duced. For, 1. The copies were numerous which were dispersed.

2. And that in many languages.

3. And that in places at the remotest distance.

4 And all Christians in all those places held their religion upon this revelation.

5. And every heretic, and men of all opinions, alleged the same Scriptures.

6. No one church could corrupt it in any material part, but all the Christians in the world would have discovered it, and cried him down.

7. It was the constant business of ministers, whereof then every church had many, ordinarily to preach this same doctrine and Scripture. They had no greater work to mind, nor any other, but publicly and privately to acquaint people with this doctrine, and keep them in obedience to it: and if no lawyer or person can corrupt our Magna Charta but all the land would know it, and be on the head of him; how much less could any corrupt one charter by which all the men in England should hold all their estates, and have every man a copy, or most men, and have in every town an officer on purpose to teach people the meaning of it. No one schoolmaster in England can corrupt Lilly's Grammar, because it is in every school, and is the work of every schoolmaster to teach it, and they would all presently discern it.

8. We have yet copies of the Scripture extant of very great antiquity. There is, or lately was, one in England, sent to the king from Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople; a very fair copy brought out of Egypt, which was wrote about two hundred and twenty years after the apostles' time.

9. All the writings of the fathers, in every age since, are full of citations of Scripture passages, and all according to our present Scripture in the substance. Clemens Romanus, that lived with Paul, and Justin Martyr, and Irenæus, and Tertullian, and Origen, Cyprian, and all the rest downward, quote abundance of sayings out of those same Scriptures: and all thecopies dispersed abroad agree in all substantials.

10. And consider also that all the churches had the same truths doctrinal and historical among them in those times, by unwritten tradition also, as is said before; for they were preached before they were written. So that it may far more reasonably be questioned, whether those acts of parliament, or our present

Magna Charta be not counterfeit, or Lilly's or Cambden's Grammar, which yet no man of any brains can suspect, than whether these Scriptures which we receive and use, were the true writings of those holy apostles. The hand of universal tradition hath delivered them to us with more certainty than if we had received them from the hands of any apostle ourselves. For our sense may sooner deceive us than the universal sense of the first age, and the universal sense and credit of all succeeding ages.

11. Lastly. None of the enemies of Christianity, that in all ages have wrought against this, do deny these writings to be those which the apostles wrote and delivered; as may be seen in those of Celsus, Porphyry, Julian, yet extant in the fathers. Else Julian need not rail against Paul and John as he doth, for affirming Christ to be God, and other such things, if he durst have denied those to be their writings, as in Cyril, Alexandria, Nazianzen, and others that write in confutation of Julian, you may see. Blessed be that holy providence of the Governor of the world, that hath so spread, promulgated, and maintained his law to this day, that no writings in the world of any antiquity have near the like certainty.

Reasons.

1. But why is it that Christ would thus convincingly send abroad such abundance of the Spirit in those days? Answer, 1. He had the old law of Moses to repeal; and that was well known to the Jews to be God's own law. And therefore if he had not brought that seal of God to his commission, and such as men might well know to be his seal, no wonder if every true subject of God had disobeyed him. Men must not believe God's law ceased or abrogated without good proof.

2. Christ had a new law to promulgate, even the law of faith and Gospel ordinances, and he must both manifest his authority before they could be received and submitted to, and also give his Spirit to enable men to keep them for as he required new duties of fallen, disabled man, so he must give a strength proportionable.

3. Yea, then himself was to be entertained as the Redeemer of the world; which was a new work and office, and man's salvation was to lie upon the receiving of him: and this they neither could do, nor ought, without sufficient evidence or proof, that he was the Redeemer indeed. And therefore he saith, 'If I had not done the works which no man else could do, you had

not had sin'. If any prophet came as from God with any new revelation, he was to prove himself to be a prophet; much more when Christ shall affirm himself to be the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.

2. Quest. But why did not Christ continue this communication. of the Holy Ghost to his churches still, seeing our unbelief is strong, and we have still need of such help as well as they?

Answ. 1. We have the full use and benefit of the Holy Ghost which was given then, that seal that was then set to the christian doctrine and Scriptures stands there still. When Christ hath fully proved to the world the truth of his mediatorship, office, and doctrine, must he still continue the same actions? Is it not enough that he sealed it up once, but must he set a new seal for every man that requireth it in every age? Then miracles would be no miracles. Must your landlord seal your lease anew, every time you will causelessly question his former seal? Then, if Christ had done miracles among a thousand, every man that was not present, should come and say, 'Do the like before me also, or I will not believe.' Will you put God to this, that either he must work constant miracles in every age, and before every man, or else he must not be believed? What, if all Christ's works had been done at London, and we had not seen them here in the country, or, what, if all this town had seen them except one man; should no man believe them but he that did see them? Should no man believe that there hath been any wars and fighting in England, but those that saw the battles? or, what, if these things had been done in our forefathers' days, should not we have believed them except they had been done in ours? We have as full testimony of Christ's and his apostles' true works, as we can have of any of these.

