Fifteen Nations were at that Time gathered together at Jerufalem, and heard them Speaking in their own Tongues, wherein they were born, the wonderful Works of God: And as the Holy Spirit had given them a Mouth, so He likewise gave them Wisdom: They were inspired with a full and clear Knowledge of the Sacred Doctrines they preach'd to the World, far above the slender Improvements of Natural Sense, and without the flow Deductions of common Reason. In a Mo ment of Time they understood all Mysteries, and received the Fulness of Divine Truth: What they learn'd was not conveyed to them by outward Reprefentations or gross Images, but applied to their Understanding by the naked and immediate Communications of the Holy Ghost himself; taught they were without any Possibility of being misinform'd, and what they preached to others is the infallible Standard of Divine Truth to all Generations. The Word of God thus applied was quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged Sword ; the Disciples immediately were enabled to instruct the whole whole World; their Audience were prick'd in their Hearts, and at their very first Preaching, in one Day there were added to the Christian Church about three thousand Souls. But the Influences of the Holy Ghost did not rest here, He likewise indued them with the Power of working Miracles to evince the Divinity of their Doctrines; many Signs and Wonders were done by the Hands of the Apostles, and in Consequence thereof there were daily added to the Church fuch as should be saved : These Gifts were all absolutely necessary to enforce and give Credit to the Truth of the Gospel upon the first Propagation of it, but ceased in great measure with the Apostles, and as foon as the Gospel was well established, were entirely withdrawn. But we may from hence draw these comfortable Conclusions, that the Gospel which is contained in their Writings is the infallible Word of God himself, delivered in the most pure and authentick Manner, dictated by the Blessed Spirit of Light and Truth, and wrote by the Hands of those who had the most inti

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mate Converses, the most naked Communications with that Divine Author. We are likewise hereby assured of the actual Defcent and Continuance of the Holy Ghost upon us: Our Blessed Lord promised us that Second Comforter, and promised likewise that He should continue with us always, even to the End of the World. The former Part of the Promise we find hath been most undeniably compleated, and the other Part is thereby sufficiently ascertained to us. If the first Communications of the Holy Ghost with Man had been no fuller than those we now enjoy, we should never be able to convince Gainsayers of His real Descent : Mighty even yet are his Operations, but not perceptible by any but those who immediately feel them: But the visible Manner in which the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles, and the many miraculous Effects of it, put this Doctrine out of all Dispute. Impossible it was that by any other Means than those of its all-powerful Influences, weak, illiterate Men should in a Moment become so profound in Learning, so universally skill'd

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in Languages, and particularly should become able to work Miracles. Any Forgery might easily have been detected by the great Concourse that was at that Time at Jerufalem; and absurd it is to imagine that their Eyes and Ears could in such plain and palpable Facts be fo grofly impos'd upon. The Power of the Most High must certainly be there difplayed, where Art and Nature is so far out-stripp'd; where the foolish Things of this World do so greatly confound the Wife, and the weak Things do so gloriously overpower the Mighty. Moreover, we may be perswaded from this important Article of the Sufficiency of God's Grace, and the Readiness of the Holy Ghoft to grant us all the needful Supplies of Comfort and Assistance. The fame Promise which was made to the Apostles was made alfo to us, and we may equally rely upon the Goodness of God for the full Completion of it. The Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit are not so largely dispensed to us, as they were in the first Ages of Christianity; but the Exi

gencies of our Time are far from requiring

quiring them: What is abundantly sufficient for us, would have been very deficient to them; and what was barely sufficient for them, is by no means necessary for us: To what purpose, ex. gr. should the Most High indulge his Church in the extraordinary Gift of Tongues, fince the Sound of the Gospel has already gone out into the Ends of the Earth; and the Apostles, tho' dead, do nevertheless by their Writings continue to speak to us, in almost every Language? Wherefore should the Gift of Prophecy continue to instruct us by immediate Inspirations, since the Will of God once reveal'd has been handed down in so full and plain a Manner by the Holy Scriptures ? Or of what further Ufe would Miracles be, since the Doctrines they were design'd to enforce are so fully established, and even they themselves may be referr'd to from Records of undoubted Credit. The Holy Ghost in short is neither so large nor open in his Operations now, as in the Apoftolical Age, because there is manifestly not the fame Occasion for it; but from the extraordinary Effects of his Grace and VOLI.

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Power