Two discourses concerning the Holy Spirit, and His work the one, Of the Spirit…

(§ 5.) AND hereon (4thly,) is the Gospel called the Ministration of the Spirit, and the Ministers of it the Ministers of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 3. 6. Who hath also made us able Ministers of the New Testament, not of the Letter but of the Spirit; not the Ministration of Death, but that of the Spirit, which is Glorious, ver. 7, 8. There never was, nor ever shall be any, but these two Ministrations in the Church; that of the Letter and of Death; and that of the Spirit and of Life. If there be a Ministration in any Church, it must belong to one of these, and all Ministers must be so, either of the Letter or of the Spirit. If there be a Ministry pretended unto, that is neither of the Letter nor of the Spirit, it is Antichristian. The Ministry which was Carnal, of the Letter and Death, was a true Ministry, and in its place Glorious, because it was appointed of God, and was efficacious as unto its proper end. That of the Gospel is of the Spirit, and much more Glorious. But if there be a Ministration that hath the outward form of either, but indeed is neither of them, it is no Ministration at all. And where it is so, there is really no Ministration but that of the Bible; that is, God by his Providence continuing the Bible among them, maketh use of i• •s he seeth good for the Conviction and Conversion of Sinners, wherein there is a secret […] of the Spirit also. We may there•••• ••quire in what sense the Ministration of the […] called the Ministry of the Spirit. Now ⟨p. 247⟩this cannot be, because the Laws, Institutions and Ordinances of its Worship were revealed by the Spirit, for so were all the Ordinances and Institutions of the Old Testament, as hath been proved before, and yet the Ministration of them was the Ministration of the Letter and of Death, in a worldly Sanctuary by Carnal Ordinances. Wherefore it must be so called in one of these Respects. Either, (1) Because it is the peculiar Aid and Assistance of the Spirit whereby any are enabled to administer the Gospel, and its Institutions of Worship according to the Mind of God, unto the Edification of the Church. In this sense Men are said to be made able Ministers of the New Testament, that is, Ministers able to Administer the Gospel in due order. Thus in that Expression Ministers of the Spirit, the Spirit denotes the Efficient Cause of the Ministry, and he that quickeneth it, ver. 6, 7.