A26951:675
The life of faith in three parts, the first is a sermon on Heb.…
The life of faith in three parts, the first is a sermon on Heb. 11, 1, formerly preached before His Majesty, and published by his command, with another added for the fuller application : the second is instructions for confirming believers in the Christian faith : the third is directions how to live by faith, or how to exercise it upon all occasions / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed by R.W. for Nevil Simmons, 1670
Part 3 › Chapter 3: Directions to live by Faith on the Holy Ghost.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Direct. 2. The more excellent measure of the Spirit given by Christ after his ascension to the Gospel Church, is to be distinguished from that which was before communicated; and this Spirit ⟨p. 203⟩of Christ is it which our Christian Faith hath special respect to.
Without the Spirit of God, as the perfective principle, nature would not have been nature, Gen. 1.2. All things would not have been good, and very good, but by the communication of goodness: And without somewhat of that Spirit, there would be no Moral Goodness in any of mankind: And without some special operations of that Spirit, the godly before Christs coming in the flesh, would not have been godly, nor in any present capacity of glory: Therefore there was some gift of the Spirit before.
But yet there was an eminent gift of the Spirit proper to the Gospel times, which the former ages did not know; which is so much above the former gift, that it is sufficient to prove the Verity of Christ.