' " Etenim si de loco procedit Spiritus et ad locum transit, et ipse Pater in loco inve- nietur et Filius : si de loco exit quern Pater mittit aut Filius, utique de loco transiens Spiritus et progediens, et Patrem sicut corpus secundum impias intei-pretationes re- linquerc videtur et Filium. Hoc secundum eos loquor qui dicunt quod habcat Spiritus descensorium motum. . . . Venit non de loco in locum, sed de dispositione constitutionia in salutcm redemptionis.". — Ambros. de Spir. Sane. lib. i. cap. 11.
112 WAY AND MANNER OF THE DIVINE [BOOK I.
power and grace but in and towards them unto whom he is given and sent by the Father. How, in answer hereunto, he is said himself to come, shall be afterward declared. And it is the person of the Spirit which is said to be thus sent; for this belongs unto that holy dispensation of the several persons of the Trinity in the work of our salvation. And herein the Spirit, in all his operations, is considered as sent of the Father, for the reasons before often intimated. r Thirdly, God is said to minister the Spmt: Gal. iii. 5, " He that /mlnistereth to you the Spirit." 'O oZv k'Tziy^opriyojv u/mTv to Hviufia- — i" He that giveth you continual or abundant supplies of the Spirit." Xo/?J57sw is "to give a sufficiency of any thing;" and -/apriyia and yj>friyr^!j,a are dimensum, " a sufficiency of provision." An addition thereunto is sTi^oprjyla, whereby the communication of the Spirit is expressed: Phil. i. 19, " For I know that this shall turn to my salva- tion through your prayers," xa/ s'jriy^opriyiag tov Uviv/ubarog 'iriGov Xpiffrou, "and the additional supply of the S^oirit of Jesus Christ." That Spirit and its assistance he had before received, but he yet stood in need of a daily farther supply. So is the word used constantly for the adding of one thing to another, or one degree of the same thing unto another: 2 Pet. i. 5, 'E'Tnyopriy/iffars iv tt] T/'crs/ v/j,uiv ttiv apir^v'—" Add to your faith virtue ;" or, " In your faith make an increase of virtue," When, therefore, God is thus said to " minister the Spirit," it is his continual giying out of additional supplies of his grace by his Spirit which is intended; for the Holy Spirit is a voluntary agent, and distributes unto every one as he will. When, therefore, he is given and sent unto any, his operations are limited by his own will and the will of him that sends him; and therefore do w^e stand in need of supplies of him and from him; which are the principal subject-matter of our prayers in this world.
f Fourthly, God is said to put his Spirit in or upon men; and /this also belongeth unto the manner of his dispensation : Isa. xlii, 1, " Behold my servant, whom I uphold; I have put my Spirit upon him." The word there, indeed, is ''^^5, — "I have given my Spirit upon him;" but because IvV, "upon him," is joined to it, it is by ours rendered by " put." As also Ezek. xxxvii. 14, where ^??, " in you," is added; — " Put my Spirit in you." The same is plainly intended with that, Isa. Ixiii. 11, '^^y^ nn-ns ianpa C3fn^_ " That put his Holy Spirit in the midst of them." Hence, 'r^r^l, " I have given," or "I will give," Isa. xlii. 1, is rendered by ii^^cw, Matt, xii. 1 8 : ©jjcw rh Yinv^.d [Mov l«r' avrov, — "I will put my Spirit upon him." The word P^, then, used in this sense, doth not denote the granting or donation of any thing, but its actual bestowing, as D^ti> doth. And it is the effectual acting of God in this matter that is intended. He doth not only give and send his Spirit unto them to whom he de-
CHAP, v.] DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 113
signs so great a benefit and privilege, but lie actually collates and bestows him upon tliem.^ He doth not send him unto them, and leave it in their wills and power whether they will receive him or no, but he so eifectually collates and puts him in them or upon them as that they shall be actually made partakers of him. He efficaciously endows their hearts and minds with him, for the work and end which he is designed unto. So Exod. xxxi. 6, " I have put wisdom," is as much as, " I have filled them with wisdom," verse 2. So, then, where God intendeth unto any the benefit of his Spirit, he will actually and effectually collate him upon them. He doth not, indeed, always do this in the same manner. Sometimes he doth it as it were, by a surprisal, when those who receive him are neither aware of it nor do desire it. So the Spirit of the Lord, as a Spirit of prophecy, came upon Saul, when his mind was remote and estranged from any such thoughts. In like manner, the Spirit of God came upon Eldad and Medad in the camp, when the other elders went forth unto the tabernacle to receive him, Num. xi. 27. And so the Spirit of jDrophecy came upon most of the prophets of old, without either expectation or preparation on their parts. So Amos giveth an account of his call unto his ofiice, chap, vii. 14, 15. "I was," saith he, "no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herd- man, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me. Go, prophesy." He was not brought up with any expectation of receiving this gift, he had no preparation for it; but God surprised him with his call and gift as he followed the flock. Such, also, was the call of Jeremiah, chap. i. 5—7. So vain is the discourse of Maimonides on this subject, prescribing various natural and moral preparations for the receiving of this gift. But these things were extraordinary. Yet I no way doubt but that God doth yet continue to work grace in many by such unexpected surprisals; the manner whereof shall be afterward inquired into. But sometimes, as to some gifts and graces, God doth bestow his Spirit where there is some preparation and co-operation on our part; but wherever he designs to put or place him, he doth it effectually.