3. And this inhabitation is that which principally our Lord Jesus Christ directeth his disciples to expect in the promise of him: "He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you," John xiv. 17. He doth so who is the " Comforter ;" or, as it is emphatically ex- pressed, chap. xvi. 13, " The Spirit of truth/' He is promised unto and he inhabits them that do believe. So it is expressly affirmed towards all that are partakers of this promise : Rom. viii. 9, "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." Verse 11, "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you." " The Holy Spirit dwelleth in us," 2 Tim. i. 1 4. " Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world," 1 John iv. 4. And many other express testimonies there are unto the same purpose. And whereas the subject of these promises and propositions is the Holy Ghost himself, the person of the Holy Ghost, and that so expressed as not to leave any pretence for any thing else, and not his person, to be intended; and whereas nothing is ascribed untb him that is unreasonable, inconvenient unto him in the discharge of his office, or inconsistent with any of his divine perfections, but rather what is every way suitable unto his work, and evidently demonstrative of his divine nature and subsist- ence,— it is both irrational and unsuitable unto the economy of divine grace to wrest these expressions unto a lower, meaner, figurative signification. And I am persuaded that it is contrary to the faith of the catholic church of true believers so to do: for however some of them may not have exercised their minds about the manner of the abode of the Holy Spirit with the church; and some of them, when they hear of his personal indwelling, wherein they have not been duly instructed, do fear, it may be, that indeed that cannot be which they cannot comprehend, and that some evil consequences may ensue upon the admittance of it, although they cannot say what they are; yet it is with them all even an article of faith that the " Holy Ghost dwelleth in the church," — that is, in them that truly believe, — and herein have they an apprehension of such a personal presence of his as they cannot conceive. This, therefore, being so expressly, so frequently affirmed in the Scripture, and the comfort of the church, which depends thereon, being singular and eminent, it is unto me an important article of evangelical truth.
4. Although all the principal actings of the Holy Spirit in us and
388 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A COMFORTER. [BOOK VIII.
towards us as a comforter do depend on this head, or flow from this spring of his inhabitation, yet, in the confirmation of its truth, I shall here name one or two by which itself is evidenced and its benefits unto the church declared: —
(1.) This is the spring of his gracious operations in us. So our Saviour himself declares: "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life," John iv. 14. The water here promised is the Holy Spirit, called the "gift of God/' verse 10. This is evident from that parallel place, chap. vii. 38, 89, where this living water is plainly declared to be the Holy Ghost. And this water which is given unto any is to be in him, and there to abide; which is but a metaphorical expression for the inhabitation of the Spirit, for it is to be in him as a well, as a living fountain, which cannot be spoken of any gracious habit what- ever. No quality in our minds can be a spring of living water. Besides, all gracious habits are effects of the operation of the Holy Spirit; and therefore they are not the well itself, but belong unto the springing of it up in living water. So is the Spirit in his in- dwelling distinguished from all his evangelical operations of grace, as the well is distinct from the streams that flow from it. And as it is natural and easy for a spring of living water to bubble up and put forth refreshing streams, so it belongs unto the consolation of be- lievers to know how easy it is unto the Holy Spirit, how ready he is, on the account of his gracious inhabitation, to carry on and perfect the work of grace, holiness, and sanctification in them. And what instruction they may take for their own deportment towards him may be afterwards spoken unto. So in many other places is his presence with us (which we have proved to be by the way of gracious inhabitation) proposed as the cause and spring of all his gracious operations, and so distinct from them. So, " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us," Rom. v. 5 ; " The Spirit of God that dwelleth in you shall quicken your mortal bodies," chap. viii. 11;" The Spirit itself beareth wit- ness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," verse 16: which places have been elsewhere explained and vindicated.