilis est, sed juxta differentes efficientias et intellectus
   multis bonorum vocabulis nuncupatur; quia participes suos, non juxta
   unam eandemque virtutem communione sui donet, quippe cum ad utilitatem
   uniuscujusque aptus sit." -- Didym. lib. i.

   [35] "Baptizate gentes in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. In
   nomine dixit, non in nominibus. Non ergo aliud nomen Patris, aliud
   nomen Filii, aliud nomen Spiritus Sancti, quam unus Deus." -- Ambros.
   de Spir. Sanc. lib. i. cap. 4.
     __________________________________________________________________

Chapter IV. Peculiar works of the Holy Spirit in the first or old creation.

   Things to be observed in divine operations -- The works of God, how
   ascribed absolutely unto God, and how distinctly to each person -- The
   reason hereof -- Perfecting acts in divine works ascribed unto the Holy
   Spirit, and why -- Peculiar works of the Spirit with respect unto the
   old creation -- The parts of the old creation -- Heaven and its host --
   What the host of heaven -- The host of the earth -- The host of heaven
   completed by the Spirit -- And of the earth -- His moving on the old
   creation, Ps. civ. 30 -- The creation of man; the work of the Spirit
   therein -- The work of the Spirit in the preservation of all things
   when created, natural and moral -- Farther instances thereof, in and
   out of the church -- Work of the Spirit of God in the old creation, why
   sparingly delivered.

   Intending to treat of the operations of the Holy Ghost, or those which
   are peculiar unto him, some things must be premised concerning the
   operation of the Godhead in general, and the manner thereof; and they
   are such as are needful to guide us in many passages of the Scripture,
   and to direct us aright in the things in particular which now lie
   before us. I say, then, --

   1. That all divine operations are usually ascribed unto God absolutely.
   So it is said God made all things; and so of all other works, whether
   in nature or in grace. And the reason hereof is, because the several
   persons are undivided in their operations, acting all by the same will,
   the same wisdom, the same power. Every person, therefore, is the author
   of every work of God, because each person is God, and the divine nature
   is the same undivided principle of all divine operations; [36] and this
   ariseth from the unity of the persons in the same essence. But as to
   the manner of subsistence therein, there is distinction, relation, and
   order between and among them; and hence there is no divine work but is
   distinctly assigned unto each person, and eminently unto one. So is it
   in the works of the old creation, and so in the new, and in all
   particulars of them. Thus, the creation of the world is distinctly
   ascribed to the Father as his work, Acts iv. 24; and to the Son as his,
   John i. 3; and also to the Holy Spirit, Job xxxiii. 4; but by the way
   of eminence to the Father, and absolutely to God, who is Father, Son,
   and Holy Spirit.

   The reason, therefore, why the works of God are thus distinctly
   ascribed unto each person is because, in the undivided operation of the
   divine nature, each person doth the same work in the order of their
   subsistence; not one as the instrument of the other, or merely employed
   by the other, but as one common principle of authority, wisdom, love,
   and power. How come they, then, eminently to be assigned one to one
   person, another to another? as unto the Father are assigned opera
   naturae, the works of nature, or the old creation; to the Son, opera
   gratiae procuratae, all divine operations that belong unto the recovery
   of mankind by grace; and unto the Spirit, opera gratiae applicatcae,
   the works of God whereby grace is made effectual unto us. And this is
   done, -- (1.) When [37] any especial impression is made of the especial
   property of any person on any work; then is that work assigned
   peculiarly to that person. So there is of the power and authority of
   the Father on the old creation, and of the grace and wisdom of the Son
   on the new. (2.) Where there is a peculiar condescension of any person
   unto a work, wherein the others have no concurrence but by approbation
   and consent. Such was the susception of the human nature by the Son,
   and all that he did therein; and such was the condescension of the Holy
   Ghost also unto his office, which entitles him peculiarly and by way of
   eminence unto his own immediate works.

   2. Whereas the order [38] of operation among the distinct persons
   depends on the order of their subsistence in the blessed Trinity, in
   every great work of God, the concluding, completing, perfecting acts
   are ascribed unto the Holy Ghost. [39] This we shall find in all the
   instances of them that will fall under our consideration. Hence, the
   immediate actings of the Spirit are the most hidden, curious, and
   mysterious, as those which contain the perfecting part of the works of
   God. Some seem willing to exclude all thoughts or mention of him from
   the works of God; but, indeed, without him no part of any work of God
   is perfect or complete. [40] The beginning of divine operations is
   assigned unto the Father, as he is fons et origo Deitatis, -- "the
   fountain of the Deity itself:" "Of him, and through him, and to him,
   are all things," Rom. xi. 36. The subsisting, establishing, and
   "upholding of all things," is ascribed unto the Son: "He is before all
   things, and by him all things consist," Col. i. 17. As he made all
   things with the Father, so he gives them a consistency, a permanency,
   in a peculiar manner, as he is the power and wisdom of the Father. He
   "upholdeth all things by the word of his power," Heb. i. 3. And the
   finishing and perfecting of all these works is ascribed to the Holy
   Spirit, as we shall see. I say not this as though one person succeeded
   unto another in their operation, or as though where one ceased and gave
   over a work, the other took it up and carried it on; for every divine
   work, and every part of every divine work, is the work of God, that is,
   of the whole Trinity, inseparably and undividedly: but on those divine
   works which outwardly are of God there is an especial impression of the
   order of the operation of each person, with respect unto their natural
   and necessary subsistence, as also with regard unto their internal
   characteristical properties, whereby we are distinctly taught to know
   them and adore them. And the due consideration of this order of things
   will direct us in the right understanding of the proposals that are
   made unto our faith concerning God in his works and word.

   These things being premised, we proceed to consider what are the
   peculiar operations of the Holy Spirit, as revealed unto us in the
   Scripture. Now, all the works of God may be referred unto two heads:--
   1. Those of nature; 2. Those of grace; -- or the works of the old and
   new creation. And we must inquire what are the especial operations of
   the Holy Spirit in and about these works, which shall be distinctly
   explained.

   The work of the old creation had two parts:-- 1. That which concerned
   the inanimate part of it in general, with the influence it had into the
   production of animated or living but brute creatures. 2. The rational
   or intelligent part of it, with the law of its obedience unto God,
   [and] the especial uses and ends for which it was made. In both these
   sorts we shall inquire after and consider the especial works of the
   Holy Spirit.

   The general parts of the creation are the heavens and the earth: Gen.
   i. 1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." And what
   belongs unto them is called their "host:" chap. ii. 1, "The heavens and
   the earth were finished, and all the host of them." The host of heaven
   is the sun, moon, and stars, and the angels themselves. So are they
   called, 1 Kings xxii. 19, "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne"
   W+K+oL+ZJB+o# H+aShuoM+aJ+iM%, "and all the host of heaven standing by
   him, on his right hand and on his left;" -- that is, all the holy
   angels, as Dan. vii. 10; 2 Chron. xviii. 18. And the host of God: Gen.
   xxxii. 1, 2, "And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
   And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host." M+aX+N+H+, the
   word he useth, signifieth a host encamped. Stratia ouranios, Luke ii.
   13, "The heavenly host," or army. The sun, moon, and stars, are also
   called the host of heaven: Deut. iv. 19, "Lest thou lift up thine eyes
   unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars,
   even all the host of heaven." So Isa. xxxiv. 4; Jer. xxxiii. 22. This
   was that host of heaven which the Jews idolatrously worshipped: chap.
   viii. 2, "They shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all
   the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served,
   after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they
   have worshipped." The expressions are multiplied, to show that they
   used all ways of ascribing that divine honour unto them which was due
   to God alone, whom only they ought to have loved, to have served, to
   have walked after, to have sought and worshipped. So Jer. xix. 13. This
   they called M+L+K+T+ H+aShuoM+aJ+iM%, the "queen of heaven," chap.
   xliv. 17, because of its beauty and adornings. The "host of the earth"
   is men and beasts, with all other creatures that either grow out of it
   or live upon it, and are nourished by it. And these things are called
   the host of heaven and earth upon a double account:-- 1. Because of
   their order and beautiful disposition. A host properly is a number of
   men put into a certain order, for some certain end or purpose; and all
   their strength and power, all their terror and beauty, consisteth in
   and ariseth from that order. Without this they are but a confused
   multitude. But a host or army with banners is beautiful and terrible,
   Cant. vi. 10. Before things were cast into this order, the universe
   was, as it were, full of confusion; it had no beauty nor glory, for the
   "earth was without form and void," Gen. i. 2. Hence the Vulgar Latin in
   this place renders the word by "ornatus eorum," all their beauty and
   adorning; for the creation and beautiful disposal of these hosts gave
   them beauty and ornament: and thence do the Greeks call the world
   kosmos, -- that is, an adorned thing. 2. Because all creatures in
   heaven and earth are God's armies, to accomplish his irresistible will
   and pleasure. Hence he often styles himself "The Lord of hosts," -- of
   both these hosts, that above, of the heavens, the holy angels and the
   celestial bodies, and that of all creatures beneath in the earth; for
   all these he useth and applieth at his pleasure, to do his will and
   execute his judgments. Thus, one of those angels slew a whole host of
   men in one night, Isa. xxxvii. 36. And it is said that the "stars in
   their courses fought against Sisera," Judges v. 20. God overruled the
   influences of heaven against him, though it may be angels also are here
   intended. And among the meanest creatures of the earth, he calls
   locusts and caterpillars, when he sends them to destroy a country for
   sin, his host or "army," Joel ii. 11. This by the way.

   Now, the forming and perfecting of this host of heaven and earth is
   that which is assigned peculiarly to the Spirit of God; and hereby the
   work of creation was completed and finished. First, for the heavens:
   Job xxvi. 13, "By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand
   hath formed the crooked serpent;" -- or rather, "his Spirit hath
   garnished;" for ShuiP+R+oH+ agrees with R+W+uX+a, [41] the "Spirit,"
   and not with "he;" and the word signifies to "adorn," to make fair, to
   render beautiful to the eye. Thus the heavens were garnished by the
   Spirit of God, when, by the creation and disposal of the aspectable
   host of them, he rendered them so glorious and beautiful as we behold.
   So the Targum, "His Spirit beautified the face of the heavens," or gave
   them that comely beauty and order wherein their face appeareth unto us.
   Hence the heavens, as adorned with the moon and stars, are said to be
   the "work of God's fingers," Ps. viii. 3, -- that is, not only those
   which were powerfully made, but also curiously wrought and adorned by
   the Spirit of God; for by the finger or fingers of God the Spirit of
   God is in an especial manner intended. Hence those words of our
   Saviour, Luke xi. 20, "But if I with the finger of God cast out
   devils," are, Matt. xii. 28, "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of
   God." By him were the heavens, as it were, curiously wrought, adorned,
   garnished, rendered beautiful and glorious, to show forth the praise of
   his power and wisdom, Ps. xix. 1. And by the "crooked serpent," which
   is added to the "garnishing of the heavens," the Hebrews understand the
   galaxy or milky way; which to the eye represents the moving or writhing
   of a serpent in the water. This, then, is peculiarly assigned to the
   Spirit with respect to the heavens and their host: The completing,
   finishing work is ascribed unto him; which we must understand by the
   rules before mentioned, and not exclusively to the other persons.

   And thus was it also in the earth. God first out of nothing created the
   earth, which comprised the whole inferior globe, which afterward
   divided itself into seas and dry land, as the heavens contain in that
   expression of their creation all that is above and over it. The whole
   material mass of earth and water, wherewith probably the more solid and
   firm substance was covered, and as it were overwhelmed, is intended by
   that "earth" which was first created; for immediately there is mention
   made of the "deep" and the "waters," without any intimation of their
   production but what is contained in that of the creation of the earth,
   Gen. i. 2. This mass being thus framed and mixed, the "Spirit of God
   moved upon the face of the waters;" not taken distinctly, but as
   containing that radical humour which was the material principle of life
   and being unto all creatures: W+R+W+uX+ #L+H+iJ+M% M+R+aX+P+T+
   E+aL+P+N+J+ H+aM+uoJ+iM%. The word merachepheth signifies an easy,
   gentle motion, such as a dove, or other fowl, useth over its nest or
   young ones, either to communicate vital heat unto its eggs, or to
   cherish and defend its young. And this will no way consist with that
   exposition which some would give in this place of R+W+uX+a #L+H+iJ+M%.
   "Ruah, they say, "here signifies `the wind,' as it doth sometimes; and
   it is called the `wind of God,' because it was great and mighty: for
   this phrase of speech is usual in the sacred language to set out the
   greatness and singular eminency of any thing. So a great trembling is
   called a `trembling of God,' 1 Sam. xiv. 15; great cedars, the `cedars
   of God,' Ps. lxxx. 10; and the like." But, -- 1. When was this wind
   created? The meteors were not made before the fourth day, with the
   firmament, the place of their residence. And whence or what this wind
   should be is not to be discovered. 2. The word here used signifies such
   an "easy and gentle motion" as is in birds when they move themselves
   upon their nests. And it is but three times used in the Scripture, --
   in this place, and Deut. xxxii. 11, Jer. xxiii. 9. In Deuteronomy it is
   expressly applied unto the motion of an eagle over her young, for their
   safety, protection, and growth: J+R+aX+P% J+iP+R+Sh: K+uN+oP+oJ+W+, "As
   an eagle fluttereth, spreading her wings over her young." And in the
   other place we render it "shake:" "All my bones shake," -- that is, are
   in a trembling motion, like the feathers of a fowl over her nest. No
   such great and violent wind, therefore, as from thence should be called
   a wind of God, can be intended in this place; but it is the Spirit of
   God himself and his work that is expressed.

   This, therefore, was the work of the Holy Spirit of God in reference
   unto the earth and the host thereof: The whole matter being created out
   of which all living creatures were to be educed, and of which they were
   to be made, he takes upon him the cherishing and preservation of it;
   that as it had its subsistence by the power of the Word of God, it
   might be carried on towards that form, order, beauty, and perfection,
   that it was designed unto. To this purpose he communicated unto it a
   quickening and prolific virtue, inlaying it with the seeds of animal
   life unto all kinds of things. Hence, upon the command of God, it
   brought forth all sorts of creatures in abundance, according to the
   seeds and principles of life which were communicated unto the rude,
   inform chaos, by the cherishing motion of the Holy Spirit. Without him
   all was a dead sea, a confused deep, with darkness upon it, able to
   bring forth nothing, nor more prepared to bring forth any one thing
   than another; but by the moving of the Spirit of God upon it, the
   principles of all those kinds, sorts, and forms of things, which, in an
   inconceivable variety, make up its host and ornament, were communicated
   unto it. And this is a better account of the original of all things, in
   their several kinds, than any [that] is given by ancient or modern
   philosophers. And hence was the old tradition of all things being
   formed of water, which the apostle alludes unto, 2 Pet. iii. 5. The
   whole is declared by Cyprian, whose words I have, therefore,
   transcribed at large. [42] And as at the first creation, so in the
   course of providence, this work of cherishing and nourishing the
   creatures is assigned in an especial manner unto the Spirit: Ps. civ.
   30, "Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest
   the face of the earth." The making or creation of things here intended
   is not the first great work of the creation of all, but the daily
   production of creatures in and according to their kind; for in the
   verse foregoing the Psalmist treats of the decay of all sorts of
   creatures in the world, by a providential cutting off and finishing of
   their lives: Verse 29, "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou
   takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust." That,
   under this continual decay and dying of all sorts of creatures, the
   world doth not come to emptiness and desolation, the only reason is,
   because the Spirit of God, whose office and work it is to uphold and
   preserve all things continually, produceth by his power a new supply of
   creatures in the room of them that fall off like leaves from the trees,
   and return to their dust everyday. And whereas the earth itself, the
   common nurse of them all, seems in the revolution of every year to be
   at an end of its use and work, having death brought upon the face of
   it, and ofttimes entering deep into its bowels, the Spirit of God, by
   its influential concurrence, renews it again, causing everything afresh
   to bring forth fruit according unto its kind, whereby its face
   receiveth a new beauty and adorning. And this is the substance of what
   the Scripture expressly asserts concerning the work of the Spirit of
   God towards the inanimate part of the creation. His actings in
   reference unto man, and that obedience which he owed to God, according
   to the law and covenant of his creation, is nextly to be considered.

   Man in his creation falleth under a twofold notion; for he may be
   considered either merely naturally, as to the essentially constitutive
   parts of his being, or morally also, with reference unto his principles
   of obedience, the law given unto him, and the end proposed as his
   reward. And these things are distinctly proposed unto our contemplation
   in the Scripture. The first is expressed, Gen. ii. 7, "And the Lord God
   formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
   the breath of life; and man became a living soul." 1. There is the
   matter whereof he was formed; 2. The quickening principle added
   thereunto; and, 3. The effect of their conjunction and union. For the
   matter he was made of, it is said he was formed E+oP+oR+
   M+iN%X+a#D+oM+oH+, [of] "dust of the ground," or dust gathered together
   on a heap from and upon the ground: R+#Sh E+aP+R+W+T+ T+uB+L+, Prov.
   viii. 26. So is God, the great demiourgos, the universal framer of all,
   represented as an artificer, who first prepares his matter, and then
   forms it as it seemeth good unto him. And this is mentioned for two
   ends:-- First, To set forth the excellency, power, and wisdom of God,
   who out of such vile, contemptible matter as a heap of dust, swept as
   it were together on the ground, could and did make so excellent,
   curious, and glorious a fabric as is the body of man, or as was the
   body of Adam before the fall. Secondly, To mind man of his original,
   that he might be kept humble and in a meet dependence on the wisdom and
   bounty of his Creator; for thence it was, and not from the original
   matter whereof he was made, that he became so excellent. Hereof Abraham
   makes his solemn acknowledgment before the Lord: Gen. xviii. 27,
   "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but
   dust and ashes." He abaseth himself with the remembrance of his
   original And this, as it were, God reproacheth Adam withal upon his sin
   and transgression: Gen. iii. 19, "Thou shalt return unto the ground;
   for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
   thou return." He lets him know that he had now, by sin, lost that
   immortality which he was made in a condition to have enjoyed; and that
   his body, according to his nature and constitution, should return again
   into its first principles, or the dust of the earth. Into this formed
   dust, secondly, God breathed N+iShM+aT+ X+aJ+uiJ+M%, the "breath of
   life;" divinae aurae particulam, "a vital immortal spirit." This God
   breathed into him, as giving him something of himself, somewhat
   immediately of his own, not made out of any procreated matter. This is
   the rational soul, or intelligent spirit. Thus man became a middle
   creature between the angels above and the sensitive animals below. His
   body was formed, as the beasts, from the matter made the first day, and
   digested into dry land on the third day; his soul was an immediate
   production of and emanation from the divine power, as the angels were.
   So when, in the works of the new creation, our blessed Saviour bestowed
   the Holy Ghost on his disciples, he breathed on them, as a sign that he
   gave them something of his own. This celestial spirit, this heavenly
   breath, was unto man a quickening principle; for, thirdly, the effect
   hereof is, that man became L+N+P+Sh X+aJ+uoX+, a "living soul." His
   body was hereby animated, and capable of all vital acts. Hence he could
   move, eat, see, hear, etc.; for the natural effects of this breath of
   life are only intended in this expression. Thus the "first man Adam was
   made a living soul," 1 Cor. xv. 45. This was the creation of man, as
   unto the essentially constituting principles of his nature.

   With respect unto his moral condition and principle of obedience unto
   God, it is expressed, Gen. i. 26, 27, "And God said, Let us make man in
   our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion," etc. "So
   God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him."
   He made him "upright," Eccles. vii. 29, perfect in his condition, every
   way complete, -- fit, disposed, and able to and for the obedience
   required of him; without weakness, distemper, disease, contrariety of
   principles, inclinations, or reasonings. A universal rectitude of
   nature, consisting in light, power, and order, in his understanding,
   mind, and affections, was the principal part of this image of God
   wherein he was created. And this appears, as from the nature of the
   thing itself, so from the description which the apostle giveth us of
   the renovation of that image in us by the grace of Christ, Eph. iv. 24,
   Col. iii. 10. And under both these considerations we may weigh the
   especial operations of the Spirit of God:--

   First, As to the essential principles of the nature of man, it is not
   for nothing that God expresseth his communication of a spirit of life
   by his breathing into him: "God breathed into his nostrils the breath
   of life." The Spirit of God and the breath of God are the same, only,
   the one expression is proper, the other metaphorical; wherefore, this
   breathing is the especial acting of the Spirit of God. The creation of
   the human soul, a vital immortal principle and being, is the immediate
   work of the Spirit of God: Job xxxiii. 4, "The Spirit of God hath made
   me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Here, indeed,
   the creation and production of both the essential parts of human
   nature, body and soul, are ascribed unto the same author; for the
   Spirit of God and the breath of God are the same, but several effects
   being mentioned causeth a repetition of the same cause under several
   names. This Spirit of God first made man, or formed his body of the
   dust, and then gave him that breath of life whereby he became a "living
   soul." So, then, under this first consideration, the creation of man is
   assigned unto the Holy Spirit, for man was the perfection of the
   inferior creation; and in order unto the glory of God, by him were all
   other things created. Here, therefore, are his operations distinctly
   declared, to whom the perfecting and completing of all divine works is
   peculiarly committed.

   Secondly, We may consider the moral state and condition of man, with
   the furniture of his mind and soul, in reference unto his obedience to
   God and his enjoyment of him. This was the principal part of that image
   of God wherein he was created. Three things were required to render man
   idoneous, or fit unto that life to God for which he was made:-- First,
   An ability to discern the mind and will of God with respect unto all
   the duty and obedience that God required of him; as also so far to know
   the nature and properties of God as to believe him the only proper
   object of all acts and duties of religious obedience, and an
   all-sufficient satisfaction and reward in this world and to eternity.
   Secondly, A free, uncontrolled, unentangled disposition to every duty
   of the law of his creation, in order unto living unto God. Thirdly, An
   ability of mind and will, with a readiness of compliance in his
   affections, for a due regular performance of all duties, and abstinence
   from all sin. These things belonged unto the integrity of his nature,
   with the uprightness of the state and condition wherein he was made.
   And all these things were the peculiar effects of the immediate
   operation of the Holy Ghost; for although this rectitude of his nature
   be distinguishable and separable from the faculties of the soul of man,
   yet in his first creation they were not actually distinguished from
   them, nor superadded, or infused into them when created, but were
   concreated with them, -- that is, his soul was made meet and able to
   live to God, as his sovereign lord, chiefest good, and last end. And so
   they were all from the Holy Ghost, from whom the soul was, as hath been
   declared. Yea, suppose these abilities to be superadded unto man's
   natural faculties, as gifts supernatural (which yet is not so), they
   must be acknowledged in a peculiar manner to be from the Holy Spirit;
   for in the restoration of these abilities unto our minds, in our
   renovation unto the image of God in the gospel, it is plainly asserted
   that the Holy Ghost is the immediate operator of them. And he doth
   thereby restore his own work, and not take the work of another out of
   his hand: for in the new creation the Father, in the way of authority,
   designs it, and brings all things unto a head in Christ, Eph. i. 10,
   which retrieved his original peculiar work; and the Son gave unto all
   things a new consistency, which belonged unto him from the beginning,
   Col. i. 17. So also the Holy Spirit renews in us the image of God, the
   original implantation whereof was his peculiar work. And thus Adam may
   be said to have had the Spirit of God in his innocency. He had him in
   these peculiar effects of his power and goodness; and he had him
   according to the tenor of that covenant whereby it was possible that he
   should utterly lose him, as accordingly it came to pass. He had him not
   by especial inhabitation, for the whole world was then the temple of
   God. In the covenant of grace, founded in the person and on the
   mediation of Christ, it is otherwise. On whomsoever the Spirit of God
   is bestowed for the renovation of the image of God in him, he abides
   with him forever. But in all men, from first to last, all goodness,
   righteousness, and truth, are the "fruits of the Spirit," Eph. v. 9.

