ourselves, as it were, before the Spirit, suffer ourselves to be moved, and fashioned, and framed by it; for God gives his Holy Spirit to them that obey him.

(3.) And beg the Spirit also as the principal thing. God gives the Spirit,' saith Christ, to them that ask him,' Luke xi. 13; and by Christ's manner of speaking there, he insinuates, as if he should say, What can I give you better than the Holy Ghost? and yet this will I give you, if you ask him, that is the good thing that God gives; for indeed, that is the seed of all graces, and of all comfort; and therefore a world of promises are included in that promise, that he will give the Spirit to them that ask him.' Labour by these and such like means for the Spirit; and then if you have the Spirit, the earnest' of the Spirit, and the seal' of the Spirit, then mark what will come of such a temper of soul. That will go through all conditions whatsoever, come what will; for the Spirit is above all, and the comforts of the Spirit are above all earthly comforts; and the graces of the Spirit are able to encounter with all temptations.

So that a man that hath the Spirit, stands impregnable. The work of grace cannot be quenched, because it is the effect and the work of the Spirit. All the powers of all the devils in hell cannot stir it. God may hide his comfort for a time, to humble us; but to quench the work of the Spirit once wrought in the heart, all the power of all the devils in hell cannot quench the least spark of saving grace. It will carry us through all opposition whatsoever.

Let a man never baulk or decline in a good cause, for anything that he shall suffer; for the seal' and the earnest' of the Spirit is never more strong than when we have no other comfort by us but that: when we can draw comfort from the well-head, from the spring; therefore we should labour for the earnest of the Spirit; for it will fit us for all conditions whatsoever.

What makes a man differ from himself? What makes a man differ from another? Take a man that hath the earnest' of the Spirit, you shall have him defy death, the world, Satan, and all temptations. Take a man that is negligent in labouring to increase his earnest, you shall have him weak, and not like himself."

The apostle Peter, before the Holy Ghost came upon him, the voice of a weak damsel astonished him; but after, how willing was he to suffer any thing! Therefore let us not labour much to strengthen ourselves with the things of this life, or to value ourselves by our dependence upon others. If thou hast grace, thou hast that that will stand by thee when all other things fail; for all other things will be taken away, but the Comforter shall never be taken away; it goes along with us continually.

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1. First, it works earnest' in us, and then it stamps upon us his own mark; and then it leads us from grace to grace; and in the hour of death, then especially it hath the work of a Comforter, to present to us the fruits of a good and holy life, and likewise the joys of heaven. When we are dead the Spirit watcheth over our bodies, because they were the temples of the Holy Ghost,' and at the day of judgment the same Spirit shall knit both body and soul together, and after, the same Spirit that hath done all this, shall be all in all to us in heaven for ever, and then our very bodies shall be spiritual, whereas now our souls, even the better part of them, is carnal. Even as the fire when it possesseth a piece of iron, it is all fire; so our bodies shall be all spiritual.

What a blessed thing is this, to have the Spirit! What are all friends

to the Holy Ghost, which will speak to God for us! The Spirit will make request with sighs and groans, and God will hear the voice of his own Spirit.

What prison can shut up the Spirit of God? more of the Spirit of God. This will make us

Above all, labour to have more or less fruitful, more

or less glorious in our profession, more or less willing to die. Labour to increase this earnest,' that the nearer we come to heaven, the more we may be fitted for it.

Consider but this reason, if you want this, alas! we can never be thankful to God for anything, if by the Spirit we have not assurance that our state is the state of grace. For otherwise we might think that God gives us all in anger, as a carnal man, he always fears that God fats him as an ox to the slaughter. What a fearful case is this, that a man cannot be thankful for that he hath !

2. Labour for the Spirit, that we may be thankful to God for everything, that we may see the love of God in everything, in every refreshing we take; that that love of God that fits us for heaven, and that fits heaven for us, it gives us daily bread. The earnest of the Spirit will make us thankful for everything.

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3. Again, labour for the earnest' of the Spirit, that we may be joyful in all conditions. How can a man suffer willingly, that knows not that he is sealed with the Spirit; that knows not that God hath begun a good work in him? Alas! he is lumpish and heavy under the cross.

What makes a man bear the cross willingly, but this assurance? what makes him deny himself in temptations, and corruptions? Oh! saith the child of God, the work of the Spirit is begun in me, sealing me up to life everlasting, shall I grieve and quench this Spirit for this base lust? But a man that hath not the Spirit, saith, I had as good take. this pleasure, as have none at all; for aught I know, I shall have none; he sees no greater pleasure than the following of his lust.

So that none can resist temptations, but he that hath the Spirit giving him earnest in a comfortable measure; and it is a good sign when we resist temptations for spiritual reasons, that the Spirit works it.

