The Gales of Grace, Tract · Chapter 12
goeth: So is eueryevery one that is borne of the Spirit.
The words apart interpreted. foreignThe meaning of the words muſt firſt bee enquired into. [But canſt not tell:] In the Originall this phraſe is thus ſet down, [Thou knoweſt not.] Now to bring-in the diuers acceptions and ſundry ſignifications that this word Know hath in the Scriptures, were but needeleſly to ſpend Time, and fill Paper, in this Text. This negatiue, Thou knoweſt not, or Canſt not tell, is aſmuch as the affirmatiue, Thou art ignorant. [Whence it commeth;] there is ſome little difficulty in this little word IT, whether it be to be referred to Winde, Queſt. Anſw.or Sound. And it may eaſily be anſwered, that it hath relation vntounto Winde, rather then Sound: and the reaſon is this; becauſe Nicodemus could not but know, euen by meere hearing, whence the ſound of the Winde came, viz. from the Winde; though by meere hearing, hee could not tell what corner the Winde it ſelfe comes from. So that this phraſe, Whence IT commeth, may be turned thus, Whence that Winde cometh: yea,Obiect. but will ſome obiect and ſay, The cauſe of the Winde may bee knowne; and a man may eaſily vnderſtand whence it commeth, both in reſpect of the ſupernaturall cauſe of it, and naturall. Is not the ſupernaturall cauſe of it, God himſelfe? The ſayings of Moſes declare as much:hExd. 11.13 The LORD brought an Eaſt winde vponupon the Land, all that day, and all that night: and in the nineteenth verſe of the ſame chapter, IEHOVAH turned a mighty ſtrong weſt winde, which tooke away the locuſts, and caſt them into the red Sea. And in another place he ſaith,iNum. 11 13. There went forth a winde from the LORD, and brought Quailes from the Sea. And by the Prophet Amos kAmos 4.17.GOD is called the Creator of the windes. Secondly, as for the naturall cauſe of the winde, it is knowne to be a cold cloud meeting (in the middle region of the aire) with ſuch vapours as ariſe from the earth, according to that of the Pſalmiſt lPſal. 135 7.; He cauſeth the vapours to aſcend from the ends of the earth, hee bringeth the winde out of his treaſuries, that is, out of the Caues and hidden places of the earth, where the Lord holdeth the windes as in a ſtorehouſe, to bring them forth thence according to his pleaſure: So that, thus I ſay it may be knowne whence the winde commeth. True. Why then doeth Chriſt heere charge Nicodemus with ſuch ignorance, that hee did not know whence the winde came? Was he a Doctor in Iſrael, and had hee neither Philoſophie to know the naturall cauſe of the winde, nor Diuinitie to know the ſupernaturall? To this I anſwer,Anſwer to this obiection. that the words are not to be vnderſtood of Nicodemus his ignorance in the cauſe of the winde, and whence it ariſeth, as from the ſupernaturall and naturall originall of it; but of his ignorance about the particular place, angle and corner whence this winde, or that winde commeth; implying, that hee could not know whether it came from Eaſt or Weſt, or North or South, onelyonly by hearing the ſound of it: and ſo are the words to bee vnderſtood. [Nor whither it goeth]: that is, Nor into what corner it will turne, how ſtrongly, or how long it will blowe, what a meaſure of ſound it wil riſe to ere it ceaſeth. [So is eueryevery one that is borne of the Spirit] This, at the firſt ſight, ſeems to be a ſtrange ſpeech, being ſo to be applyed as it is, I meane to the immediate fore-going ſentence, Canſt not tell whence it commeth, and whither it goeth. For, what?Doubt. can wee not know whence the Spirit of regeneration commeth, or what it worketh? Doth not the Scripture tell vsus, that the holy Ghoſt proceedeth from the Father & the Sonne: and thatmIac. 1.17 eueryevery good and perfect gift cometh downe from the Father of Lights: and that the fruits of the Spirit, and the effects which it produceth arenGalat. 5 22.23 louelove, ioy, peace, long-ſuffering, gentlenes, goodnes, faith, meekenes, &c.? Yes: why then is it ſaid heere, that it is with the operation of the Spirit in the regenerate, as it is with the winde in the ayre, not to be knowne whence it cometh, and whither it goeth? I anſwer;Solution. This phraſe is heere vſed, not to ſignifie vntounto vsus, that the wayes of ſpirituall men are vnknowne to thoſe that page missing where it will ceaſe, or how it will ceaſe, how ſtrong it will be, how long it will blowe before it will fall. So is it with the blowings of grace in the regenerate ſometimes; thogh they feele the Spirit working in them, they cannot diſtinctly and directly tell whether the Spirit be the Author of it, yea, or no: and when they doe know whence it cometh, and can tell that the Spirit is the originall of it, they can not tell what meaſure of it they ſhall receiue.
From the words thus cōmented vppon, two poynts of Doctrine do ariſe, .i. that the Spirit is ſomtimes felt working, and yet is not diſcerned to bee the Spirit: ſecondly, That the meaſure of a Chriſtians graces, is incomprehenſible.