[3.] Use the appointed means by which the Spirit worketh. Tliere are means of obtaining the Spirit at first, by the word and prayer. The Spirit is conveyed by some doctrine ; for God's operative power is applied to man as a reasonable creature, not for necessity. For the word: Gal. iii. 2, ' Eeceived ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or the hearing of faith ? ' So for prayer : If not for friendship's sake, Luke xi. 8, 13, yet because of his importunity. ' If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask it ? ' Beg it of God, upon the account of Christ, Titus iii. 5, G. But we speak now of another thing, not the gift of the Spirit at first, but the supply of the Spirit. It is gotten the same way ; the Spirit joineth his power and efficacy with the proper instituted means, — the word, which is the sword of the Spirit, Eph. vi. 17. This sword was made by the Spirit : ' Holy men spake as moved by the Holy Ghost.' Used by the Spirit to vanquish Satan : 1 John ii. 14, ' And the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.' It is used for the defence of the better part ; the sword of the flesh is the excessive love of pleasures, some carnal bait. And by it the power of the Holy Ghost came upon us : Acts x. 44, ' While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that lieard the word ; ' a spirit of sobriety, godliness, meekness, and the fear of the Lord. We cannot make use of this sword, without the Spirit : 1 Pet. i. 22, ' Seeing ye have purified your souls, in obeying the truth througli the Spirit.' So sacraments : 1 Cor. xii. 13, ' And have been all made to drink into one Spirit.' Prayer ; looking up to God who helpeth us in our conflicts ; openetli their ears to discipline ; and commaudeth that they return from iniquity, Job xxxvi. 10; and breaketh the yokeless disposition and opposition in our hearts.
[4.] To forbear those wilful sins, which grieve the Spirit : Eph. iv.
30, ' Grieve not the Spirit;' 1 Thes. v. 19, 'Quench not the Spirit;'
do not provoke him to withdraw his assistance from us ; as David was
sensible of his misery : Ps. li. 10, 11, 12, ' Create in me a clean heart,
VOL. xu. F
82 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. XX
O God, and renew a right spirit witliin me ; cast me not away from thy presence, and taice not thy Holy Spirit from me ; restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me by thy free Spirit.'
SERMON XX. Ye slmll Z«'i;e.— EoM. VIII. 13.
We come now to the promise, ' ye shall live.'
Doct. That life is promised to those that seriously improve the assist- ances of the Spirit, for the mortifying of sin.
First. What is the life here promised, — the life of grace, or the life of glory ? I shall give my answer in three considerations.
1. The more we die unto sin, the more fit we are to live that new life which becometh christians, or new creatures ; for mortification and vivification do mutually help one another. So much sin as remaineth in us, so far is the spiritual life clogged and obstructed ; therefore it is called a weight that hangeth upon us, and retardeth and hindereth us in all our heavenly flights and motions, Heb. xii. 1. That weight is there explained to be sin, that doth easily beset us ; it is the great impediment to the heavenly life, and maketh our progress therein slow and troublesome. Well then, the more these inordinate inclinations are broken and mortified, the more we are alive unto righteousness, as the scripture every where witnesseth ; and the more we tame and subdue the flesh, the more doth the spirit or better part thrive and prosper ; therefore it may be truly said, ' If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live,' — that is, spiritually.
2. The spiritual life is the pledge and beginning of the life of glory. Here it is begun by the Spirit, and there perfected ; the spirit of holi- ness is the surest pledge of .a resurrection to eternal life, as I proved, ver. 10. 11. Tiie reasonable nature inferreth immortality, and the new nature a blessed immortality ; everywhere the new birth is made the seed of eternity, called therefore the immortal seed, 1 Pet. i. 23. And he that is born of God is said to have eternal life abiding in him ; he hath the pledge, and earnest, and first-fruits of it; the spiritual life consists in the knowledge, love, and contemplation of God, and perfect love and subjection to him ; so that if it were meant of the life of grace, the life of glory cannot be excluded.
3. As it cannot be excluded, so it is principally intended ; as is evident, — partly, because it is put in opposition to death, which is the fruit of the carnal life ; ' if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ; 'such a life is intended as is directly opposite to that death. And partly, because it is propounded by way of motive, and motives are seldom taken from things co-ordinate, such as are vivification and mortifica- tion, a dying to sin ; but from things of a superior rank and order, as the glorious reward is to duty. And partly, because this suiteth with