C A p.Vl I.4,az TheSpirit beftowed on,&abidingwith Believers. 174 ofthe NewTeftament. Now in this way he would have us aske the Holy Spirit at thehand ofGod. Luke 11.9, r 3. Aske him, that is,as toa clearer, full- er Adminiftration ofhim untous: for he is antecedentlybellowed; as to the working ofFaith, and Regeneration, even unto thisApplication, forwithout him wecannot once aske in the nameofChrift; for none can call Jefus Lord 4. 22. or doeany thing inhisnane, but by thefpirit ofGod: This I fay then; He, is Eph. r:4. whom we are bleffed with all fpirituall bleffings , .bath procured the Holy Spirit for us, and through his Interceffìon he is beflowed onus. Nowwhere 2 cor.3. i7. the Spirit ofGod is, there is liberty from finne, peace and acceptancewith God. But it may be obje&ed,althoughthis Spirit be thus beflowed onBelie- Hom.8.14. vers, yet may they not call himoff, fo that his abode with themmay be but fora feafon, and their Glory not befafegarded in the Iffue,but their condem- nation increafed by their receiving of him ? This being the only thing, wherein this proofeof Believers abiding with God , feemes lyable to ex- ception, I fhall givea triple Teftimony ofthe certaintyof the continuance of the Holy Spirit with them, on whom he is bellowed, that in the mouthof two or threewitneffes this Truth maybe eflablifhed: and they are no meane ones neither, but the three that beare witneffe in Heaven, theFather, theSonn, and theHoly Ghofl. 4 23. The firfl you have Ifa. 59. 21: Ent asOrme, this is my Covenant with them faith the Lord, mySpirit which isupon thee, andmy words which I haveput in thy mouth,(hall not depart out ofthy month, nor out of the mouthof Seed, nor out ofthe mouthofthy seeds seed,faith the Lord henceforthandforever. That which theLord declares here to theChurch,he callshisCovenat.Nowwhereas in aCovenant there are two things, 1. What is flipulated, on the part ofhim that makes the Covenant. 2.What ofthem is required,with whom it is made, (which in themfeives, are diftincl, though in the Covenant of Grace, God bath promifed, that he will worke inus, what he requires ofus) that here mentioned is clearely an Evidence of fomewhat of the firftkinde, ofthat Goodneffe, that in the Covenant, doth promifeto beftow;Thoughper- haps words ofthefuture tent may fometimes have an Imperative Conftru- &ion, where the import ofthe relidue ofthewords inforcesfuch a fence, yet becaufe it maybe fo, in fome place, therefore it is fo in this place, and that therefore thefe words are not a Promife, that the Spirit (hall not depart, but an injun&ion to take,care , that it do not depart (as Mr Goodwin will have it) is a weakeinference. And the dole of the words will byno meanes bewre- fled to fpeake fignificantlyto any fuch purpofe, saith the Lord,henceforth even for ever; which plainely make the words Proiniffory,& an ingagement ofGod himfelfe to them, towhom they are fpoken: So, that the interpretationof thefe words, this is my Covenant with them, by Mr Goodwin Cap. I. Seel- 4. rag. 227. 7hat covenant ofperpetual! Grace and Mercy, which Imade with them requireth this ofthem, in order to the performance of it on my part, that they quench not myspirit,which I have put into them,dothplainly invert the intend- ment of God in them, and fubflitute , what is tacitely requiredas our duty, into the roome of what is exprefsly proniifed as his Grace. Obferve then Secondly, that, as no Promife of God given toBelievers, is eitherapt of átfelfe toingenerate, or by them to be received under fuch an abfurd noti- on, of being made good,whatfoever their deportment be, it being thenature ofall the P romifes of God to, frame and mould them, to whom they are gi- ven intoall Holineffe and purity (2 Cor.7. s.) and this in efpeciall is a Pro- mile ofthe principali Author and caufe all Holinefle, to be continued to them, and is impoffìbietobeapprehended under any fuch foolith fuppofall, fo
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