4. Again, unless we have this earnest of the Spirit in our hearts, we can never be content to end our days with comfort. He that hath the earnest of the Spirit is glad of death when it comes. There shall be then an accomplishment of all the bargain. Then the marriage shall be consummate, then shall be the year of Jubilee, the Sabbath of rest for ever. Then is the triumph, and then all tears shall be wiped from our eyes,' Rev. vii. 17.

But now let a man stagger and doubt whether he be the child of God or no, that he cannot find any mark of the child of God in him, that he cannot read the evidences of a Christian state in his soul, they are so dim, he sees nothing but corruption in him, he sees no change, no resistance of corruption, he hath no earnest. Alas! what a miserable case is such a man in when he comes to die! Death, with the eternity of misery after it, who can look it in the face, without hope of life everlasting, without assurance of a happy change after death? Therefore we should labour for the Spirit, that howsoever we grow or decay in wealth and reputation, let God alone with that; but above all, beg of God that he would increase in us, and renew the earnest, and the stamp of the Spirit, that we may have somewhat in our souls, wherein we may see the evidences of a Christian estate.

I might add many things to this purpose, but this is sufficient to any

judicious Christian, to encourage us to labour for the Spirit above all things in the world. All other are but grass, but fading; but grace and glory, grace, and peace, and joy, nay, the very ' earnest' of the Spirit, is better than all earthly things; for the earnest of it is 'joy unspeakable, and glorious, and peace that passeth all understanding,' 1 Pet. i. 8.

If the promise and the earnest here be so, I beseech you, what shall the accomplishment of the promise be? If the promises, laid hold on by faith, so quicken and cheer the soul, and if the giving a taste of heaven lift a Christian's spirit above all earthly discouragements, what shall it be when the Spirit shall be all in all in us, if the earnest be so comfortable ? But I go on to the next verse.

VERSE 23.

'Moreover, I call God to record upon my soul, that to spare you, I came not yet to Corinth.' In this verse the apostle labours to remove suspicion of levity and inconstancy. There were jealousies in the minds of the Corinthians, which were also fomented by some vain-glorious teachers amongst them, that laboured to undermine St Paul in the hearts of the Corinthians, as if he had not loved the Corinthians so well as they did. Therefore he is so careful to clear himself in their thoughts, from suspicion of inconstancy, and want of love to them; because suspicion grounded upon the lightness in his carriage, might reflect upon his doctrine.

He knew well enough the malice of man's nature, and therefore he is very curious, and industrious, to make a clear passage for himself into the hearts of these Corinthians by all means possible, as we heard in part out of the 17th verse.

'Moreover, I call God to record,' &c. St Paul is here purging himself still, to clear himself.

First, he labours to clear himself from the suspicion of inconstancy, and want of love to them in not coming.

Secondly, he sets down the true cause why he did not come: 'I came not, to spare you.'

You were much to blame in many things, and among the rest of the abominations among you, you cherished the incestuous person, and many of you doubted of the resurrection. I should have been very severe, if I had come, therefore I came not, to spare you,' hoping that my letter would work upon your spirits, so that I need not be severe to you; therefore do not suspect that for any ill mind I came not, for it was to spare you, that I might not be forced to be severe.

So

Then the third thing is, the sealing of this speech with a serious oath, I call God for record upon my soul, that I came not, to spare you.' here is the wiping away of suspicion, and the setting down the true cause why he did not come, and the ratifying and confirming it by an oath: he makes his purgation here by an oath. These three things I will briefly touch.

First of all, you see here he avoids* suspicion of lightness which the Corinthians had of him, partly by the false suggestion of proud teachers among them, who fomented their suspicious dispositions, because they would weaken St Paul's esteem among the Corinthians. They had a conceit he

That is, 'frees himself from.'-G.

was an uncertain man: he promised to come, and did not; now here he declines that suspicion.

Where, first, observe these two things briefly.

First, that the nature of man is inclined to suspicion.

And secondly, that it is the duty of men to avoid it as much as may be, and to wipe it away, if it cannot be avoided.

Obs. Man's nature is prone to suspicion.

Man's nature is prone to suspect ill of another, though never so good. Christ could not avoid it. Because he conversed sociably with other men, he was thought to be a 'wine-bibber,' 'a companion of sinners.' And God himself was suspected of Adam in innocency. The devil is so cunning, that he calls God himself into question, as if he had not meant so well to him. What will that impudent spirit do, that will bring the creature in suspicion of him that is goodness itself? 'God knows that when you eat, your eyes shall be open, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil,' Gen. iii. 5. Do you think that he intends you any good, in forbidding you to eat, &c.? He did not spare Christ, innocency itself, clothed with man's flesh; and will he spare to bring uncharitable suspicions upon others? Surely he will not. And then man's nature of itself is prone to suspect and think ill of another, from many grounds—

1. Sometimes, out of experience of the common infirmities that men meet with in the world; out of the experience of the falsehood of men, they are many times prone to suspicion.

