CHAP. I.] THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS WORK. 41
tions and apprehensions, — namely, openly to revile and scorn the very naming and asserting the work of the Spirit of God, in the words which himself hath taught? A boldness this is, which, as whereof the former ages have not given us a precedent, so we hope the future will not afford an instance of any to follow the example. For their sense and apprehension of these things, they shall afterward be ex^ amined, so far as they have dared to discover them. In the mean- time, we know that the Socinians acknowledge a Trinity, the sacri- fice of Christ, the expiation of sin made thereby, and yet we have some differences with them about these things; and so we have with these men about the Spirit of God and his dispensation under the gospel, though, like them, they would grant the things spoken of them to be true, as metaphorically to be interpreted. But of these things we must treat more fully hereafter.
I say it is so come to pass, amongst many who profess they believe the gospel to be true, that the name or naming of the Spirit of God is become a reproach ; so also is his whole work. And the promise of him made by Jesus Christ unto his church is rendered useless and frustrated. It was the main, and upon the matter the only, support- ment which he left unto it in his bodily absence, the only means of rendering the work of his mediation effectual in them and among them; for without him all others, as the word, ministry, and ordi- nances of worship, are lifeless and useless. God is not glorified by them, nor the souls of men advantaged. But it is now uncertain with some of what use he is unto the church ; yea, as far as I can discern, whether he be of any or no. Some have not trembled to say and contend, that some things as plainly ascribed unto him in the Scripture as words can make an assignation of any thing, are the cause of all the troubles and confusions in the world ! Let them have the v/ord or tradition outwardly revealing the will of God, and what it is that he would have them do (as the Jews have both to this day) ; these being made use of by their own reason, and improved by their natural abilities, they make up the whole of man, all that is required to render the persons or duties of any accepted with God ! Of what use, then, is the Spirit of God in these things? Of none at all, it may be, nor the doctrine concerning him, " but only to fill the world with a buzz and noise, and to trouble the minds of men with unintelligible notions." Had not these things been spoken, they should not have been repeated ; for death lieth at the door in them. So, then, men may pray without him, and preach without him, and turn to God without him, and perform all their duties without him well enough ; for if any one shall plead the necessity of his assist- ance for the due performance of these things, and ascribe unto him all that is good and well done in them, he shall hardly escape from
42 GENERAL PKINCIPLES CONCERNING [BOOK I.
jjeiiig notably derided. Yet all tliis wliile we would be esteemed Christians! And wliat do sucb persons think of the prayers of the ancient church and Christians unto him for the working of all good in them, and their ascriptions of every good thicg unto liim?^ And wherein have we any advantage of the Jews, or where- in consists the pre-eminence of the gospel? They have the word of God, that part of it which was committed unto their church, and which in its kind is sufficient to direct their faith and obedience; for so is the " sure word of prophecy," if diligently attended unto, 2 Pet. i. 19. And if traditions be of any use, they can outvie all the world, Neither doth this sort of men want their wits and the exercise of them. Those who converse with them in the things of this world do not use to say they are all fools. And for their diligence in the consideration of the letter of the Scripture, and in- quiring into it according to the best of their understanding, none will question it but those unto whom they and their concernments are unknown. And yet after all this, they are Jews still. If we have the New Testament no otherwise than they have the Old, — have only the letter of it to philosophize upon, according to the best of our reasons and und^erstandings, without any dispensation of the Spirit of God accompanying it to give us a saving light into the mystery of it, and to make it effectual unto our souls, — I shall not fear to say, but that as they call themselves " Jews and are not, but are the synagogue ot Satan," Rev. ii, 9, so we who pretend ourselves to be Christians, as to all the saving ends of the gospel, shall not be found in a better condition.
And yet it were to be wished that even here bounds might be fixed unto the fierceness of some men's spirits. But they will not suffer themselves to be so confined. In many places they are trans- ported with rage and fury, so as to stir up persecution against such as are really anointed with the Spirit of Christ, and that for no other reason but because they are so. Gal. iv. 29. Other things, indeed, are pretended by them, but all the world may see that they are not of such importance as to give countenance unto their wrath. This is the latent cause whicb stirs it up, and is oftentimes openly ex- pressed.