   The works of God being thus finished, and the whole frame of nature set
   upon its wheels, it is not deserted by the Spirit of God; for as the
   preservation, continuance, and acting of all things in the universe,
   according to their especial nature and mutual application of one unto
   another, are all from the powerful and efficacious influences of divine
   Providence, so there are particular operations of the Holy Spirit in
   and about all things, whether merely natural and animal, or also
   rational and moral. An instance in each kind may suffice. For the first
   (as we have showed), the propagation of the succeeding generations of
   creatures and the annual renovation of the face of the earth are
   ascribed unto him, Ps. civ. 30; for as we would own the due and just
   powers and operations of second causes, so we abhor that atheism which
   ascribes unto them an original and independent efficacy and causality,
   without a previous acting in, by, and upon them of the power of God.
   And this is here ascribed unto the Spirit, whom God sendeth forth unto
   that end and purpose. As to rational and moral actions, such as the
   great affairs of the world do consist in and are disposed of by, he
   hath in them also a peculiar efficiency. Thus those great virtues of
   wisdom, courage, and fortitude, which have been used for the producing
   of great effects in the world, are of his especial operation. So when
   God stirred up men to rule and govern his people of old, to fight
   against and to subdue their enemies, it is said the Spirit of God came
   upon them: Judges iii. 10, "The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel,
   and he judged Israel, and went out to war." The Spirit of God endued
   him with wisdom for government, and with courage and skill in conduct
   for war. So chap. vi. 34. And although instances hereof are given us
   principally among the people of God, yet wherever men in the world have
   been raised up to do great and wonderful things, whereby God executeth
   his judgments, [and] fulfilleth any of his promises or his
   threatenings, even they also have received of the especial gifts and
   assistances of the Holy Spirit of God. For this reason is Cyrus
   expressly called "God's anointed," Isa. xlv. 1. Cyrus had, by God's
   designation, a great and mighty work to effect. He was utterly to ruin
   and destroyeth great, ancient, Babylonian monarchy. God had a concern
   herein as to the avenging of the quarrel of his people, and therein the
   accomplishment of many promises and threatenings. The work itself was
   great, arduous, and insuperable to ordinary human abilities. Wherefore
   God "sends his Spirit" to fill Cyrus with wisdom, courage, skill in all
   military affairs, that he might go through with the work whereunto, in
   the providence of God, he was designed. Hence is he called "God's
   anointed," because the unction of kings of old was an instituted sign
   of the communication of the gifts of the Holy Ghost for government unto
   them. See verses 1-4; and other instances of the like kind might be
   given.

   Thus, when the church was to have a blessed restoration of the worship
   of God, after the return of the people from their captivity, Zerubbabel
   is, in an especial manner, called to begin and carry on this work in
   the building of the temple. But the difficulties he had to conflict
   withal were great, and appeared insuperable. The people were few and
   poor, and the oppositions made unto them and their work great and many,
   especially what arose from the power of the Persian monarchy, under
   whose rule and oppression they were; for although they had permission
   and encouragement from Cyrus for their work, yet immediately upon his
   death they were oppressed again, and their "work caused to cease." This
   power they could no way conflict withal; yet God tells them that all
   this opposition shall be removed and conquered. "Who art thou," saith
   he, "O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain,"
   Zech. iv. 7; -- "All the hinderance that arose from that great mountain
   of the Persian empire shall be removed out of the way, and the progress
   of Zerubbabel in his work shall be made smooth, plain, and easy." But
   how shall this be effected and brought about? "Not by an army or `by
   might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts,' "
   verse 6; -- "You would suppose that it must be done by armies and open
   force, which you are altogether insufficient for; but this is not the
   way I will take in this matter. My Spirit shall work in their hearts,
   minds, and counsels, that, contrary to your fears, they shall
   themselves further that work which hitherto they have impeded; and he
   shall work in the minds and counsels of others, to oppose them and
   entangle them where they would hinder it, until they are destroyed, and
   that great mountain be fully removed;" -- as in the event it came to
   pass. So that the providential alterations that are wrought in the
   world are effects of his power and efficacy also.

   And thus have we taken a short view of the dispensation and works of
   the Spirit of God in the first creation. But the effect hereof being a
   state of things that quickly passed away, and being of no advantage to
   the church after the entrance of sin, what belonged unto it is but
   sparingly delivered in the Scriptures, the true sense of what is so
   delivered depending much on the analogy of the following works of God
   in man's renovation and recovery. But as to the new creation (which
   falls under our consideration in the next place, as that alone which is
   directly intended by us), the foundation, building up, and finishing
   the church of God therein, being the things whereon depends the
   principal manifestation of the glory of God, and wherein the great
   concerns of all the elect do lie, they are more fully and directly
   declared in the Scripture; and in reference unto them we shall find a
   full, distinct declaration of the whole dispensation and work of the
   Spirit of God.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [36] Mia ara kai ek touton, he tes Triados energeia deiknuati. Ou gar
   hos par' ekasotu diaphora, kai dieremena ta didomena semainei ho
   apostolos. All' hoti ta didomena en Triadi didotai, kai ta panta ex
   henos Theou esti. -- Athanas. Epistol. [i. 31] ad Serapionem.Mian
   energeian horomen patros kai huiou, kai hagiou pneumatos. Basil. Homil.
   xvii., in Sanctum Baptisma. Hon hai autai energeiai touton kai ousia
   mia, energeia de huiou kai patros mia hos to; poiesomen anthropon. Kai
   palin; ha gar an ho pater poie tauta kai ho huios homoios poiei. Ara
   kai ousia mia patros kai huiou. -- Idem advers. Eunom., lib.
   iv."Quicquid de Spiritu Sancto diximus hoc similiter de Patre et Filio
   communiter et indivise volumus intelligi; quia sancta et inseparabilis
   Trinitas nunquam aliquid se sigillatim operari noverit." -- Ambros. in
   Symbol Apost. cap. ix.

   [37] Panta ta theoprepos legomena epi tes huperousiou triados kath'
   hekastes ton trion hupostaseon exidioutai kai enarmottetai plen ha ten
   proagogen touton, egoun ten hupostasiken gnorisin empoiountai. --
   Arethas, in Apocal. Commentar. cap. 1.

   [38] "Hoc non est inaequalitas substantiae, sed ordo naturae; non quod
   alter esset prior altero, sed quod alter esset ex altero." -- Aug. lib.
   iii. contra Maxentium, cap. 14.

   [39] Pasa energeia he theothen epi ten ktisin diekousa, kai kata tas
   polutropous ennoias onomazomene ek patros aphormatai, kai dia tou huiou
   proeisi, kai en to pneumati to hagio teleioutai. -- Gregor. Nyssen. ad
   Ablabium En de te touton (angelon) ktisei, ennoeson moi ten
   prokatarktiken aitian ton genomenon ton patera, ten demiourgiken ton
   huion, ten teleiotiken to pneuma. -- Basil. de Spir. Sanc. cap. xvi.

   [40] Kai gar dia men tes palaias hos prokatarktikon ton holon ho pater
   protos keruttetai. Kai deuteros de ho huios hos demiourgikon aition
   emphanizetai. Kai tritos hos teleiotikon to pneuma to hagion. Ta
   teleiotika gar to telei pheronumos anaphainetai, te prokope kai auxesei
   ton pragmaton kai ton chronon hoia stephanos anarrheseos epi tois
   athletikois hidrosi kata to telos enarmozomenos. Dia kai ton anthropon
   plasas ho Theos proton heita telei enephusesen eis to prosopon autou
   pneuma zoes. -- Jobius apud Photium, lib. cxxii. cap. 18.

   [41] This word in the original is B+uR+W+uX+W+. To make it agree with
   ShuiP+R+oH+, Owen must have adopted the opinion of Aben Ezra, that B+u
   in the former word is redundant. Eminent critics demur to this
   conclusion; Simonis and others rendering the clause, "By his Spirit the
   heavens [are] beauty." -- Ed.

   [42] "Hic Spiritus Sanctus ab ipso mundi initio aquis legitur
   superfusus; non materialibus aquis quasi vehiculo egens, quasi potius
   ipse ferebat, et complectentibus firmamentum dabat congruum motum et
   limitem praefinitum. Hujus sempiterna virtus et divinitas, cum in
   propria natura ab inquisitoribus mundi antiquis philosophis proprie
   investigari non posset, subtilissimis tamen intuiti sunt conjecturis
   compositionem mundi; compositis et distinctis elementorum affectibus
   presentem omnibus animam affuisse, quae secundum genus et ordinem
   singulorum vitam praeberet et motum, et intransgressibiles figeret
   metas, et stabilitatem assignaret et usum. Hanc vitam, hunc motum, hanc
   rerum essentiam, animam mundi philosophi vocaverunt, putantes coelestia
   corpora, solem dico lunam et stellas ipsumque firmamentum hujus animae
   virtute moveri et regi, et aquas, et terram, et aerem hujus semine
   impraegnari. Qui si spiritum et dominum, et creatorem, et
   vivificatorem, et nutritorem crederent onmium quae sub ipso sunt,
   convenientem haberent ad vitam accessum. Sed abscondita est a
   sapientibus, et prudentibus tantae rei majestas; nec potuit humani
   fastus ingenii secretis interesse coelestibus, et penetrare ad
   superessentialis naturae altitudinem; et licet intelligerent, quod vere
   esset creatrix et gubernatrix rerum Divinitas, distinguere tamen nullo
   modo potuerunt quae esset Deitatis Trinitas, vel quae unitas vel quae
   personarum proprietas. Hic est Spiritus vitae cujus vivificus calor
   animat omnia et fovet et provehit et fecundat. Hic omnium viventium
   anima, ita largitate sua se omnibus abundanter infundit, ut habeant
   omnia rationabilia et irrationabilia secundum genus suum ex eo quod
   sunt, et quod in suo ordine suae naturae competentia agunt; non quod
   ipse sit substantialis anima singulis, sed in se singulariter marens,
   de plenitudine sua distributor magnificus proprias efficientias
   singulis dividit et largitur; et quasi sol omnia calefaciens subjecta,
   onmia nutrit, et absque ulla sui diminutione, integritatem suam de
   inexhausta abundantia quod satis est et sufficit omnibus commodat et
   impartit." -- Cypr. Lib. de Spir. Sanc.
     __________________________________________________________________

Chapter V. Way and manner of the divine dispensation of the Holy Spirit.

   Dispensation of the Spirit to be learned from the Scripture only --
   General adjuncts thereof -- The administration of the Spirit and his
   own application of himself to his work, how expressed -- The Spirit,
   how and in what sense given and received -- What is included in the
   giving of the Spirit -- What in receiving of him -- Privilege and
   advantage in receiving the Spirit -- How God is said to send the Spirit
   -- What is included in sending -- How God ministers the Spirit -- How
   God is said to put his Spirit on us -- What is included in that
   expression -- The Spirit, how poured out -- What is included and
   intended herein -- The ways of the Spirit's application of himself unto
   his work -- His proceeding from Father and Son explained -- How he
   cometh unto us -- His falling on men -- His resting -- How and in what
   sense he is said to depart from any person -- Of the distributions of
   the Holy Ghost, Heb. ii. 4 -- Exposition of them vindicated.

   Before we treat of the especial operations, works, and effects of the
   Holy Ghost in and on the new creation, the order of things requires
   that we should first speak somewhat of the general nature of God's
   dispensation of him, and of his own application of himself unto his
   actings and workings in this matter; for this is the foundation of all
   that he doth, and this, for our edification, we are instructed in by
   the Scriptures. Unto them in this whole discourse we must diligently
   attend; for we are exercised in such a subject as wherein we have no
   rule, nor guide, nor any thing to give us assistance but pure
   revelation. And what I have to offer concerning these things consists
   upon the matter solely in the explication of those places of Scripture
   wherein they are revealed. We must, therefore, consider, -- 1. What we
   are taught on the part of God the Father with respect unto the Holy
   Spirit and his work; and, 2. What relates immediately unto himself.

   I. God's disposal of the Spirit unto his work is five ways expressed in
   the Scripture: for he is said, -- 1. To give or bestow him; 2. To send
   him; 3. To minister him; 4. To pour him out; 5. To put him on us. And
   his own application of himself unto his work is likewise five ways
   expressed: for he is said, -- 1. To proceed; 2. To come, or come upon;
   3. To fall on men; 4. To rest; and, 5. To depart. These things,
   containing the general manner of his administration and dispensation,
   must be first spoken unto.

   First, He is said to be given of God; that is, of God the Father, who
   is said to give him in an especial manner: Luke xi. 13, "Your heavenly
   Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him;" John iii. 34. 1
   John iii. 24, "He hath given the Spirit unto us." John xiv. 16, "The
   Father shall give you another Comforter;" "which is the Holy Ghost,"
   verse 26. And in answer unto this act of God, those on whom he is
   bestowed are said to receive him: John vii. 39, "This he spake of the
   Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive." 1 Cor. ii. 12,
   "We have received the Spirit which is of God." 2 Cor. xi. 4, "If ye
   receive another Spirit, which ye have not received;" where the
   receiving of the Spirit is made a matter common unto all believers. So
   Gal. iii. 2; Acts viii. 15, 19; John xiv. 17, xx. 22. For these two,
   giving and receiving, are related, the one supposing the other. And
   this expression of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost is irreconcilable
   unto the opinion before rejected, -- namely, that he is nothing but a
   transient accident, or an occasional emanation of the power of God; for
   how or in what sense can an act of the power of God be given by him or
   be received by us? It can, indeed, in no sense be either the object of
   God's giving or of our receiving, especially as this is explained in
   those other expressions of the same thing before laid down, and
   afterward considered. It must be somewhat that hath a subsistence of
   its own that is thus given and received. So the Lord Christ is
   frequently said to be given of God and received by us. It is true, we
   may be said, in another sense, to "receive the grace of God;" which is
   the exception of the Socinians unto this consideration, and the
   constant practice they use to evade plain testimonies of the Scripture:
   for if they can find any words in them used elsewhere in another sense,
   they suppose it sufficient to contradict their plain design and proper
   meaning in another place. Thus we are exhorted "not to receive the
   grace of God in vain," 2 Cor. vi. 1. I answer, The grace of God may be
   considered two ways:-- 1. Objectively, for the revelation or doctrine
   of grace; as Tit. ii. 11, 12. So we are said to receive it when we
   believe and profess it, in opposition unto them by whom it is opposed
   and rejected. And this is the same with our receiving the word
   preached, so often mentioned in the Scripture, Acts ii. 41, James i.
   21; which is by faith to give it entertainment in our hearts: which is
   the meaning of the word in this place, 2 Cor. vi. 1. Having taken the
   profession of the doctrine of grace, that is, of the gospel, upon us,
   we ought to express its power in holiness and suitable obedience,
   without which it will be of no use or benefit unto us. And the grace of
   God is sometimes, -- 2. Taken subjectively, for the grace which God is
   pleased to communicate unto us, or gracious qualities that he works in
   our souls by his Spirit. In this sense, also, we are sometimes said to
   receive it: 1 Cor. iv. 7, "Who maketh thee to differ from another? and
   what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" where the apostle speaketh
   both of the gifts and graces of the Spirit. And the reason hereof is,
   because in the communication of internal grace unto us, we contribute
   nothing to the procurement of it, but are merely capable recipient
   subjects. And this grace is a quality or spiritual habit, permanent and
   abiding in the soul. But in neither of these senses can we be said to
   receive the Spirit of God, nor God to give him, if he be only the power
   of God making an impression on our minds and spirits, -- no more than a
   man can be said to receive the sunbeams, which cause heat in him by
   their natural efficacy, falling on him: much less can the giving and
   receiving of the Spirit be so interpreted, considering what is said of
   his being sent and his own coming, with the like declarations of God's
   dispensation of him; whereof afterward.

   Now, this giving of the Spirit, as it is the act of him by whom he is
   given, denotes authority, freedom, and bounty; and, on the part of them
   that receive him, privilege and advantage.

   1. Authority. He that gives any thing hath authority to dispose of it.
   None can give but of his own, and that which in some sense he hath in
   his power. Now, the Father is said to give the Spirit, and that upon
   our request, as Luke xi. 13. This, I acknowledge, wants not some
   difficulty in its explication; for if the Holy Ghost be God himself, as
   hath been declared, how can he be said to be given by the Father, as it
   were in a way of authority? But keeping ourselves to the sacred rule of
   truth, we may solve this difficulty without curiosity or danger.
   Wherefore, -- (1.) The order of the subsistence of the three persons in
   the divine nature is regarded herein; for the Father, as hath been
   showed, is the fountain and original of the Trinity, the Son being of
   him, and the Spirit of them both. Hence, he is to be considered as the
   principal author and cause of all those works which are immediately
   wrought by either of them; for of whom the Son and Spirit have their
   essence, as to their personality, from him have they life and power of
   operation, John v. 19, 26. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit comes unto
   any, the Father is said to give him, for he is the Spirit of the
   Father. And this authority of the Father doth immediately respect the
   work itself, and not the person working; but the person is said to be
   given for the work's sake. (2.) The economy of the blessed Trinity in
   the work of our redemption and salvation is respected in this order of
   things. The fountain hereof lies in the love, wisdom, grace, and
   counsel of the Father. Whatever is done in the pursuit hereof is
   originally the gift of the Father, because it is designed unto no other
   end but to make his grace effectual. Hence is he said to send and give
   his Son also. And the whole work of the Holy Ghost, as our sanctifier,
   guide, comforter, and advocate, is to make the love of the Father
   effectual unto us, John xvi. 13, 14. [43] As this, out of his own love
   and care, he hath condescended unto, so the fountain of it being in the
   love and purpose of the Father, and that also, or the making them
   effectual, being their end, he is rightly said to be given of him. (3.)
   In the whole communication of the Spirit, respect is had unto his
   effects, or the ends for which he is given. What they are shall be
   afterward declared. Now, the authority of this giving respects
   principally his gifts and graces, which depend on the authority of the
   Father.

   2. This expression denotes freedom. What is given might be withheld.
   This is the "gift of God" (as he is called, John iv. 10), not the
   purchase of our endeavours, nor the reward of our desert. Some men
   delight to talk of their purchasing grace and glory; but the one and
   the other are to be "bought without money and without price." Even
   "eternal life" itself, the end of all our obedience, is the "gift of
   God, through Jesus Christ our Lord," Rom. vi. 23. The Scripture knows
   of no earnings that men can make of themselves but death; for as Austin
   says, "Quicquid tuum est peccatum est:" and the wages of sin is death.
   To what end or purpose soever the Spirit is bestowed upon us, whether
   it be for the communication of grace or the distribution of gifts, or
   for consolation and refreshment, it is of the mere gift of God, from
   his absolute and sovereign freedom.

   In answer hereunto they are said to receive him, on whom as a gift he
   is bestowed; as in the testimonies before mentioned. And in receiving,
   two things are implied:-- 1. That we contribute nothing thereunto which
   should take off from the thing received as a gift. Receiving answers
   giving, and that implies freedom in the giver. 2. That it is their
   privilege and advantage; for what a man receives, he doth it for his
   own good. First, then, we have him freely as a gift of God; for to
   receive him in general is to be made partaker of him, as unto those
   ends for which he is given of God. Be those ends what they will, in
   respect of them they are said to receive him who are made partakers of
   him. Two things may be pleaded to take off the freedom of this gift and
   of our reception, and to cast it on something necessary and required on
   our part; for, -- (1.) Our Saviour tells us "that the world cannot
   receive him, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him," John xiv.
   17. Now, if the "world" cannot receive him, there is required an
   ability and preparation in them that do so, that are "not of the
   world;" and so the gift and communication of the Spirit depends on that
   qualification in us. But all men are naturally alike the world and of
   it. No one man by nature hath more ability or strength in spiritual
   things than another; for all are equally "dead in trespasses and sins,"
   all equally "children of wrath." It must, therefore, be inquired how
   some come to have this ability and power to receive the Spirit of God,
   which others have not. Now this, as I shall fully manifest afterward,
   is merely from the Holy Ghost himself and his grace, respect being had
   herein only unto the order of his operations in us, some being
   preparatory for and dispositive unto others, one being instituted as
   the means of obtaining another, the whole being the effect of the free
   gift of God; for we do not make ourselves to differ from others, nor
   have we any thing that we have not received, 1 Cor. iv. 7. Wherefore,
   the receiving of the Holy Ghost intended in that expression of our
   Saviour, with respect whereunto some are able to receive him, some are
   not, is not absolute, but with respect unto some certain work and end;
   and this, as is plain in the context, is the receiving of him as a
   comforter and a guide in spiritual truth. Hereunto faith in Christ
   Jesus, which also is an effect and fruit of the same Spirit, is
   antecedently required. In this sense, therefore, believers alone can
   receive him, and are enabled so to do by the grace which they have
   received from him in their first conversion unto God. But, (2.) It will
   be said that we are bound to pray for him before we receive him, and
   therefore the bestowing of him depends on a condition to be by us
   fulfilled; for the promise is, that "our heavenly Father will give the
   Holy Spirit to them that ask him," Luke xi. 13. But this doth not prove
   the bestowing and receiving of him not to be absolutely free. Nay, it
   proves the contrary. It is gratia indebita, "undeserved grace," that is
   the proper object of prayer. And God, by these encouraging promises,
   doth not abridge the liberty of his own will, nor derogate from the
   freedom of his gifts and grace, but only directs us into the way
   whereby we may be made partakers of them, unto his glory and our own
   advantage. And this also belongs unto the order of the communication of
   the grace of the Spirit unto us. This very praying for the Spirit is a
   duty which we cannot perform without his assistance; for "no man can
   call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost," 1 Cor. xii. 3. He helps us, as
   a Spirit of grace and supplication, to pray for him as a Spirit of joy
   and consolation.

   3. This is such a gift as in God proceeds from bounty; for God is said
   to give him unto us "richly," Tit. iii. 6. This will be spoken unto in
   the fourth way of his communication: only I say at present, the
   greatness of a gift, the free mind of the giver, and want of desert or
   merit in the receiver, are that which declare bounty to be the spring
   and fountain of it; and all these concur to the height in God's giving
   of the Holy Ghost.

