BOOK 8. THE ASCENSION.
CHAPTER 1.
8.1.9. Of the Manner how the Holy Ghost was sent.
Of the Manner how the Holy Ghost was sent.
For the manner how he was sent, or how he came to these apostles; we may observe these particulars: --
1. He came suddenly, which either shows the majesty of the miracle, that is gloriously done which is suddenly done; or the truth of the miracle, there could be no imposture or fraud in it, when the motion of it was sudden, or the purpose of the miracle, which was to awake and affect them to whom it came; usually sudden things startle us, and make us look up. We may learn to receive those holy motions of the Spirit, which sometimes come suddenly, and we know not how; I am persuaded the man breathes not amongst us Christians, that sometimes feels not the stirrings, movings, breathings of the Spirit of God. Oh that men would take heed of despising present motions! Oh that men would take the wind while it blows! and the water while the angel moves it, as not knowing when it will, or whether ever it will blow again.
2. He came from heaven, the place seems here to commend the gift; us from earth, earthly things arise, so from heaven, heavenly, spiritual, and eternal things. And this is one sign to distinguish the spirits, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God," 1 John iv. 1. If our motions come from heaven, if we fetch our grounds thence from heaven, from religion, from the sanctuary, it is the Spirit of God; or, if it carry us heavenward, if it make us heavenly minded, if it wean us from the world, and if it elevate and set our affections on heavenly things, if it form and frame our conversations towards heaven, we may then conclude the motions are not from below but from above. O that Christians would be much in the observation of, and in listening to the movings, workings, hints, and intimations of that Spirit that comes from heaven. Certainly that Spirit is of God, that comes down from heaven, and that lifts up our souls towards heaven.
3. He comes down from heaven like a wind, the comparison is most apt; of all bodily things, the wind is least bodily; it is invisible, and comes nearest to the nature of a spirit; it is quick and active as the Spirit is. But more especially the Holy Ghost is compared to a wind in respect of its irresistible workings; as nothing can resist the wind, it goes and blows which way soever it will; so nothing can resist the Spirit of God, wheresoever it hath a purpose to work efficaciously; I will not say but the heart of a man may resist and reject the work of the Spirit in some measure, and in some degrees; Stephen told the Jews, "They had always resisted the Holy Ghost," Acts vii. 51. And the apostle tells of "strong holds, and of every high thing that exalteth itself against God," 2 Cor. x. 5. So there is a natural contrariety, a constant enmity, and active resisting of God's Spirit by our spirits; we must therefore distinguish between a prevalent and a gradual resisting; the Spirit in conversion so works, that he takes away the prevalent, but not the gradual resisting: a man before he be converted is froward, and full of cavils and prejudices, he is unwilling to be saved; he cannot abide the truth, he doth what he can to stifle all good motions: yet if he belong to the election of grace, God will at last overmaster his heart, and make him of unwilling, willing; he will omnipotently bow and change the will, and work on his soul by his mighty power efficaciously, insuperably, and irresistibly. Again, the Holy Ghost is compared to wind, in respect of its free actings, "The wind bloweth where it listeth," saith Christ, John iii. 8. And so the Spirit bloweth where it listeth; who can give any reason why the Spirit breathes so sweetly on Jacob, and not on Esau, on Peter, and not on Judas? Is it not the free grace and good pleasure of God? Springs it not from the mere freedom and pure arbitrariness of his own only workings? "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, (saith Christ) but to them it is not given," Matt. xiii. 11. And "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and, hast revealed them unto babes, even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight," Matt. xi. 25, 26. These, and the like texts are as so many hammers, to beat in pieces all those doctrines of free will, and of the power of man to supernatural things, grace makes no gain of man's work; free will may indeed move and run, but if it be good, it must be moved, and driven, and breathed upon by God's free grace. The Spirit blows where it listeth.
4. He came like "a rushing mighty wind," as the wind is sometimes of that strength, that it rends, and rives in sunder mountains and rocks, it pulls up trees, it blows down buildings, so are the operations of the Holy Spirit, it takes down all before it, it brings into captivity many an exalting thought, it made a conquest of the world, beginning at Jerusalem, and spreading itself over all the earth; it is mighty in operation, able to shake the stoutest and proudest man, and to break in pieces the very stoniest heart; indeed our words without this Spirit are but weak wind; we may spend ourselves and never waken souls; but if the Spirit blow, he will amaze the consciences of the stoutest peers, and drive away our sins, as the wind drove away the grasshoppers and locusts, that overspread the land of Egypt. Some analogy there is betwixt this vehement mind, and the Spirit's workings; the Spirit first comes as a Spirit of bondage, and then as a Spirit of adoption; the Spirit of bondage is as a vehement wind that terrifies, to show that we are not fit to receive the grace of God, unless the door be first opened by fear and humiliation. Others say, That the vehement rushing of this wind showed how irresistibly the apostles should proceed in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ; they had a commission to go into all the world, and to teach all nations, and they had a promise, that though many might oppose, yet the gates of hell should not prevail against the church; the Spirit should go along with them, and he in them, and they in him, should prevail mightily like a rushing mighty wind.
