TIM DOLY SPIRIT AND FILS wORK. 11 Sect. 18.Secondly; Others therewere, who spoke in the name, and se they falsely professed, by the in- spiration of the Spirit of the Holy God. With this sort of men Jeremiah had great contests: for, in that apostatizing age of the church, they had got such an interest and reputation among the rulers and people, as not only to confront his prophecies with contrary predictions, chap. xxviii. 2, -4: but also to traduce him as a false prophet, and to urge his punishment ac- cording to the law, chap. xxix. ver.25,26, 27. And with the like confidence did Zedekiah, the son of Che- naanah carry it towards Micaíah, 2Kings xxii. 26. for he scornfully asks him; Which way went the Spirit of the Lord fromme to speak unto thee; that is, whereas assuredly he speaketh in me, how came he to inspire thee with a contrary revelation? Ezekiel, at the same time with Jeremiah, was exercised and perplexed with them, chap. xiii. and xiv. For this sort of persons, namelyfalse pretenders unto divine extraor- dinary revelations, did of old usually abound in times of danger and approaching desolations. The de- vil stirred them up to fill men with vain hopes, to keep them in ein and security, that destruction might seize upon them at unawares. And whoever takes the same course in the time of deserved threatened impendent judgments, though they use not the same means, yet they also do the work of the devil. For whatever en- courageth men to be secure in their sins, is a false divi- nation, Jer. v. 5O, 31. And this sort of men is charac- terized by the prophet Jeremiah, chapter xxiii. from verse 9, to 33, where any one may read their sin and judgment. And yet this false pretending unto the spi- rit ofprophecy, was very far from casting any contempt on the real gift of the Holy Ghost therein; nay, it gave it the greater glory and lustre. God never more hon- oured his true prophets, than when there were most false ones. Neither shall ever any false pretence to the Spirit of grace render him less dear unto those that are partakers of him, or his gifts of less use unto the church. Sect. 19. It was thus also under the New Testa- ment at the firstpreaching of the gospel. The doctrine of it at first was declared from the immediate revelation of the Spirit; preached by the assistance of the Spirit, made effectualby his work and power, was accompan- ied in many by outward miraculous works and effects of C the Spirit, whence the whole of what peculiarly belong- ed unto it in opposition to the law, was called the mi- nistration of the.Spirit. These things being owned and acknowledged by all, those who had any false opinions or dotages of their own to broach, or any other deceit to put upon. Christians, could think of no more expe. dite means for the compassing of their ends, than by pretending to immediate revelations of the Spirit. For, without some kind of credibility given them from hence, they knew that their fond imaginations would not be taken into the least consideration. Hence the apostle Peter, havingtreated concerning the revelation of God by his Spirit in prophecy under the Old Testament and theNew, 2 Epist. chap. i. ver. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, adds . as an inference from that discourse, a comparison be- tween the false prophets that were under the Old Tes- tament, and the false teachers under the New; chap. ii. 1. " But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among " you." And the reason of it is, because, that as they pretended to the Spirit of the Lord in their prophesies, saying, 7hus saith the Lord, when he sent them not, so these ascribed all their abominable heresies to the in- spiration of the Spirit, by whom they were not assisted. Sect. 20. Hence is that blessed caution and rule given us by the apostle John, who lived to see much mischiefdone in the church by this pretence; 1. Epist. chap. iv. ver. I, 2. " Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because " many false prophets are gone out into the world. " Hereby knowwe the Spirit of God; every spirit that " confesseth that Jesus is come in the flesh, is of God: " and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ. " is, come in the flesh, is not of God." A two-fold di- rection doth the apostle here give unto all believers. The first by the way of caution, that they would not believe every spirit; that is, not receive or give credit to every doctrine that was proposed unto them as of immediate revelation and inspiration of theSpirit. He in- tends thesame with theapostle Paul, Ephes. iv. 14 who would not have us carried about with every wind ofdoc- trine, like vessels at seawithout anchors or helms, by the sleight ofmen, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in trait to deceive. For the crafts and sleights intended, are such as men use when they cast a mist, as it were, before the eyes of others whom they intend to cheat and 15
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