LECT. Holy Ghost, the same Paul hasted to this holy city Jerusalem, and this, though Agabus by the same Spirit foretold what should befal him; and he spoke to the multitudes with confidence, telling them concerning Christ. And when brought to Cesarea, and encompassed by the seats of judges, Paul at one time before Felix, and at another before Festus the governor and King Agrippa, obtained of the Holy Ghost grace so great, and of such overcoming wisdom, that at last Agrippa himself the king of the Jews said, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. This Holy Spirit granted to Paul, when he was in the island of Melita also, to receive no harm when bitten by the viper, and to effect divers cures on the diseased. This Holy Spirit guided him, the persecutor of old, even as far as imperial Rome, a herald of Christ; and there he persuaded many of the Jews to believe in Christ, Acts 28, and to them who gainsayed he said plainly, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the Prophet, saying unto your fathers, and the rest.

25.

4.

32. And that Paul was full of the Holy Ghost, and his fellow Apostles, and they who after them have believed in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, hear his own plain words in 1 Cor. 2, his Epistles; And my speech, he says, and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but with 2 Cor. 1, demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And again, Who hath also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit. Rom. 8, And again, He that raised up Jesus from the dead shall also 11. quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit which dwelleth in 2 Tim.1, you. And again, writing to Timothy, That good thing which θέντος, was committed to thee keep by the Holy Ghost which is given Cyr.ivo- to us.

22.

14. do

κοῦντος

rec.text.

1.

iv, dwell- 33. And that the Holy Ghost subsists, and lives, and ing in speaks, and foretells, I have often said already, and Paul (16.) writes it plainly to Timothy. Now the Spirit speaketh 1 Tim.4, expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, which we see in the divisions not only of former times but of our own; so motley and diversified are the errors of Eph.3,5. the heretics. And again the same Paul says, Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto the Holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit. Heb. 3, And again, Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith; and again,

7.

And again he calls Heb.10,

15.

The Holy Ghost also witnesseth to us. unto the champions of righteousness, saying, And take the Eph. 6, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the 17. Word of God, by all prayer and supplication. And again, And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled b.5,18. with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. And again, The grace of our Lord 2 Cor. Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the 13, 14. Holy Ghost.

19.

στατος.

34. By all these proofs, and by more which have been passed over, is the personal, and hallowing, and effectual irópower of the Holy Ghost established to them of understanding; for the time would fail my discourse, did I set about alleging what yet remains from the fourteen Epistles of Paul, wherein he has taught with such variety, completeness, and piety. And to the power of the Holy Ghost it must belong, to grant to us forgiveness for our deficiencies by reason of the scantity of the time, and upon you the hearers to impress the more perfect knowledge of what yet remains; while from the frequent reading of the sacred Scriptures you who are diligent come to understand these things, and by this time hold more stedfastly, both from these present Lectures, and what has before been told you, the Faith in the "One God the Father Almighty; and in our Lord Jesus Christ, His Onlybegotten Son; and in the Holy Ghost the Comforter." Though the word itself, and the title of Spirit, is used widely in the sacred Scriptures,—for it is said of the Father, God is a Spirit, John 4, as it is written in the Gospel according to John; and of the Son, A Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord; and of the Lam. 4, Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, as was said;—yet the very arrangement of articles observed in the Faith, if religiously understood, disproves the error of Sabellius also. Now therefore return we to the point which now presses and is profitable to you.

24.

20.

35. Beware lest by any means thou come to the dispensers (17.) of Baptism, like Simon, in pretence, thy heart the while not seeking the truth. It is ours to warn, but it is thine to secure thyself. If by faith thou standest, blessed art thou; if thou Rom. hast fallen by unbelief, from this day forward cast away thine 11, 20. unbelief, and take up an undoubting faith. For, at the season

XVII.

238

The Holy Ghost present in Baptism.

LECT. of baptism, when thou goest to the Bishops, or Presbyters, or Deacons, (for its grace is every where, in villages and in cities, on them of low as on them of high degree, on bondsmen and on freemen, for this grace is not of men, but the gift is from God through men,)—approach the Minister of Baptism, but approaching, think not of the face of him thou seest, but remember that Holy Ghost of whom we are now speaking. For He is present in readiness to seal thy soul, and He shall give thee that Seal at which evil spirits tremble, Eph. 1, a heavenly and sacred seal, as also it is written, In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

13.

Introd.

36. Yet He tries the soul. He casts not pearls before vid. sup. swine; if thou pretend, though men baptize thee, the Holy Lect. 2. Spirit will not. But if thou approach with faith, while men minister outwardly, the Holy Ghost bestows that which is unseen. Thou art coming to a great trial, to a great muster, in that one hour, which if thou throw away, thy disaster is irretrievable; but if thou be counted worthy of grace, thy soul will be illuminated, thou wilt receive a might which thou hadst not, thou wilt receive weapons terrible to the evil spirits; and if thou cast not away thine arms, but keep the Seal upon thy soul, no evil spirit will approach thee; for he will be cowed; for by the Spirit of God are the evil spirits

cast out.

37. If thou believe, thou shalt not only receive remission of (18.) sins, but do also things which pass man's power. And mayest thou be worthy of the gift of prophecy also! For thou shalt receive grace according to the measure of thy capacity and not of my words; for I may possibly speak of but small things, yet thou mayest receive greater. For faith is a wide field. All thy life long will the Comforter abide with thee; He will care for thee, as for His own soldier, concerning thy goings out, and thy comings in, and thy plotting foes. And He will give gifts of grace of every kind, if thou grieve Him not by sin; Eph. 4, for it is written, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye have been sealed unto the day of redemption. What then, beloved, is it to preserve grace? Be ye ready to receive grace, and when ye have received it, cast it not

30.

away.

38. And may the God of All, who spake by the Holy Ghost through the prophets, who sent Him forth upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, in this place send Him forth at this time also upon you; and by Him keep us also, imparting His benefit in common to all of us, so that we may ever render up the fruits of the Holy Ghost, love, joy, peace, long- Gal. 5, suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, in Christ Jesus our Lord:-By whom and with whom, together with the Holy Ghost, be glory to the Father, both now, and ever, and for ever and ever. Amen.

22.23.

LECTURE XVIII.

ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH, THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH, AND THE LIFE EVERLASTING.

XVIII.

EZEKIEL XXxvii. 1.

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.

LECT. 1. THE root of all good works is the hope of the Resurrection; for the expectation of recompence nerves the soul to good works. For labourers of every kind are ready to undergo toils, if they see their reward in prospect; but when men weary themselves for nought, their heart as well as their body sinks early. The soldier who expects a prize is ready for war, but no one is forward to die for a king who is indifferent about those who serve under him, and bestows no honours on their toils. In like manner every soul believing in the Resurrection, is, as is natural, careful of itself; but, disbelieving it, abandons itself to perdition. He who believes that his body shall remain to be raised again, is careful of his robe, and defiles it not with fornication; but he who disbelieves the Resurrection, gives himself to fornication, and misuses his own body, as though it were not his own. Faith therefore in the Resurrection of the dead, is a great doctrine and lesson of the Holy Catholic Church; a great and most necessary point gainsayed by many, but surely warranted by y. Cat. the truth. Greeks contradict it, Samaritans disbelieve it, heretics disparage it; the contradiction is manifold, but the truth is uniform.

iv. 2.

2. Now Greeks and Samaritans together reason with us thus. The dead man falls, and moulders away, and is all