The doctrine and practice of mortification wherein is discovered the matter, manner, and means thereof, together with the blessed event that comes by it : necesary for every Christian to know and practice, that will live comfortably, and die peaceably / by Thomas Wolfall ...

CAP. XVIII. Shewing the third, articular that is the meanes whereby this worke is done, and that is by the spirit.

COme wee now to the third particular, and that is the meanes whereby this great worke of mortification, is effected and brought to passe, for the better understan∣ding of this particular, ob∣serve these two propositions.

• 1. First, that the spirit must be had of us.
• 2. That wee must by the helpe and assistance of the spi∣rit mortifie our sinfull nature.

1. For the former, that we must have the spirit; there is great necessity of this, for then wee are in the spirit, when the spirit dwelleth in us, and if any man have not the

spirit of Christ the same is none of his, God saith that in the time of the Gospell hee would powre upon them, the spirit of grace, & supplication, that is, as they were annointed with oyle, that undertooke any speciall office: so Christi∣ans, when they are made by grace Kings and Priests unto God, they have this oyle of the spirit powred into their hearts, our blessed Savi∣our confirmes this, unto us in that speech to Nichodemus, that which is borne of the spirit is spirit. As Adam begot a man in his owne likenesse: so the spirit it begetteth us like unto it selfe; holy as it is ho∣ly, heavenly as it is heavenly.

For the better understanding of the point in hand, know that the spirit is to be conside∣red 2. waies; either according to its essence, or according to his guifts & graces, now accor∣ding

to its essence and being, it is every where, it filleth heaven & earth, as it is exclu∣ded out of no place; so neither is it included in any, but in this sense, wee can no more be said to have the spirit than o∣ther men, and creatures can, in whom, and by whom wee all live, move, & have our being: but in the second sense, in re∣spect of its guifts and graces, so some men are said in speci∣all, to have the spirit as the spirit quickens, and convey∣eth a principle of life into us, whereby wee live the life of grace, and that is called spiri∣tus inhabitans, that takes up his seate in our heart, and spiri∣tus obsignans, that sealing spi∣rit, whereby the spirit witnes∣seth with our spirits that wee are the sonnes of God: now in this sense we may be said to have the spirit.

2 That there must by the

helpe & assistance of the spirit, Mortifie the deeds of the body: a new beart will I give you, and I will take away your stony heart, &c. that is, that this mighty power of the spirit, is that which will helpe forward, to the taking away of this stony heart, the Lord is said to wash away the filth of the daugh∣ter of Zion: and to purge the blood of Jerusalem by the spirit of Judgement, and the spirit of burning, that is, this spirit shall be in us, and shall enable us to judge our selves, and kindle such a fire in us, as shall melt away the drosse of our corruption.

That you may the better understand, what assistance it is that the spirit giveth unto us, in this worke of mortifica∣tion, give mee leave to lay downe unto you these three things.

1 By what meanes the spi∣rit

workes, or helpeth for∣ward this worke of mortifi∣cation: although I deny not but the spirit may & can work, where it listeth, and when it listeth, either by meanes, or above meanes, yet our taske is at this time to shew how it worketh by meanes.

1 It awakeneth conscience, it doth convince us of sinne, and discovereth unto us the greatnesse of their number, and the foulenesse of their na∣ture, thence it is that Christ, when hee commeth, doth con∣vince the world of sinne, of righteousnesse, and of judge∣ment; of sinne, because they believe not on him, that how∣soever the guilt of the Law lye heavie, and the weight there of as a penalty, greater than a man can tell how to beare: yet then to have ad∣ded hereunto another con∣viction, that is the conder••∣ning

sinne of infidelity, this doth much aggravate, and make sinne out of measure sinfull; therefore it is that our Saviour Christ saith, that he that beleeveth not is condemned already; as if hee should have sayd, if a man were a drun∣kard, or a swearer, or a pro∣fane person, and yet if he can beleeve, there is hope of par∣don, but so long as hee doth not beleeve, there is no hope at all, for as much as hee is without God, and without the Covenant of Grace: now the spirit when it commeth con∣vinceth our judgments of this: till such time as the spirit hath done this, wee are like Ionah, fast asleepe in the bot∣time of the ship, the sea ra∣geth, the Mariners rowe, the waves beate, the ship is tossed up and downe, yet all this doth but rocke Ionah faster a sleepe, till the ship-master

comes to him, and sayes, What meanest thou, &c. thou sleeper arise and call upon thy God, &c. So it is with us, while we are asleepe in our sinnes, the hea∣vie wrath of God hangs over our heads, yea and the judge∣ments of God are abroad in the world, yet wee lye fast asleepe, senselesse, and secure, not dreading any anger: but now, when this blessed spirit of Christ shall waken us, and shew us the danger, and aske us what wee meane to conti∣nue in this condition; then wee beginne to bethinke our selves, and to shake off slug∣gishnesse, and to cast about for our owne safety. Saul thought himselfe safe enough when hee was a persecutor, and that authority that hee had from the High-priest, was sufficient to beare him out that while hee did breath out slaughter against Christ,

he thought hee had done God good service, till Christ cau∣sed a light to shine from hea∣ven, and a voyce saying, Saul, Saul; why persecutest thou mee? this indeed wakened him, and made him shake and tremble, and say, Who art thou Lord? and what wouldest thou have mee to doe: by this meanes it was that Paul of a persecutor be∣cometh a preacher, & had his corruptions, and cruell dispo∣sitions changed in him, that of a fierce lion, hee became as meeke as a lambe.

