carnal Ordinances are no more to be imposed For how Baptism with Water comes now to be a Spiritual Ordinance more than before in the time of the Law doth not appear seeing it is but Water still and a washing outward man and a puting away of the filth of the flesh still and as before those that are so washed were not thereby made perfect as pertaining to the Conscience neither are they at this day as our adversaries must needs acknowledg and experience abundantly sheweth So that the matter of it which is a washing with Water and the effect of it which is only an outward cleansing being still the same How comes Water-baptism to be less a carnal Ordinance now than before Obj. If it be said that God censers inward Grace upon some that are now baptized So no doubt he did also upon some that used those Baptisms among the Jews Answ. Obj. Or if it be said because 't is commanded by Christ now under the New Covenant Answ. I answere first that 's to beg the question of which hereafter But secondly we find that where the matter of Ordinances is the same and the end the same they are never accounted more or less Spiritual because of their different times Now was not God the Author of the Purifications and Baptisms under the Law Was not Water the matter of them which is so now Was not the end of them to signifie an outward purifying by an inward washing And is not that alleadged to be the end still And are the necessary effects or consequences of it any better now than before since men are now by the vertue of Water-baptism as a necessary consequence of it no more than before made inwardly clean And if some by Gods Grace that are Baptized with Water are inwardly purified so were some also under the Law so that this is not any necessary consequence nor effect neither of this nor that Baptism it is then plainly repugnant to right reason as well as to the Scripture Testimony to affirm That to be a Spiritual Ordinance now which was a carnal Ordinance before If it be still the same both as to its Author Matter and end however made to vary in some small circumstances The Sairituality of the New Covenant and of its Worship established by Christ consisted not in such superficial alterations of circumstances but after another manner therefore let our adversaries shew us if they can without beging the question and building upon someone or other of their own principles denied by us where ever Christ appointed or ordained any institution or observation under the New Covenant as belonging to the nature of it or such a necessary part of its Worship as is perpetually to continue which being one in substance and effects I speak of necessary not accidental effects yet beceause of some small difference in form or circumstance was before carnal notwithstanding it was commanded by God under the Law but now is become Spiritual because commanded by Christ under the Gospel And if they cannot do this then if Water-baptism was once a carnal Ordinance as the Apostle positively affirms it to have been it remains a carnal Ordinance still and if a carnal Ordinance then no necessary part of the Gospel or New Covenant Dispensation and if no necessary part of it then not needful to continue nor to be practised by such as live and walk under this Dispensation But in this as in most other things according as we have often observed our adversaries Judaize and renouncing the Glorious and Spiritual Priviledges of the New Covenant are sticking in and cleaving to the Rudiments of the old both in Doctrin and Worship as being more suted and agreeable to their carnal apprehensions and natural senses But we on the contrary travel above all to lay hold upon and cleave unto the Light of the Glorious Gospel revealed unto us And the harmony of the Truth we profess in this may appear by briefly observing how in all things we follow the Spiritual Gospel of Christ as contradistinguished from the carnality of the legal Dispensation while our adversaries through rejecting this Gospel are still labouring under the burthen of the Law which neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear For the Law and rule of the old Covenant and Jews wus outward written in Tables of Stone and Parchments So also is that of our adversaries But the Law of the New Covenant is inward and perpetual written in the heart so is ours The Worship of the Jews was outward and carnal limitted to set times places and persons and performed according to set prescribed forms and vations so is that of our adversaries But the Worship of the New Covenant is neither limited to time place nor person but is performed in the Spirit and in Truth and is not acted according to set formand prescriptions but as the Spirit of God immediately acts moves and leads whether it be to Preach Pray or Sing and such is also our Worship So likewise the baptism among the Jews under the Law was an outward washing with outward water only to tipifie an outward purification of the Soul which did not necessarily follow upon those that were thus baptized But the Baptism of Christ under the Gospel is the Baptism of the Spirit and of Fire not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God and is the baptism that we labour to be baptized withal and contented for Arg. § VII But again If Water baptism had been an ordinance of the Gospel then the Apostle Paul would have been sent to administer it but he declares positively 1 Cor. 17. That Christ sent him not to baptize but to preach the Gospel The reason of that consequence is undenyable because the Apostle Paul's Commission was as large as that of any of them and consequently he being in special manner the Apostle of Christ to the Gentiles if Water-baptism as our Adversaries contend be to be accounted the Badg of Christianity he had more need than any of the rest to be sent to Baptize with Water that he might mark the Gentiles converted by him with that Christian sign But indeed the reason holds better thus that since Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles and that in his Ministry he doth through all as by his Epistles appears labour to wean them from the former Jewish Ceremonies and Observations though in so doing he was sometimes undeservedly judged by others of his Brethren who were unwilling to lay aside those Ceremonies therefore his commission though as full as to the preaching of the Gospel and New Covenant Dispensation at that of the other Apostles did not require of him that he should lead those Converts into such Jewish Observations and Baptisms however that practice was indulged in and practised by the other Apostles among their Jewish Proselytes for which cause He thanks God that he baptized so few intimating that what he did
Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put into thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever By the latter part of this is sufficiently expressed the perpetuity and continuance of this Promise It shall not depart saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever In the former part is the promise it self which is the Spirit of God being upon them and the words of God being put into their mouths First this was immediate for there is no mention made of any medium he saith not I shall by the means of such and such writings or books convey such and such words into your mouths but my words I even I saith the Lord shall put into your mouths Secondly this must be objectively for the words put into your mouth are the object presented by him He saith not th◠words which ye shall see written my Spirit shall only enlighten your understandings to assent unto but positively my words which I have put into thy mouth c. From whence I argue thus Upon whomsoever the Spirit remaineth alwaies and putteth words into his mouth him doth the Spirit teach immediately objectively and continually But the Spirit is alwaies upon the Seed of the Righteous and putteth words into their mouths neither departeth from them Therefore the Spirit teacheth the Righteous immediately obejectively and continually Secondly the nature of the New Covenant is yet more amply expressed Jer. 31.33 which is again repeated and reasserted by the Apostle Heb. 8.10 in these words For this is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel in those days saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their minds and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People And they shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest The object here is God's Law placed in the heart and written in the mind from whence they become God's People and are brought truly to know him In this then is the Law distinguished from the Gospel The Law before was outward written in Tables of stone but now it is inward written in the heart Of old the People depended upon their Priests for the knowledg of God but now they have all a certain and sensible knowledg of him concerning which Augustin speaketh well in his book De Litera Spiritu from whom Aquinas first of all seems to have taken occasion to move this question Whether the New Law be a written Law or an implanted Law Lex scripta vel Lex indita which he thus resolves affirming that the New Law or the Gospel is not properly a Law written as the Old was but Lex indita an implanted Law and that the Old Law was written without but the New Law is written within on the Table of the Heart How much then are they deceived who instead of making the Gospel preferable to the Law have made the condition of such as are under the Gospel far worse for no doubt it is a far better and more desirable thing to converse with God immediately than only mediately as being a higher and more glorious Dispensation And yet these men acknowledg that many under the Law had immediate converse with God whereas they now cry it is ceased Again Under the Law there was the Holy of Holys into which the High-Priest did enter and received the word of the Lord immediately from betwixt the Cherubins so that the People could then certainly know the mind of the Lord but now according to these mens judgment we are in a far worse condition having nothing but the outward letter of the Scripture to guess and divine from concerning one verse of which scarce two can be found to agree But Jesus Christ hath promised us better things though many are so unwise not to believe him even to guide us by his own unerring Spirit and hath rent and removed the vail whereby not only one and that once a year may enter but all of us at all times have access unto him as often as we draw near unto him with pure hearts He reveals his will to us by his Spirit and writes his Laws in our Hearts These things then being thus premised I argue Where the Law of God is put into the mind and written in the heart there the object of Faith and revelation of the knowledg of God is inward immediate and objective But the Law of God is put into the mind and written in the heart of every True Christian under the new Covenant Therefore the object of Faith and Revelation of the knowledg of God to every True Christian is inward immediate and objective The assumption is the express words of Scripture The Proposition then must needs be true except that which is put into the mind and written in the heart were either not inward not immediate or not objective which is most absurd § XII The third Argument is from these words of John 1 John 2. ver 27. But the Anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but the same Anointing teacheth you of all things and is Truth and no Lye and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him First This could not be any special peculiar or extraordinary priviledg but that which is common to all the Saints it being a general Epistle directed to all them of that Age. Secondly the Apostle proposeth this Anointing in them as a more certain Touch-stone for them to discern and try Seducers by even then his own writings for having in the former verse said that he had written some things to them concerning such as seduced them he begins the next verse but the Anointing c. and ye need not that any man teach you c. which infers that having said to them what can be said he refers them for all to the inward Anointing which teacheth all things as the most firm constant and certain Bull-wark against all Seducers And Lastly that it is a lasting and continuing thing the Anointing which abideth if it had not been to abide in them it could not have taught them all things neither guided them against all hazard From which I argue thus He that hath Anointing abiding in him which teacheth him all things so that he needs no man to teach him hath an inward and immediate Teacher and hath some things inwardly and immediately revealed unto him But the Saints have such an Anointing Therefore c. I could prove this Doctrine from many more places of Scripture which for brevitys sake I omit and now come to the second part of the Proposition where the objections usually formed against
above intimated will appear The same argument will hold as to the other branch of the position That it is not the primary adequade rule of faith and manners thus That which is not the rule of my faith in believing the Scriptures themselves is not the primary adequate rule of faith and manners But the Scripture is not nor can it be the rule of that faith by which I believe them c. Therefore c. But as to this part we shall produce divers arguments hereafter as to what is affirmed That the Spirit and not the Scriptures is the rule it is largely handled in the former proposition the sum whereof I shall subsume in one argument thus If by the Spirit we can only come to the true knowledge of God If by the Spirit we be to be led into all truth and so be taught of all things Then the Spirit and not the Scriptures is the foundation and ground of all Truth and knowledg and the primary rule of faith and manners But the first is true Therefore also the last Next the very nature of the Gospel it self declareth that the Scriptures cannot be the only and chief rule of Christians else there should be no difference betwixt the Law and the Gospel As from the nature of the New Covenant by divers Scriptures described in the former Proposition is proved But besides those which are before mentioned herein doth the Law and the Gospel differ in that the Law being outwardly written brings under condemnation but hath not life in it to save whereas the Gospel as it declares and makes manifest the evil so it being an inward powerful thing also gives power to obey and deliver from the evil Hence it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is glad tidings the Law or Letter which is without us kills but the Gospel which is the inward Spiritual Law gives life for it consists not so much in words as in vertue Wherefore such as comes to know it and be acquainted with it come to feel greater power over their iniquities than all outward Laws or Rules can give them Hence the Apostle concludes Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you For ye are not under the Law but under Grace This Grace then that is inward and not an outward Law is to be the Rule of Christians hereunto the Apostle commends the Elders of the Church saying Acts 20.32 And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the Word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those that are sanctified He doth not commend them here to outward laws or writings but to the Word of Grace which is inward even the Spiritual Law which makes free as he elsewhere affirms Rom. 8.2 The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death This Spiritual Law is that which the Apostle declares he preached and directed people unto which was not outward as Rom. 10.8 is manifest where distinguishing it from the Law he saith The Word is nigh thee in thy heart and in thy mouth and this is the Word of Faith which we preach From what is above said I argue thus The principal Rule of Christians under the Gospel is not an outward letter nor law outwardly written and delivered but an inward Spiritual Law ingraven in the heart the Law of the Spirit of Life the Word that is nigh in the heart and in the mouth But the letter of the Scripture is outward of it self a dead things a meer declaration of good things but not the things themselves Therefore it is not nor can be the chief or principle rule of Christians § III. Thirdly That which is given to Christians for a Rule and Guide must needs be so full as it may clearly and distinctly guide and order them in all things and occurences that may fall out But