2. But most commonly it is out of guiltiness that men think ill of others, because others have cause to think ill of them. None are so prone to suspicion as those that are worst themselves, because they judge others by their own hearts.

The better sort of people think of others as they are, and as they deserve themselves; but others, because they are naught, they think others are so. Because they deserve ill, they think others have deserved an ill opinion of them. So many times it comes of guilt, because we are not as we should be.

Then again, it ariseth from a guilty conscience in another respect. We think, because men have cause, though they have no wrong to themselves; yet because our own hearts tell us we are ill, we suspect them. from an uncharitable disposition, and guiltiness of conscience, it ofttimes

comes.

So

3. Then again, sometimes from the concurrence of probabilities, the suiting of circumstances that makes things somewhat probable, whereupon suspicion may be fastened. Sometimes when there is a concurrence of probabilities of the likelihood of things, their suspicion is prone to rise; for suspicion is not a determining of a thing, it is but a slight kind of conceit. It is more than a fear, and less than judgment of a thing. It is more than fear; for he that fears, suspects not. Suspicion is a degree to judgment. It doth not fully judge, for then it were not suspicion. It is more than fear; suspects not, but fears. It conceives slightly that such a thing should be done, and yet he dares not say it is done.

Suspicion is nothing else but an inclination of the soul to think and imagine ill of another; a looking curiously under a thing, or person. As we use to say, envy pries into things. An envious person searcheth. So, a suspicious person looks under to see if he can see matter of ill to fasten his ill soul upon. So it inclines the soul to think ill upon slight grounds. Now this ofttimes ariseth, and is fed with seeming probability. Christ

conversed with wicked men. Here was some colour for them to conjecture him so.

We say, things have two hands, a right hand, and a left. Now suspicion takes hold of the left hand always. If things will admit of a double construction, suspicion alway takes hold of the worst, suspicion takes hold of the ill part. That is the nature of a diseased soul, to take things by the wrong hand. We see then it is a disposition that we are subject unto naturally; and it is cherished by Satan, and Satan's instruments, wicked

men.

And why doth the devil so cherish suspicion, and a jealous disposition? Oh, it hath been wondrous instrumental to Satan! I daresay, there is no disposition or frame of soul that hath been the occasion of more bloodshed, of more injustice in the church and state from the beginning of the world, than a jealous disposition, especially in great ones. Therefore the devil labours, as to breed jealousies of God, so of God's church and children from the beginning. Was it not ever the disposition of ill-minded men to put jealousies into the hearts, especially of those that were in authority concerning men far better than themselves? Was it not Haman's policy? when the Jews had angered him, oh, they are a people that care not for the laws, &c. Perhaps they were more obedient than himself. Had it not been the occasion of their ruin, if God had not been more merciful?

Herod had a jealousy and suspicion, that Christ when he was born would turn him out of his kingdom; and all Jerusalem was in an uproar, Mat. ii. 3. Alas! Christ came to give a heavenly kingdom, and not to take away earthly; yet this jealousy cost the lives of the poor infants.

So in the primitive church, there were wicked men put jealousies concerning the Christians, into the heads of the emperors, when alas! they reverenced the emperors, next God, above all. Yet alway there were wicked instruments that sought to domineer, and have their own ends under the emperors. They conveyed jealousies; and thence came so much bloodshed. In later times in popish countries, if a man read the stories, whence came that bloodshed? This was one chief cause, jealousies, and suspicions cast into the heads of popish princes by wicked men about them, set on work by Satan himself. O! they are such as will turn you out of your state; a people that are rebellious, and unquiet.

This was the policy among us in former times. We may consider of later times; to see the disposition of a man, that was a great statesman in his time, and a man of great parts and learning, but of a very fierce and cruel disposition; I mean Stephen Gardiner.* The chief hurt that was done in that magnanimous prince's time, it was done by him. And how? By jealousies, as appears by his letters, &c. Oh, if these things prevail, this and that will come! He cast such jealousies that did affright that great prince. Oh, other princes will fall out with you, if you maintain not these things, they will break with you! And so upon his death-bed; this doctrine of justification, if the people once know it, all is gone.

God shows, that all these jealousies are but follies; for all that he feared came to pass. In good Queen Elizabeth's time, religion that he was so jealous of, was established: and she cared not for princes' correspondency, that were of other religions, further than might stand with reasons of state; and did not she flourish, and her people in quiet all her time, notwith*Cf. note ss.-G.

†That is, Henry VIII. It is curious to find Sibbes anticipating the eulogy of Froude.-G.