SECTION 11.1 add that befides this calling of men to the profeffion of the chriftian faith, and this vouchfafement of the gofpel to them as a rule of life; it feems necessary to affert that God vouchfafes fome inward operations or affiftances to incline them to what is good, and work conversion in them. For were it otherwife,

1. Why is this fpirit ftyled a quickening, or (t) lifegiv ing Spirit? Why is he faid to (u) strive with man? Why are wicked men faid to (w) refift the Holy Ghoft? And why are they who are converted faid to (x) be born of the Spirit, and to be enabled (y) through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the flesh? For how can he be faid to frive with men, or they to refift his motions, if he makes no impreffions on our fpirits? How can he quicken, work in us the new birth, or enable us to mortify the deeds of the flesh without fome vital energy, fome renewing operations or powerful af fiftances to fubdue thofe motions of the flesh which (z) luft against the spirit ?

adly, Why elfe is it exprefsly faid that (a) God works in us both to will and to do of his own good pleafure, and (b) doth within us what is acceptable in his fight. For fure he cannot properly be faid, ἐνεργεῖν καὶ ποιεῖν ἐν ἡμῖν, τo add and work within us, who does, and worketh nothing in us? How doth the word itself when heard or read work on us, but by making impreffions on our minds ? And fhall that be denied to God himfelf, which we allow to his word? Or fhall he not be believed when he faith, he worketh in us both to will and do, he doth within us what is acceptable in his fight? And,

3dly. Doth it not feem unreasonable to deny that influence to God and his good spirit to incline men to goodnefs, which generally is, and muft, according to the fcripture, be allowed to the evil spirit tempting men to wickednefs? Now though this evil fpirit cannot lay us under a neceffity of doing wickedly, yet is he reprefented in the fcripture as the great tempter to fin, which he can only be immediately by raifing fome ideas in our brain which do excite, difpofe and move us as our own thoughts or inward fentiments at other times are wont to do, to what is evil; he alfo is ftyled (c) that fpirit which, evapYET, works inwardly in the children of difobedience; which words feem plainly to import fome inward energy of Satan to excite them to this dilobedience; feeing then (d) Stronger is he that is in us, than he that is in the world, i. e. that good spirit who dwells in pious men, is more powerful

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in them than Satan is in wicked men, we must allow this good fpirit evapya, to work inwardly in the children of obedience, as Satan is allowed to work in his own children. Moreover the evil fpirit is reprefented as (e) a lying Spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets; (f) he moved David to number the people; (g) he entered into Judas; (h) he filled the heart of Ananias to lie to the Holy Ghoft; all which things cannot be accounted for without allowing him fome power to work upon the minds of thofe perfons, fo as to raife within them fome fuch ideas as would excite and ftir them up to the performance of those actions. When therefore in like manner God is

Taid to (i) put a new fpirit, and to put his fpirit within us, to create in us a clean heart, and renew in us a right fpirit, to put his fear, and his law in our hearts, to circumcife, and (k) to convert the heart; if he by his good spirit raiseth no good motions or ideas in us which may difpofe us to his fear, and by attention to them may convert and cleanfe our hearts, if he vouchfafes to us no inward illuminations by attending to which we may difcern the wonderous things of his law, what can thefe words or metaphors import? Seeing the heart is purified by an inward change and temper which renders it averle from fin, and fets the affections, defires and inclinations of the foul against it; feeing the deeds of the flesh are only mortified by fuch a renovation of the mind as makes us to difcern the pernicious effects and dreadful confequences of living ftill ac cording to our flefhly appetites, and fo begets a dread and hatred of them, a refolution to forfake them, a vehement defire to be freed from them, a fincere endeavor to refift the motions of the flesh, and a care that we do not for the future yield obedience to it in the luftings of it; if there be no renovation wrought in us by the affiffance and cooperation of the pirit, how can we poffibly conceive God fhould put in us a new fpirit, create in us a clean heart, renew in us a right Spirit, circumcife and convert the heart, or put his fear into it, if his good fpirit works nothing on the mind and the affections of a man, and confequently upon his will to make this change within us?

To fay that all thefe operations of the holy Spirit were pewere culiar to the firft ages of the church, and therefore are now ceafed, is in effect to make the difpenfation of the gospel being by the a

poftle placed in this, that the one is the miniftration of the letter only, the other alfo of the Spirit; and if it were fo only

ceafe, the difference betwixt that and the law, of the let

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(e) Kings xxii. 21. (f) 1 Chron. xxi. r.- -(g) Luke xxii. 3. -(b) A&ts v. 3.1 -(i) Ezek. xi. 19. xviii. 31. xxxvi. 27.-Jer. xxxii.

40.-Heb. viii, 10.-Deut xxx 6. -(k) Jer. xxxi. 18.

whilft the extraordinary difpenfations of the fpirit lafted, then from the time that they have ceafed, the gofpel doth not in this differ from the law, or deferve to be preferred before it upon that account. And,

4thly. The denial of this affiftance feems to take off from the energy of prayer in general, and from the virtue of prayer for the holy Spirit in particular, and fo to make 'men flight and neglect that duty of which the fcripture fpeaketh fo magnificently, and to which it fo frequently exhorts us; at least, it feems not well confiftent with the tenor of these infpired prayers, or these prescriptions for it recorded in the holy fcripture for who can reconcile it with thefe expreffions, in which holy men of God fo often beg he would incline their hearts unto him, fince this he cannot do without fome operation on their hearts; or that he would draw them that they might run after him, that he would open their eyes, and give them understanding to difcern his law, that he would lead them in the right way, in the way everlasting; for if God by his fpirit hath no influence upon the heart and foul, how doth he incline or draw it? If none upon the understanding, how doth he enlighten or inftruct it? If this be done only by the words read, preached and pondered in the heart, we may as well apply ourfelves to that work without, as with prayer.

