to Us; but that thro' the affiftance of our Bleffed Saviour, by Suffering like Him, especially for Him, we may be entitled to a certain hope of reigning with Him to all Eternity.

Which God of his Infinite Mercy &c.

SERMON IX.

SERMON IX.

Acts XIX. 2, 3.

He faid unto them have ye receiv'd the Holy Ghost fince ye believ'd? and they faid unto him we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghoft. And he said unto Them, unto what then were ye Baptiz'd? and they faid unto Him unto John's Baptifm.

T

HESE remarkable words are part of the Narration, which St Luke gives us, of an encounter, which the great Apoftle of the Gentiles St Paul met with at Ephefus, where coming he found

found certain Disciples, very probably the Difciples of Apollos, who we read in the foregoing Chapter v. 24, 25. had been there before, and tho' a Man mighty in the Scriptures and inftructed in the way of the Lord, as it is there exprefs'd, yet as it follows, knew only the Baptifm of John. And at the firft meeting, the very firft queftion he puts to them is, Have ye receiv'd the Holy Ghoft fince ye believ'd? Which is fufficient to let us understand how very material a point the believing and receiving the Holy Ghost is to all Chriftians, fince the great Apoftle makes it the firft Article of his Enquiry, as a Teft of thefe Difciples Faith, a Tryal whether they were yet indeed Chriftians or no. Their Answer ye have heard read in the Text, namely That they were fo far from having receiv'd the Holy Ghoft, that they had not So much as heard whether there were any Holy Ghoft. Which was fo ftrange an answer from the Mouths of Chriftians, for fuch they pretended to be, we find that St Paul is furprizd at it, and asks them Unto what then were you Baptiz'd? It being impoffible that any true Member of Chrift's Church, into which none enters but by Baptifm, fhould not have heard of the Holy Ghoft. the very Form, and Effential words of Baptifm being by Chrift's own Inftitution and the agreeing Practice of all his Apoftiles,

AMOI

1

I baptize

I baptize thee in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft. But St Paul finding by their Anfwer, that, as it was faid of Apollos before, they knew only the Baptifm of John, meekly inftructs them that, as John was to Chrift, fo was his Baptism to Chrift's Baptifm, a Preparation only and a Forerunner of that which was to come, as St John himself confefs'd, and openly declar'd, and own'd, Luke 3. 16. I indeed baptize you with Water, but One mightier than I cometh, He ball baptize you with the Holy Ghoft and with Fire. And when they heard this, they were baptiz'd in the Name of the Lord Fefus. And when Paul had laid his hands uporn them, the Holy Ghoft came on them, and they Spake with Tongues and prophefied, v. 5 and 6. of this Chapter. This is the full Account of this Adventure of St Paul at Ephefus, by which we plainly may perceive, how important an Article of Chriftian Faith it is to Believe, and how abfolutely necessary to Chriftian Life to Receive, the Holy Ghost. And God forbid, that any that have been Baptiz'd into Chrift's Baptifm, fhould be fo ignorant, as thefe Difciples in my Text, who knew no other Baptism than that of John. Tho' it is to be fear'd, that many that have receiv'd even Chriftian Baptifm, if they were examin'd concerning their Faith as to this point, it can fcarce be thought © 2

they

they should answer, We have not fo much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost, yet could give but a very indifferent account of their Belief of this important Article of their Faith. I fhall make it therefore the business of this prefent difcourfe to explain as briefly and as clearly as I can this great Article of our Creed, that every One that repeats it may know what he means when he fays, I Believe in the Holy Ghoft. This being the moft proper Argument to entertain your Meditations with this Day, which is for this very purpose celebrated by the Church of Chrift, and moft folemnly Dedicated to the Honour of the Bleffed Spirit, in commemoration of that Visible and Glorious appearance of his, as at this time Defcending and Refting on the Apostles in cloven Tongues of Fire in the fight of the People of all Nations, inducing them with a moft miraculous power of speaking in all languages under Heaven the wonderful works of God, Acts 2. 11. And certainly this it felf was a wonderful Work of God, that the fame means of divers Tongues which was the destroying of Babel, fhould be made ufe of to work the Building of Sion, that the fame means that scatter'd Mankind from the Tower of Confufion, fhould reduce them again to the Fold of Unity, that fo the Curse might be taken away and a Bleffing

come