adhereth to Christ, and Christ continueth in him, and so he receiveth all gracious influences from him, particularly that of charity, or loving his fellow-Christians, as Christ gave us commandment, ver. 23, that special piece of Christian temper, so largely exemplified and so strictly required by Christ of all his disciples. And so again we see the phrase used, ch. iv. 13, By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, èv avт μévopev kaì avtòs év nμîv, because he hath given us of his Spirit. The ground of that speech is laid, ver. 12, If we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us; that is, our charity to others is an evidence of our continuing to receive divine infusions and influences from God, (for love or charity is such,) and that a proof that we have transcribed and imitated that love which he hath exemplified to us: for this is meant by his love being perfected in us, ἀγάπη αὐτοῦ τετελειωμένη, as his suferings are filled up and perfected in us when they are imitated by us, when we suffer for well doing, as he did; the end of a copy or pattern being this, that we should transcribe it, and so the taking it out, imitating it, as we ought to do, the only way of giving it its due perfection. And so that whole verse is but a paraphrase on that speech of Christ's, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another, Christ bringing his scholars and followers up in the practice of this duty beyond all others. And upon this is built that which immediately follows, and so it must be interpreted by it, By this we know that we abide in him, and he in us, orɩ, because, or that, he hath given us of his Spirit; that is, this is a sure κpiτńpiov by which we may conclude our living like disciples of his, our not having forsaken him, as other uncharitable Gnostic heretics appear to have done, and so likewise his continuing to communicate his influences to us, as to disciples he is wont, that we are like him in this special grace of charity, the quality that is so remarkable in him. And so this is very remote from the enthusiast's pretensions.

§. 14. One especial reserve there is still behind from 1 John ii. 20, Ye have an unction from the Holy One, Xρíσμа àñò TOÛ 'Ayiov, and ye know all things; and ver. 27, in words not much varied, and to the same sense, The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: : but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, remain in him still, or, as we read, ye shall abide in him, peveîte ἐν αὐτῷ. That the full meaning of the unction's teaching or having taught them all things, is their having been instructed by those on whom the Holy Ghost (which was to teach them all things) had descended, and confirmed by the gift of miracles, abiding at that time in their churches, hath been shewed at large, note [d] on Acts x, and that takes away all the pretender's title from this place. But beside this, it is evident by

χριστοι,

the context what it was that this unction was said to teach them, viz. that Jesus was the Christ, contrary to the Gnostic heretics, ver. 18, which denied it, and are therefore called avríXpioToi, antichrists: They, saith he, ver. 19, went out from us, these heretics that denied Jesus to be Christ; but ye have an unction, &c. and ye know all things, (the all things here being, according to the ordinary scripture style, to be interpreted only of all those things which are there spoken of.) Ye have certain and infallible evidences that Jesus is the Christ. From whence he immediately concludes again, that they that have denied this are liars and antichrists, ver. 22, and puts them in mind of that which had first been taught them and sufficiently evidenced unto them from the beginning of the gospel's being preached unto them, ver. 24, in opposition to these false doctrines which had since been infused amongst them, ver. 26, to whom again he opposeth the unction, ver. 27. And so still here is nothing in the least degree favourable to the pretensions of the enthusiast.

§. 15. Some other places I find to be mentioned, which are yet further removed from this matter, for which they are pre-tended, as Gal. iii. 14, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit, nayyedía тоû Пveúμaros, through faith. What is meant there by the promise of the Spirit, that is, the Spirit promised his disciples by Christ at his parting from the world, appears at the beginning of that chapter, ver. 2, 3, viz. the powers of working miracles, &c.; and so it is interpreted, ver. 5, He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you. And this may fitly be said to be received dià íστews, through faith, both as that is opposed to the Mosaical economy, under which there were not then those powers in the church of the Jews, as it is said, ver.2, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? and according to Christ's promise to believers. These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name they shall cast out devils, &c., Mark xvi. 17. And so this place belonging to those miraculous operations of the Spirit in those times useful for the erecting of a church, can no more be applicable to believers in these times, than the speaking of tongues and gifts of healing, &c., which are not imagined by these pretenders to belong to them by force of this place.

§. 16. Somewhat different from this is that other of Ephes. i. 17, (and parallel to that Col. i. 9,) that the Father of glory would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, &c. În this place there is little of difficulty, save that èv èñɩyváσei avtoû is not rightly interpreted in the knowledge of him, whereas it should be to the acknowledgment of him, as the end of the wisdom and revelation, not the matter of it. That it is so, appears by the following words, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may knowWhere as the enlightening of their

understandings is answerable to the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so the phrase that ye may know, is answerable to èv èуvóσe, and so renders èr, (as it is ordinarily used for eis,) to, not in the knowing, or acknowledging of him. Which being premised, the plain meaning of the words is, that the apostle having heard of the Ephesians' proficiency in the faith of Christ, prays that they may come to further growth yet, even to all abundance of all sorts of Christian knowledge, understanding the highest spiritual truths called wisdom, and interpreting of prophecies of the Old Testament called revelation, and both these as extraordinary (xapiopara) gifts at that time, and so called the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, Πνεῦμα σοφίας, Πνεῦμα ἀποκαλύψεως : and this for this end, that Christ might be fully discerned, and the truth of his doctrine acknowledged, by this means; in the same manner as, ch. iv. 11, it is said of Christ that he gave some apostles, some. prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, (each of these furnished with extraordinary gifts, such as here are named,) for the building of the body of Christ, (that is, his church,) until we come to the unity of the faith and acknowledgment of the Son of God that ye be no more tossed, &c. All which shews the high, extraordinary ways that were then afforded by God, by the descent of the Spirit, (for the building of a church, and confirming the faith of weaklings against the invasion of heretics, which fell off, and denied Christ,) and were here by the apostle prayed for to the church of the Ephesians, but cannot be extended as a promise to the enthusiast now that such gifts shall be or are afforded him.