   Again; On the part of them who receive this gift, privilege and
   advantage are intimated. They receive a gift, and that from God, and
   that a great and singular gift, from divine bounty. Some, indeed,
   receive him in a sort, as to some ends and purposes, without any
   advantage finally unto their own souls. So do they who "prophesy" and
   "cast out devils" by his power, in the name of Christ, and yet,
   continuing "workers of iniquity," are rejected at the last day, Matt.
   vii. 22, 23. Thus it is with all who receive his gifts only, without
   his grace to sanctify their persons and their gifts; and this whether
   they be ordinary or extraordinary: but this is only by accident. There
   is no gift of the Holy Ghost but is good in its own nature, tending to
   a good end, and is proper for the good and advantage of them by whom it
   is received. And although the direct end of some of them be not the
   spiritual good of them on whom they are bestowed, but the edification
   of others, -- for "the manifestation of the Spirit is given unto every
   man to profit withal," 1 Cor. xii. 7, -- yet there is that excellency
   and worth in them, and that use may be made of them, as to turn greatly
   to the advantage of them that receive them; for although they are not
   grace, yet they serve to stir up and give an edge unto grace, and to
   draw it out unto exercise, whereby it is strengthened and increased.
   And they have an influence into glory; for it is by the abilities which
   they give that some are made wise and effectual instruments for the
   "turning of many to righteousness," who "shall shine as the brightness
   of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever," Dan. xii. 3. But
   the unbelief, ingratitude, and lusts of men can spoil these, and any
   other good things whatever. And these things will afterward in
   particular fall under our consideration. In general, to be made
   partaker of the Holy Ghost is an inestimable privilege and advantage,
   and as such is proposed by our Saviour, John xiv. 17.

   Secondly, God is said to send him: Ps. civ. 30, "Thou sendest forth thy
   Spirit;" John xiv. 26, "The Father will send the Holy Ghost in my
   name." This is also spoken of the Son: "I will send unto you the
   Comforter from the Father," chap. xv. 26, xvi. 7. And in the
   accomplishment of that promise, it is said he "shed him forth," Acts
   ii. 33; Gal. iv. 6, "God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
   your hearts;" and in other places the same expression is used. Now,
   this, upon the matter, is the same with the former, of giving him,
   arguing the same authority, the same freedom, the same bounty. Only,
   the word naturally includes in its signification a respect unto a local
   motion. He which is sent removeth from the place where he was, from
   whence he is sent, unto a place where he was not, whither he was sent.
   Now, this cannot properly be spoken of the Holy Ghost; for he being God
   by nature is naturally omnipresent, and an omnipresence is inconsistent
   with a local mutation. So the Psalmist expressly: Ps. cxxxix. 7, 8,
   "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy
   presence? If I ascend up into heaven," etc. There must, therefore, a
   metaphor be allowed in this expression, but such a one as the
   Scripture, by the frequent use of it, hath rendered familiar unto us.
   Thus God is said to "come out of his place," to "bow the heavens and
   come down;" to "come down and see what is done in the earth," Isa.
   xxvi. 21; Ps. cxliv. 5; Gen. xviii. 21. That these things are not
   spoken properly of God, who is immense, all men acknowledge. But when
   God begins to work in any place, in any kind, where before he did not
   do so, he is said to come thither; for so must we do, -- we must come
   to a place before we can work in it. Thus, the sending of the Holy
   Ghost includeth two things as added unto his being given:-- 1. That he
   was not before in or with that person, or amongst those persons, for
   that especial work and end which he is sent for. He may be in them and
   with them in one respect, and be afterward said to be sent unto them in
   another. So our Lord Jesus Christ promiseth to send the Holy Ghost unto
   his disciples as a comforter, whom they had received before as a
   sanctifier. "I will," saith he, "send him unto you; and ye know him,
   for he dwelleth with you," John xiv. 17, xvi. 7. He did so as a
   sanctifier before he came unto them as a comforter. But in every coming
   of his, he is sent for one especial work or another; and this
   sufficiently manifests that in his gifts and graces he is not common
   unto all. A supposition thereof would leave no place for this especial
   act of sending him, which is done by choice and distinction of the
   object. Much less is he a light which is always in all men, and which
   all men may be in if they please; for this neither is nor can be absent
   in any sense from anyone at any time. 2. It denotes an especial work
   there or on them, where and on whom there was none before of that kind.
   For this cause is he said to be sent of the Father. [44] No local
   motion, then, is intended in this expression, only there is an allusion
   thereunto; for as a creature cannot produce any effects where it is
   not, until it either be sent thither or go thither of its own accord,
   so the Holy Ghost produceth not the blessed effects of his power and
   grace but in and towards them unto whom he is given and sent by the
   Father. How, in answer hereunto, he is said himself to come, shall be
   afterward declared. And it is the person of the Spirit which is said to
   be thus sent; for this belongs unto that holy dispensation of the
   several persons of the Trinity in the work of our salvation. And herein
   the Spirit, in all his operations, is considered as sent of the Father,
   for the reasons before often intimated.

   Thirdly, God is said to minister the Spirit: Gal. iii. 5, "He that
   ministereth to you the Spirit." Ho oun epichoregion humin to Pneuma; --
   "He that giveth you continual or abundant supplies of the Spirit."
   Choregeo is "to give a sufficiency of any thing;" and choregia and
   choregema are dimensum, "a sufficiency of provision." An addition
   thereunto is epichoregia, whereby the communication of the Spirit is
   expressed: Phil. i. 19," For I know that this shall turn to my
   salvation through your prayers," kai epichoregias tou Pneumatos Iesou
   Christou, "and the additional supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."
   That Spirit and its assistance he had before received, but he yet stood
   in need of a daily farther supply. So is the word used constantly for
   the adding of one thing to another, or one degree of the same thing
   unto another: 2 Pet. i. 5, Epichoregesate en te pistei humon ten
   areten; -- "Add to your faith virtue;" or, "In your faith make an
   increase of virtue." When, therefore, God is thus said to "minister the
   Spirit," it is his continual giving out of additional supplies of his
   grace by his Spirit which is intended; for the Holy Spirit is a
   voluntary agent, and distributes unto everyone as he will. When,
   therefore, he is given and sent unto any, his operations are limited by
   his own will and the will of him that sends him; and therefore do we
   stand in need of supplies of him and from him; which are the principal
   subject-matter of our prayers in this world.

   Fourthly, God is said to put his Spirit in or upon men; and this also
   belongeth unto the manner of his dispensation: Isa. xlii. 1, "Behold my
   servant, whom I uphold; I have put my Spirit upon him." The word there,
   indeed, is N+oX+aT+uiJ+, "I have given my Spirit upon him;" but because
   E+oL+oJ+W+, "upon him," is joined to it, it is by ours rendered by
   "put." As also Ezek. xxxvii. 14, where B+oK+M%, "in you," is added; --
   "Put my Spirit in you." The same is plainly intended with that, Isa.
   lxiii. 11, H+aShu:oM% B+uQ+iR+B+uW+ #T+R+W+uX+a Q+oD+ShW+ -- "That put
   his Holy Spirit in the midst of them." Hence, N+oT+aT+uiJ+, "I have
   given," or "I will give," Isa. xlii. 1, is rendered by theso, Matt.
   xii. 18: Theso to Pneuma mou ep' auton, -- "I will put my Spirit upon
   him." The word N+oX+aN%, then, used in this sense, doth not denote the
   granting or donation of any thing, but its actual bestowing, as
   Sh:W+uM% doth. And it is the effectual acting of God in this matter
   that is intended. He doth not only give and send his Spirit unto them
   to whom he designs so great a benefit and privilege, but he actually
   collates and bestows him upon them. [45] He doth not send him unto
   them, and leave it in their wills and power whether they will receive
   him or no, but he so effectually collates and puts him in them or upon
   them as that they shall be actually made partakers of him. He
   efficaciously endows their hearts and minds with him, for the work and
   end which he is designed unto. So Exod. xxxi. 6, "I have put wisdom,"
   is as much as, "I have filled them with wisdom," verse 2. So, then,
   where God intendeth unto any the benefit of his Spirit, he will
   actually and effectually collate him upon them. He doth not, indeed,
   always do this in the same manner. Sometimes he doth it, as it were, by
   a surprisal, when those who receive him are neither aware of it nor do
   desire it. So the Spirit of the Lord, as a Spirit of prophecy, came
   upon Saul, when his mind was remote and estranged from any such
   thoughts. In like manner, the Spirit of God came upon Eldad and Medad
   in the camp, when the other elders went forth unto the tabernacle to
   receive him, Num. xi. 27. And so the Spirit of prophecy came upon most
   of the prophets of old, without either expectation or preparation on
   their parts. So Amos giveth an account of his call unto his office,
   chap. vii. 14, 15. "I was," saith he, "no prophet, neither was I a
   prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
   and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto
   me, Go, prophesy." He was not brought up with any expectation of
   receiving this gift, he had no preparation for it; but God surprised
   him with his call and gift as he followed the flock. Such, also, was
   the call of Jeremiah, chap. i. 5-7. So vain is the discourse of
   Maimonides on this subject, prescribing various natural and moral
   preparations for the receiving of this gift. But these things were
   extraordinary. Yet I no way doubt but that God doth yet continue to
   work grace in many by such unexpected surprisals; the manner whereof
   shall be afterward inquired into. But sometimes, as to some gifts and
   graces, God doth bestow his Spirit where there is some preparation and
   cooperation on our part; but wherever he designs to put or place him,
   he doth it effectually.

   Fifthly, God is said to pour him out, and that frequently: Prov. i. 23,
   H+iN+uH+ #aB+uiJ+E+oH+ L+oK+M% R+W+uX+iJ+, -- "Behold, I will pour out
   my Spirit unto you." N+oB+aE+ signifies "ebullire more scaturiginis,"
   -- "to bubble up as a fountain." [46] Hence, the words are rendered by
   Theodotion, Anabluso humin Pneuma mou, -- "Scaturire faciam," -- "I
   will cause my Spirit to spring out unto you as a fountain." And it is
   frequently applied unto speaking, when it signifies "eloqui aut
   proferre verba more scaturiginis." See Ps. lxxviii. 2, cxlv. 7. And
   B+uoE+oH+, also, which some take to be the root of, #aB+uiJ+E+oH+,
   Prov. i. 23, hath the same signification. And the word hath a double
   lively metaphor: for the proceeding of the Spirit from the Father is
   compared to the continual rising of the waters of a living spring; and
   his communication unto us to the overflowing of those waters, yet
   guided by the will and wisdom of God: Isa. xxxii. 15, "Until the Spirit
   be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful
   field," -- E+aR+J+E+oR+H+ E+oL+J+N+W+u R+W+uX+a M+iM+uoR+W+M%. E+oR+oH+
   is, indeed, sometimes "to pour out," but more properly and more
   commonly "to uncover," "to make bare," "to reveal;" -- "Until the
   Spirit be revealed from on high." There shall be such a plentiful
   communication of the Spirit as that he and his work shall be made open,
   revealed, and plain; or, the Spirit shall be bared, as God is said to
   make his arm bare when he will work mightily and effectually, chap.
   lii. 10. Chap. xliv. 3, "I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my
   blessing upon thine offspring." J+oZJaQ+, the word here, is so to pour
   a thing out as that it cleaveth unto and abideth on that which it is
   poured out upon; as the Spirit of God abides with them unto whom he is
   communicated. Ezek. xxxix. 29, "I have poured out my Spirit upon the
   house of Israel," -- ShoP+aK+T+uiJ+, another word: this is properly to
   pour out, and that in a plentiful manner, [and is] the same word that
   is used in that great promise, Joel ii. 28, which is rendered, Acts ii.
   17, by ekcheo, "effundam," -- "I will pour out my Spirit;" and the same
   thing is again expressed by the same word, chap. x. 45, "On the
   Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost."

   Let us, then, briefly consider the importance of this expression. And
   one or two things may be observed concerning it in general; as, -- 1.
   Wherever it is used, it hath direct respect unto the times of the
   gospel. Either it is a part of the promises concerning it, or of the
   story of their accomplishment under it. But wherever it is mentioned,
   the time, state, and grace of the gospel are intended in it: for the
   Lord Christ was "in all things to have the pre-eminence," Col. i. 18;
   and, therefore, although God gave his Spirit in some measure before,
   yet he poured him not out until he was first anointed with his
   fullness. 2. There is a tacit comparison in it with some other time and
   season, or some other act of God, wherein or whereby God gave his
   Spirit before, but not in the way and manner that he intended now to
   bestow him. A larger measure of the Spirit to be now given than was
   before, or is signified by any other expressions of the same gift, is
   intended in this word.

   Three things are therefore comprised in this expression:-- 1. An
   eminent act of divine bounty. Pouring forth is the way whereby bounty
   from an all-sufficing fullness is expressed; as "The clouds, filled
   with a moist vapour, pour down rain," Job xxxvi. 27, until "it water
   the ridges of the earth abundantly, settling the furrows thereof, and
   making it soft with showers," as Ps. lxv. 10; which, with the things
   following in that place, verses 11-13, are spoken allegorically of this
   pouring out of the Spirit of God from above. Hence, God is said to do
   this richly: Tit. iii. 6, "The renewing of the Holy Ghost," hou
   execheen eph' hemas plousios, "which he hath poured on us richly," --
   that is, on all believers who are converted unto God; -- for the
   apostle discourseth not of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost,
   which were then given forth in a plentiful manner, but of that grace of
   the Holy Ghost whereby all that believe are regenerated, renewed, and
   converted unto God; for so were men converted of old by a rich
   participation of the Holy Ghost, and so they must be still, whatever
   some pretend, or die in their sins. And by the same word is the bounty
   of God in other things expressed: "The living God, who giveth us richly
   all things to enjoy," 1 Tim. vi. 17. 2. This pouring out hath respect
   unto the gifts and graces of the Spirit, and not unto his person: for
   where he is given, he is given absolutely, and as to himself not more
   or less; but his gifts and graces may be more plentifully and
   abundantly given at one time than at another, to some persons than to
   others. Wherefore this expression is metonymical, that being spoken of
   the cause which is proper to the effect; the Spirit being said to be
   poured forth, because his graces are so. 3. Respect is had herein unto
   some especial works of the Spirit. Such are the purifying or
   sanctifying, and the comforting or refreshing [of] them on whom he is
   poured. With respect unto the first of these effects, he is compared
   both unto fire and water; for both fire and water have purifying
   qualities in them, though towards different objects, and working in a
   different manner. So, by fire are metals purified and purged from their
   dross and mixtures; and by water are all other unclean and defiled
   things cleansed and purified. Hence, the Lord Jesus Christ, in his work
   by his Spirit, is at once compared unto a "refiner's fire" and to
   "fullers' soap," Mal. iii. 2, 3, because of the purging, purifying
   qualities that are in fire and water. And the Holy Ghost is expressly
   called a "Spirit of burning," Isa. iv. 4; for by him are the vessels of
   the house of God that are of gold and silver refined and purged, as
   those that are but of wood and stone are consumed. And when it is said
   of our Lord Jesus that he should "baptize with the Holy Ghost and with
   fire," Luke iii. 16, it is but hen dia duoin, the same thing doubly
   expressed; and, therefore, mention is made only of the "Holy Ghost,"
   John i. 33. But the Holy Ghost was, in his dispensation, to purify and
   cleanse them as fire doth gold and silver. And on the same account is
   he compared to water, Ezek. xxxvi. 25, "I will sprinkle clean water
   upon you, and ye shall be clean;" which is expounded, verse 26, by "A
   new spirit will I put within you;" which God calls his Spirit, verse
   27. So our Saviour calls him "rivers of water," John vii. 38, 39: see
   Isa. xliv. 3. And it is with regard unto his purifying, cleansing, and
   sanctifying our natures that he is thus called. With respect,
   therefore, in an especial manner, hereunto is he said to be poured out.
   So our apostle expressly declares, Tit. iii. 4-6. Again, it respects
   his comforting and refreshing them on whom he is poured. Hence is he
   said to be poured down from above as rain that descends on the earth:
   Isa. xliv. 3, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods
   upon the dry ground," -- that is, "I will pour my Spirit on thy seed,
   and my blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up as among
   the grass, as willows by the water courses," verse 4; see chap. xxxv.
   6, 7. He comes upon the dry, parched, barren ground of the hearts of
   men, with his refreshing, fructifying virtue and blessing, causing them
   to spring and bring forth fruits in holiness and righteousness to God,
   Heb. vi. 7. And in respect unto his communication of his Spirit is the
   Lord Christ said to "come down like rain upon the mown grass, as
   showers that water the earth," Ps. lxxii. 6. The good Lord give us
   always of these waters and refreshing showers!

   And these are the ways, in general, whereby the dispensation of the
   Spirit from God, for what end or purpose soever it be, is expressed.

   II. We come nextly to consider what is ascribed unto the Spirit himself
   in a way of compliance with these acts of God whereby he is given and
   administered. Now, these are such things or actions as manifest him to
   be a voluntary agent, and that not only as to what he acts or doth in
   men, but also as to the manner of his coming forth from God, and his
   application of himself unto his work. And these we must consider as
   they are declared unto us in the Scripture.

   The first and most general expression hereof is, that he proceedeth
   from the Father; and being the Spirit of the Son, he proceedeth from
   him also in like manner: John xv. 26, "The Spirit of truth, which
   proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." There is a twofold
   ekporeusis or "procession" of the Holy Ghost. The one is phusike or
   hupostatike, "natural" or "personal." This expresseth his eternal
   relation to the persons of the Father and the Son. He is of them by an
   eternal emanation or procession. [47] The manner hereof unto us, in
   this life, is incomprehensible; therefore it is rejected by some, who
   will believe no more than they can put their hands into the sides of.
   And yet are they forced, in things under their eyes, to admit of many
   things which they cannot perfectly comprehend! But we live by faith,
   and not by sight. [48] This is enough unto us, that we admit nothing in
   this great mystery but what is revealed. And nothing is revealed unto
   us that is inconsistent with the being and subsistence of God; for this
   procession or emanation includes no separation or division in or of the
   divine nature, but only expresseth a distinction in subsistence, by a
   property peculiar to the Holy Spirit. But this is not that which at
   present I intend. The consideration of it belongeth unto the doctrine
   of the Trinity in general, and hath been handled elsewhere. Secondly,
   There is an ekporeusis or "procession" of the Spirit, which is
   oikonomike or "dispensatory." This is the egress of the Spirit in his
   application of himself unto his work. A voluntary act it is of his
   will, and not a necessary property of his person. And he is said thus
   to proceed from the Father, because he goeth forth or proceedeth in the
   pursuit of the counsels and purposes of the Father, and, as sent by
   him, to put them into execution, or to make them effectual. And in like
   manner he proceedeth from the Son, sent by him for the application of
   his grace unto the souls of his elect, John xv. 26. It is true, this
   proves his eternal relation to the Father and the Son, as he proceeds
   from them, or receives his peculiar personal subsistence from them, for
   that is the ground of this order of operation; but it is his own
   personal voluntary acting that is intended in the expression. And this
   is the general notation of the original of the Spirit's acting in all
   that he doth:-- He proceedeth or cometh forth from the Father. Had it
   been only said that he was given and sent, it could not have been known
   that there was any thing of his own will in what he did, whereas he is
   said to "divide unto every man as he will;" but in that ekporeuetai, he
   proceedeth of his own accord unto his work, his own will and
   condescension are also asserted. And this his proceeding from the
   Father is in compliance with his sending of him to accomplish and make
   effectual the purposes of his will and the counsels of his grace.

   Secondly, To the same purpose he is said to come : John xv. 26, "When
   the Comforter is come." John xvi. 7, "If I go not away, the Comforter
   will not come." Verse 8, "And when he is come." So is he said to come
   upon persons. We so express it, 1 Chron. xii. 18, "The Spirit came upon
   Amasai," -- W+R+W+uX+a L+oB+ShoH+ #T+E+M+oSh:aJ+. "And the Spirit
   clothed Amasai," possessed his mind as a man's clothes cleave unto him.
   Acts xix. 6, "The Holy Ghost came on them, and they prophesied," elthe.
   Erchomai, "to come," is, as it were, the terminus ad quem of
   ekporeuomai, "going forth" or "proceeding;" for there is in these
   expressions an allusion unto a local motion, whereof these two words
   denote the beginning and the end. The first intendeth his voluntary
   application of himself to his work, the other his progress in it; such
   condescensions doth God make use of in the declaration of his divine
   actings, to accommodate them unto our understandings, and to give us
   some kind of apprehension of them. He proceedeth from the Father, as
   given by him; and cometh unto us, as sent by him. The meaning of both
   is, that the Holy Ghost, by his own will and consent, worketh, in the
   pursuit of the will of the Father, there and that, where and what, he
   did not work before. [49] And as there is no local motion to be thought
   of in these things, so they can in no tolerable sense be reconciled to
   the imagination of his being only the inherent virtue or an actual
   emanation and influence of the power of God. And hereby are our faith
   and obedience regulated in our dealing with God about him: for we may
   both pray the Father that he would give and send him unto us, according
   to his promise; and we may pray to him to come unto us to sanctify and
   comfort us, according to the work and office that he hath undertaken.
   This is that which we are taught hereby; for these revelations of God
   are for our instruction in the obedience of faith.

   Thirdly, He is said to fall on men: Acts x. 44, "While Peter yet spake
   these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." So
   chap. xi. 15, where Peter, repeating the same matter, says, "The Holy
   Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning," -- that is, Acts ii. 4.
   A greatness and suddenness in a surprisal is intended in this word; as,
   when the fire fell down from heaven (which was a type of him) upon the
   altar and sacrifice of Elijah, the people that saw it were amazed, and
   falling on their faces, cried out, "The Lord he is the God!" 1 Kings
   xviii. 38, 39. When men are no way in expectation of such a gift, or
   when they have an expectation in general, but are suddenly surprised as
   to the particular season, it is thus declared. But wherever this word
   is used, some extraordinary effects evidencing his presence and power
   do immediately ensue, Acts x. 44-46; and so it was at the beginning of
   his effusion under the New Testament, chap. ii. 4, viii. 16.

   Fourthly, Being come, he is said to rest on the persons to whom he is
   given and sent: Isa. xi. 2, "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
   him." This is interpreted by "abiding" and "remaining," John i. 32, 33.
   Num. xi. 25, 26, "The Spirit of the Lord rested upon the elders." So
   the "spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha," 2 Kings ii. 15. 1 Pet. iv. 14,
   "The Spirit of glory and of God resteth on you." Two things are
   included herein:-- 1. Complacency; 2. Permanency. First, He is well
   pleased in his work wherein he rests. So where God is said to "rest in
   his love," he doth it with "joy" and "singing," Zeph. iii. 17. So doth
   the Spirit rejoice where he rests. Secondly, He abides where he rests.
   Under this notion is this acting of the Spirit promised by our Saviour:
   "He shall abide with you for ever," John xiv. 16. He came only on some
   men by a sudden surprisal, to act in them and by them some peculiar
   work and duty; to this end he only transiently affected their minds
   with his power; -- but where he is said to rest, as in the works of
   sanctification and consolation, there he abides and continues with
   complacency and delight.

