come in its place, the Tongues which were then confus'd for the Prefumption of Man, being now united to the Glory of God; there being, as the Pfalmift fpeaks, neither Speech nor Language, but his Praife is beard among them, as St Paul applys those words of the 19th Pfalm to the Apoftle's, Their found went into all the Earth and their words unto the end of the World, Rom. 10. 18. This Day it was that our Saviour made good his Word to his Difciples of fending fo gloriously and confpicuoufly the Comforter which he had promis'd. So glorioufly 1 fay, and in fo confpicuous and wonderful a Manner. For tho' on the Day that he rose from the Dead he breath'd upon 'em and faid, Recieve ye the Holy Ghoft; yet this Miraculous and open Manifeftation, This Powerful and Plentiful Effufion of the Holy Spirit, without which dit was impoffible that a Church fhould be gather'd out of all Nations under Heaven, was not till this Day (the Day of Pentecoft ior Whitfunday) which we now celebrate. They reciev'd the Holy Ghoft then, but they were filled with it now, it was then but a ftill Breath, it is now a rushing mighty Wind. And this Day therefore was the Completion of Chrift's promife and the Confummmation of the whole Gospel, and as TerStullian elegantly expreffes it, Chriftus Legis; Spiritus Sanctus Evangelij complementum: The

coming

coming of Chrift was the fulfilling of the Law, but the coming of the Holy Ghoft was the fulfilling of the Gospel.

I fhall therefore now give you as perfpicuous and as brief account as I can of this Holy Spirit, out of the Holy Scripture which was by himfelf Infpir'd. And firft of his Effence and Nature, and fecondly of his Office and Operations. And

ft. As to his Effence, The Holy Ghoft is an Eternal Uncreated Spirit, the third Perfon in the Ever Bleffed Trinity, of the fame Effence with the Father and the Son, equally God, but Perfonally distinguish'd from both and alike proceeding from both. That he is truly God is evident,

ift. From the Divine Titles and Names only proper to God frequently given to him in the Holy Scripture, of which there are too many Inftances to be at this time poffibly all repeated. One only I fhall produce to You for its clearnefs and perfpicuity unanswerable; It is that memorable faying of St Peter to Ananias, whofe Story ye well remember in the fifth Chapter of the Acts, Why hath Satan fill'd thy Heart to lye to the Holy Ghost? and presently adds, why haft thou conceiv'd this thing in thy Heart, thou haft not lyed unto Men, but unto God.

2dly, From

adly, From all the Divine Attributes and incommunicable Perfections afcrib'd in Scri pture to the Holy Spirit it infallibly follows that he is God. But in fundry places of Scripture we find that all these Attributes, all the incommunicable Perfections of God equally belong to him as to the Father. Such as are Eternity, Immenfity, Omnifcience, and Omnipotence. Eternity, in that of the Apoftle to the Hebr. 9. 14, where he is exprefsly ftill'd the Eternal Spirit, Immensity and Omniprefence in that of the Pfalmift, Pfal. 139. 7. Whither fall I go from thy Spirit, or whither fball I flee from thy Prefence, This Question includes a ftrong Negation, and is as much or more than if he had faid, It is impoffible to fly from thy Spirit, because it is every where prefent; as it follows, If I afcend up into Heaven thou art there, if I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there. If I take the Wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermoft parts of the Sea &c. Omniscience, in that of St Paul 1 Cor, 2, 10, 11. The Spirit teacheth all things, yea the deep things of God. Particularly the fore-knowledge of things to come which is proper to God alone, is peculiarly afcrib'd to the Holy Ghoft, for which reafon all the Prophets are faid to be particularly infpir'd by him, and it is one di ftinguishing character of his Perfon in the Nicene Creed, who spake by the Prophets,

I

He

He has therefore fo frequently these Stiles in Scripture, the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, the Spirit of Prophecy, the Spirit of Truth, and Truth it felf, in the abftract 1 John 5.6. Because the Spirit is Truth. Laftly Omnipotence do's alfo certainly be-long to the Holy Ghoft, fince all thofe Divine Operations, thofe Works that none but God can do, are fo frequently thro' the whole Scriptures afcrib'd to him. Such as are the acts of Creation and Confervation of all things, the miracles wrought upon, and by our Bleffed Saviour and the works of Grace and Power wrought in the hearts of the Faithful, and chiefly the raifing firft Christ, and afterward all that believe in him from the Dead. Rom.8.11. All which works are fuch as None but an Omnipotent Power can produce, and belong properly and folely to God.

3dly. and Laftly, it is undeniably prov'd that the Holy Ghoft is God by the Divine Worship which is juftly paid to him, who, as the Nicene Creed expreffes it, with the Father and the Son together is Worshiped and Glorify d. Now this Divine Worship even by God's own appointment is paid by us to him at our Baptifm where we acknowledge him to be God, place our Faith in him, fix our hope on him, profess our Devotion and Obedience to him, by being Baptiz'd

Baptiz'd into his Name. This Worship we alfo pay to him as often as, after the Pattern of that Benediction of St Paul, together with the Grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift and the Love of God, we pray also for the Fellowship of the Holy Ghoft. All This it is impoffible that God who is a Jealous God, who has more than Once fo folemnly declar'd that he will not give his Glory to another, that God I fay fhould fuffer, much less command and institute all this, namely Divine Honour and Religious Worship to be paid to the Holy Ghoft, unless he were truly God, is abfolutely impoffible. But laft of all, what great Devotion, what fuperlative Reverence is due from us to the Holy Spirit, we may learn from what our Saviour himself tells us, that tho' all manner of Sin and Blafphemy fhould be forgiven to Men, yet the Blafphemy against the Holy Ghoft fhall not be forgiven, neither in this World, neither in the World to come. Matth. 12. 31, 32.

There is no Sin committed against the Father, no Word spoken against the Son, but is capable of forgiveness, but the Sin against the Holy Ghost is for ever unpardonable; Now it is against the Nature of the thing it felf that any Derogation from the honour of a Creature fhould be fo highly culpable and should be capable of fo great

aggra.