His which he is composed is he fed. divine origin is God, and therefore called the divine nature. His mansion is Christ Jesus, in whom all fulness of grace dwells, and from whose fulness all grace is received. Fresh supplies from the same fulness by the Holy Ghost feed him and keep him alive; and under no other preaching but that of preaching Christ; and it must be Christ revealed and made known in the soul of the preacher. Under such, and under no other, can this new man be fed and. nourished; and this many know by sad experience, who are seeking water and there is none, and their tongues are failing for thirst. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and Amen." both now and ever. power,. And so says Your companion in travail, LETTER XIX. TO THE REV. J. JENKINS, AT THE NEW VICARAGE, LEWES, SUSSEX. To my dearly beloved Son, greeting; wishing that grace and peace may be multiplied to him through our Lord Jesus Christ. I RECEIVED yours, and am thankful for the good tidings. Go on; God shall endow us with a good dowry, by adding to us many more sons; these are a kind of first-fruits of God's creatures, and these fruits shall remain. But I shall proceed with my delightful subject, which is to shew 18. That the Holy Spirit in the gospel must be obeyed; for, according to the obedience of man is the reward to be given, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have, therefore, opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith," Gal. vi. 7-10. To sow to the Spirit is to obey him and to be led by him. Our Lord calls himself a sower, and the word of life which he sowed he calls seed; and in sowing the good seed of the word he was obedient to Him : that appointed him. "My Father gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak, and I know that his commandment is life everlasting whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak," John xii. 49, 50. Now there is a twofold sowing to the Spirit: internal and external. Internal when we observe his operations, and are obedient to his motions and dictates: for instance, when he applies the word with power, and reproves us with the word, convincing us of our sins by it; then to speak evil of the preacher by whom the Spirit speaks, to rail against him and the truth, is hating the light, and re belling against it and against our own convictions of the truth of it; and this rebellion is against the Holy Ghost himself. It is said of Israel in the wilderness, that "they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit;" so that "he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them," Isaiah lxiii. 10. Moses and Aaron were God's mouth to.. the people; the Holy Spirit spake in them to the children of Israel: but they envied Moses in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord," Psalm cvi. 16. And by their rebelling against these men they rebelled against the Holy Spirit which influenced them and spoke by them. "They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it. went il with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips," Psalm cvi. 32, 33. Sinners, reproved and convinced by the Holy Spirit, should not only come to the light and be diligent in their attendance on the word; but God calls for confessions to be made to him, and for submission to his will; which is called humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt us in due time. There is such a thing as accepting the punishment of our iniquity, choosing the chastenings of God before our own will and our own way; saying, as others have done, "Search me, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." And again, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me; he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness." Coming to the light that our deeds may be made manifest; exposing our conscience to the force and power of his word, however sharp and piercing; confessing all our crimes, which the light of the word discovers and reproves us for; is accepting our punishment, and preferring the chastisements of God before carnal ease and the pleasures of sin, and is yielding obedience to the Holy Spirit; and it shews that the heart is made honest. 2. TheSpirit is a spirit of supplication. |