   Fifthly, He is said to depart from some persons. So it is said of Saul,
   1 Sam. xvi. 14, "The Spirit of the Lord departed from him." And David
   prays that God would not "take his Holy Spirit from him," Ps. li. 11.
   And this is to be understood answerably unto what we have discoursed
   before about his coming and his being sent. As he is said to come, so
   is he said to depart; and as he is said to be sent, so is he said to be
   taken away. His departure from men, therefore, is his ceasing to work
   in them and on them as formerly; and as far as this is penal, he is
   said to be taken away. So he departed and was taken away from Saul,
   when he no more helped him with that ability for kingly government
   which before he had by his assistance. And this departure of the Holy
   Ghost from any is either total or partial only. Some on whom he hath
   been bestowed, for the working of sundry gifts for the good of others,
   with manifold convictions, by light and general assistance unto the
   performance of duties, he utterly deserts, and gives them up unto
   themselves and their own hearts' lusts. Examples hereof are common in
   the world. Men who have been made partakers of many "gifts of the Holy
   Ghost," and been in an especial manner enlightened, and, under the
   power of their convictions, carried out unto the profession of the
   gospel and the performance of many duties of religion, yet, being
   entangled by temptations, and overcome by the power of their lusts,
   relinquish all their beginnings and engagements, and turn wholly unto
   sin and folly. From such persons the Holy Ghost utterly departs, all
   their gifts dry up and wither, their light goeth out, and they have
   darkness instead of a vision. The case of such is deplorable; for "it
   had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,
   than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment
   delivered unto them," 2 Pet. ii. 21. And some of these add despite and
   contempt of that whole work of the Spirit of God, whereof themselves
   were made partakers, unto their apostasy. And the condition of such
   profligate sinners is, for the most part, irrecoverable, Heb. vi. 4-6,
   x. 26-30. From some he withdraweth and departeth partially only, and
   that mostly but for a season; and this departure respects the grace,
   light, and consolation which he administers unto believers, as to the
   degrees of them, and the sense of them in their own souls. On whom he
   is bestowed to work these things in a saving way, from them he never
   utterly or totally departs. This our blessed Saviour plainly promiseth
   and asserteth: John iv. 14, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I
   shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him
   shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
   That this well of "living water" is his sanctifying Spirit himself
   declares, chap. vii. 37-39. He who hath received him shall never have a
   thirst of total want and indigence anymore. Besides, he is given unto
   this end by virtue of the covenant of grace; and the promise is express
   therein that he shall "never depart from them" to whom he is given,
   Isa. lix. 21; Jer. xxxi. 33, xxxii. 39, 40; Ezek. xi. 19, 20. But now,
   as to the degrees and sensible effects of these operations, he may
   depart and withdraw from believers for a season. Hence they may be left
   unto many spiritual decays and much weakness, the things of grace that
   remain in them being as it were "ready to die," Rev. iii. 2; and they
   may apprehend themselves deserted and forsaken of God, -- so did Zion,
   Isa. xl. 27, xlix. 14: for therein doth God "hide himself," or "forsake
   his people for a small moment," chap. liv. 7, 8. He "hideth himself,
   and is wroth," chap. lvii. 17. These are the things which David so
   often and so bitterly complaineth of, and which with so much
   earnestness he contendeth and wrestleth with God to be delivered from.
   These are those spiritual desertions which some of late have laden with
   reproach, contempt, and scorn. All the apprehensions and complaints of
   the people of God about them, they would represent as nothing but the
   idle imaginations of distempered brains, or the effects of some
   disorder in their blood and animal spirits. I could, indeed, easily
   allow that men should despise and laugh at what is declared as the
   experience of professors at present, -- their prejudice against their
   persons will not allow them to entertain any thoughts of them but what
   are suited unto folly and hypocrisy; -- but at this I acknowledge I
   stand amazed, that whereas these things are so plainly, so fully, and
   frequently declared in the Scriptures, both as to the actings of God
   and his Holy Spirit in them, and as to the sense of those concerned
   about them; whereas the whole of God's dealings, and believers'
   application of themselves to him in this matter, are so graphically
   exemplified in sundry of the holy saints of old, as Job, David, Heman,
   and others; and great and plentiful provision is made in the Scripture
   for the direction, recovery, healing, and consolation of souls in such
   a condition; yet men professing themselves to be Christians, and to
   believe the word of God at least not to be a fable, should dare to cast
   such opprobrious reproaches on the ways and works of God. The end of
   these attempts can be no other but to decry all real intercourse
   between God and the souls of men, leaving only an outside form or shape
   of religion, not one jot better than atheism.

   Neither is it only what concerns spiritual desertions, whose nature,
   causes, and remedies, are professedly and at large handled by all the
   casuistical divines, even of the Roman church, but the whole work of
   the Spirit of God upon the hearts of men, with all the effects produced
   in them with respect unto sin and grace, that some men, by their odious
   and scurrilous expressions, endeavour to expose to contempt and scorn,
   S. P., [50] pp. 339-342. Whatever trouble befalls the minds of men upon
   the account of a sense of the guilt of sin; whatever darkness and
   disconsolation they may undergo through the displeasure of God, and his
   withdrawing of the wonted influences of his grace, love, and favour
   towards them; whatever peace, comfort, or joy, they may be made
   partakers of, by a sense of the love of God shed abroad in their hearts
   by the Holy Ghost, -- it is all ascribed, in most opprobrious language,
   unto melancholy reeks and vapours, whereof a certain and mechanical
   account may be given by them who understand the anatomy of the brain.
   To such a height of profane atheism is the daring pride and ignorance
   of some in our days arrived!

   There remaineth yet one general adjunct of the dispensation and work of
   the Holy Ghost, which gives a farther description of the manner of it,
   which I have left unto a single consideration. This is that which is
   mentioned, Heb. ii. 4, "God bearing them witness, both with signs and
   wonders, and with divers miracles," kai Pneumatos Hagiou merismois,
   "and gifts," say we, "of the Holy Ghost." But merismoi are
   "distributions" or "partitions;" and hence advantage is taken by some
   to argue against his very being. So Crellius contends that the Holy
   Ghost here is taken passively, or that the expression Pneumatos Hagiou
   is genetivus materiae. Wherefore, he supposes that it followeth that
   the Holy Ghost himself may be divided into parts, so that one may have
   one part and parcel of him, and another may have another part. How
   inconsistent this is with the truth of his being and personality is
   apparent. But yet neither can he give any tolerable account of the
   division and partition of that power of God which he calls the "Holy
   Ghost," unless he will make the Holy Spirit to be a quality in us and
   not in the divine nature, as Justin Martyr affirms Plato to have done,
   and so to be divided. [51] And the interpretation he useth of the words
   is wrested, perverse, and foolish; for the contexture of them requires
   that the Holy Ghost be here taken actively, as the author of the
   distribution mentioned. He gives out of his gifts and powers unto men
   in many parts, not all to one, not all at once, not all in one way; but
   some to one, some to another, some at one time, some at another, and
   that in great variety. The apostle, therefore, in this place declares
   that the Holy Spirit gave out various gifts unto the first preachers of
   the gospel, for the confirmation of their doctrine, according to the
   promise of our Saviour, John xv. 26, 27. Of these he mentions in
   particular, first, Semeia, "signs;" that is, miraculous works, wrought
   to signify the presence of God by his power with them that wrought
   them, so giving out his approbation of the doctrine which they taught.
   Secondly, Terata, "prodigies" or "wonders," works beyond the power of
   nature or energy of natural causes, wrought to fill men with wonder and
   admiration, manifesting to theion, and surprising men with a sense of
   the presence of God. Thirdly, Dunameis, "mighty works" of several
   sorts, such as opening of the eyes of the blind, raising the dead, and
   the like. These being mentioned, there is added in general merismoi
   Pneumatos Hagiou, that is, M+aT+uN+W+T+ H+oR+W+uX+a X+aQ+uoD+W+Sh,
   "gifts of the Holy Ghost;" for these and other like things did the Holy
   Ghost work and effect to the end mentioned. And these distributions are
   from him as the signs and wonders were, -- that is, effects of his
   power: only there is added an intimation how they are all wrought by
   him; which is, by giving them a power for their operation, variously
   dividing them amongst those on whom they were bestowed, and that, as it
   is added, kata ten hautou thelesin, "according unto his own will." And
   this place is so directly and fully expounded, 1 Cor. xii. 7-11, that
   there is no room of exception left unto the most obstinate; and that
   place having been opened before, in the entrance of this discourse, I
   shall not here call it over again. These merismoi, therefore, are his
   gifts; which, as parts and parcels of his work, he giveth out in great
   variety. [52] To the same purpose are his operations described, Isa.
   xi. 2, 3, "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of
   wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit
   of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." He is first called "The
   Spirit of the Lord," to express his being and nature; and then he is
   termed "The Spirit of wisdom and of counsel," etc., -- that is, he who
   is the author of wisdom and counsel, and the rest of the graces
   mentioned, who divides and distributes them according to his own will.
   That variety of gifts and graces wherewith believers are endowed and
   adorned are these merismoi, or "distributions," of the Holy Spirit.
   Hence, the principal respect that we have unto him immediately, in our
   worship of him under the New Testament, is as he is the author of these
   various gifts and graces. So John, saluting the churches of Asia,
   prayeth for grace for them from God the Father, and from "the seven
   Spirits which are before his throne," Rev. i. 4; that is, from the Holy
   Spirit of God considered in his care of the church and his yielding
   supplies unto it, as the author of that perfection of gifts and graces
   which are, and are to be, bestowed upon it. So doth the number of
   "seven" denote. And, therefore, whereas our Lord Jesus Christ, as the
   foundation of his church, was anointed with all the gifts and graces of
   the Spirit in their perfection, it is said that upon that one stone
   should be "seven eyes," Zech. iii. 9, -- all the gifts of the seven
   Spirits of God, or of that Holy Spirit which is the author of them all.

   All, therefore, that is pleaded for the division of the Holy Ghost from
   this place is built on the supposition that we have before rejected, --
   namely, that he is not a divine person, but an arbitrary emanation of
   divine power. And yet neither so can the division of the Holy Ghost
   pleaded for be with any tolerable sense maintained. Crellius says,
   indeed, "That all divine inspirations may be considered as one whole,
   as many waters make up one sea. In this respect the Holy Ghost is one,
   -- that is, one universal made up of many species;" This is totum
   logicum. And so he may be divided into his subordinate species! But
   what ground or colour is there for any such notions in the Scripture?
   Where is it said that all the gifts of the Holy Ghost do constitute or
   make up one Holy Ghost? or the Holy Ghost is one in general, because
   many effects are ascribed unto him? or that the several gifts of the
   Spirit are so many distinct kinds of it? The contrary unto all these is
   expressly taught, -- namely, that the one Holy Spirit worketh all these
   things as he pleaseth; so that they are all of them external acts of
   his will and power. And it is to as little purpose pleaded by the same
   author, "That he is divided as a natural whole into its parts, because
   there is mention of a measure and portion of him: so God is said not to
   give him to Jesus Christ `by measure,' John iii. 34; and to every one
   of us is given grace `according to the measure of the gift of Christ,'
   Eph. iv. 7;" -- as though one measure of him were granted unto one, and
   another measure to another! But this "measure" is plainly of his gifts
   and graces. These were bestowed on the Lord Christ in all their
   fullness, without any limitation, either as to kinds or degrees; they
   were poured into him according unto the utmost extent and capacity of
   human nature, and that under an inconceivable advancement by its union
   unto the Son of God. Others receive his gifts and graces in a limited
   proportion, both as to their kinds and degrees. To turn this into a
   division of the Spirit himself is the greatest madness. And casting
   aside prejudices, there is no difficulty in the understanding of that
   saying of God to Moses, Num. xi. 17, "I will take of the Spirit which
   is upon thee, and I will put it upon the elders;" for it is evidently
   of the gifts of the Spirit, enabling men for rule and government, that
   God speaketh, and not of the Spirit himself. Without any diminution of
   that Spirit in him, -- that is, of the gifts that he had received, --
   God gave unto them, as lighting their candle by his. And so, also, the
   "double portion of the spirit of Elijah," which Elisha requested for
   himself, was only a large and peculiar measure of prophetical light,
   above what other prophets which he left behind him had received, 2
   Kings ii. 9. He asked P+uiJ+ShN+aJ+iM%, "os duorum" or "duplex;" to
   diploun meros. Or ta dipla This expression is first used, Deut. xxi.
   17, where the double portion of the first-born is intended; so that
   probably it was such a portion among the other prophets as the
   first-born had among the brethren of the same family which he desired:
   and so it came to pass; whence, also, he had the rule and government of
   them.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [43] Apostelletai men to pneuma to hagion oikonomikos, energei de
   autexousios. -- Basil. Hom. xv. de Fide.

   [44] "Etenim si de loco procedit Spiritus et ad locum transit, et ipse
   Pater in loco invenietur et Filius: si de loco exit quem Pater mittit
   aut Filius, utique de loco transiens Spiritus et progediens, et Patrem
   sicut corpus secundum impias interpretationes relinquere videtur et
   Filium. Hoc secundum eos loquor qui dicunt quod habeat Spiritus
   descensorium motum ... Venit non de loco in locum, sed de dispositione
   constitutionis in salutem redemptionis." -- Ambros. de Spir. Sanc. lib.
   i. cap. 11.

   [45] "Quid igitur Spiritus Sancti operatione divinius, cum etiam
   benedictionum suarum praesulem Spiritum Deus ipse testetur, dicens,
   Ponam Spiritum meum super semen tuum, et benedictiones meas super
   filios tuos. Nulla enim potest esse plena benedictio nisi per
   infusionem Spiritus Sancti." -- Ambros. de Spir. Sanc. lib. i. cap. 7.

   [46] "Significat autem effusionis verbum largam et divitem muneris
   abundantiam; itaque cum unus quis alicubi aut duo Spiritum Sanctum
   accipiant non dicitur, `Effundam de Spiritu meo,' sed tunc quando in
   universas gentes munus Spiritus Sancti redundaverit." -- Didym. de
   Spir. Sanc. lib. i.

   [47] "Spiritus Sanctus qui a Patre et Filio procedit, nec ipse coepit;
   quia processio ejus continua est, et ab eo qui non coepit." -- Ambros.
   in Symbol. Apostol., cap. 3."Spiritus quidem Sanctus nec ingenitus est
   nec genitus alicubi dicitur, ne si ingenitus diceretur sicut Pater, duo
   Patres in Sancta Trinitate intelligerentur; aut si genitus diceretur
   sicut Filius, duo itidem Filii in eadem estimarentur esse Sancta
   Trinitate: sed tantummodo procedere de Patre et Filio salva fide
   dicendum est. Qui tamen non de Patre procedit in Filium, et de Filio
   procedit ad sanctificandam creaturam, sicut quidam male intelligentes
   credendum esse putabant, sed simul de utroque procedit. Quia Pater
   talem genuit Filium, ut quemadmodum de se, ita et de illo quoque
   procedat Spiritus Sanctus." -- Aug. Serm. xxxviii. de Tempore.

   [48] Ou gar epeidan pampan akatalepton to Theion dia touto pou pantos
   medolos zetein peri autou proseken, all' en rastone ton tou biou
   katanaliskein chronon; kata de to metron to merithen ekasto para tou
   kuriou, tes gnoseos ten exetasin philoponos poieisthai; hoti men
   akatalepton akribos pepeismenous; eph' hoson de choroumen dia tes
   theorias, heautous ekeino sunaptontas. -- Justin. Martyr. Expositio
   Fidei de recta Confess.

   [49] "Nullus sine Deo, neque ullus non in Deo locus est. In coelis est,
   in inferno est, ultra maria est. Inest interior, excedit exterior.
   Itaque cum habet atque habetur, neque in aliquo ipse, neque non in
   omnibus est." -- Hilar. lib. i. de Trinitat.

   [50] These initials refer to Samuel Parker, in whose "Defence and
   Continuation of the Ecclesiastical Polity," 1671, the sentiments to
   which Owen objects will be found. For an account of Parker, see vol.
   xiii., p. 344 of Owen's works. -- Ed.

   [51] Tauta, oimai, saphos para ton propheton peri tou hagiou pneumatos
   memathekos Platon eis to tes aretes onoma metapheron phainetai. Homoios
   gar hosper hoi hieroi prophetai to hen kai to auto pneuma eis hepta
   pneumata merizesthai phasin, houto kai autos mian kai ten auten
   onomazon areten, tauten eis tessaras aretas merizesthai legei. --
   Justin. Martyr. ad Graec. Cohortat., [cap. xxxii.]Aliter statuit
   Cyprianus seu quisquis fuit author lib. de Spir. Sanc. inter opera
   Cypriani. "Hic est Spiritus Sanctus quem Magi in AEgypto tertii signi
   ostensione convicti, cum sua defecisse praestigia faterentur, Dei
   digitum appellabant, et antiquis philosophis ejus intimarunt
   praesentiam defuisse. Et licet de Patre et Filio aliqua sensissent
   Platonici, Spiritus tamen tumidus et humani appetitor favoris
   santificationem mentis divinae mereri non potuit, et ubi ad
   profunditatem sacramentorum deventum est, omnis eorum caligavit
   subtilitas, nec potuit infidelitas sanctitudini propinquare" -- Cypr.
   de Spir. Sanc.

   [52] Ton tou hagiou; pneumatos axioumenon esti diaphora, pleion e
   elatton lambanonton toi hagiou pneumatos ton pisteuonton. -- Origen.
   Comment. in Matthaeum.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

                                    Book II.
     __________________________________________________________________

Chapter I. Peculiar operations of the Holy Spirit under the Old Testament
preparatory for the New.

   The work of the Spirit of God in the new creation; by some despised --
   Works under the Old Testament preparatory to the new creation --
   Distribution of the works of the Spirit -- The gift of prophecy; the
   nature, use, and end of it -- The beginning of prophecy -- The Holy
   Spirit the only author of it -- The name of a "prophet;" its
   signification, and his work -- Prophecy by inspiration; whence so
   called -- Prophets, how acted by the Holy Ghost -- The adjuncts of
   prophecy, or distinct ways of its communication -- Of articulate voices
   -- Dreams -- Visions -- Accidental adjuncts of prophecy -- Symbolical
   actions -- Local mutations -- Whether unsanctified persons might have
   the gift of prophecy -- The case of Balaam answered -- Of writing the
   Scriptures -- Three things required thereunto -- Of miracles -- Works
   of the Spirit of God in the improvement of the natural faculties of the
   minds of men in things political -- In things moral -- In things
   corporeal -- In things intellectual and artificial -- In preaching of
   the word.

   Having passed through these general things, which are of a necessary
   previous consideration unto the especial works of the Holy Ghost, I now
   proceed unto that which is the principal subject of our present design;
   and this is, the dispensation and work of the Holy Spirit of God with
   respect unto the new creation, and the recovery of mankind or the
   church of God thereby. A matter this is of the highest importance unto
   them that sincerely believe, but most violently, and of late
   virulently, opposed by all the enemies of the grace of God and our Lord
   Jesus Christ. The weight and concernment of the doctrine hereof have in
   part been spoken unto before. I shall at present add no farther
   considerations to the same purpose, but leave all that fear the name of
   God to make a judgment of it by what is revealed concerning it in the
   Scriptures, and the uses whereunto it is in them directed. Many, we
   know, will not receive these things; but whilst we keep ourselves, in
   the handling of them, unto that word whereby one day both we and they
   must either stand or fall, we need not be moved at their ignorance or
   pride, nor at the fruits and effects of them, in reproaches, contempt,
   and scorn: for echei Theos endikon omma.

   Now, the works of the Spirit, in reference unto the new creation, are
   of two sorts:-- First, Such as were preparatory unto it, under the Old
   Testament; for I reckon that the state of the old creation, as unto our
   living unto God, ended with the entrance of sin and giving the first
   promise. Whatever ensued thereon, in a way of grace, was preparatory
   for and unto the new. Secondly, Such as were actually wrought about it
   under the new. Those acts and workings of his which are common to both
   states of the church, -- as is his effectual dispensation of
   sanctifying grace towards the elect of God, -- I shall handle in common
   under the second head. Under the first, I shall only reckon up those
   that were peculiar unto that state. To make way hereunto I shall
   premise two general positions:--

   1. There is nothing excellent amongst men, whether it be absolutely
   extraordinary, and every way above the production of natural
   principles, or whether it consist in an eminent and peculiar
   improvement of those principles and abilities, but it is ascribed unto
   the Holy Spirit of God, as the immediate operator and efficient cause
   of it. This we shall afterward confirm by instances. Of old he was all;
   now, some would have him nothing.

   2. Whatever the Holy Spirit wrought in an eminent manner under the Old
   Testament, it had generally and for the most part, if not absolutely
   and always, a respect unto our Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel; and so
   was preparatory unto the completing of the great work of the new
   creation in and by him.

   And these works of the Holy Spirit may be referred unto the two sorts
   mentioned, namely, -- 1. Such as were extraordinary, and exceeding the
   whole compass of the abilities of nature, however improved and
   advanced; and, 2. Those which consist in the improving and exaltation
   of those abilities, to answer the occasions of life and use of the
   church.

   Those of the first sort may be reduced unto three heads:-- 1. Prophecy.
   2. Inditing of the Scripture. 3. Miracles. Those of the other sort we
   shall find:-- 1. In things political, as skill for government and rule
   amongst men. 2. In things moral, as fortitude and courage. 3. In things
   natural, as increase of bodily strength. 4. In gifts intellectual, --
   (1.) For things sacred, as to preach the word of God; (2.) In things
   artificial, as in Bezaleel and Aholiab. The work of grace on the hearts
   of men being more fully revealed under the New Testament than before,
   and of the same kind and nature in every state of the church since the
   fall, I shall treat of it once for all in its most proper place.

   I. 1. The first eminent gift and work of the Holy Ghost under the Old
   Testament, and which had the most direct and immediate respect unto
   Jesus Christ, was that of prophecy: for the chief and principal end
   hereof in the church was to foresignify him, his sufferings, and the
   glory that should ensue, or to appoint such things to be observed in
   divine worship as might be types and representations of him; for the
   chiefest privilege of the church of old was but to hear tidings of the
   things which we enjoy, Isa. xxxiii. 17. As Moses on the top of Pisgah
   saw the land of Canaan, and in spirit, the beauties of holiness to be
   erected therein, which was his highest attainment; so the best of those
   saints was to contemplate the King of saints in the land that was yet
   very far from them, or Christ in the flesh. And this prospect, which by
   faith they obtained, was their chiefest joy and glory, John viii. 56;
   yet they all ended their days as Moses did, with respect unto the type
   of the gospel state, Deut. iii. 24, 25. So did they, Luke x. 23, 24;
   "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us
   should not be made perfect," Heb. xi. 40. That this was the principal
   end of the gift of prophecy Peter declares, 1 Epist. i. 9-12:
   "Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Of which
   salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who
   prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or
   what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
   when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory
   that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
   themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now
   reported unto you." Some of the ancients apprehended that some things
   were spoken obscurely by the prophets, and not to be understood without
   great search, especially such as concerned the rejection of the Jews,
   lest they should have been provoked to abolish the Scripture itself;
   [53] but the sum and substance of the prophetical work under the Old
   Testament, with the light, design, and ministry of the prophets
   themselves, are declared in those words. The work was, to give
   testimony unto the truth of God in the first promise, concerning the
   coming of the blessed Seed. This was God's method:-- First, he gave
   himself immediately that promise which was the foundation of the
   church, Gen. iii. 15; then by revelation unto the prophets he confirmed
   that promise; after all which the Lord Christ was sent to make them all
   good unto the church, Rom. xv. 8. Herewithal they received fresh
   revelations concerning his person and his sufferings, with the glory
   that was to ensue thereon, and the grace which was to come thereby unto
   the church. Whilst they were thus employed and acted by the Holy Ghost,
   or the Spirit of Christ, they diligently endeavoured to come to an
   acquaintance with the things themselves, in their nature and efficacy,
   which were revealed unto them; [54] yet so as considering that not
   themselves, but some succeeding generations, should enjoy them in their
   actual exhibition. And whilst they were intent on these things, they
   searched also, as far as intimation was given thereof by the Spirit,
   after the time wherein all these things should be accomplished; both
   when it should be, and what manner of time it should be, or what would
   be the state and condition of the people of God in those days. This was
   the principal end of the gift of prophecy, and this the principal work
   and employment of the prophets: The first promise was given by God in
   the person of the Son, as I have proved elsewhere, Gen. iii. 15; but
   the whole explication, confirmation, and declaration of it, was carried
   on by the gift of prophecy.

