E S SA YI ON The Teaching and Witnefs of the HOLY SPIRIT. T HE Chriftian religion being the laft and moft gracious difpenfation of God to mankind, and yet not being without its enemies, among fome few of the fober (and who feem, at least, on all other occafions), capable, diligent, and fair enquirers; as well as among the vicious, the lazy, the knavish, and the incompetent; and the greatest witness to the truth of the Chriftian religion being the Holy Spirit; I have thought it might be of fome fervice, to confider that evidence with all the attention and care I could. I have chofen to do this the rather, because whilst I think this teaching of the Spirit the greateft proof of the Truth of the Christian religion; I at the fame time fee, that it runs. fo much through the beginning and end of the Gofpels, particularly St. John's, and is so much infifted on in the Acts, and all the Epiftles, that H 3 neither neither the scheme of the Christian religion itself, nor a great number of texts in the New Teftament can be understood, without carefully confidering it. The invisible God, the Creator of all things, who at first made man upright and happy, often converfed with him (whilft he kept his integrity) by the Word; by whom he made, and governs the world: as may be gathered from that short history, which Mofes gives us, of the creation of our first parents. We have an account of God's converfing with them three or four times before the fall. This was an honour therefore he often vouchfafed them, if the general opinion be true,, of the fhort time they preferved their innocence. How much oftener God might vouchfafe them this high privilege, we do not exactly know; but that it had been often enough for Adam and Eve to be well acquainted with his voice, we may gather from these words: "And they "heard the voice of the Lord God walking in "the garden, in the cool of the day; and "Adam and his wife hid themselves among "the trees of the garden: and the Lord God "called unto Adam, and faid unto him, "Where art thou? And he faid, 1 heard thy "voice in the garden, and I was afraid, be"caufe I was naked, and I hid myself." • Gen i. 28-31. and ii. 15-20. Ibid. iii. 8-11. But But after our firft parents had disobeyed God's exprefs command, and thereby drawn on themselves a perpetual banishment from paradife, and rendered themselves, as well as their pofterity, liable to death; God did not vouchfafe fuch frequent and immediate intercourfes between himself and them, or any of their miferable Race. However, though God was pleased to withdraw this frequent and immediate intercourse, whereby mankind might have learnt from himself their duty, and his difpofition to accept them in the discharge of it; yet he did not leave himself without a witness, having implanted in them the knowledge of good and evil; and having, as St. Paul elegantly expreffes it, "made every man a law unto him"felf; the work of the law being written in "their hearts; their confcience alfo bearing "witness, and their thoughts the mean while "accufing or else excufing one another." And as God has thus placed a witness for himself in every man's heart, fuggesting to him what he ought to do; fo has he not left himself without a witness, that he is difpofed to accept those who endeavour to obey this Law of their minds; not only by fome degrees of forbearance, in "not executing fen"tence fpeedily on their evil works" and by fuffering them long, because he is un Rom. ii. 14, 15. H 4 Ecclef. viii. 11. willing 66 willing "that any should perish" but by doing them good; giving them rain from heaven, and fruitful feafons, and filling "their hearts with joy and gladness :" and thereby, as well as by other methods, inviting them all to "feek the Lord, if happily they f might feel (alluding to the darkness in "which the heathen world is represented in fcripture), after him; though he be not far "from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being "." 66. Thus far God has teftified his will, and his gracious difpofitions to all men fince the fall; even to those whom "he winked at ";" (or acted as a man that winks, connives, and will not fee); fuffering them "to walk in their 66 own ways" without fending any special meffengers to inform or reclaim them. But to fome, that is, to thofe who made the best use of these common discoveries of his will and goodness, God did not stop there; but manifefted himself farther: more particularly to perfons of the most exemplary piety: chiefly indeed by his Spirit, as he did to Enoch; whereby Enoch prophefied *. But fometimes by fuch appearances as he bleffed our first parents with; by which Chrift preached to the difobedient before the flood, who were the fpirits in prifon, (or who were • 2 Pet. iii. 9. • Ibid. xvii. 27, 28. f Acts xiv. 15. Ibid. xvii. 30. * Jude 14. held held captive by the devil, through their own lufts and paffions) by the inftructions which he (the Lord) gave to Noah; whereby Noah, as St. Peter informs us, became "a preacher of righteousness". And though after the Spirit of God left striving with the old world, and testifying against them; the flood came, and fwept them all away, but eight perfons; yet God feemed afterwards, on the renewing the face of the earth, to converfe with Noah again, as he did with our first parents after the creation". And though on all his pofterity's forfaking the worship of God, and falling into idolatry and vice, as they quickly did, God did not fee fit to continue that immediate intercourse with them; yet did he fingle out Abraham, the father of the faithful, a man of eminent virtue, to communicate his will to, by dreams, vifions, and meffages; which he did not only fend by inferior angels, but by the Lord himfelf; even him that was afterwards known as the Angel of his prefence or covenant. And after Abraham, he was pleased to vouchsafe some of thefe divine communications to Isaac and Jacob, and to their feed; till they, becoming a great people, had Mofes for their teacher; who had not only the spirit of prophecy, but was one to whom God ipake face 1. Gen. vi. 7, 8~14. 1 Pet, iii. 18, 19, 20. 2 Pet. ii. S. • Gen. ix. 1-18. to |