only extended to hope, but to our peace also in believing. So is it in the connection of those promises, John xiv. 26, 27, "I will give you the Comforter:" and what then? what follows that grant? "Peace," saith he, "I leave with you; my peace I give unto you." Nor doth Christ otherwise leave his peace, or give his peace unto them, but by bestowing the Comforter on them. The peace of Christ consists in the soul's sense of its acceptation with God in friendship. So is Christ said to be "our peace," Eph. ii. 14, by slaying the enmity between God and us, and in taking away the handwriting that was against us. Rom. v. 1, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God." A comfortable persuasion of our acceptation with God in Christ is the bottom of this peace; it inwraps deliverance from eternal wrath, hatred, curse, condemnation,-all sweetly affecting the soul and conscience.

And this is a branch from the same root with that foregoing,-a consequent of the effects of the Holy Ghost before mentioned. Suppose a man chosen in the eternal love of the Father, redeemed by the blood of the Son, and justified freely by the grace of God, so that he hath a right to all the promises of the gospel; yet this person can by no reasonings nor arguings of his own heart, by no considerations of the promises themselves, nor of the love of God or grace of Christ in them, be brought to any establishment in peace, until it be produced in him as a fruit and consequent of the work of the Holy Ghost in him and towards him. "Peace" is the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22. The savour of the Spirit is "life and peace," Rom. viii. 6. All we have is from him and by him.

3. Joy, also, is of this number. The Spirit, as was showed, is called "The oil of gladness," Heb. i. 9. His anointing brings gladness with it, Isa. lxi. 3, "The oil of joy for mourning." "The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," Rom. xiv. 17; "Received the word with joy in the Holy Ghost," 1 Thess. i. 6,— "with joy," as Peter tells believers, "unspeakable and full of glory,” 1 Epist. i. 8. To give joy to the hearts of believers is eminently the work of the Comforter; and this he doth by the particulars before instanced in. That " rejoicing in hope of the glory of God," mentioned Rom. v. 2, which carries the soul through any tribulation, even with glorying, hath its rise in the Spirit's "shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts," verse 5. Now, there are two ways whereby the Spirit worketh this joy in the hearts of believers:—

(1.) He doth it immediately by himself; without the consideration of any other acts or works of his, or the interposition of any reasonings, or deductions and conclusions. As in sanctification he is a well of water springing up in the soul, immediately exerting his efficacy and refreshment; so in consolation, he immediately works the

soul and minds of men to a joyful, rejoicing, and spiritual frame, filling them with exultation and gladness;-not that this arises from our reflex consideration of the love of God, but rather gives occasion thereunto. When he so sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts, and so fills them with gladness by an immediate act and operation (as he caused John Baptist to leap for joy in the womb upon the approach of the mother of Jesus),-then doth the soul, even from hence, raise itself to a consideration of the love of God, whence joy and rejoicing doth also flow. Of this joy there is no account to be given, but that the Spirit worketh it when and how he will. He secretly infuseth and distils it into the soul, prevailing against all fears and sorrows, filling it with gladness, exultations; and sometimes with unspeakable raptures of mind.

(2.) Mediately. By his other works towards us, he gives a sense of the love of God, with our adoption and acceptation with him; and on the consideration thereof enables us to receive it. Let what hath been spoken of his operations towards us be considered,-what assurance he gives us of the love of God; what life, power, and security; what pledge of our eternal welfare,—and it will be easily perceived that he lays a sufficient foundation of this joy and gladness. Not that we are able, upon any rational consideration, deduction, or conclusion, that we can make from the things mentioned, to affect our hearts with the joy and gladness intended; it is left no less the proper work of the Spirit to do it from hence, and by the intervenience of these considerations, than to do it immediately without them. This process of producing joy in the heart, we have, Ps. xxiii. 5, 6, “ Thou anointest my head with oil." Hence is the conclusion, as in the way of exultation, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.' Of this effect of the Comforter, see Isa. xxxv. throughout.

4. Hope, also, is an effect of those workings of the Holy Ghost in us and towards us, Rom. xv. 13. These, I say, are the general consequents of the effects of the Holy Ghost upon the hearts of believers; which, if we might consider them in their offspring, with all the branches that shoot out from them, in exultation, assurance, boldness, confidence, expectation, glorying, and the like, it would appear how far our whole communion with God is influenced by them. But I only name the heads of things, and hasten to what remains. It is the general and particular way of our communion with the Holy Ghost that should nextly ensue, but that some other considerations necessarily do here interpose themselves.

CHAPTER V.

Some observations and inferences from discourses foregoing concerning the Spirit —The contempt of the whole administration of the Spirit by some—The vain pretence of the Spirit by others-The false spirit discovered.

THIS process being made, I should now show immediately, how we hold the communion proposed with the Holy Ghost, in the things laid down and manifested to contain his peculiar work towards us; but there are some miscarriages in the world in reference unto this dispensation of the Holy Ghost, both on the one hand and the other, in contempt of his true work and pretence of that which is not, that I cannot but remark in my passage: which to do shall be the business of this chapter.