   The communication of this gift began betimes in the world, and
   continued, without any known interruption, in the possession of someone
   or more in the church at all times, during its preparatory or
   subservient estate. After the finishing of the canon of the Old
   Testament, it ceased in the Judaical church until it had a revival in
   John the Baptist; who was therefore greater than any prophet that went
   before, because he made the nearest approach unto and the clearest
   discovery of the Lord Jesus Christ, the end of all prophecies. Thus God
   "spake by the mouth of his holy prophets," ton ap' aionos, "which have
   been since the world began," Luke i. 70. Adam himself had many things
   revealed unto him, without which he could not have worshipped God
   aright in that state and condition whereinto he was come; for although
   his natural light was sufficient to direct him unto all religious
   services required by the law of creation, yet was it not so unto all
   duties of that state whereinto he was brought by the giving of the
   promise after the entrance of sin. So was he guided unto the observance
   of such ordinances of worship as were needful for him and accepted with
   God, -- as were sacrifices. The prophecy of Enoch is not only
   remembered, but called over and recorded, Jude 14, 15. And it is a
   matter neither curious nor difficult to demonstrate, that all the
   patriarchs of old, before the flood, were guided by a prophetical
   spirit in the imposition of names on those children who were to succeed
   them in the sacred line. Concerning Abraham, God expressly saith
   himself that he was a prophet, Gen. xx. 7, -- that is, one who used to
   receive divine revelations.

   Now, this gift of prophecy was always the immediate effect of the
   operation of the Holy Spirit. So it is both affirmed in general and in
   all the particular instances of it. In the first way, we have the
   illustrious testimony of the apostle Peter: 2 Epist. i. 20, 21,
   "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any
   private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the
   will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
   Ghost." This is a principle among believers, this they grant and allow
   in the first place, as that which they resolve their faith into, --
   namely, that the "sure word of prophecy," which they in all things take
   heed unto, verse 19, was not a fruit of any men's private conceptions,
   nor was subject to the wills of men, so as to attain it or exercise it
   by their own ability; [55] but it was given by "inspiration of God," 2
   Tim. iii. 16: for the Holy Ghost, by acting, moving, guiding the minds
   of holy men, enabled them thereunto. This was the sole fountain and
   cause of all true divine prophecy that ever was given or granted to the
   use of the church. And, in particular, the coming of the Spirit of God
   upon the prophets, enabling them unto their work, is frequently
   mentioned. Micah declares in his own instance how it was with them all:
   Chap. iii. 8, "But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,
   and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression,
   and to Israel his sin." It was from the Spirit of God alone that he had
   all his ability for the discharge of that prophetical office whereunto
   he was called. And when God would endow seventy elders with a gift of
   prophecy, he tells Moses that he would "take of the Spirit that was
   upon him," and give unto them for that purpose; that is, he would
   communicate of the same Spirit unto them as was in him. And where it is
   said at any time that God spake by the prophets, or that the word of
   God came to them, or God spake to them, it is always intended that this
   was the immediate work of the Holy Ghost. So says David of himself,
   "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me," or in me, "and his word was in my
   tongue," 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. Hence our apostle, repeating his words,
   ascribes them directly to the Holy Ghost: Heb. iii. 7, "Wherefore, as
   the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice;" and chap. iv.
   7, "Saying in David." So the words which are ascribed unto the "Lord of
   hosts," Isa. vi. 9, 10, are asserted to be the words of the Holy Ghost,
   Acts xxviii. 25-27. He spake to them, or in them, by his holy
   inspirations; and he spake by them in his effectual infallible guidance
   of them, to utter, declare, and write what they received from him,
   without mistake or variation.

   And this prophecy, as to its exercise, is considered two ways:-- First,
   precisely for the prediction or foretelling things to come; as the
   Greek word, and the Latin traduced from thence, do signify. So prophecy
   is a divine prediction of future things, proceeding from divine
   revelation. But the Hebrew N+oK+o#, -- whence are N+oB+iJ+#, "a
   prophet," and N+B+W+u#oH+, "prophecy," -- is not confined unto any such
   signification, although predictions from supernatural revelation are
   constantly expressed by it. But in general, secondly, the word
   signifies no more but to speak out, interpret, and declare the mind or
   words of another. So God tells Moses that he would "make him a god unto
   Pharaoh," -- one that should deal with him in the name, stead, and
   power of God; and "Aaron his brother should be his prophet," Exod. vii.
   1, -- that is, one that should interpret his meaning and declare his
   words unto Pharaoh, Moses having complained of the defect of his own
   utterance. So prophets are the "interpreters," the declarers of the
   word, will, mind, or oracles of God unto others. Such a one is
   described, Job xxxiii. 23. Hence, those who expounded the Scripture
   unto the church under the New Testament were called "prophets," and
   their work "prophecy," Rom. xii. 6, 1 Cor. xiv. 31, 32; and under the
   Old Testament those that celebrated the praises of God with singing in
   the temple, according to the institution of David, are said therein to
   "prophesy," 1 Chron. xxv. 2. And this name, N+oK+iJ+#, a "prophet," was
   of ancient use; for so God termed Abraham, Gen. xx. 7. Afterward, in
   common use, a prophet was called R+#H+ and X+Z+H+, "a seer," because of
   their divine visions (and this was occasioned from those words of God
   concerning Moses, Num. xii. 6-8; and this being the ordinary way of his
   revealing himself, -- namely, by dreams and visions, -- prophets in
   those days, even from the death of Moses, were commonly called seers,
   which continued in use until the days of Samuel, 1 Sam. ix. 9); and
   #iJ+Sh#L+H+iJ+M%, "a man of God," 1 Sam. ii. 27; which name Paul gives
   to the preachers of the gospel, 1 Tim. vi. 11, 2 Tim. iii. 17. And it
   is not altogether unworthy of observation what Kimchi notes, that the
   verb N+oB+o# is most frequently used in the passive conjugation niphal,
   because it denotes a receiving of that from God by way of revelation
   which is spoken unto others in a way of prophecy. And as it lies before
   us as an extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost, it is neither to be
   confined to the strict notion of prediction and foretelling, nor to be
   extended to every true declaration of the mind of God, but only to that
   which is obtained by immediate revelation.

   This peculiar gift, therefore, of the Holy Spirit we may a little
   distinctly inquire into; and two things concerning it may be
   considered:-- First, Its general nature; Secondly, The particular ways
   whereby especial revelation was granted unto any. First, For its nature
   in general, it consisted in inspiration. [56] So the apostle speaks of
   the prophecies recorded in the Scripture, 2 Tim. iii. 16: theopneustia,
   divine inspiration, was the original and cause of it. And the acting of
   the Holy Ghost in communicating his mind unto the prophets was called
   "inspiration" on a double account:-- First, In answer unto his name and
   nature. The name whereby he is revealed unto us signifieth "breath;"
   and he is called the "breath of God," whereby his essential relation to
   the Father and Son, with his eternal natural emanation from them, is
   expressed. And, therefore, when our Saviour gave him unto his
   disciples, as a proper instructive emblem of what he gave, he breathed
   upon them, John xx. 22. So also in the great work of the infusion of
   the reasonable soul into the body of man, it is said, God "breathed
   into his nostrils the breath of life," Gen. ii. 7. From hence, I say,
   it is, -- namely, from the nature and name of the Holy Spirit, -- that
   his immediate actings on the minds of men, in the supernatural
   communication of divine revelations unto them, is called "inspiration"
   or inbreathing. And the unclean spirit, counterfeiting his actings, did
   inspire his worshippers with a preternatural afflatus, by ways suited
   unto his own filthy vileness. Secondly, This holy work of the Spirit of
   God, as it is expressed suitably to his name and nature, so the
   meekness, gentleness, facility wherewith he works is intended hereby.
   He did, as it were, gently and softly breathe into them the knowledge
   and comprehension of holy things. It is an especial and immediate work,
   wherein he acts suitably unto his nature as a spirit, the spirit or
   breath of God, and suitably unto his peculiar, personal properties of
   meekness, gentleness, and peace. So his acting is inspiration, whereby
   he came within the faculties of the souls of men, acting them with a
   power that was not their own. It is true, when he had thus inspired any
   with the mind of God, they had no rest, nor could have, unless they
   declared it in its proper way and season: Jer. xx. 9, "Then I said, I
   will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name: but his
   word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was
   weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." But this disturbance was
   from a moral sense of their duty, and not from any violent agitations
   of his upon their natures. And whereas sometimes trouble and
   consternation of spirit did befall some of the prophets in and under
   the revelations they received from him, it was on a double account:--
   First, Of the dreadful representations of things that were made unto
   them in visions. Things of great dread and terror were represented unto
   their fancies and imaginations. Secondly, Of the greatness and dread of
   the things themselves revealed, which sometimes were terrible and
   destructive, Dan. vii. 15, 28, viii. 27; Hab. iii. 16; Isa. xxi. 2-4.
   But his inspirations were gentle and placid.

   Secondly, The immediate effects of this inspiration were, that those
   inspired were moved or acted by the Holy Ghost: "Holy men of God
   spake," hupo Pneumatos Hagiou pheromenoi, 2 Pet. i. 21, -- "moved" or
   acted "by the Holy Ghost." And two things are intended hereby:-- First,
   The preparation and elevation of their intellectual faculties, their
   minds and understandings, wherein his revelations were to be received.
   He prepared them for to receive the impressions he made upon them, and
   confirmed their memories to retain them. He did not, indeed, so
   enlighten and raise their minds as to give them a distinct
   understanding and full comprehension of all the things themselves that
   were declared unto them; there was more in their inspirations than they
   could search into the bottom of. [57] Hence, although the prophets
   under the Old Testament were made use of to communicate the clearest
   revelations and predictions concerning Jesus Christ, yet in the
   knowledge and understanding of the meaning of them they were all
   inferior to John Baptist, as he was in this matter to the meanest
   believer, or "least in the kingdom of heaven." Therefore, for their own
   illumination and edification did they diligently inquire, by the
   ordinary means of prayer and meditation, into the meaning of the Spirit
   of God in those prophecies which themselves received by extraordinary
   revelation, 1 Pet. i. 10, 11. Nor did Daniel, who had those express
   representations and glorious visions concerning the monarchies of the
   world, and the providential alterations which should be wrought in
   them, understand what and how things would be in their accomplishment.
   That account he doth give of himself in the close of his visions, chap.
   xii. 8, 9. But he so raised and prepared their minds as that they might
   be capable to receive and retain those impressions of things which he
   communicated unto them. So a man tunes the strings of an instrument,
   that it may in a due manner receive the impressions of his finger, and
   give out the sound he intends. He did not speak in them or by them, and
   leave it unto the use of their natural faculties, their minds, or
   memories, to understand and remember the things spoken by him, and so
   declare them to others; but he himself acted their faculties, making
   use of them to express his words, not their own conceptions. And
   herein, besides other things, consists the difference between the
   inspiration of the Holy Spirit and those so called of the devil. The
   utmost that Satan can do, is to make strong impressions on the
   imaginations of men, or influence their faculties, by possessing,
   wresting, distorting the organs of the body and spirits of the blood.
   The Holy Spirit is in the faculties, and useth them as his organs. And
   this he did, secondly, with that light and evidence of himself, of his
   power, truth, and holiness, as left them liable to no suspicion whether
   their minds were under his conduct and influence or no. Men are subject
   to fall so far under the power of their own imaginations, through the
   prevalency of a corrupt distempered fancy, as to suppose them
   supernatural revelations; and Satan may, and did of old, and perhaps
   doth so still, impose on the minds of some, and communicate unto them
   such a conception of his insinuations, as that they shall for awhile
   think them to be from God himself. But in the inspirations of the Holy
   Spirit, and his actings of the minds of the holy men of old, he gave
   them infallible assurance that it was himself alone by whom they were
   acted, Jer. xxiii. 28. If any shall ask by what tekmeria, or infallible
   tokens, they might know assuredly the inspirations of the Holy Spirit,
   and be satisfied, with such a persuasion as was not liable to mistake,
   that they were not imposed upon, I must say plainly that I cannot tell,
   for these are things whereof we have no experience; nor is any thing of
   this nature, whatever some falsely and foolishly impute unto them who
   profess and avow an interest in the ordinary gracious workings of the
   Holy Ghost, pretended unto. What some frenetical persons, in their
   distempers or under their delusions, have boasted of, no sober or wise
   man esteems worthy of any sedate consideration. But this I say, it was
   the design of the Holy Ghost to give those whom he did thus
   extraordinarily inspire an assurance, sufficient to bear them out in
   the discharge of their duty, that they were acted by himself alone; for
   in the pursuit of their work, which they were by him called unto, they
   were to encounter various dangers, and some of them to lay down their
   lives for a testimony unto the truth of the message delivered by them.
   This they could not be engaged into without as full an evidence of his
   acting them as the nature of man in such cases is capable of. The case
   of Abraham fully confirms it. And it is impossible but that in those
   extraordinary workings there was, such an impression of himself, his
   holiness, and authority, left on their minds, as did secure them from
   all fear of delusion. Even upon the word, as delivered by them unto
   others, he put those characters of divine truth, holiness, and power,
   as rendered it axiopiston, "worthy to be believed," and not to be
   rejected without the highest sin by them unto whom it came. Much more
   was there such an evidence in it unto them who enjoyed its original
   inspiration. Secondly, He acted and guided them as to the very organs
   of their bodies whereby they expressed the revelation which they had
   received by inspiration from him. They spake as they were acted by the
   Holy Ghost. He guided their tongues in the declaration of his
   revelations, as the mind of a man guideth his hand in writing to
   express its conceptions. Hence David, having received revelations from
   him, or being inspired by him, affirms, in his expression of them, that
   "his tongue was the pen of a ready writer," Ps. xlv. 1; that is, it was
   so guided by the Spirit of God to express the conceptions received from
   him. And on this account God is said to speak by their mouths: "As he
   spake by the mouth of his holy prophets," Luke i. 70; -- all of whom
   had but one mouth on the account of their absolute consent and
   agreement in the same predictions; for this is the meaning of "one
   voice" or "one mouth" in a multitude. "The Holy Ghost spake by the
   mouth of David," Acts i. 16. For whatever they received by revelation,
   they were but the pipes through which the waters of it were conveyed,
   without the least mixture with any alloy from their frailties or
   infirmities. So, when David had received the pattern of the temple, and
   the manner of the whole worship of God therein by the Spirit, 1 Chron.
   xxviii. 12, he says, "All this the Lord made me understand in writing
   by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern," [58] verse
   19. The Spirit of God not only revealed it unto him, but so guided him
   in the writing of it down as that he might understand the mind of God
   out of what himself had written; or, he gave it him so plainly and
   evidently as if every particular had been expressed in writing by the
   finger of God.

   (1.) It remaineth that, as unto this first extraordinary work and gift
   of the Holy Ghost, we consider those especial ways and means which he
   made use of in the communication of his mind unto the prophets, with
   some other accidental adjuncts of prophecy. Some, following Maimonides
   in his "More Nebuchim," have, from the several ways of the
   communication of divine revelations, distinguished the degrees of
   prophecy or of the gifts of it, preferring one above another. This I
   have elsewhere disproved, "Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews,"
   chap. 1. Neither, indeed, is there, either hence or from any other
   ground, the least occasion to feign those eleven degrees of prophecy
   which he thought he had found out; much less may the spirit or gift of
   prophecy be attained by the ways he prescribes, and with Tatianus seems
   to give countenance unto. [59] The distinct outward manners and ways of
   revelation mentioned in the Scriptures may be reduced unto three
   heads:-- 1. Voices; 2. Dreams; 3. Visions. And the accidental adjuncts
   of it are two:-- 1. Symbolical actions; 2. Local mutations. The
   schoolmen, after Aquinas, 22. q. 174, a. 1, do commonly reduce the
   means of revelation unto three heads. For whereas there are three ways
   whereby we come to know any thing, -- 1. By our external senses; 2. By
   impressions on the fantasy or imagination; 3. By pure acts of the
   understanding: so God by three ways revealed his will unto the
   prophets, -- 1. By objects of their senses, as by audible voices; 2. By
   impressions on the imagination in dreams and visions; 3. By
   illustration or enlightening of their minds. But as this last way
   expresseth divine inspiration, I cannot acknowledge it as a distinct
   way of revelation by itself, for it was that which was absolutely
   necessary to give an infallible assurance of mind in the other ways
   also; and setting that aside, there is none of them but is obnoxious to
   delusion.

   First, God sometimes made use of an articulate voice, speaking out
   those things which he did intend to declare in words significant of
   them. So he revealed himself or his mind unto Moses, when he "spake
   unto him face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend," Exod.
   xxxiii. 11; Num. xii. 8. And as far as I can observe, the whole
   revelation made unto Moses was by outward, audible, articulate voices,
   whose sense was impressed on his mind by the Holy Spirit; for an
   external voice without an inward elevation and disposition of mind is
   not sufficient to give security and assurance of truth unto him that
   doth receive it. So God spake to Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 12-18, as also to
   Samuel and Jeremiah, and it may be to all the rest of the prophets at
   their first calling and entrance into their ministry; for words formed
   miraculously by God, and conveyed sensibly unto the outward ears of
   men, carry a great majesty and authority with them. This was not the
   usual way of God's revealing his mind, nor is it signified by that
   phrase of speech, "The word of the Lord came unto me;" whereby no more
   is intended but an immediate revelation, by what way or means soever it
   was granted. Mostly this was by that secret effectual impression on
   their minds which we have before described. And these voices were
   either immediately created by God himself, as when he spake unto Moses,
   -- wherein the eminency of the revelation made unto him principally
   consisted, -- or the ministry of angels was used in the formation and
   pronunciation of them. But, as we observed before, the divine certainty
   of their minds to whom they were spoken, with their abilities
   infallibly to declare them unto others, was from an immediate internal
   work of the Spirit of God upon them. Without this the prophets might
   have been imposed on by external audible voices, nor would they by
   themselves give their minds an infallible assurance.

   Secondly, Dreams were made use of under the Old Testament to the same
   purpose, and unto them also I refer all those visions which they had in
   their sleep, though not called dreams; [60] and these, in this case,
   were the immediate operation of the Holy Ghost, as to the divine and
   infallible impressions they conveyed to the minds of men. Hence, in the
   promise of the plentiful pouring out of the Spirit, or communication of
   his gifts, mention is made of dreams: Acts ii. 17, "I will pour out of
   my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall
   prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
   dream dreams." Not that God intended much to make use of this way of
   dreams and nocturnal visions under the New Testament; but the intention
   of the words is, to show that there should be a plentiful effusion of
   that Spirit which acted by these various ways and means then under the
   Old. Only, as to some particular directions God did sometimes continue
   his intimations by visions in the rest of the night. Such a vision had
   Paul, Acts xvi. 10. But of old this was more frequent. So God made a
   signal revelation unto Abraham, when the "deep sleep fell upon him, and
   horror of great darkness," Gen. xv. 12-16; and Daniel "heard the voice
   of the words" of him that spake unto him "when he was in a deep sleep,"
   Dan. x. 9. But this sleep of theirs I look not on as natural, but as
   that which God sent and cast them into, that therein he might represent
   the image of things unto their imaginations. So of old he caused a
   "deep sleep to fall upon Adam," Gen. ii. 21. The Jews distinguish
   between dreams and those visions in sleep, as they may be distinctly
   considered; but I cast them together under one head, of revelation in
   sleep. And this way of revelation was so common, that one who pretended
   to prophesy would cry out, X+oL+aM+T+uiJ+ X+oL+oM+T+uiJ+, "I have
   dreamed, I have dreamed," Jer. xxiii. 25. And by the devil's imitation
   of God's dealing with his church, this became a way of vaticination
   among the heathen also: Hom. i. 63, Kai gar t' onar ek Dios estin, --
   "A dream is from Jupiter." And when the reprobate Jews were deserted as
   to all divine revelations, they pretended unto a singular skill in the
   interpretation of dreams; on the account of their deceit wherein they
   were sufficiently infamous.


   "Qualiacumque voles Judaei somia vendunt."

   [Juv., vi. 546.]