5. He filled all the house where they were sitting; there were none there that were not filled with the Holy Ghost; this room contained a congregation of none but saints. All the men and women (an hundred and twenty, as some think) Acts i. 15. in this room were visited from on high, for the Holy Ghost came upon them, and dwelt in them; well might David say, "Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, -- I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness," Psal. lxxxiv. 4, 10. They that abode in this house were under a promise, That the Spirit should come, and now was the promise accomplished: "For it filled all the house where they were sitting;" I say, where they were sitting, to signify, that all the other houses in Jerusalem felt none of this mighty rushing wind: there was no assembly of saints in any part of the city, but only in this house; or if any other assembly might be, this Spirit blew upon none of them, where these men were not; that, and only that house is filled, where these men were sitting. And this point of blowing upon one certain place, is a property very suitable to the Spirit of God, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit," John iii. 8. The Spirit blows where it will, and upon whom it will, and they shall plainly feel it, and others about them not one jot; have we not sometimes the experience of this in our very congregations? One sound is heard, one breath doth blow, and it may be one or two, and no more hears the sound, or feels the breath inwardly, savingly; it may be one here, and another there, shall feel the Spirit, shall be affected and touched with it sensibly; but twenty on this side them, and forty on that side them sit all becalmed, and go their way no more moved, than when they came into God's presence. Oh! that this Spirit of the Lord would come daily and constantly into our congregations! Oh! that it would blow through them, and through them! Oh! that it would fill every soul in the assembly with the breath of heaven! "Come, holy Spirit; awake, O north-wind, and come thou south-wind, and blow upon our gardens, that the spices thereof may flow out," Cant. iv. 16.
6. He came down in the form of tongues. As one saith well, "This wind brought tongues, even a whole shower of tongues." The apostles were not only inspired, for their own benefit, but they had gifts bestowed on them to impart the benefit to more than themselves. But why did the Holy Ghost appear like tongues? I answer; --
(a). The tongue is a symbol of the Holy Ghost's proceeding from the word of the Father; as the tongue hath the nearest affinity with the word, and is moved by the word of the heart, to express the same by the sound of the voice; so the Holy Ghost hath the nearest of affinity, that may be with the word of God, and is the expresser of his voice, and the speaker of his will.
(b). The tongue is the sole instrument of knowledge, which conveys the same from man to man; though the soul be the fountain from whence all wisdom springs, yet the tongue is the channel and the conduit-pipe, whereby this wisdom and knowledge is communicated and transferred from man to man: in like manner the Holy Ghost is the sole author and teacher of all truth; though Christ be the wisdom of God, yet the Holy Ghost is the teacher of this wisdom to men; and hence it is that the Holy Ghost appeared in the form of tongues.
And yet not merely in the form of tongues, but thus qualified;
(c). They were "cloven tongues," to signify, that the apostles should speak in diverse languages; if there must be a calling of the Gentiles, they must needs have the tongues of the Gentiles wherewith to call them; if they were "debtors not only to the Jews, but to the Grecians, not only to the Grecians, but to the Barbarians also," Rom. i. 14, then must they have the tongues not only of the Jews, but of the Grecians, and the Barbarians, to pay this debt, and to discharge this duty off, "Go, and teach all nations," Matth. xxviii. 19. Surely this gift was bestowed for the propagating of the gospel far and wide: the tongues were cloven, that the apostles might speak all languages, and that all nations of the world whithersoever they came might hear them, and understand them speaking in their own tongues.
(d). They were fiery tongues, to signify, that there should be an efficacy, or fervour in their speaking; the world was so overwhelmed with ignorance and error, that the apostles lips had need to be touched with a coal from the altar; tongues of flesh would not serve the turn, nor words of air, but there must be fire put into the tongues, and Spirit of life into the words they spake; with such a tongue Christ spake himself when they said of him, "Did not our hearts burn within us, while he spake unto us by the way?" Luke xxiv. 32. And with such a tongue Peter spake at this time, something like fire fell from him on their hearts, when they were pricked in their hearts, and said, "Men and brethren. What shall we do?" Acts ii. 37. 0h! that we of the ministry had these fiery tongues! O that the Spirit would put his live coal into our speeches! Oh that our sermons were warming sermons! May we not fear that the Spirit is gone, whiles the people are dead, and we are no more lively in our ministry? It is said of Luther, That when he heard one preach very faintly, "Cold, cold, says he, this is cold preaching, here is no heat at all to be gotten." Oh! when the Spirit comes, it comes with a tongue of fire; instead of words, sparks of fire will fall from us on the hearts of hearers.
(e). These cloven fiery tongues sat upon each of them; to signify their constancy and continuance; they did not light and touch, and away after the manner of butterflies; but they sat, they abode still, they continued steady without any stirring or starting. This was the privy sign, by which John the Baptist knew Jesus to be Christ, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost," John i. 33. It was not only the Spirit's descending, hut the Spirit's remaining on him, that was the sign. The Spirit of God is a constant Spirit, Psal. li. 10, it abides on the soul to whom it is given; and therefore the Psalmist describes these great transactions of Christ to this very end, that the Spirit might dwell with us, "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them," Psal. lxviii. 18. Not only that he might stay and lodge for a night, as a way-faring man, that comes to his inn, and then is gone in the morning: no, no; but that he might take up his residence, and dwell in them. I know it is a question, Whether the Holy Ghost may be lost? But certainly of the elect he is never totally or wholly lost, only I dare not say, but as touching many gifts, he may be lost even of the elect themselves; David after his sin was forced to cry, "Cast me not away from thy presence, O Lord, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me; restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit," Psal. li. 11, 12. We find here, that in respect of some gifts, even of regeneration, the Spirit is sometimes lost, but that the godly shall retain no remnants of the Spirit in their worst declinings, I cannot imagine; John teacheth expressly "Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin, (a sin unto death) for his seed remained in him, neither can he sin, because he is born of God," 1 John iii. 9. David in his fall lost the joy of his heart, the purity of his conscience, and many other gifts which he desired to have restored to him; but the Holy Ghost he had not utterly lost; for if so, How could he have prayed, "Cast me not from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me?" I have done with the manner of the Spirit's mission.