IN THE FIRST OR OLD CREATION. 55 s great and mighty work to effect. He was utterly to ruin and destroy the great, ancient, Babylonian mon- archy. God had a concern herein, as to the avenging of the quarrel of his people, and therein the accomplish- ment of many promises and threatenings. The work itself was great, arduous, and insuperable to ordinary human abilities. Wherefore God sends his Spirit to fill Cyrus with wisdom, courage, skill in all military affairs, that he might go through with the work, whereunto, in the providence of God, he was designed. Hence is he called God's anointed, because the unction of kings of old, was an instituted sign of the communication of the gifts of the. Holy Ghost for government, unto them; see Isa.xlv. 1 -5, andother instances of the like kind might be given. Sect. 16. Thus when the church was to have a blessed restoration of the worship of God, after the re- turn of the people from their captivity, Zerubbabel is in an especial manner called to begin and carry on this work, in the building of the temple. But the difficul- ties he had to conflict withal were great, and appeared insuperable. The people were few and poor, and the oppositions made unto them, and their work, great and many; especially what arose from the power of the Per- sian monarchy, under whose rule and oppression they were. For, although they had permission and encour- agement from Cyrus for their work, yet immediately, upon his death, they were oppressed again, and their work caused to cease. This power they could noway conflict withal; yet God tells them that all this opposi- tionshall be removed and conquered. a Who art thou," saith he,. " O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou "" shalt become a plain," Zech. iv. 7. All the hinder- ance that arose from that great mountainof the Persian empire shall be removed out of the way, and the pro- gress of Zerubbabel, in his work, shall bemade smooth, O plain, and easy. But how shall this be effected and brought about? " Not by an army, or by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts," ver. 6. You would suppose that it must be done by armies and open force, which you are altogether insuf- ficient for. But this is not the way I will take in this matter. My Spirit shall work in their hearts, minds, and counsels, that, contrary to their fears, they shall themselves further that work which hitherto theyhave impeded. And he shall work in the minds and counsels of others tooppose them, and entangle them where they would hinder it, until they are destroyed, and that great mountain be fully removed, as in the event, it came to pass. So that the providential alterations that are wrought in the world, are effects of his power and effi- cacy also. Sect. I7.And thus have we taken a short view of the dispensation and work of the Spirit of God in the first creation. But the effect hereof being a state of things that quickly passed away, and being of no advan- tage to the church after the entrance of sin, what be- longed unto it is but sparingly delivered in the scrip- tures; the true sense of what is so delivered depending much on the analogy of the following works of God in man's renovation and recovery. But as to the new crea- tion (which falls under our consideration, in the next place, as that alone which is directly intended by us) the foundation, building up, and finishing the church of God therein, being the things whereon depends the principal manifestation of theglory of God, and where- in the great concerns of all the elect do lie, they are morefully and directly declared in the scripture. And,,_ in reference unto them, we shall find a full distinct de- claration of the whole dispensation and work of the Spirit of God. 17
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