ability to teach, to exhort, to sing psalms, to pray, to interpret; all were not helps or governments: but " God gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers," according to His own good pleasure; to shew, that all these diversities of gifts were not distributed by the will of man," but by the same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will." So also the author of the epistle to the Hebrews informs us, that "God bore witness to the apostles by signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts (distributions, uspioμois) of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will." ' Whereby it was still farther proved beyond all exception, that the power was not of man, but of God. There were soon false Christs. Did Christ send forth true apostles and prophets? There soon arose false prophets and apostles. Did the former lay claim to a superior Spirit? So did the false apostles too. They, and the heretics that succeeded them, vented strange extravagancies about the Spirit, which they pretended to have superior to the prophets, and very different from one another as Irenæus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Theodoret, and Epiphanius, inform us. Hence come the phrases of "not believing every spirit, and of trying the spirits: and of the The object of this witnessing of the Spirit. 169 I Spirit of Christ, and of antichrist: the Spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." 2 SECTION XXVII. The design and objects of the witnessing of the Holy Spirit. This is what I have to offer to explain the teaching of the Holy Ghost. All that I shall say to explain what I mean by the Holy Ghost's witnessing, is, that whenever those who were thus enlightened used the knowledge communicated to them in its various instances and degrees, the Holy Ghost witnessed to the truth of Christianity; or gave a proof of the great articles of it, on which all the rest were founded; namely, "that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, was risen, and exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to grant repentance and remission of sins: since He, according to the predictions of this matter, having received the promise of the Father, had sent down these gifts which men saw and heard.3 But though the principal business of the Spirit's witnessing was to prove the truth of the great facts of the Christian religion, yet it was to serve another end also; namely, to comfort those who had it with the assurance of God's pardon and acceptance. This seems 1 1 Johniv. 3. 2. Ver. 6. 3 Acts ii. 33. v. 31, 32. 170 The impartation of these gifts to the Gentiles to follow from the very nature of the thing; and to be fairly implied in what Peter says to the Jews, Acts ii. (on their being pricked in the heart by his sharp reproof, and by perceiving the great guilt that was upon them, in having "slain Jesus of Nazareth, whom God had so highly approved, crying out, in the utmost distress, to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?) Repent and be baptized-and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (the pledge of the pardon of this sin, which will draw down God's heavy vengeance on the whole nation, if they do not repent of it); for the promise is to you," &c. And, indeed, if this had not been implied in saying, "Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, it could have given them but little consolation under their distress, how much soever it might have witnessed to the truth of the great facts which the apostles testified. But on their understanding what was to be inferred, in relation to themselves, from their receiving this gift, they "gladly received the word, ver. 41, and eat their meat with gladness, as well as singleness of heart; praising God," ver. 46, 47. When the Holy Ghost was given to the Gentiles, it witnessed the same thing to them. And as there was a greater necessity for the Spirit's witnessing this with respect to them than to the Jews, it is not barely implied, but strongly insisted on, in relation to them: "Israel was God's Son, His first-born to Him pertained the adoption." The Israelites were the sons of Abraham according to the flesh, and to them therefore belonged the covenants and the promises; and of them, "as concerning the flesh, Christ came; preaching to them, that they should repent and believe on Him." So that, if they received Him, there was no doubt but they would become the sons of God, being born not of flesh and blood, or of the will of man, but of God." And that consequently, they would inherit the spiritual promises, and certainly enter into the rest that remained for the true Israelites. But the Gentiles had forsaken their heavenly Father, and left His family; and had spent their portion in riotous living: they were afar off, strangers from the covenants of promise, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. God had indeed foretold by the prophets, that they should be called in under the Messiah. But the precise time when, and the manner how they should be called, was not revealed. Nor was it understood that they were to be called into the church without first becoming Jews; or, that then they were to be admitted to equal privileges with the Jews. Exod. iv. 22. 2 Rom. ix. 4. 3 Johu i. 12, 13. 172 Opinions of the Jews concerning the Gentiles, They might perhaps have some doubt of this themselves; and, like the prodigal, have only hopes to be as one of the hired servants. But whatever they thought, this was one of the most radicated notions of the Jews; who could scarce by any means be brought to think, that the Gentiles were to be received into the family and household of God on any terms whatsoever, and were generally very highly incensed at the very thoughts of it. They counted them all, even the devout men among them, unclean; and not so much as fit to be conversed with.' Therefore God found it necessary, on their first conversion, "to bear them witness, by the Holy Ghost, that He had purified their hearts by faith ; which astonished as many of the circumcision as went with Peter to Cornelius; who took it, that the promise of the Spirit was theirs, and their childrens, and the Jews that were afar off; but little imagined, what they now saw, that on the Gentiles also should be poured out the gifts of the Holy Ghost. And thus the Spirit witnessed with their spirits, that they also were the children of God; and the spiritual seed of faithful Abraham; on whom the great blessing of the Spirit was to come." And so it also was among such of the Romans as had it ; and could not but shew 1 Acts xi. 3. 3 Gal. iii, 14. 2 Ibid. xv. 8, 9. |