Ambrose - Houston-Packer Collection BX5200 .A49 1674

JLoolttng unto jjtfu.s. Chap. 1 .SecL 9 • world ,and if it elevate and fet our affeCtions on heavenly things, ifit form anol frame our converfations towards heaven, we may then conclude the motions are not frolll be– low, but from above. 0 that Chrillians would be much in obfervation of. and in liilning to the movings, working•,_ hints, ani:! intimations of that Sp'llit tha; comes from heav~n. Certainly that Spmt ts of God that comes down from heaven, and that lifts up our ~ouls towards heaven, 3 . He comes down from heaven like a wind; The comparifon is moll lpt 1 of all bodily things the Wtnd is lea(\ bodily; it is invifible, and comes nearell to the na– ture of a Spirit: it is quick and atlive as the Spirit is. But more cfpecially the ho– ly Gholl is co~pare~ to a wind in refpetl of Its irrefiilable workings; as ~othing c:•n refillth~ wmd, tt goes and blows wh~eh way foeyer it will; fo nothing can re– !•fi the Sptflt of God, wheref&ever it hath a pu_rpofe to work cfficacioufly; 1 will not fay butth~ heart of a man may _refiil 'a~d rqctl the work of the Spirit in fome A(l.Hr· . meafurc, and m fome degrees; Stepben told the {erru, they had alwaies refifled tbe ho· >Clor.'11o.s. ly Gho/f; and the Af)oillc te1s of jfrong boldt, and of every high thing that exalteb it [elf AJtainj/ God; fa then is a natural contrariety, a conllant enmity, and aClive re– fi(ling of Gods Spirit by. our fpirits; we mull therefore dillingui(b between a preva– lent, and a gradual relilhng; the fpmt m converfion fo works, that he takes away the p rcvalent,but not the gradual refilling i Aman before he be converted i• froward, and , full of q viis and prejudic:.s, htis unwilling to be faved, he cannot abide the truth he,doth what he can to llifle all good motions: yet if he belong to the cletlion ;f grac~;God will at !ail over- maller his heart,and make him 1 ofunwilling, willing. he will omnipotently bow and change the will,and work on his foul by hi• mighty p;wcr cfficadoufly, infuperably, and irrefiilably. Again, the holy Ghofi.is cii>mpued to Job3.8. wi~~· j~ ,!ef~etl of its free atltn_g~ ~ the wind bloweth ~here it lijleth (faith Chrillj an~,(o, ~~c ~pmt bloweth, ';Y)lere.n'lt~eth; ':"ho can g1ve any rc~fon . why r_he Spirit bre~thes fo I wretly on Jacob, and not on Efa•<? on Peter, and not on {•das'? is it not the freegrace and good pleafure of God ? fptings it not from the mrer free~om and pure arbitrarinefsol hisown only worJ<ings? ".Y'" ~~ i4 given to k,now the mi(feriu •f Mat.13; "' the Kingdom of- heaven (faith Chriil) butto them it it not given. And I than~<_ tfm g Rather, Lord of heaven and earth, becau[e thou haft, hid thefe thingt from the .,.,ife Mat. II, "-)• and pntdellt, and haft reveal~d them unto ~af,et 1 even Jo Father, for fo it feemedgootl >6. in thy fight. Thcfe,and the hke Texts,'are as fo Iilany hammars to beat in pieces all thofe Do~rines of fr~e-will, 'and ' of the poweJr~ of man to fupernatural things. grace makFs no gain of mans w;ork; f~ee-wi\! may inaeed move and ru~, but if it b~ to good, it muil be moved, and dnven, and breathed upon by Gods free grace. The Spirit blows where it lillcth. 4 · He camelike a rujhingmigb~.wind; as the wind is fomctimes of that firength that it rends •nd rives in funder Mountain& and Rocks,it pulls up trees, it blows down buildings ; fo arc the operations o~ the holy Spirit ; it takes down all before it, it brings ioto captivity many an exaltin-g thought, it made a Conquefi of the World, beginning at [eruf~lem, and fprcading it felf over all the earth, it is m_ighty in opt-. ration, able tb fl1ake the fioutefi and the proudefi man, and to break mpteces the very ftonidt heart; indeed our words without this fpirit arc but weak wind, we may fpend our fC!ves, and never waken Souls, but if the SJ?irit blow, he; wtll amaze the confcienccs of the fiou!Cft pee", and drive away our . hns, as the wmd drove away the Grailioppers and Eodllls that over·fpread the land of .iEypt. Some Analogy there is betwixt this vehement wind; and the fpirits workmgs ; the Spmt firfi comc5 as a Spirit of bondage, and then as a Spirit of Adoption ; the Spirit of bondage is as a nhement wind tliat terrdics, to {hew that we are not fit to recet ve the grace of God, unlefs thi: door be firil opned by fear and h.umiliation; others fay that t he vehement rufl\ing of this wind !hewed how irre{i(lably the Apo1lles !hould proceed in preachin~ the Gofpel of Jefus Chrill; they had 1 Comm11Iion to go mto all the World, and to teach all Nations, and they had a promifc that though many ~1ght oppofe, yet the ga~es ?f h~ll lhould not prevail againil the Church; _the Spmt lbould go along ~t!h them, and he in them, and they in him, iliould prev.atl rntght!ly hke a ru!hmg llugh~ ty' wind.: · , .. . . ' '5. He filled all the houfe where they were littmg; there wer~none there that were not filled with the holy Ghofi; this room contamed a congregation ofnoMe but Samt~. All the men and women (an hundred aud twenty, aj fome think) 10 thts room were ' ' • lffite$1

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