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êphefianf,Chapa,
V
E
R,13,
heart burne within him!
to
be
filled
with the
fpirit
by hearing, by
being
taught,
being admonifhed
!
It
is
pitiful!
;
We
may obferve
Tome like
ludo,
who
was,
when now
he had heard
Chrift,
and taken
the fop,
he
was filled, but
with
Satan ;
they
arc viler
after hearing then before
:
and
the molt
like
children, when Schooling.time
is
ended.
Nay
it
is
to
be feared,
that
Tome
with hearing,
are
growne
paft hearing ;
as
thofc
who dwell neare
the
continuali roaring
of
mighty waters, they
ware
deafe,
through continuall
hearing fuch vehement noyfe,
fo
that they
cannot heare any
thing
at
all;
fo
many, the
found
of
Gods
word hath
fo
long beaten their eares,that they cannot difcerne anything
in
it,what
ever
is
fpoken.
Secondly, this mutt teach
us
to
attend
on
hearing
:
Wouldfl
thou
keepe
the
fpirit
from being quenched
t.
defpife
not prophecie,
hearing
the Scriptures opened to thy
ufe.
Even
as
the Conduit
-pipes
carry the
water hither
and
thither,
fo
doth the
word conveigh the
graces of the
fpirit into
out
hearts
;
It
is a
peale
to bed
;
when men can be without
hearing, not
feeling neede
of
it,
as
fometimes
they
have done.
Secondly obferve,what word heard bringeth
us
the
quickning fpirit,
the word
ofthe
Gofpell.A
mans
drooping heart,upon the comming of
fome
good
newes
to
him,
it
feeleth
as it
were new
fpirits
returne
to
it
;
fo
our
dead
hearts, when God hath made this glad tydings
of
falvation
and
pardon oflip
be
brought them, there doth
returne
to them
a
quick
-
ning fpirit
of
peace,
and
joy
unpeakeable andglorious.
Received
you
the
#irit
by
hearin*,theLaw,or
by
the
dolrine of
futb
preached
?Gal.3.3.
And
for
this caufe
the
miniftery
ofthc
Gofpell,
is
called
the miniftery
ofthe
Spirit,
not
of
the Letter
;
becaufe this
do&ìrine
doth only
bring
us
to're
-
ceive
the
quickning fpirit,which
Both
work
in
us
a
life
eternall.TheLaw
may bring
us
to
feele our
felvesdead, Rim.7.but it cannot
quicken
any:
Though
when the Gofpell
hath now
quickned us,it may
initruCt us, re-
forme us, yea, delight
us
in
the inner man,
Rom.
7. many things may
hclpe
us,.lvhen
now
we live,
which could not
be meanes
of
reftoring
us
from
kath
to
life.But it may be objeCled,the Gofpell
is Paid
a
favour
ofdeath,
as
well
as
the
Law
is
Paid a
killing
letter.
I
anfwer.
The
Gof-
pell
is
faid
fo, not that
dirtily
the nature
of
it
is
to
kill, but
by
accident
of
wens corruption who
rejel
and will
not obey it, it
tuxneth
to
their
further condemnation
;
As
the
Kings
pardon cannot
kill
any
byit
felfe,
yet
defpifed
by
a
malefaaor,
it
may double
his
guilt,
and
bring
him
to
more hafty and fearefull execution
:
So
the
gracious
pardon
of
God,
offered
in
the Gofpell,
killeth
notany by
it
felfe, faveth
many who
re-
ceive
it,yet defpifed,it may by
occafion
worke
heavier death and
defiru-
étion.But the Law
doth
of
it
owne
nature
hold
a
man
now
in flare
of
fin,
under death
and
condemnation,
and
cannot of
it fiIle
bring
any
to
life,
who now hath
offended
;
The
wards
1
fßeake toyau
(faith
Chrift)
they are
fpirit,
they
are
life
:
Even
as
the body
of
the
funne diffufeth
as an
inftru-
ment, the beams
of
this material)
light
;
fo
it
is
the Gofpell, that
inftru-
ment
of
God,
by which
he
fendeth out the light
of
his
gracious
fpirit
into ourhearts.
The
Dltl.z.