the several churches; after which there was no farther necessity of any new revelation. But as for the third, the gift of miracles, it seems to have continued much longer than either of the former, as indeed there was longer occasion for it, especially for that of ejecting evil spirits, who for many ages had been the gods of the world, and detecting their frauds and impostures, that so by beholding the manifold triumphs of Christ's power over them, the heathen might be at length convinced of the falseness of their own religion, and of the truth of Christ's; and accordingly this gift, as I shall shew hereafter, was continued in the church for above two hundred years together, till it had wrought its designed effect, i. e. had sufficiently detected the fraud and malice of those idol-gods to the conviction of all that were convincible, and then it was withdrawn, as being no farther necessary. And then as for the last, viz. the gift of counsel and direction, it seems to have been continued no longer than till the government of the church was every where established, and its affairs reduced into a stated course and method, by which sufficient provision being made against those emergent difficulties with which the state of Christianity was perplexed, this gift also ceased, together with the reason and necessity of it. Thus by these extraordinary gifts and operations the Holy Ghost continued to solicit the cause of Christ and his religion in the world, till by their invincible evidence he had baffled the malice and prejudice of a deluded world, and captivated mankind into the belief and obedience of the gospel; and this being effected, he discontinued those extraordinaries, and now proceeds to solicit the same cause in a more ordinary and standing

way and method, viz. by cooperating with men's minds and wills in a more human and regular manner, by joining in with their reason, and thereby influencing their wills and affections; which brings me to the

2. Second sort of the Holy Ghost's operations, viz. that which he ordinarily doth, and always hath done, and will always continue to do: for, upon the cessation of these his miraculous operations, the Holy Ghost did not wholly withdraw himself from mankind, but he still continues mediating with us, under Christ, in order to the reconciling our wills and affections to God, and subduing that inveterate malice and enmity against him, which our degenerate nature hath contracted: for it is by this blessed Spirit that Christ hath promised to be with us to the end of the world, Matt. xxviii. 20. and Christ himself hath assured us, that upon this ascension into heaven he would pray his Father, and he should give us another Comforter, meaning this Holy Ghost, that he might abide with us for ever, John xiv. 16. and accordingly the Holy Ghost is vitally united to the church of Christ, even as the souls are united to their bodies for as there is one body, i. e. church, so there is one Spirit, i. e. one Holy Ghost, which animates that body, Eph. iv. 4. and hence the unity of the church is in the foregoing verse called the unity of the Spirit; because as the soul, by diffusing itself through all the parts of the body, unites them together, and keeps them from flying abroad, and dispersing into atoms; so the Holy Spirit, by diffusing himself throughout this mystical body, joins and unites all its parts together, and makes it one separate and individual corporation. So that,

when by baptism we are once incorporated into this body, we are entitled to, and do at least, de jure, participate of the vital influence of the Holy Ghost, who is the soul of it: and accordingly, as baptism joins us to that body, of which this divine Spirit is the soul, so it also conveys that divine Spirit to us. So that as in natural bodies those ligaments which unite and tie the parts to one another do also convey life and spirit to them all; so also in this mystical body, those federal rites of baptism and the Lord's supper, which are, as it were, its nerves and arteries, that join and confederate its members to one another, are also the conveyances of that spiritual life from the Holy Ghost, which moves and actuates them all. And hence the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, the being born of water and the Holy Ghost, are put together as concurrent things; and in Acts ii. 38. baptism is affirmed to be necessary to our receiving the Holy Ghost; and if by baptism we receive the Holy Ghost, that is, a right and title to his grace and influence, then must the Holy Ghost be still supposed vitally united to the church, whereof we are made members by our baptism, and like an omnipresent soul, to be diffused all through it, and to move and actuate every part of it by his heavenly grace and influence.

It is true, he doth not move and actuate us by mere force and irresistible power, so as to necessitate us, or to determine our natural liberty one way or the other, nor doth he ordinarily work upon men in such a strange and miraculous way as he did in the first ministration of the gospel, when he frequently transformed men, in an instant, from beasts

and devils into saints, and, as it were, at one act turned the whole tide of their natures into a quite contrary current: for so Origen against Celsus very often triumphs in these sudden and miraculous conversions wrought by the Christian religion; so lib. i. p. 21. Should any man, saith he, release men's souls from all sorts of wickedness, from lust, and unrighteousness, and contempt of God, and this but in a hundred instances, surely no man would imagine that he could ever have inspired so many men with reasons strong enough to conquer so many vices without a divine assistance; but if you inquire into the lives of those that have embraced Christianity, you will find, that whereas before they lived in all impurities and lusts, ἐξ οὗ δὲ παρειλήφασι τὸν λόγον, τίνα τρόπον γεγόνασιν ἐπιεικέστεροι καὶ σεμνότεροι καὶ εὐστα éσTeρo i. e. "from that very time wherein they re"ceived the word, how much more equal and tem"perate, serious and constant are they grown!" So again, lib. ii. p. 78. in answer to Celsus, who calls Christianity a pestilent doctrine, Neither Jew, saith he, nor any one else, can ever make it out, or oλelpos τοσούτους ἀνθρώπους ἐπιστρέφει ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως τῶν κακῶν ἐπὶ τὸν κατὰ φύσιν μετὰ σωφροσύνης καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀρετῶν βίον i.e." that a pestilent doctrine should so wonderfully "convert the most profligate persons that embraced "it, to a life most suitable to nature and reason, "and all manner of virtue." Such were the miraculous operations of the Holy Ghost in those days, as to transport men in an instant from an inveterate habit of wickedness to a habit of piety and virtue: for so Lactantius de Fals. Sup. lib. iii. cap. 26. What a mighty influence the divine precepts have upon men's souls, daily experience shews; for, saith

he, Da mihi virum qui sit iracundus, maledicus, effrænatus; paucissimis Dei verbis tam placidum quam ovem reddam: da cupidum, avarum, tenacem; jam tibi eum liberalem dabo et pecuniam suam plenis manibus largientem: da timidum doloris ac mortis; jam cruces et ignes et taurum contemnet: da libidinosum, adulterum, ganeonem ; jam sobrium, castum, continentem videbis: da crudelem, et sanguinis appetentem; jam in veram clementiam furor ille mutabitur: da injustum, insipientem, peccatorem; continuo et æquus et prudens et innocens erit: i. e. "Give me a man who is wrath

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ful, reproachful, ungovernable; and with a few "words of God I will render him as placid as a "lamb: give me a covetous, a niggardly and tena"cious man; I will return him to thee liberal, and distributing his money with a bountiful hand: give "me one that is timorous of grief and death; he "shall despise all manner of torment: give me one "that is lustful, adulterous, and a buffoon; you shall presently see him sober, chaste, and continent : "give me one that is cruel, and thirsty of blood; his fury shall be immediately converted into pity and clemency: give me one that is unjust, foolish, and "criminal; and he shall be presently rendered just, "prudent, and innocent." Which wondrous changes were so very frequent in the primitive times, that the heathens, as St. Austin hath observed, were very much amazed at them, and therefore attributed them to the power of magic, thinking it impossible they should ever be effected without the assistance of some very powerful spirit.

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But since Christianity hath been spread through the world, and prevailed so far as to be the religion