   Thirdly, God revealed himself in and by visions or representations of
   things to the in ward or outward senses of the prophets. And this way
   was so frequent that it bare the name for a season of all prophetical
   revelations; for so we observed before, that a prophet of old time was
   called a "seer," and that because in their receiving of their
   prophecies they saw visions also. So Isaiah terms his whole glorious
   prophecy, X+oZ+W+N% #ShR+ X+oZ+oH+, "The vision which he saw," chap. i.
   1; partly from the especial representations of things that were made
   unto him, chap. vi. 1-4; and partly, it may be, from the evidence of
   the things revealed unto him, which were cleared as fully to his mind
   as if he had had an ocular inspection of them. So, from the matter of
   them, prophecies began in common to be called "The burden of the Lord;"
   for he burdened their consciences with his word, and their persons with
   its execution. But when false prophets began to make frequent use and
   to serve themselves of this expression, it was forbidden, Jer. xxiii.
   33, 36; and yet we find that there is mention hereof about the same
   time, it may be, by Hab. i. 1; as also after the return from the
   captivity, Zech. ix. 1, Mal. i. 1. Either, therefore, this respected
   that only season wherein false prophets abounded, whom God would thus
   deprive of their pretence; or, indeed, the people, by contempt and
   scorn, did use that expression as that which was familiar unto the
   prophets in their denunciation of God's judgments against them, which
   God here rebukes them for and threatens to revenge. But none of the
   prophets had all their revelations by visions; nor doth this concern
   the communication of the gift of prophecy, but its exercise. And their
   visions are particularly recorded. Such were those of Isa. vi.; Jer. i.
   11-16; Ezek. i., and the like. Now, these visions were of two sorts:
   [61] -- 1. Outward representations of things unto the bodily eyes of
   the prophets; 2. Inward representations unto their minds. 1. There were
   sometimes appearances of persons or things made to their outward
   senses; and herein God made use of the ministry of angels. Thus three
   men appeared unto Abraham, Gen. xviii. 1, 2; one whereof was the Son of
   God himself; the other two, ministering angels; as hath been proved
   elsewhere. So was the burning bush which Moses saw, Exod. iii. 2; the
   appearances without similitude of any living thing on mount Sinai at
   the giving of the law, Exod. xix.; the man that Joshua saw at the siege
   of Jericho, chap. v. 13, 14. Such were the seething-pot and almond-rod
   seen by Jeremiah, chap. i. 11, 13, as also his baskets of figs, [chap.
   xiv. 1-3;] and many more of the like kind might be instanced in. In
   these cases God made representations of things unto their outward
   senses. 2. They were made sometimes only to their minds. So it is said
   expressly that when Peter saw his vision of a sheet knit at the four
   comers, and let down from heaven to earth, he was in a "trance:"
   Epepesen ep' auton ekstasis, Acts x. 10. An "ecstasy seized on him,"
   whereby for a season he was deprived of the use of his bodily senses.
   And to this head I refer Daniel's and the apocalyptical visions.
   Especially I do so [refer] all those wherein a representation was made
   of God himself and his glorious throne; such as that of Micaiah, 1
   Kings xxii. 19-22; and Isa. vi.; and Ezek. i. It is evident that in all
   these there was no use of the bodily senses of the prophets, but only
   their minds were affected with the ideas and representation of things;
   but this was so effectual as that they understood not but that they
   also made use of their visive faculty. Hence Peter, when he was
   actually delivered out of prison, thought a good while that he had only
   "seen a vision," Acts xii. 9; for he knew how powerfully the mind was
   wont to be affected by them. Now, these visions of both sorts were
   granted unto the prophets to confirm their minds in the apprehension of
   the things communicated unto them for the instruction of others; for
   hereby they were deeply affected with them, whereunto a clear idea and
   representation of things doth effectually tend. But yet two things were
   required to render these visions direct and complete parts of divine
   revelation:-- 1. That the minds of the prophets were acted, guided, and
   raised in a due manner by the Holy Spirit for the receiving of them.
   This gave them their assurance that their visions were from God. 2. His
   enabling them faithfully to retain, and infallibly to declare, what was
   so represented unto them. For instance, Ezekiel receiveth a vision, by
   way of representation unto his mind of a glorious fabric of a temple,
   to instruct the church in the spiritual glory and beauty of
   gospel-worship which was to be introduced, chap. xli.-xlvi. It seems
   utterly impossible for the mind of man to conceive and retain at once
   all the harmonious structure, dimensions, and laws of the fabric
   represented. This was the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost, -- namely,
   to implant and preserve the idea presented unto him on his mind, and to
   enable him accurately and infallibly to declare it. So David affirms
   that the Spirit of God made him to understand the pattern of the temple
   built by Solomon, "in writing by his hand upon him."

   (2.) There were some accidental adjuncts of prophecy, which at some
   times accompanied it:--

   First, In the revelation of the will of God to the prophets, they were
   sometimes enjoined symbolical actions. So Isaiah was commanded to "walk
   naked and bare-foot," chap. xx. 1-3; Jeremiah, to dispose of a "linen
   girdle," chap. xiii. 1-5; Ezekiel, to "lie in the siege," chap. iv.
   1-3, and to remove the "stuff of his house," chap. xii. 3, 4; Hosea, to
   take "a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms," chap. i. 2. I
   shall be brief in what is frequently spoken unto. Some of these things,
   as Isaiah's going naked, and Hosea's taking a wife of whoredoms,
   contain things in them against the light of nature and the express law
   of God, and of evil example unto others. None of these, therefore, can
   be granted to have been actually done; only these things were
   represented unto them in visions, to take the deeper impression upon
   them. And what they saw or did in vision they speak positively of their
   so seeing or doing: see Ezek. viii. For the other instances, I know
   nothing but that the things reported might be really performed, and not
   in vision only. And it is plain that Ezekiel was commanded to do the
   things he did in the sight of the people, for their more evident
   conviction, chap. xii. 4-6; and on the sight whereof they made inquiry
   what those things belonged unto them, chap. xxiv. 19.

   Secondly, Their revelations were accompanied with local mutations, or
   rather being carried and transported from one place unto another. So
   was it with chap. viii. 3, xi. 24. And it is expressly said that it was
   "in the visions of God." Falling, by divine dispensation, into a trance
   or ecstasy, wherein their outward senses were suspended [in] their
   operation, their minds and understandings were, unto their own
   apprehension, carried in a holy rapture from one place unto another:
   which was effected only by a divine and efficacious representation of
   the things unto them which were done in the places from whence they
   were really absent.

   And these are some of those accidents of prophetical revelations which
   are recorded in the Scripture; and it is possible that some other
   instances of the like nature may be observed. And all these belong to
   the polutropia tes theias epiluseos, or manifold variety of divine
   revelations, mentioned Heb. i. 1.

   But here a doubt of no small difficulty nor of less importance presents
   itself unto us, -- namely, whether the Holy Ghost did ever grant the
   holy inspirations, and the gift of prophecy thereby, unto men wicked
   and unsanctified; [62] for the apostle Peter tells us that "holy men
   spake of old as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," 2 Pet. i. 21, which
   seems to intimate that all those who were inspired and moved by him, as
   to this gift of prophecy, were holy men of God. [63] And yet, on the
   other hand, we shall find that true prophecies have been given out by
   men seeming utterly void of all sanctifying grace. And, to increase the
   difficulty, it is certain that great predictions, and those with
   respect unto Christ himself, have been given and made by men guided and
   acted for the most part by the devil. So was it with Balaam, who was a
   sorcerer that gave himself to diabolical enchantments and divinations;
   and, as such an one, was destroyed by God's appointment. Yea, at or
   about the same time wherein he uttered a most glorious prophecy
   concerning the Messiah, the Star of Jacob, being left unto his own
   spirit and inclination, he gave cursed advice and counsel for the
   drawing of the people of God into destructive and judgment-procuring
   sins, Num. xxxi. 16. And in the whole of his enterprise he thought to
   have satisfied his covetousness with a reward for cursing them by his
   enchantments. And yet this man not only professeth of himself that he
   "heard the words of God," and "saw the vision of the Almighty," Num.
   xxiv. 4, but did actually foretell and prophesy glorious things
   concerning Christ and his kingdom. Shall we, then, think that the Holy
   Spirit of God will immix his own holy inspirations with the wicked
   suggestions of the devil in a soothsayer? or shall we suppose that the
   devil was the author of those predictions, whereas God reproacheth
   false gods, and their prophets acted by them, that they could not
   declare the things that should happen, nor show the things that were to
   come afterward? Isa. xli. 22, 23. So, also, it is said of Saul that
   "the Spirit of the Lord departed from him, and an evil spirit terrified
   him," 1 Sam. xvi. 14; and yet, afterward, that the "Spirit of God came
   upon him, and he prophesied," chap. xix. 23. The old prophet at Bethel
   who lied unto the prophet that came from Judah, and that in the name of
   the Lord, seducing him unto sin and destruction, and probably defiled
   with the idolatry and false worship of Jeroboam, was yet esteemed a
   prophet, and did foretell what came to pass, 1 Kings xiii. 11-29.

   Sundry things may be offered for the solution of this difficulty; for,
   -- 1. As to that place of the apostle Peter, (1.) It may not be taken
   universally that all who prophesied at any time were personally holy,
   but only that for the most part so they were. (2.) He seems to speak
   particularly of them only who were penmen of the Scripture, and of
   those prophecies which remain therein for the instruction of the
   church; concerning whom I no way doubt but that they were all
   sanctified and holy. (3.) It may be that he understandeth not real
   inherent holiness, but only a separation and dedication unto God by
   especial office; which is a thing of another nature. 2. The gift of
   prophecy is granted not to be in itself and its own nature a
   sanctifying grace, nor is the inspiration so whereby it is wrought; for
   whereas it consists in an affecting of the mind with a transient
   irradiation of light in hidden things, it neither did nor could of
   itself produce faith, love, or holiness in the heart. Another work of
   the Holy Ghost was necessary hereunto. 3. There is, therefore, no
   inconsistency in this matter, that God should grant an immediate
   inspiration unto some that were not really sanctified. And yet I would
   not grant this to have been actually done without a just limitation;
   for whereas some were established to be prophets unto the church in the
   whole course of their lives, after their first call from God, as
   Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets
   mentioned in the Scripture, in like manner I no way doubt but they were
   all of them really sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God. But others
   there were who had only some occasional discoveries of hidden or future
   things made unto them, or fell into some ecstasies or raptures, with a
   supernatural agitation of their minds (as it is twice said of Saul),
   for a short season. And I see no reason why we may not grant, -- yea,
   from Scripture testimonies we must grant, -- that many such persons may
   be so acted by the Holy Spirit of God. So was it with wicked Caiaphas,
   who is said to "prophesy," John xi. 51; and a great prophecy indeed it
   was which his words expressed, greater than which there is none in the
   Scripture. But the wretch himself knew nothing of the importance of
   what was uttered by him. A sudden impression of the Spirit of God
   caused him, against his intention, to utter a sacred truth, and that
   because he was high priest; whose words were of great reputation with
   the people. [64] And as Balaam was overruled to prophesy and speak good
   of Israel, when he really designed and desired to curse them; so this
   Caiaphas, designing the destruction of Jesus Christ, brought forth
   those words which expressed the salvation of the world by his death. 4.
   For the difficulty about Balaam himself, who was a sorcerer, and the
   devil's prophet, I acknowledge it is of importance. But sundry things
   may be offered for the removal of it. Some do contend that Balaam was a
   prophet of God only; that indeed he gave himself unto judicial
   astrology, and the conjecture of future events from natural causes, but
   as to his prophecies, they were all divine; and the light of them,
   affecting only the speculative part of his mind, had no influence upon
   his will, heart, and affections, which were still corrupt. This
   Tostatus pleadeth for. But as it is expressly said that he "sought for
   enchantments," Num. xxiv. 1, so the whole description of his course and
   end gives him up as a cursed sorcerer: and he is expressly called
   H+aQ+uW+S+M%, "the soothsayer," Josh. xiii. 22; which word though we
   have once rendered by "prudent," -- that is, one who prudently
   conjectureth at future events according unto present appearing causes,
   Isa. iii. 2, -- yet it is mostly used for a diabolical diviner or
   soothsayer. And for what he said of himself, that he "heard the words
   of God," and "saw the vision of the Almighty," it might be only his own
   boasting to procure veneration to his diabolical incantations. But in
   reputation we find he was in those days in the world; and supposed he
   was to utter divine oracles unto men. This God in his providence made
   use of to give out a testimony to the nations concerning the coming of
   the Messiah, the report whereof was then almost lost amongst men. In
   this condition it may be granted that the good Spirit of God, without
   the least reflection on the majesty and purity of his own holiness, did
   overrule the power of the devil, cast out his suggestions from the
   man's mind, and gave such an impression of sacred truths in the room of
   them as he could not but utter and declare: for that instant he did, as
   it were, take the instrument out of the hand of Satan, and, by his
   impression on it, caused it to give a sound according to his mind;
   which when he had done, he left it again unto his possession. And I
   know not but that he might do so sometimes with others among the
   Gentiles who were professedly given up to receive and give out the
   oracles of the devil. So he made the damsel possessed with a spirit of
   divination and soothsaying to acknowledge Paul and his companions to be
   "servants of the most high God," to "show to men the way of salvation,"
   Acts xvi. 16, 17. And this must be acknowledged by them who suppose
   that the sibyls gave out predictions concerning Jesus Christ, seeing
   the whole strain of their prophetical oracles were expressly
   diabolical. And no conspiracy of men or devils shall cause him to
   forego his sovereignty over them, and the using of them to his own
   glory. 5. The case of Saul is plain. The Spirit of the Lord who
   departed from him was the Spirit of wisdom, moderation, and courage, to
   fit him for rule and government, -- that is, the gifts of the Holy
   Ghost unto that purpose, which he withdrew from him; and the evil
   spirit that was upon him proceeded no farther but to the stirring up
   vexatious and disquieting affections of mind. And notwithstanding this
   molestation and punishment inflicted on him, the Spirit of God might at
   a season fall upon him, so as to cast him into a rapture or ecstasy,
   wherein his mind was acted and exercised in an extraordinary manner,
   and himself transported into actions that were not at all according
   unto his own inclinations. So is this case well resolved by Augustine.
   [65] And [as] for the old prophet at Bethel, 1 Kings xiii. 11-32,
   although he appears to have been an evil man, yet he was one whom God
   made use of to reveal his mind sometimes to that people; nor is it
   probable that he was under satanical delusions, like the prophets of
   Baal, for he is absolutely called a prophet, and the word of the Lord
   did really come unto him, verses 20-22.

   2. The writing of the Scripture was another effect of the Holy Ghost,
   which had its beginning under the Old Testament. I reckon this as a
   distinct gift from prophecy in general, or rather, a distinct species
   or kind of prophecy: for many prophets there were divinely inspired who
   yet never wrote any of their prophecies, nor any thing else for the use
   of the church; and many penmen of the Scripture were no prophets, in
   the strict sense of that name. And the apostle tells us that the
   graphe, the scripture or writing itself, was by "inspiration of God," 2
   Tim. iii. 16; as David affirms that he had the pattern of the temple
   from the Spirit of God in writing, because of his guidance of him in
   putting its description into writing, 1 Chron. xxviii. 19. Now, this
   ministry was first committed unto Moses, who, besides the five books of
   the Law, probably also wrote the story of Job. Many prophets there were
   before him, but he was the first who committed the will of God to
   writing after God himself, who wrote the law in tables of stone; which
   was the beginning and pattern of the Scriptures. The writers of the
   historical books of the Old Testament before the captivity are unknown.
   The Jews call them N+B+J+#J+M% R+#ShW+N+J+M%, "the first" or "former
   prophets." Who they were in particular is not known; but certain it is
   that they were of the number of those holy men of God who of old wrote
   and spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Hence are they called
   "prophets;" for although they wrote in an historical manner, as did
   Moses also, concerning things past and gone in their days, or it may be
   presently acted in their own times, yet they did not write them either
   from their own memory nor from tradition, nor from the rolls or records
   of time (although they might be furnished with and skilled in these
   things), but by the inspiration, guidance, and direction of the Holy
   Ghost. Hence are they called "prophets," in such a latitude as the word
   may be used in to signify any that are divinely inspired, or receive
   immediate revelations from God. And thus was it with all the penmen of
   the holy Scripture. As their minds were under that full assurance of
   divine inspiration which we before described, so their words which they
   wrote were under the especial care of the same Spirit; and were of his
   suggestion or inditing.

   There were, therefore, three things concurring in this work:-- First,
   The inspiration of the minds of these prophets with the knowledge and
   apprehension of the things communicated unto them. Secondly, The
   suggestion of words unto them to express what their minds conceived.
   Thirdly, The guidance of their hands in setting down the words
   suggested, or of their tongues in uttering them unto those by whom they
   were committed to writing, as Baruch wrote the prophecy of Jeremiah
   from his mouth, Jer. xxxvi. 4, 18. If either of these were wanting, the
   Scripture could not be absolutely and every way divine and infallible;
   for if the penmen of it were left unto themselves in any thing wherein
   that writing was concerned, who can secure us that nihil humani, no
   human imperfection, mixed itself therewithal? I know some think that
   the matter and substance of things only was communicated unto them, but
   as for the words whereby it was to be expressed, that was left unto
   themselves and their own abilities: and this they suppose is evident
   from that variety of style which, according to their various
   capacities, education, and abilities, is found amongst them. "This
   argues," as they say, "that the wording of their revelations was left
   unto themselves, and was the product of their natural abilities." This,
   in general, I have spoken unto elsewhere, and manifested what mistakes
   sundry have run into about the style of the holy penmen of the
   Scripture. Here I shall not take up what hath been argued and evinced
   in another place. I only say that the variety intended ariseth mostly
   from the variety of the subject-matters treated of; nor is it such as
   will give any countenance to the profaneness of this opinion, for the
   Holy Ghost in his work on the minds of men doth not put a force upon
   them, nor act them any otherwise than they are in their own natures,
   and with their present endowments and qualifications, meet to be acted
   and used. He leads and conducts them in such paths as wherein they are
   able to walk. The words, therefore, which he suggests unto them are
   such as they are accustomed unto, and he causeth them to make use of
   such expressions as were familiar unto themselves. So he that useth
   diverse seals maketh different impressions, though the guidance of them
   all be equal and the same; and he that toucheth skilfully several
   musical instruments, variously tuned, maketh several notes of music. We
   may also grant, and do, that they used their own abilities of mind and
   understanding in the choice of words and expressions: so the Preacher
   "sought to find out acceptable words," Eccles. xii. 10. But the Holy
   Spirit, who is more intimate unto the minds and skill of men than they
   are themselves, did so guide, act, and operate in them, as that the
   words they fixed upon were as directly and certainly from him as if
   they had been spoken to them by an audible voice. Hence "that which was
   written was upright, even words of truth," as in that place. This must
   be so, or they could not speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,
   nor could their writing be said to be of divine inspiration. Hence,
   ofttimes, in the original, great senses and significations depend on a
   single letter; as, for instance, in the change of the name of Abraham:
   and our Saviour affirms that every apex and iota of the law is under
   the care of God, as that which was given by inspiration from himself,
   Matt. v. 18. But I have on other occasions treated of these things, and
   shall not, therefore, here enlarge upon them. [66]

   3. The third sort of the immediate extraordinary operations of the Holy
   Ghost, absolutely exceeding the actings and compliance of human
   faculties, are miracles of all sorts, which were frequent under the Old
   Testament. Such were many things wrought by Moses and Joshua, Elijah
   and Elisha, with some others; those by Moses exceeding, if the Jews
   fail not in their computation, all the rest that are recorded in the
   Scripture. Now, these were all the immediate effects of the divine
   power of the Holy Ghost. He is the sole author of all real miraculous
   operations; for by "miracles" we understand such effects as are really
   beyond and above the power of natural causes, however applied unto
   operation. Now, it is said expressly that our Lord Jesus Christ wrought
   miracles (for instance, the casting out of devils from persons
   possessed) by the Holy Ghost; and if their immediate production were by
   him in the human nature of Jesus Christ, personally united unto the Son
   of God, how much more must it be granted that it was he alone by whose
   power they were wrought in those who had no such relation unto the
   divine nature! And, therefore, where they are said to be wrought by the
   "hand" or "finger of God," it is the person of the Holy Spirit which is
   precisely intended, as we have declared before. And the persons by whom
   they were wrought were never the real subjects of the power whereby
   they were wrought, as though it should be inherent and residing in them
   as a quality, Acts iii. 12, 16; only, they were infallibly directed by
   the Holy Ghost by word or action to pre-signify their operation. So was
   it with Joshua when he commanded the sun and moon to stand still, chap.
   x. 12. There was no power in Joshua, no, not [even] extraordinarily
   communicated to him, to have such a real influence upon the whole frame
   of nature as to effect so great an alteration therein: only, he had a
   divine warranty to speak that which God himself would effect; whence it
   is said that therein "the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man,"
   verse 14. It is a vanity of the greatest magnitude in some of the Jews,
   as Maimonides, ("More Nebuch.," page 2, cap. xxxv.,) Levi B. Gerson on
   the place, and others, who deny any fixation of the sun and moon, and
   judge that it is only the speed of Joshua in subduing his enemies
   before the close of that day which is intended. This they contend for,
   lest Joshua should be thought to have wrought a greater miracle than
   Moses! But as the prophet Habakkuk is express to the contrary, chap.
   iii. 11, and their own Sirachides, cap. xlv., xlvi., so it is no small
   prevarication in some Christians to give countenance unto such a putid
   fiction. See Grot. in loc. It is so in all other miraculous operations,
   even where the parts of the bodies of men were made instrumental of the
   miracle itself, as in the gift of tongues. They who had that gift did
   not so speak from any skill or ability residing in them, but they were
   merely organs of the Holy Ghost, which he moved at his pleasure. Now,
   the end of all these miraculous operations was, to give reputation to
   the persons, and to confirm the ministry of them by whom they were
   wrought; for as at first they were the occasion of wonder and
   astonishment, so upon their consideration they evidenced the respect
   and regard of God unto such persons and their work. So when God sent
   Moses to declare his will in an extraordinary manner unto the people of
   Israel, he commands him to work several miracles or signs before them,
   that they might believe that he was sent of God, Exod. iv. 8, 9. And
   such works were called signs, because they were tokens and pledges of
   the presence of the Spirit of God with them by whom they were wrought.
   Nor was this gift ever bestowed on any man alone, or for its own sake;
   but it was always subordinate unto the work of revealing or declaring
   the mind of God.

   And these are the general heads of the extraordinary operations of the
   Holy Spirit of God in works exceeding all human or natural abilities,
   in their whole kind.