2 The spirit of Christ it setteth home the meanes that God useth for our mortifica∣tion, the weapons of our war∣fare are mighty through God; it is God that puts vertue, and strength into them: now there are severall sorts of weapons that the Holy Ghost useth for this end, as

1 The preaching of the

Word of God, it is called the ministration of the spirit, it is called the two edged sword, that which is sharper, that it cuts asunder the soule and the spirit, the joynts and the ma••∣row and discovereth the se∣cret intents of our hearts, but what is that that makes this word so powerfull? Sure it is the Holy Spirit of God that doth it, wee have this Word in earthen vessels, that the ex∣cellencie of the power might be of God, and not of us, it is not the Ministrie that can make the word virtuall, and powerfull, nor is it in the let∣ter of the Word, but in the spirit, therefore when you come to the Word and heare it opened unto you, doe not looke at the man, who hee is, nor the instrument, but at the power which is from the spi∣rit: Saint Paul may plant, & A∣pollos water, but it is God that

must give the increase, when it pleaseth God to accompany his word, with the influence of his spirit, then is it like fire to purge out our drosse, and like the hammer that breakes in sunder our hard hearts: that as Moses when he smote with his rod the rock, the water came abundantly: so when God smites our hearts, with the rod of his Word, it is able to dissolve our hearts into teares, and godly sorrow unto repentance not to be repen∣ted of.

2 The spirit sets home af∣flictions, and troubles to make them vertuall, and efficacious to the subduing of our corrup∣tions, I will bring a third part through the fire, I will refine them as silver is refined; and will try them as gold is tryed, and they shall call upon my name, and I will heare them, &c. When God takes us in hand, then all

the hurt that wee receive by our afflictions, is the taking away of our sinnes, all the fruit of their afflictions was to the end that thereby the iniquity of Jacob might be purged. God suffered the bush to burn, but yet it was not consumed because the Lord was in the midst of it. The Finer is most carefull of his gold when it is in the furnace, and so is God for our good, in the time of our afflictions, as he said pe∣riissem nisi periissem; I had pe∣rished if I had not perished. Many good Christian may say, that if he had not had crosses, and losses in the world, hee had lost his soule. We read of some of the Martyrs that have blessed God that ever they came to prison for Christ's sake, that when they became mans bondmen, then were they Christs freemen, and could as comfortably feed on

browne bread, & rouse in the straw, as on a bed of downe. What a marvellous change was wrought in Manasse, who in his prosperity was most wicked, hee fell to the Idolatry of the Heathen u∣sed inchantment, witchchraft, caused Hierusalem to swimme with blood, yet in his afflicti∣on, how did he humble him∣selfe? greatly. How mightily was hee then wrought upon! how did his heart smite him! Whence was this but from the spirit of God, that per∣swaded his heart unto it, for if that Gods spirit goe not at long with those afflictions, that are on men, they are ne∣ver the better, but the worse for them: as you see it said of him; that said; because the e∣vill was from the Lord, hee saw no reason to waite any longer, and so it was of King Ahaz, that in his extremity,

he sinned yet more and more, therefore the Holy Ghost doth brand him with this in∣famous note, this is that King Ahaz, that is hee that afflicti∣ons could not mend, nor make better. And indeed when as it is so, that affliction doth men no good, it is to be feared, that they have rejected the last remedy that God meanes to bestow upon them, and God may say to them, Why should I smite them any more.

3 The spirit setteth home examples of good men, and maketh them meanes to mor∣tifie our sinnes, when wee see men weaned from the world, upright in their waies, chari∣table to the poore, temperate in the use of the creatures; holy, humble, and full of good fruits; such a mans life, when God pleaseth to set it on, doth make other men repent, and by seeing their good

workes, to glorifie God, Shew thy selfe in all things a pat∣terne of good workes: now a pat∣terne is a rule for others to follow: examples teach sooner than precepts, and are more easie to the undestanding to learne, and also are more spee∣dily taken into practice.. A notionall goodnesse is little worth, unlesse some demon∣stration may be given of it, in point of practice, this wee read of Hezek••ah, that hee did walke in all the waies of his father David, and of Iosiah after him; much more are godly mens examples very efficacious, in their sufferings, and in their deaths, when the spirit shall joyne with them: as how hath the patience of Iob beene a patterne unto suc∣ceeding posterities, wee want not many examples to prove, how the blood of the Martyrs have beene the seede of the

Church; If Elisha did so calme the Syrians by that ex∣ample of patience, and kind∣nesse, so that they came no more to annoy, and infest, their land; how much more may the patience of godly men perswade others to lay aside their cruelty, and mortifie their strong corruptions?

Notes

• Rom. 8.9.
• Zac. 13.10.
• Ioh. 3.6.
• Act. 17.28.
• 2 Cor. 3.6.
• Iam. 4.5.
• Rom. 8.16.
• Ez. 36.27.
• Esa 41.4.
• Ioh. 3.8.
• Ioh. 16.8, 9, 10.
• Ioh. 3.18.
• Mar. 16.16
• Eph. 2.12.
• Iona 1.6.
• Act. 9.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
• Ioh. 16.2.
• 2 Cor. 10.4.
• 2 Cor. 3.8.
• Heb. 4.12.
• 2 Cor. 4.7.
• 1 Cor. 3.6.
• Ier. 23.29.
• Num. 2••.1••.
• Zach. 13.9.
• Esa 27.7.9.
• 2 Chro. 33. from v. 1. to 14.
• 2 King. 6.33.
• 2 Cron. 28.
• Isa 1.5.
• Mat. 5.16.
• Tit. 2.7.
• Longum ••ter por praecepta offica••, & breve per exemplu. Sen.
• 2 King. 18.3.
• 2 King. 22.2.
• Iam. 5.11.
• Iob 1.21.
• 2 King. 6.22, 23.