in that there are many hundred of things with a regard to their circumstances particular Christians may be concerned in for which there can be no particular Rule had in the Scriptures Therefore the Scriptures cannot be a Rule to them I shall give an instance in two or three particulars for to prove this Proposition It is not to be doubted but some men are particularly called to some particular Services there being not found in which though the act be no general positive duty yet in so far as it may be required of them is a great sin to omit for as much God is zealous of his Glory and every act of Disobedience to his will manifested is enough not only to hinder one greatly from that Comfort and inward Grace which otherwise they might have but also bringeth Condemnation As for instance Some are called to the Ministry of the Word Paul saith there was a necessity upon him to preach the Gospel wo unto me if I preach not If it be necessary that there be now Ministers of the Church as well as then then there is the same necessity upon some more than upon others to occupy this place which necessity as it may be incumbent upon particular persons the Scripture neither doth nor can declare If it be said that the qualifications of a Minister are found in the Scripture and by applying these qualifications to my self I may know whether I be fit for such a place or no. I answer The qualifications of a Bishop or Minister as they are mentioned both in the Epistle to Tim. and Tit. are such as may be found in a private Christian yea which ought in some measure to be in every true Christian so that that giveth a man no certainty every pacity to an office giveth me not a sufficient call to it Next again By what Rule shall I judg if I be so qualified how do I know that I am sober meek holy harmless Is not the Testimony of the Spirit in my Conscience that which must assure me hereof And suppose that I was quallified and called yet what Scripture Rule shall inform me whether it be my duty to preach in this or that place in France or England Holland or Germany whether I shall take up my Time in Confirming the Faithful reclaiming Hereticks or Converting Infidels as also in Writing Epistles to this or that Church The general Rules of the Scripture viz. to be diligent in my duty to do all to the Glory of God and for the good of his Church can give me no light in this thing Seeing two different things may both have a respect to that way yet may I commit a great error and offence in doing the one when I am called to the other If Paul when his Face was turned by the Lord toward Jerusalem had gone back to Achaia or Macedonia he might have supposed he could have done God more acceptable service in Preaching and Confirming the Churches than in being shut up in Prison in Judea but would God have been pleased
matter § VII Their first Objection is usually drawn from Isaiah 8.20 To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Light in them Now this Law Testimony and Word they plead to be the Scriptures To which I answer that That is to beg the thing in question and remains yet unproved Nor do I know for what reason we may not safely affirm this Law and Word to be inward But suppose it was outward it proves not the case at all for them neither makes it against us for it may be confessed without any prejudice to our cause that the outward Law was more particularly to the Jews a Rule and more principally than to us seeing their Law was outward and literal but ours under the New Covenant as hath been already said is expresly affirmed to be inward and Spiritual So that this Scripture is so far from making against us that it makes for us for if the Jews were directed to try all things by their Law which was without them written in tables of stone then if we will have this advice of the Prophet to reach us we must make it hold parallel to that dispensation of the Gospel which we are under So that we are to try all things in the first place by that Word of Faith which is preached unto us which the Apostle saith is in the heart and by that Law which God hath given us which the Apostle saith also expresly is written and placed in the mind Lastly If we look to this place according to the Greek interpretation of the Septuagint our adversaries shall have nothing from thence to carp yea it will favour as much for there it is said that the Law is given us for a help which very well agrees with what is above asserted Their second objection is from Joh. 5.39 Search the Scriptures c. Here say they we are commanded by Christ himself to search the Scriptures I answer First That the Scriptures ought to be searched we do not at all deny but are very willing to be tryed by them as hath been above declared But the question is Whether they be the only and principal Rule which this is so far from proving that it proveth the contrary for Christ checks them here for too high an esteem of the Scriptures and neglecting of him that was to be preferr'd before them and to whom they bore witness as the following words declare For in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me and ye will not come unto me that ye may have life This shewes that while they thought they had eternal life in the Scriptures they neglected to come unto Christ to have Life of which the Scriptures bore witness This answers well to our purpose since our adversaries now do also exalt the Scriptures and think to have life in them which is no more than to look upon them as the only principal rule and way to Life and yet refuse to come unto the Spirit of which they testifie even the inward Spiritual Law which could give them Life So that the cause of this Peoples ignorance and unbelief was not their want of respect to the Scriptures which though they knew and had a high esteem of yet Christ testifies in the former verses that they had neither seen the Eather nor heard his voice at any time neither had his word abiding in them which had they then had then they had believed in the Son Moreover that place may be taken in the Indicative mood Ye search the Scriptures which interpretation the Greek word will bear and so Pasor translateth it which by the reproof following seemeth also to be the more genuine interpretation as Cyrillus long ago hath observed § VIII Their third objection is from these words Acts 17.11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so Here say they the Beroeans are commended for searching the Scriptures and making them the Rule I answer That the Scriptures either are the principal or only Rule will not at all from this follow neither will their searching the Scriptures or being commended for it infer any such thing for we recommended and approve the use of them in that respect as much as any yet will it not follow that we affirm them to be the principal and only Rule Secondly It is to be observed that these were the Jews of Beroea to whom these Scriptures which were the Law and the Prophets were more particularly a Rule and the thing under examination was whether the Birth Life Works and sufferings of Christ did answer to the Prophecies that went before of him so that it was most proper for them being Jews to examine the Apostles Doctrine by the Scriptures seeing he pleaded it to be a fulfilling of them It is said nevertheless in the first place that they received the Word with chearfulness and in the second place they searched the Scriptures not that they searched the Scriptures and then received the Word for then could not they have prevailed to convert them had they not first minded the Word abiding in them which opened their understandings no more than the Scribes and Pharisees who as in the former objection we observed searched the Scriptures and exalted them and yet remained in their unbelief because they had not the Word abiding in them But lastly If this commendation of the Jewish Beroeans might infer that the Scriptures were the only and prsncipal Rule to try the Apostles Doctrine by what should have become of the Gentiles How should they ever have come to received the Faith of Christ who neither knew the Scriptures nor believed them We see in the end of the same Chapter how the Apostle preaching to the Athenians took another method and directed them to somewhat of God within themselves that they might feel after him He did not first go about to Prosolite them to the Jewish Religion and to the belief of the Law and the Prophets and from thence to prove the coming of Christ. Nay he took a nearer way Now certainly the principal and only Rule is not different one to the Jews and another to the Gentiles but is vniversal reaching both though secondary and subordinate Rules and means may be various and diversly suted according as the people they are used to are stated and circumstantiated Even so we see that the Apostle to the Athenians used a Testimony of one of their own Poets which he judged would have credit with them and no doubt such Testimonys whose Authors they esteemed had more weight with them than all the sayings of Moses and the Prophets whom they neither knew nor would have cared for Now because the Apostle used the Testimony of a Poet to the Athenians will it therefore follow he made that the Principal or
