AND 6PIIIITU it cannot fill up unto the benefit and ornament of the without some spiritual gift. These places are va. rions, some ofgreateruse than others, and ofmore neces- sity unto the edification of the church, but all are useful in their kind. This our apostle disputes at large, 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,20, &c. All believ- ers, in due order, dobecome one body by the partici- pation of thesame Spirit, and union unto the same head. Those who do not so partake of the one Spirit, who are not united unto the head, do not properly belong to the body, whatever place they seem to hold therein. Of those that do so, some are, as it were, an eye, some asan hand, and someas a foot: all these useful in their several places, and needful unto one another. None of them is so high- jy exalted as to have the least occasion of being lifted up, as tho' he had no needof the rest; for the Spirit distri- buteth unto every one severally as he will, not all unto . any one, save only unto thehead, our Lord Jesus, from whom we all receive grace, according to the measure of his gift. Nor is any so depressed or useless, as to say, It is not of the body, nor that the body bath no need of it. But every one, in his place and station, concurs to the unity, strength,, beauty, and growth of the body, which things our apostle disputes at large in the place mention- ed. (4.) Hereby are supplies communicated unto the whole from the head, Eph. iv. 15, 16. Col. ii. 19. It is ofthe body, that is, of the church, under the con- duct of its officers, that the apostle discourseth in those places. And the duty of the whole, is to speak the truth in love, every one in his several place and station. And herein God hath so ordered the union of the whole church in itself, unto, and in dependence on its head, as that through, and by, notonly the supply of everyjoint, which may express either the officers, or more eminent members of it; but the effectual working of everypart, in the exerciseof,the graces and gifts of the Spirit, Both impart to the whole, the body may edify itself, and be increased. Wherefore, (5.) The scripture is express, that the Holy Ghost doth communicate of those gifts unto private believers, and directs them in that duty wherein they are to be exercised, 1 Peter iv. 10. Every one, that is, every believer walking in the order and fel- lowship of the gospel, 4s to attend unto the discharge of his duty, according as he bath received spiritual ability. So was it in the church of Corinth, 1 Cor. i. 5, 6, 7. and in that of the Romans, chap. xv. 14. as they all ofthem 2 B AL GIFTS. 97 knew that it was their duty to covet the best gifts, which they did with success, 1 Cor. xii. 31. And hereon de- pend the commands for the exercise of those duties, which, in the ability ofthesegifts received, they were to perform. So were they to admonish one another, to exhort one another, to build up one another in their most holy faith. And it is the loss of those spiritual gifts which bath introduced amongst many an utter ne- glect of these duties, so as they are scarce heard of a- mong the generality of them that are called Christians. But, blessedbe God, we have large and full experience of the continuance of this dispensation of the Spirit in the eminent abilities of a multitude of privateChristians, however they may be despised by themwho know them not. By some, I confess, they have been abused; some have presumed on them beyond the line and measure which they have received; some have been puffed up with -them; some have usedthem disorderly in churches, and to their hurt; some have boasted of what they have not received; all which miscarriages also befel the pri- mitive churches. And I had rather have the order, ruler spirit, and practice of those churches that were planted by the apostles, with all their troubles and disadvan- tages, than the carnal peace of others in their open de- generacy from all those things. 12. It remains only, that we inquire how men may come unto, or attain a participation of thesegifts, whe. ther ministerial or more private? And unto this end we may observe: (1.) That they are not communicated un- to any by a sudden afutsss, or extraordinary infusion, as were the gifts of miracles and tongues, which were be- stowed on the apostles, and many of the first converts. That dispensation of the Spirit is long since ceased, and where it is now pretended unto by any, it may justly be suspected as an enthusiastic delusion: for, as the ends of those gifts, which in their own nature exceed the whole . power of all our faculties, is ceased, so is their commu- nication, and themanner of it also. Yet this I must say, that the infusion of spiritual light-into the mind, which is the foundation of all gifts, as bath been proved, being wrought sometimes suddenly, or in a short season. the concomitancyof gifts, in some good measure, is often- times sudden, with an appearance of something extraor- dinary, as might be manifested in instances of several Sorts. (2.) These gifts are not absolutely attainable by our own diligence and endeavours in the use of means, 40
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=