This being the state of things, — that in our worship of and obedi- ence to God, in our own consolation, sanctilication, and ministerial em- ployment, the Spirit is the principle, the life, soul, the all of the whole; yet so desperate hath been the malice of Satan, and wicked-
OF COMMUNION WITH THE HOLY GHOST. " 255
ness of men, that their great endeavour hath been to slmt him quite out of all gospel administrations.
First, his gifts and graces were not only decried, but almost ex- cluded from the public worship of the church, by the imposition of an operose form of service, to be read by the minister; which to do is neither a peculiar gift of the Holy Ghost to any, nor of the ministry at all. It is marvellous to consider what pleas and pretences were invented and used by learned men, — from its antiquity, its compo- sure and approbation by ma7'tyrs, the beauty of uniformity in the worship of God, established and pressed thereby, etc., — for the defence and maintenance of it. But the main argument they insisted on, and the chief field wherein they expatiated and laid out all then- eloquence, was the vain babbling repetitions and folly of men pray- ing by the Spirit. When once this was fallen upon, all (at least as they supposed) was carried away before them, and their adversaries rendered sufficiently ridiculous : so great is the cunning of Satan, and so unsearchable are the follies of the hearts of men. The sum of all these reasonings amounts to no more but this, — " Though the Lord Jesus Christ hath promised the Holy Ghost to be with his church to the end of the world, to fit and furnish men with gifts and abilities for the carrying on of that worship which he requires and accepteth at our hands, yet the work is not done to the purpose ; the gifts he bestows are not sufiicient to that end, neither as to invocation nor doctrine : and, therefore, we will not only help men by our directions, but exclude them from their exercise." This, I say, was the sum of all, as I could undeniably evidence, were that my present business. What innumerable evils ensue on this principle, in a formal setting apart of men to the ministry who had never once "tasted of the powers of the world to come," nor received any gifts from the Holy Ghost to that purjDose ; of crying up and growing in an outside pom- pous worship, wholly foreign to the power and simplicity of the gos- pel; of silencing, destroying, banishing, men whose ministry was accompanied with the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, — I shall not need to declare. This is that I aim at, to point out the public contempt of the Holy Ghost, his gifts and graces, with their administration in the church of God, that hath been found even where the gospel hath been professed.
Again : it is a thing of most sad consideration, once to call to mind the improvement of that principle of contempt of the Spirit in private men and their ways. The name of the Spirit was grown a term of reproach. To plead for, or pretend to pray by, the Spirit, was enough to render a man the object of scorn and reproach from all sorts of men, from the pulpit to the stage. " What ! you are full of the Spirit ; you will pray by the Spirit; you have the gift: let us hear your non-
256 OF COMMUNION WITH THE HOLY GHOST.
sense ; " — and yet, perhaps, these men would tliink themselves ^vronged not to be accounted Christians. Christians! yea, have not some pre- tending themselves to be leaders of the flock, — yea, mounted a storey or two above their brethren, and claiming a rule and government over them, — made it their business to scoif at and rejiroach the gifts of the Spirit of God ? And if this were the frame of their spirit, what might be expected from others of professed profaneness? It is not imaginable to what height of blasphemy the process in this kind amounted. The Lord grant there Ije nothing of this cursed leaven still remaining amongst us! Some bleatings of ill importance^ are sometimes heard. Is this the fellowship of the Holy Ghost that be- lievers are called unto ? Is this the due entertainment of him whom our Saviour promised to send for the supply of his bodily absence, so as wc might be no losers thereby? Is it not enough that men should be contented with such a stupid blindness, as, being called Christians, to look no farther for their comfort and consolation than moral con- siderations common to heathens would lead them, when one infinitely holy and blessed person of the Trinity hath taken this office upon him to be our comforter, but they must oppose and despise him also? Nothing more discovers how few there are in the world that have interest in that blessed name whereby we are all called. But this is no place to pursue this discourse. The aim of this discourse is, to evince the folly and madness of men in general, who profess to own the gospel of Christ, and yet condemn and despise his Spirit, in whomsoever he is manifested. Let us be zealous of the gifts of the Spirit, not envious at them.