The Jews say well that there was a double trial of prophets under the Old Testament, — the one by their doctrine, the other by their predictions. That by their doctrine, — namely, whether i\\ej seduced men from the worship of the true God unto idolatry, — belonged unto all individual persons of the church. Direction for this is given,
CHAR I.] THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS WORK. 35
Deut. xiii. 1-8, " If there atise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee"' (effect any thing by a seeming presence~of an extraordinary power), saying, " Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that propliet, or that dreamer of dreams." Let his signs and wonders be what they would, the people were to try them by what they taught. The judgment upon predictions was left unto the sanhedrim, for which directions are given, Deut. xviii. 20-22; and by virtue hereof they falsely and cixielly endeavoured to take away the life of Jeremiah, because he foretold the ruin of them and their city, chap. xxvi. 11. In the first place, thorigh his sign, wonder, or prediction came to pass, yet the doctrine he sought to confirm by it being false, he was to be rejected- In the latter, the fulfilling of his sign acquitted him, because he taught with it nothing in point of doctrine that was false. The first kind of trial of the spirits of prophets is the duty of all believers under the gospel ; and those who would deprive them of this liberty would make brutes of them instead of Christians, — unless to believe a man knows not what, and to obey he knows not why, be the pro- perties of Christians. See Kom. xii. 2; Eph. v. 8-12; Phil. i. 10; 1 Thess. V. 21. The other, so far as was needful to preserve the church in truth and peace, was provided for in those primitive times, whilst there was a real communication of extraordinary'- gifts of the Spirit (and so more occasion given to the false pretence of them, and more danger in being deceived by them), by a peculiar gift of dis- cerning them, bestowed on some amongst them. 1 Cor. xii. 10, " Dis- cerning of spirits" is reckoned among the gifts of the Spirit. So had the Lord graciously provided for his churches, that some among them should be enabled in an extraordinary manner to discern and judge of them who pretended unto extraordinary actings of the Spirit. And upon the ceasing of extraordinary gifts really given from God, the gift also of discerning spirits ceased, and we are left unto the word alone for the trial of any that shall pretend .unto them. Now, this kind of pretence was so common in those days, that the apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians to caution them that they suffered not themselves to be deceived in their expectation and computations about the time of the coming of Christ, in the first place warns them not to be moved in it " by spirit," 2 Thess. ii. 2 ; that is, persons pre- tending unto si3iritual revelations. Something, also, of this nature hath continued, and broken out in succeeding ages, and that in in- stances abominable and dreadful. And the more eminent in any season are the real effusions of the Holy Spirit iipon the ministers of the gospel and disciples of Christ, the more diligence and watch-
26 GENERAL PRINCIPLES CONCERNING [BOOK I.
fiilness against these delusions are necessary; for on such opportuni- ties it is, when the use and reputation of spiritual gifts is eminent, that Satan doth lay hold to intrude under the colour of them his own deceitful suggestions. In the dark times of the Papacy, all stories are full of satanical delusions, in phantastical apparitions, horrors, spectrums, and the like effects of darkness. It was seldom or never that any falsely pretended to the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit ; for these things were then of little use or request in the world. But when God was pleased to renew really a fresh com- munication of spu'itual gifts and graces unto men, in and upon the Keformation, the old dreads and terrors, nightly appearances, tending unto deeds of darkness, vanished, and everywhere, Jby Satan's insti- gation, arose false pretenders to the Spirit of God; in which way of delusion he will still be more active and industrious, as God shall in- crease the gifts and graces of his Spirit in his churches; though,as yet, in these latter ages, he hath not attained what he was arrived imto in the primitive times of the gospel. A full and clear declara- tion from the Scripture of the nature of the Holy Spirit and his operations may, through the blessing of God, be of use to fortify the minds of professors against satanical delusions counterfeiting his act- ings and inspirations; for directions unto this purpose are given us by the holy apostle, who lived to see great havoc made in the churches by deluding spirits. Knowledge of the truth, trying of spirits that go abroad by the doctrines of the Scriptures, dependence on the Holy Spirit for his teachings according to the word, are the things which to this purpose he commends unto us.