which is only evil and that always cannot of its own Nature produce any good thing The Lord expresseth this again a little after chap. 8. v. 21. The Imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth Thus inferring how natural and proper it is unto him From which I thus argue If the thoughts of mans heart be not only evil but always evil then are they as they simply proceed from his heart neither good in part nor at any time But the first is true Therefore also the last Again If mans thoughts be always and only evil then are they altogether useless and ineffectual to him in the things of God But the First is true Therefore also the Last Secondly this appears clearly from that saying of the Prophet Jeremiah 17.9 The Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked For who can with any colour of reason imagine that that which is so hath any power of it self or is any wise fit to lead a man to righteousness whereunto it is of its own Nature directly opposite This is as contrary to reason as it is impossible in Nature that a stone of its own nature and proper motion should flee upwards For as a stone of its own nature inclineth and is prone to move down-wards towards the Center so the Heart of man is naturally prone and inclined to evil some to one and some to another From this then I also thus argue That which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked is not fit neither can it lead a man aright in things that are good and honest But the heart of man is such Therefore c. But the Apostle Paul describeth the condition of men in the Fall at large taking it out of the Psalmist There is none righteous no not one There is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God They are all gone out of the way they are altogether become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Their throat is an open Sepulchre with their Tongues they have used deceit the poison of Asps is under their Lips whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness Their feet are swift to shed blood Destruction and Misery are in their ways and the way of peace have they not known There is no fear of God before their Eyes What more positive can be spoken He seemeth to be particularly careful to avoid that any good should be ascribed to the natural man he shews how he is polluted in all his ways he shews how he is void of Righteousness of Understanding of the Knowledg of God how he is out of the way and in short unprofitable than which nothing can be more fully said to confirm our judgment For if this be the condition of the natural man or of man as he stands in the fall he is unfit to make one right step to Heaven If it be said That is not spoken of the condition of man in general Obj. but only of some particulars or at the least that it comprehends not all The Text sheweth the clean contrary in the foregoing verses Answ. where the Apostle takes in himself as he stood in his natural condition What then are we better than they No in no wise for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under Sin as it is written And so he goes on by which it is manifest that he speaks of Mankind in general If they object that which the same Apostle saith Obj. in the foregoing chapter verse 14. to wit that the Gentiles do by nature the things contained in the Law and so consequently do by Nature that which is good and acceptable in the sight of God I answer This nature must not Answ. neither can be understood of mans own nature which is corrupt and fall'n but of the Spiritual Nature which proceedeth from the Seed of God in man as it receiveth a new visitation of God's love and is quickened by it which clearly appears by the following words where he saith These not having a Law id est outwardly are a Law unto themselves which shews the work of the Law written in their Hearts These acts of theirs then are an effect of the Law written in their hearts but the Scripture declareth that the writing of the Law in the heart is a part yea and a great part too of the New Covenant dispensation and so no consequence nor part of mans nature Secondly if this nature here spoken of could be understood of mans own nature which he hath as he is a man then would the Apostle unavoidably contradict himself since he elsewhere positively declares That the Natural man discerneth not the things of God nor can Now I hope the Law of God is among the things of God especially as it s written in the heart The Apostle in the 7 chap. of the same Epistle saith verse 12. that the Law is Holy just and good and verse 14. that the Law is Spiritual but he is carnal Now in what respect is he carnal but as he stands in the Fall unregenerate Now what inconsistency would here be to say that he is carnal and yet not so of his own Nature seeing it is from his Nature that he is so denominated We see the Apostle contra-distinguisheth the Law as Spiritual from mans Nature as carnal and sinful Wherefore as Christ saith there can no Grapes be expected from Thistles nor Figgs of Thorns so neither can the fulfilling of the Law which is Spiritual Holy and Just be expected from that Nature which is Corrupt Fall'n and Unregenerate Whence we conclude with good reason that the Nature here spoken of by which the Gentiles are said to have done the things contained in the Law is not the common Nature of men but the Spiritual Nature that ariseth from the works of the Righteous and Spiritual Law that 's written in the heart I confess they of the other extream when they are pressed with this Testimony by the Socinians and Pelagians as well as by us when we use this Scripture to shew them how some of the Heathens by the Light of Christ in their heart come to be saved are very far to seek giving this answer that there were some reliques of the Heavenly Image left in Adam by which the Heathens could do some good things Which as it is in it self without proof so it contradicts their own assertions elsewhere and gives away their cause For if these reliques were of force to enable them to fulfil the Righteous Law of God it takes away the necessity of Christs coming or at least leaves them away to be saved without him unless they will say which is worst of all that though they really fulfilled the righteous Law of God yet God damned them because of the want of that particular knowledg while he himself withheld all means of their coming to him from them but of this hereafter § III. I might also here use