§. 17. Beside these of the New Testament, other places are produced out of the Old, as from psalm xxv. 9, The meek will he teach his way; and, ver. 12, What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose; and, ver. 14, The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant. But all these belong to a matter very distant from what the enthusiast pretends, viz. the benefit and advantage that accrues to all those that sincerely and diligently observe the laws of God. The meek, ver. 9, are certainly the obedient; and so the man that feareth the Lord, vv. 12, 14, and for the promises that belong to such, they are all to the same purpose, under several expressions, God will teach them his way, and teach them in the way that he shall choose, that is, direct and assist them in doing that which shall be acceptable in his sight, (not make known his laws of life by way of revelation to them, for they were certainly made known to them already, and so here it is supposed, for otherwise how can they be said to keep them? ver. 10,) and then shew them his covenant, and communicate his secret to them, that is, afford them (in the practice of piety and virtue) those tastes of the sweetness of it beyond all other courses, that they shall by experience find how excel

lent and (for itself, abstracted from the eternal reward) how desirable a thing it is to follow God's ways, and not our own corrupt appetites. This must needs be the meaning of shewing them his covenant, that covenant whereby he promiseth all good things to them upon their obedience; which covenant was already made known to them, and could no otherwise now be shewed them, but by their discerning the graciousness of it. And for the secret of the Lord, that is this sweetness which results from the obeying his precepts, like that of manna from heaven, (called hidden manna,) agreeable to every man's taste, savoury to every rational soul. That this is the full meaning of it, appears by ver. 10, where all the paths of the Lord (those wherein he is said to guide and teach the meek, ver. 9.) are said to be mercy and truth, that is, made up of goodness in the highest degree, (so saith Kimchi of 70, mercy, that it is on, the abundance, or excellence, of goodness, and of agreeableness to the understanding or upper soul of a man, (to the common impressions that are in him,) to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies, that is, observe and practise them, and thereby have that excellency experimented to them, which wicked men, which never come to practise and try what it is to do as God directs, never apprehend to be in it. To this purpose there are infinite testimonies in this book of the Psalms, psalm xix. 9, 10, The judgments of the Lord are more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant taught and in keeping of them there is great reward. Where it is manifest what the judgments are, the commands and rules of life, such as are to be kept or observed; and all benefits and pleasures and advantages, present and future, are the constant result and reward of that observance. So again, ver. 7, The law of the Lord is perfect, (hath all kind of goodness in it, so the Hebrew signifies, and the Greek Téλetos,) converting or restoring the soul, bringing the man to himself again, from that degenerous condition of the sinner (so unworthy of the rational creature, that it renders him a very fool and unreasonable) to that honourable state of piety and virtue, and so making wise the simple, changing the sinner-fool into the scripture-wise, that is, pious, virtuous man. To which purpose see the 13th part of psalm exix. And to the confirming this interpretation of this and the like places, I shall use one argument taken ab absurdo, from the absurdity which would follow from making them instrumental to the enthusiast's claims: for it is well known that God revealed his will in those days by prophets particularly called and designed and commissioned to that purpose; and if any thing was to be done, which had not been sufficiently declared by the standing known laws, or when those had been remarkably despised and neglected, a man of God was chosen and sent from heaven with such new revelations: which was no way

agreeable to, or reconcilable with, this other method, of God's revealing all his secrets to every pious, obedient servant of his; for then there would have been no need of any other.

§. 18. Of the same nature with these are those others that are produced out of the Psalmist, psalm exi. 10, A good understanding have all they that do his commandments (where yet our margin reads far otherwise, and so as takes away all appearance of force from it, Good success have they, &c.); psalm cxix. 18, Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law; and so Prov. ii. 7, God layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous; and chap. iii. 32, God's secret is with the righteous; all perfectly agreeable to the former texts, and vindicated from the enthusiast's misprisions by the interpretations that have been affixed to them. As for that of Prov. xxviii. 5, They that seek the Lord understand all things, it must be explained by the context not to belong to all things indefinitely, but, as hath been said, and as it is ordinary in the scripture style, (see 1 Cor. xiii. 7,) to all the things that are there spoken of, that is, the judgments of God in the former part of the verse, his wise and just proceedings against the wicked, and his rewarding of piety, so that no man shall have any reason (to call the proud happy) to praise the wicked, ver. 4. And so the plain meaning of the place is, that whatever the atheistical sinner thinks of God's neglecting the government of the world, from whence he takes courage and confidence to sin, yet the truly pious man is able to contend with, ver. 4, and confute him, he finds experimentally the reward of the righteous, and knows that which the atheist will not acknowledge, that there is a God that judgeth the earth and so that is nothing to the purpose to which it is produced by the pretenders.

§. 19. And as little that of the prophet, Isaiah xxxv. 8, of the highway, the way of holiness, and the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. For (besides that that prophecy might have a completion in Israel, and must not needs be extended any further than to what it primarily belonged) this meaning of it, as figuratively it is applicable to the Christian church, is most obvious, that the duties by God required of us are so plain and evident, that he that sets himself to the practice of them, be he of never so slow an understanding, cannot choose but know them; or else, that the condition of the covenant now required of us under Christ is not such as that any man through weakness, or ignorance, or involuntary error, should ever miscarry, or lose his part of the promise of that covenant; only deliberate sins against grace and against knowledge are imputed to any man to his ruin.

§. 20. So for the promise of putting a new spirit in them, Ezek. xi. 19, that is interpreted evidently by the latter end of the verse, I will give them an heart of flesh, that is, give them