The Christians Apparelling, Part 3 · Section 22 – Section 23
Section. 22.
Par. 3. §. 22But ſecondly, it is called a free ſpirit, becauſe it works freely, readily,2 Working freely. willingly; yea, it ſo writeth Gods Law in a regenerate mans heart, that it makes him doe all things in Gods waies, frankly and cheerefully; not but that it finds rubs & diſcouragements, or otherwiſe hinderances from the fleſh, yet ſtill it makes a man inwardly ready and willing, yea in ſome good meaſure able to ſay with Paul, Rom. 7.22. and 19.I delight in the Law of God, after the inward man; though he alſo finde cauſe with him againe to ſay, The good that I would, I doe not. This is becauſe we are in this life but in part regenerate. Thus our Sauiour ſpeaketh to his diſciples, who when they ſhould hauehave watched with him, fell on ſleepe; The ſpirit indeed is willing, Mat. 26.41.but the fleſh is weake. Now where the ſpirit which clothes Gods children, once makes them willing, there they withall ſtriuing againſt their frailties, their faylings are couerd with the righteouſnes of Chriſt, whom they hauehave put on; & ſo they are accoūted a willing people. Pſal. 110.3.They are not ſo much drawen or haled to duty, as ſweetly led & brought on by the ſpirit in them. Our Sauiour ſpeaking of the ſpirit, which they that beleeue on him ſhould receiue, ſaith,Ioh. 7.38.39 Hee that beleeueth on me, — out of his belly ſhall flow riuers of liuing water; whereby, beſides other things is noted, that as water flowes readily & naturally out of its fountaine or ſpring head, or out of the rocke, (not forced by the ſtrength of men or horſe, as in pumpes and engines for that purpoſe;) ſo when once by faith wee are ingraffed into Chriſt our rocke, Not by conſtraint as in the Hyppocrite.the graces of his Spirit flow naturally out of vsus: wheras by ſuch as want this ſauing and ſanctifying ſpirit, nothing is done but by compulſion, and by force or feare, & as a man would bring verjuice out of a crab, or water out of a pumpe. Heereby then may men men iudge of themſelues, euen by the willingneſſe of their ſeruice and obedience. Where Gods ſpirit is, there the neceſsitie of the dutie, (which yet muſt bee done vponupon paine of damnation) hinders not the willingnes of it, but that though a woe belong to the not doing of it,1 Cor. 9.16. Mat 25.41, 42.43. (as to careleſſe Miniſters, and to ſuch as are not charitable to the poore members of Chriſt) yet that woe driues them not ſo much to duty, as the Spirit & the louelove of God drawes and leads them therevnto, and makes them doe theſe and the like duties willingly and chearfully. Examine thy ſelfe then how thou doſt thy duty (for if thou doſt it not at all, thou art quite deuoyd, and farre ſhort of Gods Spirit) whether thou ſtand not diſaffected thereunto, and wearieſt not of well doing, and doſt it not rather out of ſlauiſh feare of God or man, and out of baſe and by-reſpects,Signes of a willing ſpirit. then out of true deſire and louelove of it. Signes of a willing ſpirit in Gods ſeruice, are theſe; firſt,1 deſire after the duty a deſire and longing after the dutie (though this be not alwayes without ſome oppoſition and reluctancie of the fleſh, which is vnwilling) as wee ſee how willingly the men of this world goe about their buſineſſe, when occaſion of gaine is offered; yea, how willingly and readily pot companions follow the Ale-houſe or Tauerne: Thus Dauid longed to come and appeare before God in his Temple, ſaying,Pſal. 42.1.2 As the Hart panteth after the water brookes, ſo panteth my ſoule after thee, O God; my ſoule thirſteth for God, when ſhall I come and appeare before God? Secondly, 2 delight in itdelight in, & after the performance of it; as worldlings alſo and ſinners in the acting of thoſe things which they inwardly affect. Euen ſo the people of God reioyced, for that they offered willingly (to the building of the Temple) yea Dauid the King reioyced alſo with great ioy; yea,1 Chron. 29 9-13.14. they bleſſed God heartily who made them able, and gaue them a heart to offer ſo willingly after this ſort, &c. euen ſo doe Gods people, & good Chriſtians, inwardly reioyce in the doing of good, & call the Sabbath a delight, and all the duties of it, both longing till it come, and reioycing in hearing, praying, meditating, conferring of the things heard, as alſo thinking the time & day ſo ſpent, to bee ſhort; and not (as doe the vnwilling) accounting the time ſpent in Gods ſeruice to be long, wearying of it, in their thoughts and deſires haſtening to an end.
