22~~--~-----~~h_e_li. __ ar~m_o_ny~of_t~h_e_V _ iv_in_e_A~t_t_ri_bu~t-es~~--~- w 2. The degrees of communicating the Spirit before and after the Afeenfion of Chrift Chap. r8.ar< very different: whether we conGder the Gifts of the Spirit; (2 Cor. 1.) thofe ex- ~ traordinary Abilities with which the Apoftles were endued; or the Fruits of the Spirit, (Gal. 5· 22.) the Sanctifying Graces that are beftowed on Believers, the meafure of them far exceeds whatever was conveyed before. The Spirit defcended as in a dew upon the Jewifh Nation, but 'tis now poured forth in fhowers upon all FleOJ. Now in the fiile of Scripture, things are faid to be, when apparently and eminently they difcover their being : So that comparatively to the Power and Virtue of the Spirit difcovered in the Church Gnce the Glorification of Chrift, he was not given before. All the former Manifefiations are obfcured by the excefs and. excell ency of the later. And not only the Decree of God, which is fufficient to Connect thofe things that have no natural dependance, but there are fpecial Reafons for the Order of this Difpenfation: for the great End of the Spirits coming, was to reveal fully to the World the way of Salvation; to .difcover the unfearchable Riches of Grace; to aifure Men of Happinefs after this Life, that they might be reduced from a fiate of Rebellion to Obedience, and their Affections be refined .and purified from all Earthlinefs, and made Angelica! and Heavenly. Now the principal Demonftrations which he ufed to perfwade Men of thefe things, are the Death and Refurretl:ion ofChrift, without which the(e MyUeries had been under a Cloud . That the Inftruction therefore of the Spirit might be clear and effectual , it was neceifary Chrift fhould fulfer and enter into Heaven, and accomplifh thofe things he was to teach. And from hence we may obferve that the Sanctifying grace of the Spirit is the infeparable concomitant of the Evangelical Mercy. The Gofpel and the Spirit are the Wings by which the Sun of Righteo'!fn'ejs brings he.ling and Life to the World. The fupernatural declaration of Juftice in the Law from Mount Sinai was not accompanied with the efficacy of Grace : Therefore'tiscalledthe mhri{lrationof Death, 2 Cor. 3· 7· It conveyed no Spiritual ftrength as delivered by the Hands of Mofes, conGdering him precifely in ' the quality of the legal Mediator, but threatned a Curfe to the breakers of it. All the Promifes of Mercy fcattered in the Books of Mofes belong to the Covenant of Grace. The Gofpel is called the Law of the Spirit of Life, and the Minif/rat ion of the Spi>'it; that is, the Spirit of Holinefs and Comfort from whom true and Eternal Life proceeds, is folely communicated by it. The natural difcovery of the Divine Goodnefs in the Works of Creation and Providence, is without the renewing Power of the Spirit. There is a corrcfpondence between the external Revelation of Mercy, and the internal Grace of the Spirit in their Original : as the one is fupernatural, fo is the other. Not but that the Heathens had (ome fainter Beams of the Sun of Righteoufnefs, for he inlightens every Man that covm into the World, and fome lower Operations of the Spirit, whereby they were reduced from Intemperance, Incontinency and other grofs Vices, to the practice of feveral Vertues that refpect the Civil Life. And of this we have an eminent inftance recorded by Diogenes Laertius; that Polemo ha!f-drunk, crown'd with Rofes (g), and in the drefs of a Harlet rather than of a Man, coming into the School of the fevere Zenocrates, hearing himdifcour(e of Temperance, as by a Charm, was fo perfea!y changed, that cafting away the Garland from his Head, and the lafcivious ornaments that were about him, and which was more confiderable, his vicious Habits from his Soul, he that entered in a Reveller, came ferth a Philofopher, [o corrected and compofed in his manners, that he was called the Doric/z Tone, which of all others was the moft folemn and majeftical in the Mufick of thofe times. Now this Altera• tion was wrought by the force of natural R.eafon, which prevailed on him to renounce thofe fenfual and bafe Lofts, that were inconfiftent with the Honour and peace of a Man in this prefent Life. But ftill he was exceedingly diftant from the Purity of a true Saint, who partakes of the Divine Nature, and is inclined in all his Motions to God. All the Precepts of Morality, to u(e the Similitude of Plutarch, are like ftrong Perfumes that fometimes revive thofe that are in a Swoon by the FaUing-Sicknefs, but never heal ~:v:;,~ ~:: :~~~b,Ies~i~~;~~fJ, ~~~~~:; ~~;:[:a~hc~~~~i~~~:,u~~~t~~~at~~o~~~~t;;a~~a~~~= ~t~~~= r:E;~~~?T~: ~~t~d~~t~:~;~ th!~~e~gohre~~~i:o{~;~~~~~~~g:~hs ~~le \~hi~h ~~~;:, ~~~~g~~~~er~~: ("'mr< giori<) tile, yet not lefs finful, and di(cernible by the pure Eye of God. 'Twas from one kind ~:~~n;~/ffCdz· of Sin to another, fromfenfoa l tofpirrtual, Satan cttft out Satan (h); or from higher to '"."· A•g. lower degrees of Sin, but not from Sin to Holinefs. And although the fame good ~;: ' d< ""· Works, as to the external fubftance, were performed by the Hcatl~ens as by Chri{lian\6,~
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=