   II. The next sort of the operations of the Holy Ghost under the Old
   Testament, whose explanation was designed, is of those whereby he
   improved, through immediate impressions of his own power, the natural
   faculties and abilities of the minds of men; and these, as was
   intimated, have respect to things political, moral, natural, and
   intellectual, with some of a mixed nature:--

   1. He had in them respect unto things political. Such were his gifts
   whereby he enabled sundry persons unto rule and civil government
   amongst men. Government, or supreme rule, is of great concernment unto
   the glory of God in the world, and of the highest usefulness unto
   mankind. Without it the whole world would be filled with violence, and
   become a stage for all wickedness visibly and openly to act itself upon
   in disorder and confusion. And all men confess that unto a due
   management hereof unto its proper ends, sundry peculiar gifts and
   abilities of mind are required in them and needful for them who are
   called thereunto. These are they themselves to endeavour after, and
   sedulously to improve the measures which they have attained of them, --
   and where this is by any neglected, the world and themselves will
   quickly feed on the fruits of that negligence; -- but yet, because the
   utmost of what men may of this kind obtain by their ordinary
   endeavours, and an ordinary blessing thereon, is not sufficient for
   some especial ends which God aimed at in and by their rule and
   government, the Holy Ghost did oftentimes give an especial improvement
   unto their abilities of mind by his own immediate and extraordinary
   operation; and in some cases he manifested the effects of his power
   herein by some external, visible signs of his coming on them in whom he
   so wrought. So, in the first institution of the sanhedrim, or court of
   seventy elders, to bear together with Moses the burden of the people in
   their rule and government, the Lord is said to "put his Spirit upon
   them;" and [it is said] that "the Spirit rested on them:" Num. xi. 16,
   17, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the
   elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and
   officers over them. And I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee,
   and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people
   with thee." Verse 25, "And the Lord took of the Spirit that was upon
   Moses, and gave it unto the seventy elders, and the Spirit rested upon
   them." That which these elders were called unto was a share in the
   supreme role and government of the people, which was before entirely in
   the hand of Moses. This the occasion of their call declares, verses
   11-15. And they were ShTjR+iJ+M%, "inferior officers" before, such as
   they had in Egypt, who influenced the people by their counsel and
   arbitration, Exod. iii. 16, v. 6, xxiv. 1, 9. Now they had a supreme
   power in judgment committed to them, and were thence called #L+H+iJ+M%,
   or "gods;" for these were they "unto whom the word of God came," who
   were thence called gods, John x. 34-36, Ps. lxxxii. 6, and not the
   prophets, who had neither power nor rule. And on them the Spirit of God
   that was in Moses rested; that is, wrought the same abilities for
   government in them as he had received, -- that is, wisdom,
   righteousness, diligence, courage, and the like, that they might judge
   the people wisely, and look to the execution of the law impartially.
   Now, when the Spirit of God thus rested on them, it is said "They
   prophesied, and did not cease," Num. xi. 25, 26; that is, they sang or
   spake forth the praises of God in such a way and manner as made it
   evident unto all that they were extraordinarily acted by the Holy
   Ghost. So is that word used, 1 Sam. x. 10, and elsewhere. But this gift
   and work of prophecy was not the especial end for which they were
   endowed by the Spirit, for they were now called, as hath been declared,
   unto rule and government; but because their authority and rule was new
   among the people, God gave that visible sign and pledge of his calling
   them to their office, that they might have a due veneration of their
   persons, and acquiesce in their authority. And hence, from the
   ambiguity of that word W+L+# J+oS+oP+W+u, which we render "And did not
   cease," -- "They prophesied, and did not cease," verse 25, -- which may
   signify to "add" as well as to "cease," many of the Jews affirm that
   they so prophesied no more but that day only: "They prophesied then,
   and added not," -- that is, to do so anymore. So when God would erect a
   kingdom amongst them, which was a new kind of government unto them, and
   designed Saul to be the person that should reign, it is said that he
   "gave him another heart," 1 Sam. x. 9, -- that is, "the Spirit of God
   came upon him," as it is elsewhere expressed, to endow him with that
   wisdom and magnanimity that might make him meet for kingly rule. And
   because he was new called from a low condition unto royal dignity, the
   communication of the Spirit of God unto him was accompanied with a
   visible sign and token, that the people might acquiesce in his
   government, who were ready to despise his person; for he had also an
   extraordinary afflatus of the Spirit, expressing itself in a "visible
   rapture," verses 10, 11. And in like manner he dealt with others. For
   this cause, also, he instituted the ceremony of anointing at their
   inauguration; for it was a token of the communication of the gifts of
   the Holy Ghost unto them, though respect was had therein to Jesus
   Christ, who was to be anointed with all his fullness, of whom they were
   types unto that people. Now, these gifts for government are natural and
   moral abilities of the minds of men; such as are prudence,
   righteousness, courage, zeal, clemency, and the like. And when the Holy
   Ghost fell upon any persons to enable them for political rule and the
   administration of the civil power, he did not communicate gifts and
   abilities unto them quite of another kind, but only gave them an
   extraordinary improvement of their own ordinary abilities. And, indeed,
   so great is the burden wherewith a just and useful government is
   attended, so great and many are the temptations which power and a
   confluence of earthly things will invite and draw towards them, that
   without some especial assistance of the Holy Spirit of God, men cannot
   choose but either sink under the weight of it, or wretchedly miscarry
   in its exercise and management. This made Solomon, when God, in the
   beginning of his reign, gave him his option of all earthly desirable
   thing, to prefer wisdom and knowledge for rule before them all, 2
   Chron. i. 7-12; and this he received from him who is the "Spirit of
   wisdom and understanding," Isa. xi. 2. And if the rulers of the earth
   would follow this example, and be earnest with God for such supplies of
   his Spirit as might enable them unto a holy, righteous discharge of
   their office, it would, in many places, be better with them and the
   world than it is or can be where is the state of things described Hos.
   vii. 3-5. Now, God of old did carry this dispensation out of the pale
   of the church, for the effecting of some especial ends of his own; and
   I no way question but that he continueth still so to do. Thus he
   anointed Cyrus, and calls him his "anointed" accordingly, Isa. xlv. 1;
   for Cyrus had a double work to do for God, in both parts whereof he
   stood in need of his especial assistance. He was to execute his
   judgments and vengeance on Babylon, as also to deliver his people, that
   they might re-edify the temple. For both these he stood in need of, and
   did receive, especial aid from the Spirit of God, though he was in
   himself but a "ravenous bird" of prey, chap. xlvi. 11: for the gifts of
   this Holy One in this kind wrought no real holiness in them on whom
   they were bestowed; they were only given them for the good and benefit
   of others, with their own success in what they attempted unto that
   purpose. Yea, and many on whom they are bestowed never consider the
   author of them, but sacrifice to their own nets and drags, and look on
   themselves as the springs of their own wisdom and ability. But it is no
   wonder that all regard unto the gifts of the Holy Ghost in the
   government of the world is despised, when his whole work in and towards
   the church itself is openly derided.

   2. We may add hereunto those especial endowments with some moral
   virtues, which he granted unto sundry persons for the accomplishment of
   some especial design. So he came upon Gideon and upon Jephthah, to
   anoint them unto the work of delivering the people from their
   adversaries in battle, Judges vi. 34, xi. 29. It is said before of them
   both that they were "men of valour," chap. vi. 12, xi. 1. This coming,
   therefore, of the Spirit of God upon them, and clothing of them, was
   his especial excitation of their courage, and his fortifying of their
   minds against those dangers they were to conflict withal. And this he
   did by such an efficacious impression of his power upon them as that
   both themselves received thereby a confirmation of their call, and
   others might discern the presence of God with them. Hence it is said
   that the "Spirit of the Lord clothed them," they being warmed in
   themselves and known to others by his gifts to and actings of them.

   3. There are sundry instances of his adding unto the gifts of the mind,
   whereby he qualified persons for their duties, even bodily strength,
   when that also was needful for the work whereunto he called them. Such
   was his gift unto Samson. His bodily strength was supernatural, a mere
   effect of the power of the Spirit of God; and, therefore, when he put
   it forth in his calling, it is said that "the Spirit of the Lord came
   mightily upon him," Judges xiv. 6, xv. 14, or wrought powerfully in
   him. And he gave him this strength in the way of an ordinance,
   appointing the growing of his hair to be the sign and pledge of it; the
   care whereof being violated by him, he lost for a season the gift
   itself.

   4. He also communicated gifts intellectual, to be exercised in and
   about things natural and artificial. So he endowed Bezaleel and Aholiab
   with wisdom and skill in all manner of curious workmanship, about all
   sorts of things, for the building and beautifying of the tabernacle,
   Exod. xxxi. 2, 3. Whether Bezaleel was a man that had before given
   himself unto the acquisition of those arts and sciences is altogether
   uncertain; but certain it is that his present endowments were
   extraordinary. The Spirit of God heightened, and improved, and
   strengthened the natural faculties of his mind to a perception and
   understanding of all the curious works mentioned in that place, and
   unto a skill how to contrive and dispose of them into the order
   designed by God himself. And, therefore, although the skill and wisdom
   mentioned differed not in the kind of it from that which others
   attained by industry, yet he received it by an immediate afflatus or
   inspiration of the Holy Ghost, as to that degree, at least, which he
   was made partaker of.

   Lastly, The assistance given unto holy men for the publishing and
   preaching of the word of God to others, -- as to Noah, who was "a
   preacher of righteousness," 2 Pet. ii. 5, for the conviction of the
   world and conversion of the elect, wherein the Spirit of God strove
   with men, Gen. vi. 3, and preached unto them that were disobedient, 1
   Pet. iii. 19, 20, -- might here also be considered, but that the
   explanation of his whole work in that particular will occur unto us in
   a more proper place.

   And thus I have briefly passed through the dispensation of the Spirit
   of God under the Old Testament. Nor have I aimed therein to gather up
   his whole work and all his actings, for then everything that is
   praise-worthy in the church must have been inquired into; for all
   without him is death, and darkness, and sin. All life, light, and power
   are from him alone. And the instances of things expressly assigned unto
   him which we have insisted on are sufficient to manifest that the whole
   being and welfare of the church depended solely on his will and his
   operations. And this will yet be more evident when we have also
   considered those other effects and operations of his, which being
   common to both states of the church, under the Old Testament and the
   New, are purposely here omitted, because the nature of them is more
   fully cleared in the gospel, wherein also their exemplifications are
   more illustrious. From him, therefore, was the word of promise and the
   gift of prophecy, whereon the church was founded and whereby it was
   built; from him was the revelation and institution of all the
   ordinances of religious worship; from him was that communication of
   gifts and gracious abilities which any persons received for the
   edification, rule, protection, and deliverance of the church. All these
   things were wrought by "that one and the self-same Spirit, which
   divideth to every man severally as he will." And if this were the state
   of things under the Old Testament, a judgment may thence be made how it
   is under the New. The principal advantage of the present state above
   that which is past, next unto the coming of Christ in the flesh,
   consists in the pouring out of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples of
   Christ in a larger manner than formerly; and yet I know not how it is
   come to pass that some men think that neither he nor his work is of any
   great use unto us. And whereas we find everything that is good, even
   under the Old Testament, assigned unto him as the sole immediate author
   of it, it is hard to persuade, with many, that he continues now to do
   almost any good at all; and what he is allowed to have any hand in, it
   is sure to be so stated as that the principal praise of it may redound
   unto ourselves. So diverse, yea, so adverse, are the thoughts of God
   and men in these things, where our thoughts are not captivated unto the
   obedience of faith!

   But we must shut up this discourse. It is a common saying among the
   Jewish masters that the gift of the Holy Ghost ceased under the second
   temple, or after the finishing of it. Their meaning must be, that it
   did so as to the gifts of ministerial prophecy, of miracles, and of
   writing the mind of God by inspiration for the use of the church.
   Otherwise there is no truth in their observation; for there were
   afterward especial revelations of the Holy Ghost granted unto many, as
   unto Simeon and Anna, Luke ii. 25-38; and others constantly receive of
   his gifts and graces, to enable them unto obedience, and fit them for
   their employments; for without a continuance of these supplies the
   church itself must absolutely cease.
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   [53] Semeiose d' hos tina men eiretai di' ainigmaton, tina di
   phaneroteron. Ta men houn di' epikrupseos hegoumai ton ek peritomes
   heneka kekallummenos apodedosthai, dia ta thespizomena kat' auton
   skuthropa. Di' haper eikos en kai aphanisai autous ten graphen, ei ek
   tou prophanous ten eschaten auton apobolen esemainen -- Euseb. Demonst.
   Evangel. lib. vi. Prooem.

   [54] "Omnes prophetae illa tantummodo sciebant quae illis fuissent a
   Domino revelata. Unde et rex Hieremiam dubio interrogat, Si in ea hora
   qua cum illo loquebatur apud eum sermo Domini haberetur. Sed et Eliseus
   dicit, Quomodo haec Dominus abscondit a me; et Elias praeter se esse
   alios qui Deum colerent ignoravit." -- Hieron. Comment. in Epist. ad
   Roman. cap. ii.

   [55] Ohi de tou Theou anthropoi pneumatophoroi pneumatos hagiou, kai
   prophetai genomenoi hup' autou tou Theou empneusthentes kai
   sophisthentes egenonto theodidaktoi, kai hosioi kai dikaioi. --
   Theophil. ad Autolycum. lib. ii."Prophetae voces itemque virtutes ad
   fidem divinitatis edebant." -- Tertul. Apol. cap. xviii.Oud' andros
   touto poiein, e sophou tinos kai theiou? e theos an echoi phaie tis an,
   touto to geras. Kai gar ou tou manteos, to dioti, alla to hoti monon
   eipou. -- Plotin. Ennead. iii. lib. 3.

   [56] "Sed et hoc notandum ex eo quod dixerat; ut videam quid loquatur,
   in me; prophetiam visionem et eloquium Dei non extrinsecus ad prophetas
   fieri, sed intrinsecus et interiori homini respondere. Unde et
   Zacharias, et angelus inquit, qui loquebatur in me." -- Hieron.
   Comment. in Hab. cap. ii.

   [57] And whereas the ancients contend, against the Ebionites,
   Marcionites, and Montanists, (as Epiphanius, Advers. Haeres. lib. ii.
   tom. 1; Haeres. xlviii.; Hieron. Prooem. Comment. in Isa.,) that the
   prophets were not used ecstatically, but understood the things that
   were spoken to them, they did not intend that they had, by virtue of
   their inspiration, a full comprehension of the whole sense of the
   revelations made unto them, but only that they were not in or by
   prophecy deprived of the use of their intellectual faculties, as it
   befell satanical enthusiasts. Tauta gar alethos propheton en hagio
   pneumati, erromenen echonton ten dianoian kai ten didaskalian kai ten
   dialogian, as Epiphanius speaks. Wherefore, upon these words of Austin,
   "Per quosdam scientes, per quosdam nescientes, id quod ex adventu
   Christi usque nunc et deinceps agitur praenunciaretur esse venturum,"
   de Civitat. Dei, lib. vii. cap. 32, one well adds, "Prophetae nec omnes
   sua vaticinia intelligebant, nec qui intelligebant omnia intelligebant;
   non enim ex se loquebantur sed ex superiore Dei afflatu; cujus consilia
   non onmia eis erant manifesta; utebaturque Deus illis non velut
   consultis futurorum, sed instrumentis quibus homines alloqueretur."

   [58] "Nec aer voce pulsatus ad aures eorum perveniebat, sed Deus
   loquebatur in animo prophetarum." -- Hieron. Prooem., in lib. i.
   Comment. in Isa.

   [59] Pneuma de tou Theou pata pasin men ouk estin. Para de tisi tois
   dikaiois politeuomenois katagomenon, kai sumplekomenon te psuche, dia
   proagoreuseon tais loipais psuchais to kekrummenon anengeile. --
   Tatian. Assyr. Contra. Graecos.

   [60] "Sunt autem multa genera prophetandi, quorum unum est somniorum
   quale fuit in Daniele." -- Hieron. in Hieremian, cap. 23.

   [61] "Propheta Deum, qui corporaliter invisibilis est, non corporaliter
   sed spiritualiter videt. Nam multa genera visionis in Scripturis
   sanctis inveniuntur. Unum secundum oculos corporis, sicut vidit Abraham
   tres viros sub ilice Mambre; alterum secundum quod imaginamur ea quae
   per corpus sentimus. Nam et pars ipsa nostra cum Divinitus assumitur,
   multa revelantur non per oculos corperis, aut aures, aliumve sensum
   carnalem, sed tamen his similia, sicut vidit Petrus discum illum
   submitti a coelo cum variis animalibus. Tertium autem genus visionis
   est secundum mentis intuitum quo intellectu conspiciuntur veritas et
   sapientia; sine quo genere illa duo quae prius posui vel infructuosa
   sunt vel etiam in errorem mittunt." -- August. contra Adamantum, cap.
   xxviii.

   [62] "Prophetae erant Baal, et prophetae confusionis, et alii
   offensionum, et quoscunque vitiosos prophetas Scriptura commemorat." --
   Hieron. Comment. in Epist. ad Titum. cap. i.

   [63] Zeteseis de ei pantes, ei tis propheteuei, ek pneumatos hagiou
   propheteuei? pos de ou zeteseos axion estin, eige Dabid meta ten epi
   tou Ouriou hamartian eulaboumenos aphairethenai ap' autou to hagion
   pneuma phesi. To pneuma to hagion sou me antaneles ap' emou ... Houto
   de zeteseos axion esti to peri tou agiou pneumatos ei dunatai heinai
   kai en amartolo psuche -- Origen. Commentar. in Johan. tom.
   30."Prophetiae mysterio usi sunt etiam qui exorbitaverant a vera
   religione, quia et illis dedit Deus verbum suum ut mysteria futura
   pronunciarent hominibus." -- Hieron. Comment. in Job. cap. xxxiii."Nam
   et prophetare et daemonia excludere et virtutes magnas in terris facere
   sublimis utique et admirabilis res est, non tamen regnum coeleste
   consequitur quisquis in his omnibus invenitur, nisi recti et justi
   itineris observatione gradiatur." -- Cyprian. de Unitat. Ecclesiae.

   [64] Ei tis men oun Prophetes esti pantos propheteuei; ei de tis
   propheteuei ou pantos esti Prophetes ... Ek de ton peri ton Kaiaphan
   anagegrammenon, propheteusanta peri tou soteros, estin hoti kai
   mochthera psuche epidechetai tote to propheteuein. --Origen. Comment.
   in Johan. sect. 30.

   [65] "Saul invidiae stimulo suscitatus et malo spiritu saepe arreptus,
   cum David occidere vellet, et ipse David tunc cum Samuele et caeterorum
   prophetarum cuneo prophetaret, misit Saul nuncios et ipsum
   interficiendum de medio prophetarum rapere jubet. -- Sed et ipse cum
   inter prophetas venerat prophetabat. -- Quoniam Spiritus Sancti verba
   non dicentium merito pensantur, sed ipsius voluntate ubicunque voluerit
   proferuntur. At vero quidam in hoc loco aestimant quod Saul non Divino
   Spiritu sed malo illo quo saepe arripiebatur per totum illum diem
   prophetaret ... Sed qualiter hoc sentiri potest cum ita scribitur; et
   factus est super eum Spiritus Domini et ambulans prophetabat? nisi
   forte sic in hoc loco accipitur Spiritus Domini quomodo et alio loco
   Spiritus Domini malus Saul arripiebat. Verumtamen ubicunque sine
   additamento Spiritus Dei vel Spiritus Domini vel Spiritus Christi in
   Scripturis sanctis invenitur, Spiritus Sanctus esse a nullo sano sensu
   dubitatur. Ubicunque vero cum additamento Spiritus Domini malus dicitur
   esse, intelligitur diabolus esse, qui Domini propter ministerium, malus
   propter vitium dictus videtur." -- August. de Mirabil. Scripturae, lib.
   ii. cap. 10.

   [66] See his treatises on "The Divine Original of the Scriptures,"
   "Vindication of Greek and Hebrew Texts," and "Exercitationes adversus
   Fanaticos," vol. xvi. of his works. -- Ed.
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Chapter II. General dispensation of the Holy Spirit with respect unto the new
creation.

   The work of the Spirit of God in the new creation proposed to
   consideration -- The importance of the doctrine hereof -- The plentiful
   effusion of the Spirit the great promise respecting the times of the
   New Testament -- Ministry of the gospel founded on the promise of the
   Spirit -- How this promise is made unto all believers -- Injunction to
   all to pray for the Spirit of God -- The solemn promise of Christ to
   send his Spirit when he left the world -- The ends for which he
   promised him -- The work of the new creation the principal means of the
   revelation of God and his glory -- How this revelation is made in
   particular herein.

   We are now arrived at that part of our work which was principally
   intended in the whole, and that because our faith and obedience are
   principally therein concerned; -- this is, the dispensation and work of
   the Holy Ghost with respect to the gospel, or the new creation of all
   things in and by Jesus Christ. And this, if any thing in the Scripture,
   is worthy of our most diligent inquiry and meditation; nor is there any
   more important principle and head of that religion which we do profess.
   The doctrine of the being and unity of the divine nature is common to
   us with the rest of mankind, and hath been so from the foundation of
   the world, however some, "like brute beasts," have herein also
   "corrupted themselves." The doctrine of the Trinity, or the subsistence
   of three persons in the one divine nature or being, was known to all
   who enjoyed divine revelation, even under the Old Testament, though to
   us it be manifested with more light and convincing evidence. The
   incarnation of the Son of God was promised and expected from the first
   entrance of sin, and received its actual accomplishment in the fullness
   of time, during the continuance of the Mosaical pedagogy. But this
   dispensation of the Holy Ghost whereof we now proceed to treat is so
   peculiar unto the New Testament, that the evangelist speaking of it
   says, "The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet
   glorified," John vii. 39; and they who were instructed in the doctrine
   of John the Baptist only, knew not "whether there were any Holy Ghost,"
   Acts xix. 2. Both which sayings concerned his dispensation under the
   New Testament; for his eternal being and existence they were not
   ignorant of, nor did he then first begin to be, as we have fully
   manifested in our foregoing discourses. To stir us up, therefore, unto
   diligence in this inquiry, unto what was in general laid down before I
   shall add some considerations evidencing the greatness and necessity of
   this duty, and then proceed to the matter itself that we have proposed
   to handle and explain:--

   1. The plentiful effusion of the Spirit is that which was principally
   prophesied of and foretold as the great privilege and pre-eminence of
   the gospel church-state; this was that good wine which was kept until
   the last. This all the prophets bear witness unto: see Isa. xxxv. 7,
   xliv. 3; Joel ii. 28; Ezek. xi. 19, xxxvi. 27, with other places
   innumerable. The great promise of the Old Testament was that concerning
   the coming of Christ in the flesh. But he was so to come as to put an
   end unto that whole church-state wherein his coming was expected. To
   prove this was the principal design of the apostle in his Epistle to
   the Hebrews. But this promise of the Spirit, whose accomplishment was
   reserved for the times of the gospel, was to be the foundation of
   another church-state, and the means of its continuance. If, therefore,
   we have any interest in the gospel itself, or desire to have; if we
   have either part or lot in this matter, or desire to be made partakers
   of the benefits which attend thereon, -- which are no less than our
   acceptation with God here and our salvation hereafter, -- it is our
   duty to search the Scriptures, and inquire diligently into these
   things. And let no man deceive us with vain words, as though the things
   spoken concerning the Spirit of God and his work towards them that do
   believe were fanatical and unintelligible by rational men; for because
   of this contempt of him, the wrath of God will come on the children of
   disobedience. And if the "world in wisdom," and their reason, "know him
   not," nor can "receive him," yet they who believe do know him; for "he
   dwelleth with them, and shall be in them," John xiv. 17. And the
   present practice of the world, in despising and slighting the Spirit of
   God and his work, gives light and evidence into those words of our
   Saviour, that "the world cannot receive him;" and it cannot do so,
   because it "neither seeth him nor knoweth him," or hath no experience
   of his work in them, or of his power and grace. Accordingly [so] doth
   it, [so] is it come to pass. Wherefore, not to avow the Spirit of God
   in his work, is to be ashamed of the gospel and of the promise of
   Christ, as if it were a thing not to be owned in the world.

   2. The ministry of the gospel, whereby we are begotten again, that we
   should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures unto God, is from his
   promised presence with it and work in it, called the ministry of the
   Spirit, even of the Spirit that giveth life, 2 Cor. iii. 8; and it is
   so in opposition to the "ministration of the law," wherein yet there
   were a multitude of ordinances of worship and glorious ceremonies. And
   he who knows no more of the ministry of the gospel but what consists in
   an attendance unto the letter of institutions and the manner of their
   performance knows nothing of it. Nor yet is there any extraordinary
   afflatus or inspiration now intended or attended unto, as we are
   slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we pretend; but there is
   that presence of the Spirit of God with the ministry of the gospel, in
   his authority, assistance, communication of gifts and abilities,
   guidance, and direction, as without which it will be useless and
   unprofitable in and unto all that take the work thereof upon them. This
   will be more fully declared afterward; for, --

   3. The promise and gift of the Spirit under the gospel is not made nor
   granted unto any peculiar sort of persons only, but unto all believers,
   as their conditions and occasions do require. They are not, therefore,
   the especial interest of a few, but the common concern of all
   Christians. The Papists grant that this promise is continued; but they
   would confine it to their pope or their councils, things nowhere
   mentioned in the Scripture, nor the object of any one gospel promise
   whatever. It is all believers in their places and stations, churches in
   their order, and ministers in their office, unto whom the promise of
   him is made, and towards whom it is accomplished, as shall be shown.
   Others, also, grant the continuance of this gift, but understand no
   more by it but an ordinary blessing upon men's rational endeavours,
   common and exposed unto all alike. This is no less than to overthrow
   his whole work, to take his sovereignty out of his hand, and to deprive
   the church of all especial interest in the promise of Christ concerning
   him. In this inquiry, therefore, we look after what at present belongs
   unto ourselves, if so be we are disciples of Christ, and do expect the
   fulfilling of his promises; for whatever men may pretend, unto this
   day, "if they have not the Spirit of Christ, they are none of his,"
   Rom. viii. 9: for our Lord Jesus Christ hath promised him as a
   comforter, to abide with his disciples forever, John xiv. 16, and by
   him it is that he is present with them and among them to the end of the
   world, Matt. xxviii. 20, xviii. 20; -- that we speak not as yet of his
   sanctifying work, whereby we are enabled to believe, and are made
   partakers of that holiness without which no man shall see God.
   Wherefore, without him all religion is but a body without a soul, a
   carcass without an animating spirit. It is true, in the continuation of
   his work he ceaseth from putting forth those extraordinary effects of
   his power which were needful for the laying the foundation of the
   church in the world; but the whole work of his grace, according to the
   promise of the covenant, is no less truly and really carried on at this
   day, in and towards all the elect of God, than it was on the day of
   Pentecost and onwards; and so is his communication of gifts necessary
   for the edification of the church, Eph. iv. 11-13. The owning,
   therefore, and avowing the work of the Holy Ghost in the hearts and on
   the minds of men, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, is
   the principal part of that profession which at this day all believers
   are called unto.

