Sec. 5.  And when it had pleas’d God to give a clearer and fuller Revelation of his Will to the Prophet Moses; what was deliver’d to him, was committed to the Care of the Priests, of whom both King and People were oblig’d to learn their Duty.  Deut. xvii. 18. And it shall be when he sitteth upon the Throne of his Kingdom, that he shall write him a Copy of this Law in a Book, out of that which is before the Priests the Levites, and it shall be with him, and, he shall read therein all the Days of his Life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the Words of this Law, and these Statutes, to do them.  And Malachi xi. 7. The Priests Lips should preserve Knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his Mouth, for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts.  So that they were not to seek after any other more perfect manner of Worship, than what was deliver’d in that Book, nor to expect that those Truths or Precepts which were contained in it, should be reveal’d to them anew, either by any Prophet living in their time, or by immediate Revelation; but to draw all their Instructions from the aforesaid Helps.  And accordingly we never find any of the Prophets making any Alteration in the Law, or calling the people to a more perfect way of Worship.  From whence ’tis plain that they were well assur’d of its Sufficiency, till the Messias, who was to compleat it should come; and their never bidding the People to look for any other way of teaching than what was to be had from that Book, and the Mouth of the Priests, proves evidently that they knew those means to be sufficient.

Sec. 6.  Thus we have seen which way the generality of the People of God were taught; let us now examine by what means the Prophets attain’d their Faculty of Prophesying and wherein it did consist.  Now it is most certain that the Faculty of Prophesying cannot be attain’d by any Application or Improvement of our Abilities whatsoever, but depends wholly and entirely upon the positive Will of God, who upon important and weighty Occasions, in his own due time, and to such Persons as seem best in his infinite Wisdom, does send such as he is pleas’d to set apart and qualifie for that Service, by the Inspiration of his Holy Spirit. For Prophecy came not in old time by the Will of Man; but holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost[34].  It must not denyed, but that a sober, righteous and godly Life, a Heavenly Conversation, and the keeping our selves pure both in Body and Spirit, are excellent Means to invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in and abide with us.  And this is agreeable to right Notions of the Purity of God, and his Love of that which is Good, and Abhorrence of that which is Evil:  It is confirmed by right Reason, the Testimony of ancient Churches and Holy Scripture it self.  But then the Question is, How does God dwell in those that are his?  Certainly, not so as to make Prophets of them, but to strengthen them in their Holy Resolutions, and enable them to perform such Things as tend most to his Glory, and their own Salvation.  And upon a due Examination, we shall find that this is all which the greatest number by far of Godly Men ever attain’d; who notwithstanding must by no means be accus’d of Slothfulness in not approving their Talent, nor of being wanting in their Endeavours to make the nearest Approaches to God that they were capable of.