Moreover, according to this doctrine, it seems both fruitlefs and abfurd to pray for the affiftance of the holy Spirit, or to expect we should enjoy it, and fo that paffage of St. Luke, (1)[Afk and ye shall receive, feek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you; for if evil parents give good gifts to their children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that afk him] must be of ufe or virtue to us; for what do these words bid us pray for but the holy Spirit, and what affiftance can he afford us if he doth not operate at all upon us?

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To fay this promife is to be confined to the firft ages of the church, feems not agreeable to reafon; for why then doth it run in words fo general, mas yap, for every one that afks receives. Moreover, thofe fpiritual and ordinary effects for which the holy Spirit was then given, thofe fruits of the /pirit he produced in them, are as needful and good for chriftians now as when our Savior fpoke thefe words; for as the holy Spirit was then needful to ftrengthen Chrift's fervants (m) in the inward man to do his will, to comfort them in tribulations, and to fupport them in fiery trials, and to preferve them from the fubtilties of Satan, and the temptations of the wicked world; fo is there the fame need of his affiftance now for a!!

(1) Luke xi. 9, 13.(m) Eph. iii. 16,

thefe gracious ends, and therefore the same reason to expéɛt him fill for all thefe purposes. The conditions alfo of this promife may be performed now by us, as well as by them then; we may he now fincerely defirous to obey the holy will of God, and with true fervency and importunity may 2. beg the holy spirit to this end; and if we may acceptibly perform thofe duties to which this promife is annexed, why may we not as confidently expect the bleffing promifed? For the encouragement here given to expect the affiftance of the holy Spirit is this, that we afk him of our heavenly Father. Now this molt comfortable relation God beats to all his children of what age foever, and therefore there is now and ever will be the fame benignity in God, the fame good will and readi riefs th him to give his holy Spirit to his children for all needful purposes, as in all former ages; if therefore in like manner we do afk we must have equal reason to expect we should receive him. To proceed then,

2dly. To explain, as far as I am able, what is the manner of the operation of God's grace, and holy spirit on the soul.

SECTION III.1. I affert that the manner in which God's grace and holy fpirit acts upon the minds and hearts of men for the production of the fruits of the good spirit, and the preparatory difpofitions of the foul towards them, may reasonably be conceived to be fuch as is fuitable to the reafon and faculties of men, the understanding and the will. Now it is certain that what naturally makes the understanding to

(1) perceive, is evidence propofed and apprehended, confidered or adverted to for nothing elfe can be requifite, to make us come to the knowledge of the truth, and understand what the will of the Lord is, and fo be wife to falvation. Hence the apof tle prays that his Philippians (n) might abound more and more in knowledge and in all wisdom, ev taon alsbyse, in all perception, that they might approve the things that are most excellent; and faith to the (o) Romans, be ye transformed by the reare exnewing of your mind, is tò doxiuálaw, that you may difcern and approve what is according to the good, and acceptible, and perfect will of God. Again, what makes the will choofe, is fomething approved by the understanding, and confequently appearing to the foul as good; and whatfoever it refufeth, is fomething reprefented by the understanding, and so appearing to the will as evil; whence all that God requires of us is, and can be on ly this, to refufe the evil and to choose the good. Wherefore to fay that evidence proposed, apprehended and confidered, is not fufficient to make the underftanding to approve; or that the greatest good propofed, the greateft evil threatened, when

(2.)

(n) Philip. i. 9, 10. -(0) Róm. xii. 2.

equally believed and reflected on, is not fufficient to engage the will to choose the good and refuse the evil, is in effect to fay that which alone doth move the will to choose or to refuse, is not fufficient to engage it fo to do; that which alone is requifite to make me understand and approve, is not fufficient to do fo; which being contradictory to itself, muft of neceffity be falfe.

Be it then fo, that we have naturally an averfion to the truths propofed to us in the gospel, that only can make us indifpofed to attend to them, but cannot hinder our conviction when we do apprehend them and attend to them; whence for removal of it, the apoftle only prays, (p) that the eyes of our understanding may be enlightened that we may know them; adding, that where the light of the knowledge of the glory of God was revealed, it, after this, (q) their gofpel was hid from any, it was only fo, because the God of this world had blinded their eyes, or the conceptions of their minds, that the light of the gospel might not shine into them. Be it that there is in us allo a renitency to the good we are to choose, that only can indifpofe us to believe it is, and to approve it as our chiefeft good. Be it that we are prone to the evil that we fhould decline, that only can render it the more difficult for us to believe it is the worst of evils; but yet what we do really believe to be our chiefeft good, will ftill be chofen, and what we apprehend to be the worst of evils, will, whilft we do continue under that conviction, be refused by us: It therefore be only requifite, in order to thefe ends, that the good' Spirit fhould fo illuminate our understandings, that we attending to, and confidering what lies before us, thould apprehend, and be convinced of our duty; and that the bleffings of the gofpel thould be fo propounded to us, as that we may difcern them to be our chiefeft good, and the miferies it threateneth, fo as we may be convinced they are the worst of evils, that we may choose the one, and refufe the other. Now to confider in order to approbation and conviction, to choofe in order to our good, and to refufe that we may avoid mifery, must be the actions not of God but man, though the light that doth convince, and the motives which engage him thus to choose, and refufe, are certainly from God.)

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SECTION IV. To illuftrate this by a familiar inftance taken from ourselves, or our deportment towards others; when a man in words plain and intelligible fpeaks to another, it he will hearken to what he fays, he muft understand his mind; for by that very impreffion the words make upon his brain, he immediately perceives his mind; and cannot the