inontiibing fiNWOì3aeoentption+ 34-9 thouhallreceivedgifts for Men, yeafor therebellious alf) Chap 18 th4t the LordGodmight dwellamong them. He<acquired LMT a right to thofe Treafures by dying, but he takes pof- feffionofthem after his Afcenfion. NowHe is Crown- ed, He holds forth the Scepter of his Royalty. There- fore 'cis faid that when Chrift was upon the Earth, the Holy Spirit was not given, becaufe 7efus vinonot Glori- fied. Ifit be obje&ed, that Believers before the Afcen- fionof Chrift were partakers ofthe Spirit ; the Anfwer is clear. 1. It was upon Chrift's interpofing in the begin- ning as Mediator, and with refpe& to his future Death and Afcenfion, that the Spirit was given to them. 2. Thedegrees of communicating the Spirit before and after the Afcenfion of Chrift are very different : whetherwe confider thegifts ofthe Spirit,thofeextraor- z Cor. dinary abilities with which theApoftles were endued; ox thefruitsoftheSpirit,theSan&ifying Graces that arebe- Gal. s. aas flowed on Believers, the meafure of them far exceeds what-ever was conveyed before. The Spirit defcended as in a dew upon the Jewifh Nation, but 'ris now pou- red forth in ihowers upon allflefh. Now in the He of Scripture thingsare faid to be, when apparently and eminently they difcover their being : So that compa- ratively to the Power and Virtueof the Spirit difco- vered in the Church fince theGlorification ofChrift, he was not given before. All the former manifeftations areobfcured by the excefs andexcellency of the later. And not only the Decree ofGod which is fufficient to connect thofe things that have no natural dependence, but there are fpecial reafons for the order of this Dif- penfation : for the great end of the Spirit's comingwas to reveal fully to the World the way ofSalvation ; to difcover the unfearchable riches. ofGrace ; to affure Men
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