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II.

SER M. the Fruits of the Spirit, are either temporary or perpetual. Temporary; such as are the miraculous Gifts of Speaking with tongues, prophesying, healing difcafes, and the like. Or Perpetual; fuch as are the moral Difpofitions and Habits of the Mind, worked in us by the Spirit of God, improved in us by his continual Affistance, and acceptable to him in the Performance; Namely goodness, righteousness, and Truth, as St Paul reckons them up; Eph. v. 9; and more largely; Gal. v. 22; The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-fuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. These are the permanent Fruits of the Spirit, neceffary to be found at all times in every baptized Perfon; Otherwife his Baptifm is nothing else, but merely the washing away, the Filth of the Flesh; fo that, being born of Water only, and not of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. In whomfoever these moral Fruits of the Spirit are found, the other miraculous and extraordinary ones are Now unneceffary; And even Then, at the first preaching of the Gofpel, when they were the most needful of all, yet were

they

they useless and unprofitable to those very SER M perfons in whom they most abounded, if II. the moral Fruits of the Spirit were not found in conjunction with them. By the Habits of Piety and true Holiness, men may Now fhow themselves as full of the Holy Ghost as ever, without any miraculous Gifts; with the greateft abundance of which, they were still void of the Holy Ghost even Then, if not indued with piety and true Holiness. For, miraculous Gifts, were but Signs of the Holy Spirit working by them, not in and upon them. And therefore fuch Gifts were useful, rather to Others than themselves; to convince beholders, rather than to sanctify the perfons: Tongues, faith St Paul, are for a Sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. But moral Virtues, are Evidences of the Spirit's dwelling in men, and fanctifying mens Hearts and Lives: Which to themselves is the End and the Effect of That Belief, the producing but the first Beginnings whereof in Others, is all that is intended by miraculous Gifts. Thefe extraordinary Gifts therefore, were only Operations of the Spi

SERM.rit; But Righteousness and Holiness are II. properly called its Fruits. Fruits of the

Spirit; becaufe worked, not as the others, extrinfecally, neceffarily, and without the concurrence of the Perfons themselves; but worked in the mind, and with the free choice and Will of the Perfon, by the approbation, affiftance, and help of the Spirit of God, concurring with him, not barely operating by him. For which reafon, These are never found but in Good men; being indeed the Qualifications which denominate men fuch: But the Others were often bestowed even upon hypocritical perfons; whom whom our Saviour, though they had done in his Name many wonderful Works, yet declares he will reject from him, as being at the fame time Workers of iniquity. And hence it is, that our Lord makes that remarkable Distinction; St Luke x. 20; In This rejoice not, that the Spirits are fubject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your Names are written in Heaven: That is, 'tis a thing much more valuable, to be a good man, than to be able to caft out Devils. Hence alfo it is, that St Paul gives so manifest a preference

to

H.

to works of righteousness, before miraculous SER M: Gifts; 1 Cor. xii. 30; Have All, the gifts I of healing? do All Speak with tongues? do All interpret? But covet earnestly the best Gifts, and yet fhow I unto you a more excellent way; a way yet more excellent, even than the best Gifts. And what That is, he tells us in the next words; Though I speak with the Tongues of Men and of Angels, and have not Charity, I am become as founding brass or a tinkling Cymbal : And tho I have the Gift of Prophecy, and understand all myfteries and all knowledge; And tho' I have all Faith, fo that I could remove mountains, and have no Charity, I am nothing. If I have no Charity; that is, if I am not indued with a Spirit of Univerfal Love and Goodness towards Men. For fo it is remarkable in the whole New Testament, that the word Charity never fignifies, as it does Now in common fpeech, the mere giving of Alms to the poor; but it always means, in a larger Signification, That Love and Defire of doing. good to all men, which is oppofed to Uncharitableness, Peevishness, Hatred, Animofity and Factiousness. As is particu

larly

SER M. larly evident in the Verse next following; II. where Charity is expreffly diftinguished

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frora giving Alms to the poor, as the whole of a Duty from its part: Though I give (faith he) my body to be burned, and though I beftow all my goods to feed the poor, and have not Charity, (that is, have not an univerfally good and righteous Spirit, ) it profiteth me nothing.

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3dly, FROM the character of the perfons defcribed in the Text, we may obferve that those words, we have not fo much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost, cannot poffibly be a right tranflation but that they ought to have been rendered thus, we have not fo much as heard whether there be any Giving of the Holy Ghost; any fuch Gift or Distribution of it, as the Apostle inquired after. (There is a like expreffion; Joh. vii. The Holy Ghoft was not yet; fo 'tis in the original; which in the Tranflation we very rightly exprefs, The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jefus was not yet glorified.) Now of This indeed, of the extraordinary Gifts and miraculous Effufion of the Holy Ghoft, the perfons mentioned in the Text

39;.

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