301 / 652
DISC.
,CIi.J EXTRAORDINARY
.WITNESS
OF TILE
SPIRÍI'.
2Q
I.
nishin.g
change has been
wrought
in
their
souls,
and
a
swift
preparation
for
heaven,
beyond
what appears in
the ordinary
work
of
the Spirit,
by
the
rational
or
persua,
sive
influence
of
outward ordinances.
.
..
And since
the Spirit
of God
appears
sometimes,,
for
the
honour
of
his own
grace, to
be an
extraordinaryen
lightener and sanctifier
;
why
may
he
not
be
an
extraor-
dinary comforter
also
?.
Vth
Consideration.
If
we
can
credit
the
accounts
which.
have been
given
by
holy men
in
later
ages,
and
some
of
which
are recorded
in
the.
memoirs
of
the
-ir
lives,
we
must
confess
that there have
been
instances
and
experiences
of
most sublime and
extraordinary
consola-
tions
of
the
Blessed
Spirit
bestowed
on
them
;
such
as,
upon
the
most
rational
survey
of
things
according to
scripture,
we
cannot but
conclude
to
have been
.
truly
divine.
It
would
take
up
many
whole pages
to
cite such in-
stances
as we find
upon record,
in
the
lives
of particular
persons.
Many
such may be found
in
the
late
Mr.
Fle-
ming's fulfilling
of
the
scriptures, especially
in
Scotland.
I
shall
mention one
only,
and it
shall be a
most
incon-
tested
example, in
our
land,
in England,
even
in
our
own
day
;
the example
of
a person. whose. solid sense,
whose
deep
sagacity, whose
sedate
judgment, and the
superior
excellence
of
his
reasoning
powers,
;leave rio
room
to
charge him
with vain
and
delusive
raptures
of
a
heated imagination.
The
name
is
the
late venerable
Mr.
John
Rowe.
The name commands
respect,
and
.
confirms the
narrative.
He
wrote
the
following
para-
graphs-in
the
blañk.leaf,of
his own
bible.:
"
Decenzbcr
6,
1689. After.
that
I
had
long,
seri-
ously, and
repeatedly thought
with
myself;
that,
besidesa
full
and undoubted assent
to the
objects
of
faith,
a
vivi=
fying
savoury
taste and
relish
of
them
was
also
necessary,
that
with
stronger
force, and
more
powerful energy,
they
might
penetrate
into
the most inward
centre
of
my
heart-,
and
there
being
most
deeply
fixed
and
rooted,
govern
my
life
;
and
that there
could
be
no
other
sure
ground
whereon
to
conclude
and
pass a
sound judgment,
on
my
good
estate godward
;
and after
I
had, in my
course
of
preaching, been largely
insisting
on
2
Cor,
i.
12.
This is
my
rejoicing, the testimony
of
a
good- conscience,
&c.
u2