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CHRIST EXALTED
AND
THE
SPIRIT LIVEN.
tSERM.
IV.
his
Father's
promises,
and made
her
all
glorious and
blessed for
ever.
I
proceed
now to
the second
general
head of
my
sub-
ject;
and
that
is,
to
consider the pouring
down
of
the
Spirit
at
the
exaltation
of
Christ.
This
was
matter
of
astonishment
to
the Jews, and
to
the inhabitants
of
all
nations
who
were gathered together-at
the
feast.
This
is
generally represented,
and with
great propriety,
as
the
noble donatives
which
a
conqueror distributes
on the day
of
his
triumph;
or
the royal
gifts
of
a
king
scattered among
his
people
at
his
coronation.
Thus
it
is
prophesied
in
Ps.
lxviii.
18.
1
bus
it
is
recorded
in
history;
Eph.
iv:
8.
"
He
ascended on
high, he
led
captivity 'captive,
he
triumphed
over the powers
of darkness,
which
had
led
captive the nations
of the
earth,
he received gifts
for
men,
saith the prophet,
even for
the
rebellious
or heathen
world,
that
the
Lord God
might dwell amongst them as
he dwelt
of
old in Sion."
The apostle interprets
this
verse, that
he
gave
gifts
to men, even the
gifts
of
the
Holy
Spirit,
to make apostles,
prophets,
evangelists,
pastors and teachers
for the conversion
of
sinners, and
the edification
of
the church.
These are
the glorious
blessings,
or
gifts
of
the Spirit, which-he received
of
the
Father, and
which he shed forth on his disciples,
under
the
visible
emblem
of
tongues
of
fire.
Let it
be
first
observed
líere,
that
these divine
dónatives, these influ-
ences
of
the
Holy
Spirit
are
generally distinguished
into
gifts
and
graces
;
and
though
in
truth
they are
all
really
gifts,of
the
Spirit
from
the grace
of
an exalted Saviour,
yet
it
is
chiefly
those
new
capacities or
powers
of
actions,
which
are
usually called
gifts,
and
are
reckoned. among
his
extraordinary operations,
because they belong
chiefly
to
the primitive
times; whereas the christian virtues are
more frequently
called the graces,
or fruits
of
the
Spirit,
and are
attributed
to
his
ordinary
influences, because
they continue through all ages
of
the
church*.
Let
it
be
observed
in
the second place,
that
these
ex-
traordinary
gifts
of
the Holy Spirit
did
not
necessarily
carry with
them
christian virtues
or
graces;
for
in
Mat.
* I
grant
my
text
speaks chiefly,
if
not only, of
the extraordinary
gifts
of the
Spirit;
bút
as
the
graces proceed
also
from
the Spirit of Christ
exalted,
I
thought it not proper
to
omit
thin
here.