3 Sorrow if it be not done.Sorrow, when either wee want opportunities to do good duties, or otherwiſe doe leaue and giuegive them ouer. A godly heart when neceſſitie and euen lawfull occaſions keepe from doing of dutie, will yet be ſorrowfull for ſuch neceſsitie, and for ſuch concurrence of dutie, and will ſhew they had a good deſire, yea hauehave, to the doing of it ſtill: whereas an vnwilling minde is glad of any occaſion, whereby they might ſeeme excuſed from the duties, and that the omiſsion of it might not bee imputed to them: a manifeſt ſigne they had no heart to the duty. So, where there is willingneſſe in the doing, there will be a loathneſſe to leaue off, and a departure from it, with a new deſire of returning to it: which loathneſſe to depart will witneſſe our willingneſſe to the duty. Thus will a willing ſoule freely and cheerefully ſerue God and doe his dutie, though there were neither any Heauen to reward him, nor Hell to puniſh his neglect, though God giuing him ſuch helpes, he doe it with more cheerefulneſſe. Whereas in the wicked all things are contrary: and thereby, hee, (if, hee will not bee blinde) and others may knowe, that as yet hee is not poſſeſſed of this free ſpirit, and hath not by it put on Chriſt to his Sanctification.
Section. 23.
Par. 3. §. 23The fourth and laſt propertie (which I will name) or proper effect of the ſpirit of ſanctification is,4 Gods ſpirit of ſanctification is a Spirit of ſtrength & might. that it is a Spirit of might and of power, and makes ſuch as hauehave it couragious and ſtout in the waies of God. They that hauehave put on Chriſt, are cloathed alſo with the ſame ſpirit which reſted vponupon him. Now that ſpirit among other properties and effects of it,Iſa. 11.2. is ſaid to bee the Spirit of might. This is that ſpirit wherewith John the Baptiſt (as Elias of old) was cloathed, of whom it was ſaid,Luk. 1.17. that hee ſhould goe before our Sauiour Chriſt in the spirit & power, that is, in the powerfull ſpirit, of Elias. This was that ſame ſpirit which was promiſed to the Diſciples of Chriſt, who accordingly at the aſcenſion of Chriſt, were bid to tarry in Ieruſalem, Luk. 24.49vntill they ſhould be endued, or cloathed with power from an high: which accordingly on the day of Pentecoſt came vponupon them and filled them, with a ſound from heauen as of a ruſhing mightie mind. Acts 2.2.Now this ſpirit of might is not proper only to Elias, Iohn, or to the Apoſtles, (though in regard of the extraordinary workes of of it for a ſeaſon, it was,) but by the Apoſtle it is made common to all the faithfull, none of thē excluded, though withall proper to them only, who only are included, when hee ſaith,2 Tim. 1.7. God hath not giuen vsus the spirit of feare, but of power. &c. This power, in good meaſure, eueryevery true Chriſtian hath and ſheweth forth, whereby he can ſay with Paul, Phil. 4.14.I can doe all things through Chriſt, which ſtrengthneth me. Though it muſt be granted that God ſometimes lets his Children hauehave experience of weakeneſſe, as Dauid when hee was taken with the beauty of Bathſheba, Elias when hee feared Ieſabell, Peter when he denyed his Maſter, which hee doth for their further ſtrengthning, and for the magnifying of his power in their weakenes & for other ends. Yet generally, & in their Chriſtian courſe they ſhew themſelues cloathed with the power of God and of his ſpirit, in the ſtrength wherof they walke and hold out conſtantly to the end, though now and then, they ſlip or fall. And it is ſuppoſed to the ſpirit of feare and faintneſſe in the wicked.2 Tim. 1.7. A man may then know whether he be indeed a Chriſtian or no, by this ſpirit of power, ſtrength and courage; for each Chriſtian is leſſe or more, according to Pauls Prayer for the Coloſsians,Coloſ. 1.11 ſtrēgthned with al might according to Gods glorious power, and that not only to all patience and long-ſuffering, but generally vntounto each other grace, hauing and ſhewing forth, not a forme of godlineſſe, as doe hypocrites, who yet deny the power of it, but the very power and life thereof throughout their whole courſe of life.