Extraordinary Gifts of Prayer in the firft Ages:) And to preferve them from all dangerous and deftructive Errors, to furnish them with fufficient Powers to mortify and overcome all their evil Habits and corrupt Affections; and finally, if they be compliant with his holy Motions, to bring them all at laft to the Kingdom of Heaven. I do not say that they shall be secured against all Errors, and against all Sins; but if they be Perfons of Probity and Integrity, fuch as fincerely defire to know their Master's Will, and to do it, they fhall for ever be kept from all damning Errors, and for ever be fecured from fuch Snares and Temptations to evil Practices, as, if they were expofed to, and left to themfelves, they could not avoid falling under them.

But fourthly and laftly, While I am talking of the ordinary Grace of God, and the ordinary Inftances of the Holy Ghoft's Advocateship in the World; yet I would not exclude out of that Account even the extraordinary Communications of God's Grace and Spirit, when an extraordinary Occafion offers its felf. When in our Days an unusual Cafe happens, that is to fay, when a particular Church, or a particular Perfon, is put under fuch Difficulties, or Trials, or Temptations, that God Almighty fees they cannot be got over without a greater Affiftance of his divine Power than is ordinarily beftowed; in fuch a Cafe as

this, I fay, God will beftow all the Affiftance that is needful: And that Affiftance of the Spirit, tho' it be more than is usual, yet, in our Cafe, comes under the Notion of ordinary Grace, or the ordinary Acts of the Spirit's Advocateship. Our Lord Jefus hath purchased the Holy Spirit for his Difciples, not only for thofe of one Age, but for all his Followers to the World's End ; and at the fame Time that he promised to fend the Holy Ghost for the Advocate, he promised that he should abide with us for ever, as my Text hath it. There were indeed greater Occafions of his appearing illuftriously, visibly, and miraculously at the Beginning of Chriftianity, than there can be now. But if the fame Occafions could happen again, he would, without doubt, appear fuitably to thofe Occafions; for his Power is not fhortened; and we may be certain that he will never leave us nor forfake us, unless we firft leave and forfake him. In the mean Time let us not be dif mayed at any Thing; let us not doubt of his conftant Support and Affiftance. Tho' he do not infpire us to work Miracles, or fpeak Languages; yet he will for ever infpire us both to believe aright, and to practife aright, if we use our Understandings as we ought to do, and do not wilfully depart from the known Rules of our Duty. And if ever it please God to expofe us to extraordinary Temptations, his Spirit will then

extraordinarily affift us, and we shall as certainly overcome them, as if we had been acted in the fame Way that the Apoftles and primitive Chriftians were.

I have been the more careful in diftinguishing between the extraordinary and ordinary Inftances of the Holy Ghoft's Advocateship in the World; because the not attending duly to it hath brought abundance. of Fanaticism, and Enthufiafm, and other Mischiefs into the Church of Chrift. Whilft we are reading the New Teftament, and do often there meet with fuch furprifing Things about the Gifts and Effects of the Holy Spirit, and do not diftinguish between those that were proper and peculiar to the apoftolick Age, and those that were to be continued to the Church for ever after, it is hardly avoidable but we must needs run into a great many Mistakes; and fuch Miftakes as have by Experience been found very prejudicial both to the Peace of Chriftendom, and the Salvation of Men's Souls.

For Inftance, I pray what is it that hath made fo many Quakers and gifted Brethren amongst us, but the misinterpreting and mifapplying thofe Texts which speak of the Gifts of the Spirit, which they fo understand as to make no Diftinction between the Times then and the Times now? They read, for Inftance, a Prophecy in Joel, that when the laft Days fhould come, God would pour Joel 2.28. his Spirit upon all Flesh, and their young Men Acts 2.17.

Should

fhould fee Vifions, and their old Men dream Dreams. And again, that in those Days Jer. 31.34. (as the Prophet Jeremy hath it) every Man fball no more teach his Neighbour, and every Man his Brother, faying, Know the Lord; for they fball all know me from the leaft of them unto the greatest of them, faith the Lord. And accordingly they find the Matter of Fact true, for St. John fpeaks to all the Chriftians to whom he writes in thefe terms: 1 John 2. The anointing, fays he, which ye have re

27.

ceived abideth in you, and ye need not that any Man teach you, but the fame anointing teacheth you all Things, and is Truth. What now do they collect from these Paffages? Why they conclude that in these Days, which are the laft Days, the Spirit of God is poured upon all Flesh: And every one hath right to expect immediate Impulfes and Revelations as to what he is to believe and to practise. That by this Affiftance of the Spirit every Brother may understand the Myfteries of the Holy Scriptures, without the troublesome Way of ftudying human Learning; nay, and may take upon himfelf the paftoral Office, and become a Guide and Teacher of others, without any Warrant from human Authority, meerly upon the Impulfe of the Spirit of God. These are the Confequences that have been drawn from thefe and fuch Texts of Scripture. And fo. far have they been promoted and improved by feveral among us, that Reafon and Pru

dence,

dence, and all acquired Learning, are rather accounted by them Hindrances to the Work of God's Church, than any ways contributing to the promoting of it. Nay, they are arrived to a Pitch above the Scriptures themselves, which they look upon as a dead Letter in Comparison of the Light within them, the Witnefs, the Anointing which they have received from above which is the only Measure with them of Truth and Falfhood, and of Good and Evil.

;

I cannot deny but these Enthufiaftick People, that talk at this rate, have fome Colour for this their Notion from the Letter of several Paffages in the Old and New Teftament. But then, I fay, that Colour would quite vanish, if they would but take Care to diftinguish between the Effects of the Spirit that belonged to the converting of the World, and those which were to be his conftant permanent Operations among fuch as were already Chriftians. There is no one will deny, but the Apostles, and thofe in their Times, had thefe Infpirations, thefe Revelations they fpeak of; and the Texts that they produce, are fome of them plain Promifes and Predictions of them, and fome of them plain Proofs that those Promises were made good. They did fee Visions, and were endued with extraordinary Talents of Wisdom and Knowledge without human Methods, and might