to be soothed up and lulled asleep in thy sins by the flattering of Court-Parasits who by their fawning are the ruin of many Princes There is no King in the World who can so experimentally testifie of Gods Providence and Goodness neither is there any who rules so many free People so many true Christians which thing renders thy Government more honourable thy self more considerable than the accession of many Nations filled with slavish and superstitious Souls Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity thou know'st what it is to be banished thy Native Countrey to be over-ruled as well as to rule and sit upon the Throne and being oppressed thou hast reason to know how hateful the Oppressor is both to God and man If after all these Warnings and Advertisements thou dost not turn unto the Lord withal thy Heart but forget him who remembered thee in thy distress and give up thy self to follow Lust and Vanity surely great will be thy condemnation Against which snare as well as the temptation of those that may or do feed thee and prompt thee to evil the most excellent and prevalent remedy will be to apply thy self to that Light of Christ which shineth in thy Conscience which neither can nor will flatter thee nor suffer thee to be at ease in thy sins but doth and will deal plainly and faithfully with thee as those that are followers thereof have also done GOD Almighty who hath so signally hitherto visited thee with his love so touch and reach thy heart ere the day of thy visitation be expired that thou mayst effectually turn to him so as to improve thy place and station for his Name So wisheth so prayeth Thy faithful Friend and Subject ROBERT BARCLAY From Ury the place of my Pilgrimage in my Native Country of Scotland the 25 of the Month called November in the YEAR 1675. R. B. Unto the Friendly Reader wisheth Salvation FOrasmuch as that which above all things I propose to my self is to declare and defend the Truth for the service whereof I have given up and devoted my self and all that is mine therefore there is nothing which for its sake by the help and assistance of God I may not attempt And in this confidence I did sometime ago publish certain Propositions of Divinity comprehending briefly the chief Principles and Doctrines of Truth which appearing not unprofitable to some and being beyond my expectation well received both by Foreigners though dissenting from us albeit also opposed by some envious ones did so far prevail as in some part to remove that false and monstruous Opinion which lying fame and the malice of our adversaries had implanted in the minds of some concerning us and our Doctrines In this respect it seem'd to me not fit to spare my pains and labour Therefore being acted by the same measure of the Divine Spirit and the like design of propagating the Truth by which I published the Propositions I judg'd it meet to explain them somewhat more largely at this time and defend them by certain arguments Perhaps my method of writing may seem not only different but even contrary to that which is commonly used by the men called Divines with which I am not concerned for that I confess my self to be not only no imitator and admirer of the School-men but an opposer and despiser of them as such by whose labour I judg the Christian Religion to be so far from being bettered that it is rather destroyed Neither have I sought to accommodate this my work to itching Ears who desire rather to comprehend in their head the sublime notions of Truth than to imbrace it in their heart For what I have written comes more from my heart than from my head what I have heard with the Ears of my Soul and seen with my inward Eyes and my hands have handled of the Word of Life And what hath been inwardly manifested to me of the things of God that do I declare not so much minding the Eloquence and Excellency of Speech as desiring to demonstrate the efficacy and operation of Truth and if I err sometime in the former it is not great matter for I act not here the Grammarian or the Orator but the Christian and therefore in this I have followed the certain Rule of the Divine Light and of the Holy Scriptures And to make an end what I have written is written not to feed the Wisdom and Knowledge or rather vain pride of this world but to starve and oppose it us the little Preface prefix'd to the Propositions doth shew which with the title of them is as followeth THESES THEOLOGICAE To the Clergy of what sort soever unto whose hands these may come but more particularly to the Doctors Professors and Students of Divinity in the Universities and Schools of Great Brittain whether Prelatical Presbyterian or any other ROBERT BARCLAY a Servant of the Lord God and one of those who in derision are called Quakers wisheth unfeigned Repentance unto the acknowledgment of the Truth FRIENDS UNto You these following Propositions are offered in which they being read and considered in the fear of the Lord you may perceive that simple Naked Truth which Man by his Wisdom hath rendred so obscure and mysterious that the World is even burthened with the great and voluminous Tractates which are made about it and by their vain jangling and Commentaries by which it is rendred a hundred fold more dark and intricate than of it self it is which great Learning so accounted of to wit your School Divinity which taketh up almost a mans whole Life-time to learn brings not a whit nearer to God neither makes any man less wicked or more righteous than he was Therefore hath God laid aside the Wise and Learned and the Disputers of this World and hath chosen a few despicable and unlearned Instruments as to Letter-learning as he did Fisher-men of old to publish his pure and naked Truth and to free it of these Mists and Fogs wherewith the Clergy hath clouded it that the People might admire and maintain them And among several others whom God hath chosen to make known these things seeing I also have received in measure Grace to be a Dispencer of the same Gospel it seemed good unto me according to my duty to offer unto you these Propositions tho short yet are weighty comprehending much and declaring what the true ground of knowledge is even of that knowledge which leads to life Eternal which is here witnessed of and the Testimony thereof left unto the Light of Christ in all your Consciences Farewel R. B. The First Proposition Concerning the true Foundation of Knowledge SEing the height of all happiness is placed in the true knowledg of God This is Life Eternal to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent the true and right understanding of this foundation and ground of knowledge is that which is most necessary to be known and believed in the first place
Lutherans and Arminians grosly err by following the Scripture Therefore the Scripture is not a good nor certain Rule and e contra Would either of them accept of this Reasoning as good and sound What shall I say of the Episcopalians Presbyterians Independants and Anabaptists of Great Britain who are continually buffeting one another with the Scripture To whom the same Argument might be alledged though they do all unanimously acknowledge it to be the Rule And Thirdly As to Reason I shall not need to say much from whence comes all the Controversies Contentions and Debates in the World but because every man thinks he follows right Reason Hence of old came the Jangles betwixt the Stoicks Platonists Peripateticks Pythagorians and Cynicks as of late betwixt the Aristotelians Cartesians and other Naturalists Can it be thence inferred or will the Socinians those great Reasoners allow us to conclude because many and that very wise men have erred by following as they supposed their Reason and that with what diligence care and industry they could to find out the Truth that therefore no man ought to make use of it at all nor be positive in what he knows certainly to be rational And thus far as to Opinion the same uncertainty is no less incident unto those other Principles § XIV But if we come to Practices though I confess I do with my whole heart abhor and detest those wild Practices which are written concerning the Anabaptists of Munster I am bold to say as bad if not worse things have been committed by those that lean to Tradition Scripture and Reason wherein also they have averred themselves to have been authorized by these Rules I need but mention all the Tumults Seditions and horrible Blood-shed wherewith Europe hath been afflicted these divers Ages in which Papists against Papists Calvanists against Calvanists Lutherans against Lutherans and Papists assiisted by Protestants against other Protestants assisted by Papists have miserably shed one anothers Blood hireing and forcing men to kill one another who were ignorant of the Quarrel and strangers to one another All mean while pretending Reason for so doing and pleading the lawfulness of it from Scripture For what have the Papists pretended for their many Massacres acted as well in France as elsewhere but Tradition Scripture and Reason Did they not say that Reason perswaded them Tradition allowed them and Scripture commanded them to persecute destroy and burn Hereticks such as denyed this