Take a view, then, of the state and condition of them who, professing to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, do yet contemn and despise his Spirit, as to all its operations, gifts, graces, and dispensations to his churches and saints. Whilst Christ was in the world with his disciples, he made them no greater promise, neither in respect of their own good nor of carrying on the work which he had committed to them, than this of giving them the Holy Ghost. Him he instructeth them to pray for of the Father, as that which is needful for them, as bread for children, Luke xi. 13. Him he promiseth them, as a well of water springing up in them, for their refreshment, strengthening, and consolation unto everlasting life, John vii. 37-39; as also to carry on and accomplish the whole work of the ministry to them committed, John xvi. 8-11; with all those eminent works and privileges before mentioned. And upon his ascension, this is laid as the bottom of that glorious communication of gifts and graces in his plentiful effusion mentioned, Eph. iv. 8, 11, 12,-namely, that he had received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, Act ii. 33; and that in such an eminent manner as thereby to make the greatest and most glorious difference between the administration of the new covenant and old. Especially doth the whole work of the ministry relate to the Holy Ghost; though that be not my present business to evince. He calls men to that work, and they are separated unto him, Acts xiii. 2; he furnisheth them with gifts and abilities for that employment, 1 Cor. xii. 7-10. So that the whole religion we profess, without this administration of the Spirit, is nothing; nor is there any fruit without it of the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

This being the state of things,--that in our worship of and obedience to God, in our own consolation, sanctification, and ministerial employment, the Spirit is the principle, the life, soul, the all of the whole; yet so desperate hath been the malice of Satan, and wicked

ness of men, that their great endeavour hath been to shut him quite out of all gospel administrations.

First, his gifts and graces were not only decried, but almost excluded from the public worship of the church, by the imposition of an operose form of service, to be read by the minister; which to do is neither a peculiar gift of the Holy Ghost to any, nor of the ministry at all. It is marvellous to consider what pleas and pretences were invented and used by learned men,-from its antiquity, its composure and approbation by martyrs, the beauty of uniformity in the worship of God, established and pressed thereby, etc.,—for the defence and maintenance of it. But the main argument they insisted on, and the chief field wherein they expatiated and laid out all their eloquence, was the vain babbling repetitions and folly of men praying by the Spirit. When once this was fallen upon, all (at least as they supposed) was carried away before them, and their adversaries rendered sufficiently ridiculous: so great is the cunning of Satan, and so unsearchable are the follies of the hearts of men. The sum of all these reasonings amounts to no more but this," Though the Lord Jesus Christ hath promised the Holy Ghost to be with his church to the end of the world, to fit and furnish men with gifts and abilities for the carrying on of that worship which he requires and accepteth at our hands, yet the work is not done to the purpose; the gifts he bestows are not sufficient to that end, neither as to invocation nor doctrine: and, therefore, we will not only help men by our directions, but exclude them from their exercise." This, I say, was the sum of all, as I could undeniably evidence, were that my present business. What innumerable evils ensue on this principle, in a formal setting apart of men to the ministry who had never once "tasted of the powers of the world to come," nor received any gifts from the Holy Ghost to that purpose; of crying up and growing in an outside pompous worship, wholly foreign to the power and simplicity of the gospel; of silencing, destroying, banishing, men whose ministry was accompanied with the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit,—I shall not need to declare. This is that I aim at, to point out the public contempt of the Holy Ghost, his gifts and graces, with their administration in the church of God, that hath been found even where the gospel hath been professed.

Again: it is a thing of most sad consideration, once to call to mind the improvement of that principle of contempt of the Spirit in private men and their ways. The name of the Spirit was grown a term of reproach. To plead for, or pretend to pray by, the Spirit, was enough to render a man the object of scorn and reproach from all sorts of men, from the pulpit to the stage. "What! you are full of the Spirit; you will pray by the Spirit; you have the gift: let us hear your non

sense;❞—and yet, perhaps, these men would think themselves wronged not to be accounted Christians. Christians! yea, have not some pretending themselves to be leaders of the flock,-yea, mounted a storey or two above their brethren, and claiming a rule and government over them,—made it their business to scoff at and reproach the gifts of the Spirit of God? And if this were the frame of their spirit, what might be expected from others of professed profaneness? It is not imaginable to what height of blasphemy the process in this kind amounted. The Lord grant there be nothing of this cursed leaven still remaining amongst us! Some bleatings of ill importance1 are sometimes heard. Is this the fellowship of the Holy Ghost that believers are called unto? Is this the due entertainment of him whom our Saviour promised to send for the supply of his bodily absence, so as we might be no losers thereby? Is it not enough that men should be contented with such a stupid blindness, as, being called Christians, to look no farther for their comfort and consolation than moral considerations common to heathens would lead them, when one infinitely holy and blessed person of the Trinity hath taken this office upon him to be our comforter, but they must oppose and despise him also? Nothing more discovers how few there are in the world that have interest in that blessed name whereby we are all called. But this is no place to pursue this discourse. The aim of this discourse is, to evince the folly and madness of men in general, who profess to own the gospel of Christ, and yet condemn and despise his Spirit, in whomsoever he is manifested. Let us be zealous of the gifts of the Spirit, not envious at them.

From what hath been discoursed we may also try the spirits that are gone abroad in the world, and which have been exercising themselves, at several seasons, ever since the ascension of Christ. The iniquity of the generation that is past and passing away lay in open, cursed opposition to the Holy Ghost. God hath been above them, wherein they behaved themselves presumptuously. Satan, whose design, as he is god of this world, is to be uppermost, not to dwell wholly in any form cast down by the providence of God, hath now transformed himself into an angel of light; and he will pretend the Spirit also and only. But there are "seducing spirits," 1 Tim. iv. 1; and we have a command not to believe every spirit, but try the spirits,” 1 John iv. 1: and the reason added is, “Because many false prophets are gone out into the world;"—that is, men pretending to the revelation of new doctrines by the Spirit; whose deceits in the first church Paul intimateth, 2 Thess. ii. 2; calling on men not to be shaken in mind by spirit." The truth is, the spirits of these days are so gross, that a man of a very easy discerning may find them out;

1

Importance, in an obsolete sense of the word, import or meaning.-ED.