tl;e Sal1Jation oftl;e Ci;urc1J from /;is Perfon._ 91 him ; and whatever Infiruction was thereby given unto the Church iiL the Mind and Will of God, it was immediately from him, as the.great Prophet of the Church. , 3· By fending, his ho['V spirit to infpire, act and guide the Prophets by whom God wou~d reveal himfel£ God fpake . unto them by the mouth of his ho!J Prophets from the 6egin· ing, of the world, Luke I. ;o. But it ,was the Spirit of Chrifl , that was in them, that fpake by /them, that revealed the things which concerned· the Redemption and Salvation of the Church, 1 Pet. I. u, I 2. And by this Spirit he himfelf Preached unto thofe that were difo!Jedient in the daies ofNoah;· who are now in prifon for their difobedience, I Pet. )·19,20. Fqr he was fo the Prophet of the Church alwaies as to ten– der manifold Infiructions unto the per~ihiJ.:tg unbelieving world. Hence is he faid,to lighten every' man that cometh into the wor:ld, Job. 1.9. by one way or other communicating to them fome notices of God and his ·Will : For his Light fhineth in, or irradiates darknefs it felf; thatdarknefs which is come on the minds of men by fm, though the darknefi comprehend it not, v. 5'· 1 • 4· By the Miniflry ofHo!J Men, acted and moved by his Spirit. So he gave forth the word that was written for an everlail:ing Rule of Faith and Obedience unto the Churcb. Thus were the O ffice and Work of Infirucbng and Ilh.lmi~ nating of the Church on his hand alone from the beginning, · and thus were they by him difcharged. This was not a work for him who was no more but a man" His Humane Nature. had no Exifience until the fulnefs of time, the latt~ daies, and therefore could effect or operate nothing before. And whereas the Apofile difiinguiiheth between the fpeak– ing of God in the Son, and his fpeaking in the Prophets, OIJ– pofmg the ~me to the other, He/;. 1. r, 2 . He cloth it with refpefr unto his Perfonal Minifiry unto the Church of the N 2 Jews , ..
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