27. fbould fee Vifions, and their old Men dream Dreams. And again, that in those Days Jer. 31.34. (as the Prophet Jeremy hath it) every Man fball no more teach his Neighbour, and every Man his Brother, faying, Know the Lord; for they fhall all know me from the leaft of them unto the greatest of them, faith the Lord. And accordingly they find the Matter of Fact true, for St. John speaks to all the Chriftians to whom he writes in these terms: 1 John 2. The anointing, fays he, which ye bave received abideth in you, and ye need not that any Man teach you, but the fame anointing teacheth you all Things, and is Truth. What now do they collect from thefe Paffages? Why they conclude that in these Days, which are the laft Days, the Spirit of God is poured upon all Flesh: And every one hath right to expect immediate Impulfes and Revelations as to what he is to believe and to practise. That by this Affiftance of the Spirit every Brother may understand the Myfteries of the Holy Scriptures, without the troublesome Way of studying human Learning; nay, and may take upon himfelf the pastoral Office, and become a Guide and Teacher of others, without any Warrant from human Authority, meerly upon the Impulfe of the Spirit of God. These are the Confequences that have been drawn from these and such Texts of Scripture. And fo far have they been promoted and improved by several among us, that Reafon and Pru dence, dence, and all acquired Learning, are rather accounted by them Hindrances to the Work of God's Church, than any ways contributing to the promoting of it. Nay, they are arrived to a Pitch above the Scriptures themselves, which they look upon as a dead Letter in Comparison of the Light within them, the Witnefs, the Anointing which they have received from above; which is the only Measure with them of Truth and Falfhood, and of Good and Evil. I cannot deny but thefe Enthusiastick People, that talk at this rate, have fome Colour for this their Notion from the Letter of feveral Paffages in the Old and New Teftament. But then, I fay, that Colour would quite vanish, if they would but take Care to diftinguish between the Effects of the Spirit that belonged to the converting of the World, and those which were to be his conftant permanent Operations among fuch as were already Chriftians. There is no one will deny, but the Apostles, and those in their Times, had these Infpirations, thefe Revelations they speak of; and the Texts that they produce, are fome of them plain Promises and Predictions of them, and fome of them plain Proofs that thofe Promifes were made good. They did fee Visions, and were endued with extraordinary Talents of Wisdom and Knowledge without human Methods, and might expect particular Impulfes from the Holy Ghoft upon every Occafion that prefentedits felf, where they wanted either Light or Direction: And all this was indeed little enough for the Difcharge of that great Work they had upon their Hands, viz. the bringing over the World from Judaism and Heathenifm to Chriftianity. But that being once done, and the Gospel of Christ, and all Things pertaining to it, being plainly left in Writing by the Apostles or Apoftolical Men; as there would from henceforward be no need of thofe Affiftances of the Spirit; fo it would be a vain thing to expect them. We are not to defire thefe immediate Revelations, nor to expect that God fhould vouchfafe them to us if we prayed for them. God hath declared all his Will, that is neceffary for us to know, by our Saviour and his Apoftles: And the Rules which they have given us, together with our own natural Light and Reafon, and the other outward Means and Helps of Inftruction which are every Day at hand among us, are fufficient, abundantly fufficient, to guide and direct us, both as to believe and practife, thro' all the Cafes and Emergencies that can ordinarily happen to us. And in extraordinary Cafes God will take Care, fome way or other, that we shall not be at a Lofs. And therefore, to pretend to the Spirit now-a-days, either for preaching, or praying, or prophecying, phecying, or denouncing God's Judgments, or for any other thing, in fuch a way as implies immediate Infpiration; or to fet up a Light within us, contrary to the Light of Reafon, or different from the Light of Scripture without us; I fay, to do this is fuch a Piece of Folly and Freakishness, that if all of us fhould incline this way, it would presently render Mankind fitter for a Bethlehem, or an Hofpital of Lunaticks, than to live in free Society. But I fhall not purfue this Point, or any other, further. Let us heartily acquiefce in that Light and Affiftance which it hath pleased God to bestow upon us by Means of his Holy Spirit. And let us always moft readily and chearfully yield Obedience to all his Motions, and pray constantly for his Directions and Affistance; devoting our felves entirely to the Service of God, in those ways which his bleffed Son hath laid before us in the Gospel. 2 Of grieving the Spirit. Of the feal- [Deliver❜d in Two Sermons.] EPH. IV. 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are fealed to the Day of Redemption. F OR the right understanding of what is meant by grieving the Holy Spirit, it is fit that we carefully diftinguish between thefe four Expreffions, viz. refifting the Spirit; blafpheming the Spirit; quenching the Spirit; and grieving the Spirit. All these are fcripture Expreffions, and denote fome Affront put upon the Holy Ghost, fome Sin committed against him. But yet they have every one of them dif ferent |