2. Also I answer, Christ doth still continue his Spirit to his churches, and every true member thereof, but not to the same use; and therefore not to enable them to the same work as then. Tongues are not for them that believe, but for them that believe not," saith Paul; (1 Cor. xiv. 22 ;) that is to show them the power of Christ, and so convince them. But now the Scripture is sealed by these, there is not the same use or need of them. But because there is still need of the subduing of corruptions, and sanctifying our natures, and enabling us to keep the law of Christ, and conformingus to his holy image; therefore, the Spirit of sonship or sanctification is still continued. And let me tell you, even this Spirit hath enough in it

to convince both the world and the saints, of the truth of the doctrine and Scripture of Christ. For the godly themselves, I have told you already, that this Spirit of Christ is a witness within them, and how it witnesseth. And for the world, had they but eyes to see the excellency of holiness, they might see that the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour, and that it is certainly an excellent, true, and perfect law and doctrine, which doth produce so excellent an effect. But the wickedness of men's hearts hindereth them from discerning the validity of the testimony; because they cannot see the excellency of grace, which is so contrary to their lusts and carnal pleasures. The things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned; but they have their senses free, and, therefore, can better see the glory of the miraculous works of the Holy Ghost: and, therefore, those are fitter to convince them. But for true Christians themselves, they have that within them both objectively and efficiently, those glorious experiments and potent workings, which will not suffer them to change their religion.

The uses that we shall make of this doctrine now, are these, all for information of your understandings.

1. Of what certain truth the christian religion and Scripture is.

2. What is the greatest argument to prove the truth of these. 3. What the testimony of the Spirit is, and who have it. 4. What it is to believe in the Holy Ghost, and to be baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost.

5. What it is to sin against the Holy Ghost.

Use 1. The challenge and appeal that Paul here makes to the Galatians, I dare make to all the world: and undertake to prove that man bewitched into a madness, that will not be convinced by this only argument.

Whence came the Holy Ghost, which the Lord Jesus did send down upon his church, which sat on the disciples in the likeness of fiery cloven tongues, that filled all the churches in all parts of the world at once, how distant soever, with the miraculous gifts of strange languages, prophesying, interpretation, healing, casting out devils, or the like. That fell on men ordinarily, and in such numbers as soon as ever the apostles laid their hands on them after they were baptised! That putteth such a new nature into the soul of every saint, and writeth the law of Jesus in his very heart; and raiseth him with strong and constant hopes of such a future resurrection

and glory, that he will go through all difficulties and sufferings to attain it; that overcomes all fleshly lusts, and keepeth under such inclinations as all the rest of the world are mastered by; that makes such low and silly creatures to live in the sweet, delightful forethoughts and contemplation of the life to come; and causes men so earnestly, frequently, seriously, reverently, and delightfully to converse with the holy, invisible God! I say, whence is this spirit, but from the holy and almighty God? If you doubt whether such a spirit were poured out so abundantly and miraculously, I have proved it already. Paul appeals to the very men that saw and enjoyed it, and they durst not, they could not, deny it. The enemy, the very pharisees, could not deny it. If you would open your eyes, you might yet see very much of it in the holiness of the saints. But prejudice and hatred to holiness blind you. Can any but the living God, who first breatheth into man the breath of life, breathe forth such a Spirit of miracles and holiness into the world, and make men new creatures, by causing them to be born of the Spirit? Can any but God so raise the dead, and command over all the powers on earth, and cast out Satan by a spirit of miracles, in instruments of greatest natural weakness, till he hath made the Roman empire, and the rest of the kingdoms of the world, to acknowledge Christ their Lord? Doth it belong to any but God to rule the world, and send forth a new spirit and power upon men's souls? These works have such certain evidence of reality, that the Jews confess them, and the Turks acknowledge them, and upbraid the Jews for not believing God by his prophet Jesus. And Mahomet threatens judgments against the Jews for it in his Alcoran; saying, "That Christ was the word and power of God sent to convince the world by miracles;" so they have as full an evidence of a divine power in them. Almightiness, and goodness, and wisdom, in infiniteness, do make up the nature of the eternal God. And all these do evidently appear in this sending of the Holy Ghost.

1. It is a work beyond a mere created power, as all the effects of it show.

2. If any Jew should think that a devil might do such works of omnipotency without God, yet at least let him be convinced by the work of sanctification, which demonstrates God's perfect goodness, as the other doth his greatness. Dare they think that the devil is become a spirit of holiness, or loveth holiness? Will he sanctify men's natures, and make them heavenly, and