plain Scripture Hoc est corpus meum This is my body And are not the Protestants assenting to this blood-shed who assert the same thing and encourage them by burning and banishing while their brethren are so treated for the same cause Are not the Islands of great Britain and Ireland yea and all the Christian world a lively example hereof which were divers years together as a Theatre of Blood where many lost their lives and numbers of Families were utterly destroyed and ruined For all which no other cause was principally given than the precepts of the Scripture If we then compare these actings with those of Munster we shall not find great difference for both affirmed and pretended they were called and that it was lawful to Kill Burn and Destroy the Wicked We must Kill all the Wicked said those Anabaptists that we that are the Saints may possess the Earth We must burn obstinate Hereticks say the Papists that the holy Church of Rome may be purged of rotten Members and may live in peace We must cut-off seducing Separatists say the Prelatick Protestants who trouble the peace of the Church and refuse the Divine Hierarchy and religious Ceremonies thereof we must kill say the Calvinistick Presbyterians the profane malignants who accuse the Holy Consistorical and Presbyterian Government and seek to defend the Popish and Prelatick Hierarchy as also those other Sectarys that trouble the peace of our Church What difference I pray thee impartial Reader seest thou betwixt these If it be said The Anabaptists went without and against the authority of the Magistrate so did not the other I might easily refute by alledging the mutual Testimonies of these Sects against one another The behaviour of the Papists towards Henry the third and fourth of France Their designs upon James the sixth in the Gun-powder Treason as also their Principle of the Popes powder to depose Kings for the cause of Heresie and to absolve their subjects from their Oath and give them to others proves it against them And as to the Protestants how much their actions differ from those other above mentioned may be seen by the many Conspiracies and Tumults which they have been active in both in Scotland and England and which they have acted within these hundred years in divers Towns and Provinces of the Netherlands Have they not often times sought not only from the Popish Magistrates but even from those that had begun to reform or that had given them some liberty of exercising their Religion that they might only be permitted without trouble or hinderance to exercise their Religion promising they would not hinder or molest the Papists in the exercise of theirs and yet did they not on the Contrary so soon as they had power trouble and abuse these Fellow-Citizens and turn them out of the City and which is worse even such who together with them had forsaken the Popish religion Did they not these things in many places against the mind of the Magistrates Have they not publickly with contumelious Speeches assaulted their Magistrates from whom they had but just before sought and obtained the free exercise of their Religion Representing them so soon as they opposed themselves to their Hierarchy as if they regarded neither God nor Religion Have they not by violent hands possessed themselves of the Popish Churches so called or by force against the Magistrates mind taken them away Have they not turned out of their Office and Authority whole Councils of Magistrates under pretence that they were addicted to Popery Which Popish Magistrates nevertheless they did but a little before acknowledg to be ordained by God affirming themselves obliged to yield them obedience and subjection not only for fear but for Conscience sake to whom moreover the very Preachers and Overseers of the reformed Church had willingly sworn fidelity and yet afterwards have they not said that the people is bound to force a wicked Prince to the observation of God's Word There are many other instances of this kind to be found in their Histories not to mention many worse things which we know to have been acted in our time and which for brevity's sake I pass by I might say much of the Lutherans whose tumultuous actions against their Magistrates not professing the Lutheran profession are testifyed of by several Historians worthy of credit Among others I shall propose only one example to the Readers consideration which fell out at Berline in the year 1615. Where the seditious multitude of the Lutheran Citizens being stirred up by
cannot suppose them without some rule and means of knowledg seeing it is expresly affirmed They shall all be taught of God Joh. 6.45 And they shall know me from the least to the greatest Heb. 8.11 But secondly Though we were rid of this difficulty how many illeterate and yet good men are there in the Church of God who cannot read a Letter in their own Mothers Tongue Which imperfection though it be inconvenient I cannot tell whether we may safely affirm it to be sinful these can have no immediate Knowledg of the rule of their Faith So their Faith must needs depend upon the credit of other mens Reading or relating it unto them where either the altering adding or omitting of a little word may be a foundation in the poor hearer of a very dangerous mistake whereby he may either continue in an iniquity ignorantly or believe a lie confidently As for Example the Papists in all their Catechisms and publick Exercises of Examination towards the People have boldly cut away the second Command because it seems so expresly to hit against their Adoration and use of Images Whereas many of these People in whom by this omission this false Opinion is fostered are under a simple impossibility or at least a very great difficulty to be outwardly informed of this abuse But further suppose all could read the Scriptures in their own Language where is there one of a thousand that hath that through knowledge of the original Languages in which they are written so as in that respect immediately to receive the benefit of them Must not all these here depend upon the honesty and faithfulness of the Interpreters Which how uncertain it is for a man to build his Faith upon the many Corrections Amendments and various Essays which even among Protestants have been used whereof the latter hath constantly blamed and corrected the former as guilty of Defects and Errors doth sufficiently declare And that even the last Translations in the vulgar Languages needs to be corrected as I could prove at large were it proper in this place learned men do confess But last of all there is no less difficulty even occurs to these skilled in the Original Languages who cannot so immediately receive the mind of the Authors in these Writings as that their Faith doth at least obliquely depend upon the honesty and credit of the Transcribers since the Original Copies are granted by all not to be now extant Of which Transcribers Jerome in his time complained saying that they wrote not what they found but what they understood And Epiphanius saith that in the good and correct Copies of Luke it was written that Christ wept and that Irenaeus doth cite it but that the Catholicks blotted it out fearing least Hereticks should have abused it Other Fathers also declare that whole verses were taken out of Mark because of the Manichees But further the various lections of the Hebrew Character by reason of the Points which some plead for as coaevous with the first writings which others with no less probability alledg to be a later invention the disagreement of divers citations of Christ and the Apostles with those passages in the Old Testament they appeal to the great controversie among the Fathers whereof some highly approve the Greek Septuagint decrying and rendring very doubtful the Hebrew Copy as in many vitiated and altered by the Jews other some and particularly Jerom exalting the certainty of the Hebrew and rejecting yea even deriding the History of the Septuagint which the primitive Church chiefly made use of and some Fathers that lived centuries before them affirmed to be a most certain thing Add the many various lections in divers copys of the Greek and the great alterations among the Fathers of the first three Centuries who had greater opportunity to be better informed than we can now