PART III, of gracious iffe5Iio ts. lo Dream, or when . he is awake, any outward Ideas of any of theSenfes, either Voices, or Shapes and Colours, 'tis only exciting Ideas of the fame Kind that he has by natural Principles and Senfes. So if God reveals to any natural 10-4an, any fecret Fag ; as for Inflance, fome thing that he (hall hereafter fee or hear ; this is not infufing or exerci- fing any new fpiritual Principle,or giving the Ideas of any new fpiri- tual Senfe ; 'tis only impreffing, in an extraordinary Manner, the Ideas that will hereafter be received by Sight and Hearing. So in the more ordinary Influences of the Spirit of God on the Hearts of Sinners,he onlydrifts natural Principles to do the fameWork to a t rcat- erDegree, which they do of themfelves byNature. Thus the Spirit of God by his common Influences may affift Men's natural Ingenicfity,, as he affihfed Bezaleel and flboliab in the curious Works of the Taber- nacle : fo he may affìft Mens natural Abilities in political Affairs. and improve their Courage, and other natural Qualifications ; as he is faid to have put hisSpirit on the feventyElders, & onSaul, fo as togive Um another Heart : fo God may greatly affifl natural Men's Reafort, in their Reafoning about fecular Things, or about the Dcétrines of Religion, and may greatly advance the Clearnefs of their Apprehen- fions and Notions of Things of Religion in many Refpe&s, without giving any fpiritual Senfe. So in thofe Awakenings and Convidtions that natural Men may have, God only affifts Confcience, which is a natural Principle, to do that Work in a further Degree, which it na- turally does. Confcience naturally gives Men an Apprehenfion of Right and Wrot3g, and fuggefts the Relation there is between Right andWrong, and aRetribution : The Spirit of God aífiffs Men'sCon- fciences to do this in a greater Degree, helps Confcience againft the flupifying Influence of worldly Objects and their Luf}s. And fo there are many other Ways might be mention'd wherein the Spirit acts upon, affiffs and moves natural Principles ; but after all, 'tis no more than Nature moved, acted and improved ; here is nothing fu- pernatural anddivine. But theSpirit of God in his fpirituallnfluences on the Hearts of his Saints, operates by infufing or exercifing new, divine and fupernaturalPrinciples ; Principles which are indeed a new and fpiritual Nature, and Principles vaflly more noble and excellent than all that is in natural Men. Fromwhat has been laid it follows, that all fpiritual and gracious Affe&ions are attended with, and do arife from fome Apprehenfion, Idea or Senfation of Mind, which is in its whole Nature different, yea exceeding different from all that is or can be in the Mind of a natural Man ; and which the naturalMan difcerns nothing of,and has noMan- ner of Idea of, (agreeable to r Cor. 2. 14.) and conceives of no more than aMan without theSenfe ofTailing can conceive of the fweetTafle of Honey, or a Man without the Senfe of Hearing can conceive ofthe Melody of a Tune, or a Man born Blind can have a Notion of the Beauty ofthe Rainbow. H 3 But
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