Remains of that reverend and learned divine, John Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplain in…Remaines of that reverend and learned divine, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in…

The first sign whereby you shall know, whether you have the sanctifying Spirit or no, is this, ¹if you have the sanctifying Spirit you will be full of fire, that is, it will fill you with spiritual heat, and zeal; now if you find this in you, then it is the sanctifying Spirit, and therefore John saith of Christ, Matth. 3. 11. that he will baptize them with the Spirit and with fire, that is, he will baptize ²you with that Spirit whose nature is as fire, that will fill you full of spiritual heat and zeal, and therefore it is said, Act. 2. 3. that they had tongues as of fire, and again, it is said that the Apostles ³were stirred up with boldness to speak, that is, when they saw God dishonoured, this Spirit kindled a holy zeal in them, it set their hearts on fire, it set their tongues on fire; so when the spirit enters into the heart of a Christian, it will fill it full of heat, and zeal, the heart, the tongue, ⟨p. 135⟩the hands, the feet, and all the rest of the parts will be full of the heat of the spirit. And it is unpossible that any man should have true zeal, except he have the spirit: therefore it is said that they spake with new tongues, as the spirit gave them utterance, they spake with a great deal of zeal, of another nature and quality then they did before: Well then, examine what heat and zeal you have in your actions; so much heat, so much spirit: He shall baptize you with the Spirit and with fire. If you have the sanctifying Spirit you shall know it by the zeal that is in you, in the performance of holy duties, therefore, I say, this is an excellent sign, whereby a man may know, whether he have the spirit or no. Now, that a man may know this the better, I will make it clear by this example; Take a bottle that is full of water, and another that is full of Aqua-vitae, look upon them outwardly and they are all one in colour, but if you taste, the one is hot and lively, but the other is cold and raw, so if you look unto the outward formal actions of wicked men, they have the same colour that the actions of the holy men have, but if you taste them, examine their lives, and search into their hearts, you shall find a great difference; the one of them it may be, may seem to have life and heat in them, but they want the Spirit: for they have neither a loathing of sin, nor power to resist sin;