lay claim to concerning the books to be admitted or rejected as is above observed I say all these and much more which might be alledged puts the minds even of the Learned into infinite doubts scruples and inextricable difficulties Whence we may very safely conclude that Jesus Christ who promised to be always with his Children to lead them into all Truth to guard them against the devices of the Enemy and to establish their Faith upon an unmoveable Rock left them not to be principally ruled by that which was subject in it self to many uncertainties and therefore he gave them his Spirit as their Principal Guide which neither moths nor time can wear out nor transcribers nor translators corrupt which none are so young none so illiterate none in so remote a place but they may come to be reached and rightly informed by it Through and by the clearness which that Spirit gives us it is that we are only best rid of those difficulties that occur to us concerning the Scriptures The real and undoubted experience whereof I my self have been a witness of with great admiration of the love of God to his children in these latter days For I have known some of my Friends who profess the same faith with me faithful servants of the most High God and full of the Divine knowledg of his Truth as it was immediately and inwardly revealed to them by the Spirit from a true and living experience Who not only were ignorant of the Greek and Hebrew but even some of them could not read their own vulgar Language who being pressed by the adversaries with some citations out of the English Translation and finding them to disagree with the manifestation of Truth in their hearts have boldly affirmed the Spirit of God never said so and that it was certainly wrong for they did not believe that any of the Holy Prophets or Apostles had ever written so which when I on this account seriously examined I really found to be errors and corruptions of the Translators Who as in most translations do not so much give us the genuine significations of the words as strain them to express that which comes nearest with that opinion and notion they have of Truth And this seemed to me to sute very well with that saying of Augustin Epist. 19. ad Hen. Tom. 2. fol. 14. after he has said that he gives only that honour to those books which are called Canonical as to believe that the Authors thereof did in writing not err He adds and if I shall meet with any thing in these writings that seemeth repugnant to Truth I shall not doubt to say that either the volume is faulty or erroneous that the expounder hath not reached what was said or that I have in no wise understood it So that he supposes that in the transcription and translation there may be errors § V. If it be then asked me whether I think hereby to render the Scripture altogether uncertain or useless I answer not at all The proposition it self declares what esteem I have for them and provided that to the Spirit from which they came be but
and whereof he was a Minister is one and the same is not far off but nigh in the heart and in the Mouth which done he frameth as it were the objection of our adversaries in the 12 and 15 verses How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard How shall they hear without a Preacher This he answers in the 18 verse saying But I say have they not heard Yes verily their sound went forth into all the Earth and their words unto the end of the World insinuating that this Divine Preacher hath sounded in the ears and hearts of all men for of the outward Apostles that saying was not true neither then nor many hundred years after yea for ought we know there may be yet great and spatious Nations and Kingdoms who never have heard of Christ nor his Apostles as outwardly This inward and Powerful Word of God is yet more fully described in the Epistle to the Hebrews c. 4. v. 12 13. For the Word of God is quick and sharper than a two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart The vertues of this Spiritual Word are here enumerated it is quick because it searches and tries the hearts of all no man's heart is exempt from it for the Apostle gives this reason of its being so in the following verse but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do And there is not any creature that is not manifest in his sight Tho this ultimately and mediately be referr'd to God yet nearly and immediately it relates to the Word or Light which as hath been before proved is in the hearts of all else it had been improper to have brought it in here The Apostle shewes how every intent and thought of the heart is discerned by the Word of God because all things are naked before God which imports nothing else but it is in and by this Word whereby God sees and discerns mans thoughts and so must needs be in all men because the Apostle saith there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight This then is that faithful Witness and Messenger of God that bears witness for God and for his righteousness in the hearts of all men For he hath not left man without a witness Act. 14.17 and he is said to be given for a Witness to the people Isa. 55.4 And as this Word beareth witness for God so it is not placed in men only to condemn them for as he is given for a Witness so saith the Prophet He is given for a Leader and a Commander The Light is given that all through it may believe Joh. 1.7 For faith cometh by hearing and hearing by this word of God which is placed in mans heart both to be a Witness for God and to be a means to bring man to God through faith and repentance It is therefore powerful that it may divide betwixt the Soul and the Spirit It is like a two-edged Sword that it may cut off iniquity from him and separate betwixt the precious and the vile and because mans heart is cold and hard like Iron naturally therefore hath God placed this Word in him which is said to be like a Fire and like a Hammer Jer. 23.29 that like as by the heat of the Fire the iron of its own nature cold is warmed and by the strength of the Hammer is softned and framed according to the mind of the worker so the cold and hard Heart of Man is by the vertue and powerfulness of this Word of God near and in the Heart as it resists not warmed and softned and received a Heavenly and Coelestial Impression and Image The most part of the Fathers have spoken at large touching this Word Seed and Light and saving Voice calling all unto Salvation and able to save Clemens Alexandrinus saith lib. 2. Stromat The Divine Word hath oried calling all knowing well those that will not obey And yet because it is in our power either to obey or not to obey that none may have a preâ—â—xt of ignorance it hath made a righteous call and requireth but that which is according to the ability and strength of every one The self same in his warning to the Gentiles For as saith he that Heavenly Ambassador of the Lord the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared unto all c. This is the new Song coming and manifestation of the Word which now shews it self in us which was in the beginning and was first of all And again Hear therefore ye that are a far off hear ye who are near the word is hid from none the Light is common to all and shineth to all There is no darkness in the World let us hasten to Salvation to the New birth that we being many may be gathered into the One alone love Ibid. he saith that there is infused unto all but principally into those that are trained up in Doctrine a certain Divine Influence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And again he speaks concerning the innate Witness worthy of belief which of it self doth plainly chuse that which is most honest And again he saith that it is not impossible to come unto the Truth and lay hold of it seeing it is most near to us in our own houses as the most wise Moses declareth living in three parts of us viz. in our hands in our mouth and in our heart this saith he is a most true badg of the Truth which is also fulfilled in three things namely in Councel in Action in Speaking And again he saith also unto the unbelieving Nations Receive Christ receive Light receive Sight to the and thou maist rightly know both God and man The Word that hath inlightned us is more pleasant than Gold and the stone of great value And again he saith let us receive the Light that we may receive God let us receive the Light that we may be the Schollars of the Lord. And again he saith to those Infidel Nations The Heavenly Spirit helpeth thee resist and flee Pleasure Again lib. Strom. 5. he saith God forbid that man be not a partaker of Divine Aquaintance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who in Genesis is said to be a partaker of Inspiration And Paed. lib. 1 cap. 3. there is saith he some lovely and some desirable thing in man which is called the in breathing of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same man lib. 10. Strom. directeth men unto the Light and Water in themselves who have the Eye of the Soul darkned or dimmed through evil up bringing and learning let them enter in unto their own domestick light or unto the Light which is in their own House 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto the Truth which manifests accurately and clearly these things that have been written Justin Martyr in his first Apology saith that the Word which
