PECULIAR WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT' The whole is declaredby C;yprian; whose words I have therefore transcribed ak large. e And as at the first creation, so in the course of providence, this work of cherishing and nourishing the creatures is assigned in an especial manner unto the Spirit; Psal. oiv. 30. Thou sendestforth thy Spirit, they are created, and thou reneteest theface ofthe earth. The making or creation of things here intended, is not the first great work of the creation of all, but the daily production of creatures in and according to their kind. FM, in the verse fore- going, the Psalmist treats of the decay of all sorts of creatures in the world, by a providential cutting off and finishing of their lives, verse 23, K Thou hidest H thy facer they are troubled; thou takest away their es breath, they die and return unto their dust." That under this continual decay and dying of all sorts of creatures, the world doth not come to emptiness and desolation; the only reason is, because the Spirit of God, whose office and work it is to uphold and pre- serve all things continually, produceth by his power a new supply of creatures in the room of them that fall Hic Spiritus Sancte,ebsipso :[hind; initio aquas legitur superfusus; non materialibus°leis quasi vehiculo.egns, quas potius ipse fcrehab et eomplectentibus Firmamentumdebas congeeaee momm et limitemprmfi- nitum. Hujus sempiternavirtus et Divinitas, cu in propria natura ab inquisitoribus mundi antigels Philosophis propricninvestigari non posses, subtilissimis tarnen intuiti suet eonjecturis.aompositionemMundi; c - pasïtis et distinctis Elementorum Affbctibuspresentem omnibus animan agi«sse, gum secunden genus et e,dinem singuloram vitam prabeeet et motum, et intransgressibiles figeret metas, et smbiletatem assignaret et usan. Hone vitam, bane motum, Lane rerum essentiarn, Animan Mundi Philosophi vocaverunt, putantes calessia corpora Salem dico Lun m es Stellas ipsumque Firmameatum hujus anima. virtutemover; et regi, et aquas et terram et amen hjus semine imprregneri. Qui si Spirimm et dominumet creatorem et vivificamremet nutritorem crede. rent omnium qua sub ipso aunt, convenientem haberent ad visummeet- tas;[. Sed ebscondita est a sapientibus et prudentibus tanta rei jes. nec potuis human; fasses Ingenii secretis interesse calestibuq et penetrare ad superessentialis Natura altimdinem; et licet intelligerents quad vere esset Creatrix et Gubernatr ;x rerum Divinitas, distinguere te- men nullo modo potuerunt qua esser Deitatis Trin;tas, eel gum unites vel gum persanaram proprietes. -Hic est.Spiritus vita cujus vivificas color animas omnia et facet et prnvebet et factmdet. Hic omnium ventium Anima, ila largitate sua se omnibus abundanter infundib at habeantomnia cetionabilia at irrationabiliesecundmn genus sunny ex eo quad suns, et quad in suo ordine sum natura competenti° °gnat; on quod ipse sit substannatis anima singulis, sed in se singulariter menens de plenitudine sua distributor mageificus propries eificientiessingulis di- vidit et largitur; et quasi gol omnia calefaciens subjects, amnia nutrir, et ebsque olla sui diminnione, integrimtem sue de inexbauste adult- dentinmead satis est et sufficit omnibuscommodat et ieepartit--Cyprien, Y+h, de Spirit. Saact off like leaves from the trees, and return to their dust every day. And whereas the earth itself, the common nurse of them all seems in the revolution of everyyear to be at an end of its use and work, having death. brought upon the face of it, and oft-times entering, deep into its bowels, the Spirit of God, by its in- fluential concurrence, renews it again, causing every thing afresh tobring forth fruit according unto its kind, . whereby its fare receiveth a new beauty and adorning.. Andthis is the'substance of what the scripture expressly asserts concerning the work of the Spirit of God to- wards the inanimate part of the creation. His actings in reference unto man, and that obedience which he owned to God according to the law and covenant of his creation, is next to be considered.. Sect.. 10t. D7an in his creation Talleth under a two- fold notion. For he may be considered either merely naturally, as to the essentially constitutive parts of his being, or morally also.w.ith reference unto his principles of obedience, the law given unto him, and the endpro posed as his reward.. And these things are distinctly proposed unto our contemplation in the scripture. The first is- expressed, Gen. ii. 7. " And the Lord " God formed man of the dust of the ground, and " breathed into his. nostrils the breath of life, and man . ee became a living soul."' (I.) There is the matter whereofhe was formed; (2.) The quickening principle added thereunto; And (S.) The effect of their conjunc tion and union. For the matter he was made of, it is said he was formed null n'n 'Iov, dust of' the ground, or dust gathered together on an heap from and upon the ground, San minor vn e, Prov. viii. 26. So is God, the great an¡uacow, the universal framer of all, represented as an artificer, who first prepares his matter, and then forms it as it seemeth good unto him. And this is mentioned for two ends; first, to set forth the excel- lency, power, and wisdom of God, who out of such vile contemptible matter, as an heap of dust swept, as it were together on the ground, could and did make so excellent, curious and glorious a fabric as is the body of man, or as was the body of Adam before the fall. Se- condly, To mind man of his original, that he might bekept humble, and in a meet dependence on the wis- dom and bounty of his. creator; for thence it was, and not from the original matter whereof he was made, that hebecame so excellent. Hereof Abrahammakes hisso- lemn acknowledgment before the Lord, Gen. xviii. 27.
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