Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity…

To this I answer, That this you must know, that the ¹only means to receive the Spirit into the heart: that is the right conveyance of the Spirit into the heart, is, by the word purely preached. That is, when it comes in ⟨p. 96⟩the evidence of the Spirit, purely without the mixture of any thing of mans with it, and further you shall know whether you have received the Spirit by the Preaching of the word by these two things.

To this I answer, That this you must know, that the ¹onely means to receive the Spirit into the heart: that is the right conveyance of the Spirit into the heart, is, by the word purely preached. That is, when it comes in ⟨p. 96⟩the evidence of the Spirit, purely without the mixture of any thing of mans with it, and further you shall know whether you have received the Spirit by the Preaching of the word by these two things.

1. 1Answ.

1. By the Antecedent. 2 By the Consequent.

First I say you shall know it by that which went before: I say if the spirit hath been brought into the heart by the word, then there will be a deep humiliation wrought in the soul for sins, And then Christ and the Spirit comes into the heart & begins to cheer up the dejected soul, and hereupon there will be a through change wrought in the whole man: and it must needs be so, because the nature of the spirit is first to pull down what mans corruptions have built, And then to lay the foundation of the spiritual building, Humility. And then afterwards to rear the buildings of grace in the soul. As for example, if you would know whether the plants receive virtue from the Olive, or no, Then you must know that first they must be cut off from their own stock, and then they must be ingrafted into that, and then see whether they have the fatness of the Olive, and then whether they bear the Olive leaves. So a Man that hath not received the the spirit by the word, he shall see it by the ripeness of sin, the corrupt branches, the bitter fruit, that comes, and is brought forth by him. But on the contrary if the word by the spirit hath cut you down and humbled you throughly by the light of your sin, and then ingrafted you into Christ, by working in you a saving a justifying faith, and if it hath made you fat and well liking in grace that you have brought forth better fruit then you could do before, then surely the spirit came into the heart the right way and works, in the right manner: but as I said it will first humble you by the word: as in