   4. We are taught in an especial manner to pray that God would give his
   Holy Spirit unto us, that through his aid and assistance we may live
   unto God in that holy obedience which he requires at our hands, Luke
   xi. 9-13. Our Saviour, enjoining an importunity in our supplications,
   verses 9, 10, and giving us encouragement that we shall succeed in our
   requests, verses 11, 12, makes the subject-matter of them to be the
   Holy Spirit: "Your heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them
   that ask him," verse 13; which in the other evangelist is "good
   things," Matt. vii. 11, because he is the author of them all in us and
   to us, nor doth God bestow any good thing on us but by his Spirit.
   Hence, the promise of bestowing the Spirit is accompanied with a
   prescription of duty unto us, that we should ask him or pray for him;
   which is included in every promise where his sending, giving, or
   bestowing is mentioned. He, therefore, is the great subject-matter of
   all our prayers. And that signal promise of our blessed Saviour, to
   send him as a comforter, to abide with us forever, is a directory for
   the prayers of the church in all generations. Nor is there any church
   in the world fallen under such a total degeneracy but that, in their
   public offices, there are testimonies of their ancient faith and
   practice, in praying for the coming of the Spirit unto them, according
   to this promise of Christ. And therefore our apostle, in all his most
   solemn prayers for the churches in his days, makes this the chief
   petition of them, that God would give unto them, and increase in them,
   the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, with the Spirit himself, for
   sundry especial effects and operations whereof they stood in need, Eph.
   i. 17, iii. 16; Col. ii. 2. And this is a full conviction of what
   importance the consideration of the Spirit of God and his work is unto
   us. We must deal in this matter with that confidence which the truth
   instructs us unto, and therefore say, that he who prayeth not
   constantly and diligently for the Spirit of God, that he may be made
   partaker of him for the ends for which he is promised, is a stranger
   from Christ and his gospel. This we are to attend unto, as that whereon
   our eternal happiness doth depend. God knows our state and condition,
   and we may better learn our wants from his prescription of what we
   ought to pray for than from our sense and experience; for we are in the
   dark unto our own spiritual concerns, through the power of our
   corruptions and temptations, and "know not what we should pray for as
   we ought," Rom. viii. 26. But our heavenly Father knows perfectly what
   we stand in need of; and, therefore, whatever be our present
   apprehensions concerning ourselves, which are to be examined by the
   word, our prayers are to be regulated by what God hath enjoined us to
   ask and what he hath promised to bestow.

   5. What was before mentioned may here be called over again and farther
   improved, yea, it is necessary that so it should be. This is, the
   solemn promise of Jesus Christ when he was [about] to leave this world
   by death, [John xiv. 15-17.] And whereas he therein made and confirmed
   his testament, Heb. ix. 15-17, he bequeathed his Spirit as his great
   legacy unto his disciples; and this he gave unto them as the great
   pledge of their future inheritance, 2 Cor. i. 22, which they were to
   live upon in this world. All other good things he hath, indeed,
   bequeathed unto believers, as he speaks of peace with God in
   particular: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you," John
   xiv. 27. But he gives particular graces and mercies for particular ends
   and purposes. The Holy Spirit he bequeaths to supply his own absence,
   John xvi. 13; that is, for all the ends of spiritual and eternal life.
   Let us, therefore, consider this gift of the Spirit either formally,
   under this notion that he was the principal legacy left unto the church
   by our dying Saviour, or materially, as to the ends and purposes for
   which he is so bequeathed, and it will be evident what valuation we
   ought to have of him and his work. How would some rejoice if they could
   possess any relic of any thing that belonged unto our Saviour in the
   days of his flesh, though of no use or benefit unto them! Yea, how
   great a part of men called Christians do boast in some pretended
   parcels of the tree whereon he suffered! Love abused by superstition
   lies at the bottom of this vanity; for they would embrace any thing
   left them by their dying Saviour. But he left them no such things, nor
   did ever bless and sanctify them unto any holy or sacred ends; and
   therefore hath the abuse of them been punished with blindness and
   idolatry. But this [gift of the Spirit] is openly testified unto in the
   gospel. Then when his heart was overflowing with love unto his
   disciples and care for them, when he took a holy prospect of what would
   be their condition, their work, duty, and temptations in the world, and
   thereon made provision of all that they could stand in need of, he
   promiseth to leave and give unto them his Holy Spirit to abide with
   them forever, directing us to look unto him for all our comforts and
   supplies. According, therefore, unto our valuation and esteem of him,
   to our satisfaction and acquiescency in him, is our regard to the love,
   care, and wisdom of our blessed Saviour to be measured. And, indeed, it
   is only in his word and Spirit wherein we can either honour or despise
   him in this world; in his own person he is exalted at the right hand of
   God, far above all principalities and powers, so that nothing of ours
   can immediately reach him or affect him. But it is in our regard to
   these that he makes a trial of our faith, love, and obedience. And it
   is a matter of lamentation to consider the contempt and scorn that, on
   various pretences, is cast upon this Holy Spirit, and the work
   whereunto he is sent by God the Father and by Jesus Christ; for there
   is included therein a contempt of them also. Nor will a pretence of
   honouring God in their own way secure such persons as shall contract
   the guilt of this abomination; for it is an idol, -- and not the God
   and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, -- who doth not work effectually
   in the elect by the Holy Ghost, according to the Scriptures. And if we
   consider this promise of the Spirit to be given unto us, as to the ends
   of it, then, --

   6. He is promised and given as the sole cause and author of all the
   good that in this world we are or can be made partakers of; [67] for,
   (1.) there is no good communicated unto us from God, but it is bestowed
   on us or wrought in us by the Holy Ghost. No gift, no grace, no mercy,
   no privilege, no consolation, do we receive, possess, or use, but it is
   wrought in us, collated on us, or manifested unto us, by him alone.
   Nor, (2.) is there any good in us towards God, any faith, love, duty,
   obedience, but what is effectually wrought in us by him, by him alone;
   for "in us, that is, in our flesh" (and by nature we are but flesh),
   "there dwelleth no good thing." All these things are from him and by
   him, as shall, God assisting, be made to appear by instances of all
   sorts in our ensuing discourse. And these considerations I thought meet
   to premise unto our entrance into that work which now lieth before us.

   (1.) The great work whereby God designed to glorify himself ultimately
   in this world was that of the new creation, or of the recovery and
   restoration of all things by Jesus Christ, Heb. i. 1-3; Eph. i. 10. And
   as this is in general confessed by all Christians, so I have elsewhere
   insisted on the demonstration of it. (2.) That which God ordereth and
   designeth as the principal means for the manifestation of his glory
   must contain the most perfect and absolute revelation and declaration
   of himself, his nature, his being, his existence, and excellencies; for
   from their discovery and manifestation, with the duties which as known
   they require from rational creatures, doth the glory of God arise, and
   no otherwise. (3.) This, therefore, was to be done in this great work;
   and it was done accordingly. Hence is the Lord Christ, in his work of
   mediation, said to be "The image of the invisible God," Col. i. 15;
   "The brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,"
   Heb. i. 3; in whose face the knowledge of the glory of God shineth
   forth unto us, 2 Cor. iv. 6; -- because in and by him, in his work of
   the new creation, all the glorious properties of the nature of God are
   manifested and displayed incomparably above what they were in the
   creation of all things in the beginning. I say, therefore, in the
   contrivance, projection, production, carrying on, disposal, and
   accomplishment of this great work, God hath made the most eminent and
   glorious discovery of himself unto angels and men, Eph. iii. 8-10, 1
   Pet. i. 10-12; that we may know, love, trust, honour, and obey him in
   all things as God, and according to his will. (4.) In particular, in
   this new creation he hath revealed himself in an especial manner as
   three in one. There was no one more glorious mystery brought to light
   in and by Jesus Christ than that of the holy Trinity, or the
   subsistence of the three persons in the unity of the same divine
   nature. And this was done not so much in express propositions or verbal
   testimonies unto that purpose, -- which yet is done also, as by the
   declaration of the mutual, divine, internal acts of the persons towards
   one another, and the distinct, immediate, divine, external actings of
   each person in the work which they did and do perform, -- for God
   revealeth not himself unto us merely doctrinally and dogmatically, but
   by the declaration of what he doth for us, in us, and towards us, in
   the accomplishment of "the counsel of his own will;" see Eph. i. 4-12.
   And this revelation is made unto us, not that our minds might be
   possessed with the notions of it, but that we may know aright how to
   place our trust in him, how to obey him and live unto him, how to
   obtain and exercise communion with him, until we come to the enjoyment
   of him.

   We may make application of these things unto, and exemplify them yet
   farther in, the work under consideration. Three things in general are
   in it proposed unto our faith:-- 1. The supreme purpose, design,
   contrivance, and disposal of it. 2. The purchasing and procuring cause
   and means of the effects of that design, with its accomplishment in
   itself and with respect unto God. 3. The application of the supreme
   design and actual accomplishment of it, to make it effectual unto us.

   The first of these is absolutely in the Scripture assigned unto the
   Father, and that uniformly and everywhere. His will, his counsel, his
   love, his grace, his authority, his purpose, his design, are constantly
   proposed as the foundation of the whole work, as those which were to be
   pursued, effected, accomplished: see Isa. xlii. 1-4; Ps. xl. 6-8; John
   iii. 16; Isa. liii. 10-12; Eph. i. 4-12, and other places innumerable.
   And on this account, because the Son undertook to effect whatever the
   Father had so designed and purposed, there were many acts of the will
   of the Father towards the Son, -- [as] in sending, giving, appointing
   of him; in preparing him a body; in comforting and supporting him; in
   rewarding and giving a people unto him, -- which belong unto the
   Father, on the account of the authority, love, and wisdom, that were in
   them, their actual operation belonging particularly unto another
   person. And in these things is the person of the Father in the divine
   being proposed unto us to be known and adored. Secondly, The Son
   condescendeth, consenteth, and engageth to do and accomplish in his own
   person the whole work which, in the authority, counsel, and wisdom of
   the Father, was appointed for him, Phil. ii. 5-8. And in these divine
   operations is the person of the Son revealed unto us to be "honoured
   even as we honour the Father." Thirdly, The Holy Ghost doth immediately
   work and effect whatever was to be done in reference unto the person of
   the Son or the sons of men, for the perfecting and accomplishment of
   the Father's counsel and the Son's work, in an especial application of
   both unto their especial effects and ends. Hereby is he made known unto
   us, and hereby our faith concerning him and in him is directed.

   And thus, in this great work of the new creation by Jesus Christ, doth
   God cause all his glory to pass before us, that we may both know him
   and worship him in a due manner. And what is the peculiar work of the
   Holy Ghost herein we shall now declare.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [67] "Gratias ago tibi clementissime Deus, quis quod quaesivi mane
   prior ipse donasti." -- Cypr. de Baptism. Christi.
     __________________________________________________________________

Chapter III. Work of the Holy Spirit with respect unto the head of the new
creation - the human nature of Christ.

   The especial works of the Holy Spirit in the new creation -- His work
   on the human nature of Christ -- How this work could be, considering
   the union of the human nature unto and in the person of the Son of God
   -- Assumption of the human nature into union, the only act of the
   person of the Son towards it -- Personal union the only necessary
   consequent of this assumption -- All other actings of the person of the
   Son in and on the human nature voluntary -- The Holy Spirit the
   immediate efficient cause of all divine operations -- -He is the Spirit
   of the Son or of the Father -- How all the works of the Trinity are
   undivided -- The body of Christ formed in the womb by the Holy Ghost,
   but of the substance of the blessed Virgin; why this was necessary --
   Christ not hence the Son of the Holy Ghost according to the human
   nature -- Difference between the assumption of the human nature by the
   Son and the creation of it by the Holy Ghost -- The conception of
   Christ, how ascribed to the Holy Ghost, and how to the blessed Virgin
   -- Reasons of the espousal of the blessed Virgin to Joseph before the
   conception of Christ -- The actual purity and holiness of the soul and
   body of Christ from his miraculous conception.

   The dispensation and work of the Holy Ghost in this new creation
   respect, first, The Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ, in his
   human nature, as it was to be, and was, united unto the person of the
   Son of God. Secondly, It concerns the members of that mystical body in
   all that belongs unto them as such. And under these two heads we shall
   consider them.

   First, therefore, we are to inquire what are the operations of the Holy
   Ghost in reference unto Jesus Christ, the Head of the church. And these
   were of two sorts:-- 1. Such as whereof the person of Christ in his
   human nature was the immediate object. 2. Such as he performs towards
   others on his behalf; that is, with direct respect unto his person and
   office.

   I. But yet, before we enter upon the first sort of his works which we
   shall begin withal, an objection of seeming weight and difficulty must
   be removed out of our way; which I shall the rather do because our
   answer unto it will make the whole matter treated of the more plain and
   familiar unto us. It may, therefore, be, and it is objected, "That
   whereas the human nature of Christ is assigned as the immediate object
   of these operations of the Holy Ghost, and that nature was immediately,
   inseparably, and undividedly united unto the person of the Son of God,
   there doth not seem to be any need, nor indeed room, for any such
   operations of the Spirit; for could not the Son of God himself, in his
   own person, perform all things requisite both for the forming,
   supporting, sanctifying, and preserving of his own nature, without the
   especial assistance of the Holy Ghost? nor is it easy to be understood
   how an immediate work of the Holy Ghost should be interposed, in the
   same person, between the one nature and the other." And this seeming
   difficulty is vehemently pressed by the Socinians, who think to
   entangle our whole doctrine of the blessed Trinity and incarnation of
   the Son of God thereby. But express testimonies of Scripture, with the
   clear and evident analogy of faith, will carry us easily and safely
   through this seeming difficulty. To which end we may observe, that, --

   1. The only singular immediate act of the person of the Son on the
   human nature was the assumption of it into subsistence with himself.
   Herein the Father and the Spirit had no interest nor concurrence, ei me
   kat' eudokian kai boulesin, "but by approbation and consent," as
   Damascen speaks: for the Father did not assume the human nature, he was
   not incarnate; neither did the Holy Spirit do so; but this was the
   peculiar act and work of the Son. See John i. 14; Rom. i. 3; Gal. iv.
   4; Phil. ii. 6, 7; Heb. ii. 14, 16; which places, with many others to
   the same purpose, I have elsewhere expounded, and vindicated from the
   exceptions of the Socinians.

   2. That the only necessary consequent of this assumption of the human
   nature, or the incarnation of the Son of God, is the personal union of
   Christ, or the inseparable subsistence of the assumed nature in the
   person of the Son. This was necessary and indissoluble, so that it was
   not impeached nor shaken in the least by the temporary dissolution of
   that nature by the separation of the soul and body: for the union of
   the soul and body in Christ did not constitute him a person, that the
   dissolution of them should destroy his personality; but he was a person
   by the uniting of both unto the Son of God.

   3. That all other actings of God in the person of the Son towards the
   human nature were voluntary, and did not necessarily ensue on the union
   mentioned; for there was no transfusion of the properties of one nature
   into the other, nor real physical communication of divine essential
   excellencies unto the humanity. Those who seem to contend for any such
   thing resolve all at last into a true assignation by way of
   predication, as necessary on the union mentioned, but contend not for a
   real transfusion of the properties of one nature into the other. But
   these communications were voluntary. Hence were those temporary
   dispensations, when, under his great trial, the human nature complained
   of its desertion and dereliction by the divine, Matt. xxvii. 46; for
   this forsaking was not as to personal union, or necessary subsistence
   and supportment, but as to voluntary communications of light and
   consolation. Hence himself declares that the human nature was not the
   residential subject of omnisciency; for so he speaks, Mark xiii. 32,
   "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which
   are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." For the exposition
   given by some of the ancients, that the Lord Christ speaks not this
   absolutely, but only "that he knew it not to declare it unto them," is
   unworthy of him; for no more did the Father so know it, seeing he hath
   not declared it. But this was the opinion only of some of them; the
   more advised were otherwise minded. He [68] speaks of himself with
   respect unto his human nature only, and thereunto all communications
   were voluntary. So after his ascension, God gave him that revelation
   that he made to the apostle, Rev. i. 1. The human nature, therefore,
   however inconceivably advanced, is not the subject of infinite,
   essentially divine properties; and the actings of the Son of God
   towards it, consequential unto its assumption, and that indissoluble
   subsistence in its union which ensued thereon, are voluntary.

   4. The Holy Ghost, as we have proved before, is the immediate,
   peculiar, efficient cause of all external divine operations: for God
   worketh by his Spirit, or in him immediately applies the power and
   efficacy of the divine excellencies unto their operation; whence the
   same work is equally the work of each person.

   5. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son, no less than the Spirit of
   the Father. He proceedeth from the Son, as from the Father. He is the
   "Spirit of the Son," Gal. iv. 6. And hence is he the immediate operator
   of all divine acts of the Son himself, even on his own human nature.
   Whatever the Son of God wrought in, by, or upon the human nature, he
   did it by the Holy Ghost, who is his Spirit, as he is the Spirit of the
   Father.

   6. To clear the whole matter, it must be yet farther observed that the
   immediate actings of the Holy Ghost are not spoken of him absolutely,
   nor ascribed unto him exclusively, as unto the other persons and their
   concurrence in them. It is a saying generally admitted, that Opera
   Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa. There is no such division in the
   external operations of God that any one of them should be the act of
   one person, without the concurrence of the others; and the reason of it
   is, because the nature of God, which is the principle of all divine
   operations, is one and the same, undivided in them all. Whereas,
   therefore, they are the effects of divine power, and that power is
   essentially the same in each person, the works themselves belong
   equally unto them: as, if it were possible that three men might see by
   the same eye, the act of seeing would be but one, and it would be
   equally the act of all three. But the things we insist on are ascribed
   eminently unto the Holy Ghost, on the account of the order of his
   subsistence in the holy Trinity, as he is the Spirit of the Father and
   the Son; whence, in every divine act, the authority of the Father, the
   love and wisdom of the Son, with the immediate efficacy and power of
   the Holy Ghost, are to be considered. Yea, and there is such a
   distinction in their operations, that one divine act may produce a
   peculiar respect and relation unto one person, and not unto another; as
   the assumption of the human nature did to the Son, for he only was
   incarnate.

   And such are the especial actings of the Holy Ghost towards the head of
   the church, our Lord Jesus Christ, in this work of the new creation, as
   we shall demonstrate in sundry instances:--

   First, The framing, forming, and miraculous conception of the body of
   Christ in the womb of the blessed Virgin was the peculiar and especial
   work of the Holy Ghost. [69] This work, I acknowledge, in respect of
   designation, and the authoritative disposal of things, is ascribed unto
   the Father; for so the Lord Christ speaketh unto him: "A body hast thou
   prepared me," Heb. x. 5. But this preparation does not signify the
   actual forming and making ready of that body, but the eternal
   designation of it: it was prepared in the counsel and love of the
   Father. As to voluntary assumption, it is ascribed to the Son himself:
   chap. ii. 14, "Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and
   blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same;" he took upon
   him a body and soul, entire human nature, as the children, or all
   believers, have the same, synecdochically expressed by "flesh and
   blood." Verse 16, "He took on him the seed of Abraham." But the
   immediate divine efficiency in this matter was the peculiar work of the
   Holy Ghost: Matt. i. 18, "When as his mother Mary was espoused to
   Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy
   Ghost." Verse 20, "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy
   Ghost." Luke i. 35, "The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy
   Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
   overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
   thee shall be called the Son of God." 1. The person working is the Holy
   Ghost. He is the wonderful operator in this glorious work. And therein
   the power of the Most High was exerted; for "The power of the Highest"
   is neither explicatory of the former expression, "The Holy Ghost," as
   though he were only the power of the Most High, nor is it the adjoining
   of a distinct agent or cause unto him, as though the Holy Ghost and the
   power of the Most High were different agents in this matter. Only the
   manner of his effecting this wonderful matter, concerning which the
   blessed Virgin had made that inquiry, verse 34, "How shall this be,
   seeing I know not a man?" is expressed. "The Holy Ghost," saith the
   angel, "acting the power of the Most High," or in the infinite power of
   God, "shall accomplish it." 2. For his access unto his work, it is
   expressed by his "coming upon her." The importance of this expression,
   and what is signified thereby, hath been declared before. And it is
   often used to declare his actings with reference unto the production of
   miraculous works: Acts i. 8, "Ye shall receive power, after that the
   Holy Ghost is come upon you;" -- "He will so come upon you as to put
   forth the power of the Most High in you and by you, in gifts and
   operations miraculous;" for he is said to come, with respect unto his
   beginning of any marvellous operation, where before he did not work to
   the like purpose. 3. The act of the Holy Ghost in this matter was a
   creating act; not, indeed, like the first creating act, which produced
   the matter and substance of all things out of nothing, causing that to
   be which was not before, neither in matter, nor form, nor passive
   disposition; but like those subsequent acts of creation, whereby, out
   of matter before made and prepared, things were made that which before
   they were not, and which of themselves they had no active disposition
   unto nor concurrence in. So man was created or formed of the dust of
   the earth, and woman of a rib taken from man. There was a previous
   matter unto their creation, but such as gave no assistance nor had any
   active disposition to the production of that particular kind of
   creature whereinto they were formed by the creating power of God. Such
   was this act of the Holy Ghost in forming the body of our Lord Jesus
   Christ; for although it was effected by an act of infinite creating
   power, yet it was formed or made of the substance of the blessed
   Virgin. That it should be so was absolutely necessary, -- (1.) For the
   accomplishment of the promises made unto Abraham and David, that the
   Messiah should be of their seed, and proceed from their loins. (2.) So
   was it also on the account of the first original promise, that the
   "seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head:" for the Word was
   to be "made flesh," John i. 14; to be "made of a woman," Gal. iv. 4; or
   "made of the seed of David according to the flesh," Rom. i. 3; and to
   take upon him "the seed of Abraham," Heb. ii. 16. (3.) To confirm the
   truth hereof is his genealogy according to the flesh given us by two of
   the evangelists; which were neither to the purpose nor true if he