capacity of a Man or Woman is not only in a Child but even in the very embryo even so the Kingdom of Jesus Christ yea Jesus Christ himself Christ within who is the hope of Glory and becometh Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption in every man and womans heart in that little incorruptible Seed ready to be brought forth as it is cherished and received in the love of it For there can be no men worse than those rebellious and unbelieving Pharisees were and yet this Kingdom was thus within them and they were directed to look for it there so it is neither lo here nor lo there in this or the other observation that this is known but as this Seed of God in the Heart is minded and entertained And certainly hence it is even because this Light Seed and Grace that appears in the heart of man is so little regarded and so much overlooked that so few know Christ brought forth in them The one sort to wit the Calvinists they look upon Grace as an irresistible Power and therefore neglect and despise this Eternal Seed of the Kingdom in their Hearts as a low insufficient useless thing as to their Salvation On the other hand the Papists Armenians and Socinians they go about to set up their Natural Power and will with one consent denying that this little Seed this small appearance of the Light is that supernatural saving Grace of God given to every man to save him And so upon them is verified that saying of the Lord Jesus Christ This is the condemnation of the World that Light is come into the World but men love darkness rather than Light the reason is added because their deeds are evil All confess they feel this but they will not have it to be of that Virtue Some will have it to be Reason some a Natural Conscience some certain Reliques of God's Image that remained in Adam So Christ as he met with opposition from all kinds of Professors in his outward appearance so doth he now in his inward It was the meaness of his outward man that made many despise him saying Is not this the Son of the Carpenter are not his Brethren and Sisters among us is not this a Galilean and came there ever a Prophet out of Galilea and such like reasonings For they expected an outward deliverer who as a Prince should deliver them with great ease from their outward Enemies and not such a MESSIAH as should be crucified shamefully and as it were led them into many sorrows troubles and afflictions So the meaness of this appearance make the crafty Jesuits the pretended rational Socinians and the learned Arminians overlook it desiring rather something that they might exercise their subtilty reason and learning about and use the liberty of their own wills And the secure Calvinists they would have a Christ to save them without any trouble to destroy all their Enemies for them without them and nothing or little within while the mean while be at ease to live in their Sins secure Whence when all is well examined the cause is plain it is because their deeds are evil that with one consent they reject this Light for it checks the wisest of them all and the learnedst of them all in secret it reproves them neither can all their Logick silence it nor can the securest among them stop its voice from crying and reproving them within for all their confidence in the outward knowledg of Christ or of what he hath suffered outwardly for them For as hath been often said in a day it strives with all wrestles with all and it 's the unmortified Nature the first Nature the old Adam yet alive in the wisest in the learnedest in the most Zealous for the outward knowledg of Christ that denies this that despises it that shuts it out to their own Condemnation They come all under this description every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light least his deeds should be reproved John 3.20 So that it may be said now and we can say from a true and certain experience as it was of old Psal. 118.22 Mat. 21.42 Mark 12.10 Luke 20 17. Acts 4.11 The Stone which the Builders of all kinds have rejected the same is become unto us the Head of the Corner Glory to God for ever who hath chosen us a first fruits to himself in this day wherein he is arisen to plead with the Nations and therefore hath sent us forth to preach this everlasting Gospel unto all Christ nigh to all the Light in all the Seed sown in the Hearts of all that men may come and apply their minds to it And we rejoyce that we have been made to lay down our Wisdom and Learning such of us as have had some of it and our carnal reasoning to learn of Jesus and sit down at the Feet of Jesus in our Hearts and hear him who there makes all things manifest and reproves all things by his Light Eph. 5.13 For many are wise and learned in the Notion in the Letter of the Scripture as the Pharisees were and can speak much of Christ and plead strongly against Infidels Turks and Jews and it may be also against some Heresies who in the mean time are Crucifying Christ in the small appearance of his Seed in their Hearts O! better were it to be stript naked of all to account it as dross and dung and become a Fool for Christ's sake thus knowing him to teach thee in thy Heart so as thou maist witness him raised there feel the virtue of his Cross there and say with the Apostle I glory in nothing save in the Cross of Christ whereby I am crucified to the World and the World unto me This is better than to write Thousands of Commentaries and to preach many Sermons And it is thus to preach Christ and direct People to his pure Light in the Heart that God hath raised us up and for which the wise men of this World account us Fools because by the operation of this Cross of Christ in our Hearts we have denyed our own Wisdom and Wills in many things and have forsaken the vain Worships Fashions and Customs of this world For these divers Centuries the world hath been full of a dry fruitless and barren knowledg of Christ feeding upon the husk and neglecting the kernel following after the shaddow but strangers to the substance Hence the Devil matters not how much of that knowledg abounds provided he can but possess the Heart and rule in the will crucifie the appearance of Christ there and so keep the Seed of the Kingdom from taking root For he has led them abroad lo here and lo there and has made them wrestle in a false zeal so much one against another contending for this outward observation and for the other outward observation seeking Christ in this and the other external thing as in Bread and Wine contending one with another how he is there while
by some citations out of them hereafter to be mentioned will appear though this Doctrine hath not since the Apostacy so far as ever I could observe been so distinctly and evidently held forth according to the Scriptures Testimony as it hath pleased God to reveal it and preach it forth in this day by the witnesses of his Truth whom he hath raised to that end Which Doctrine though it be briefly held forth and comprehended in the Thesis it self yet I shall a little more fully explain the state of the Controversie as it stands betwixt us and those that now oppose us § III. First then as by the explanation of the former Thesis appears we renounce all natural power and ability in our selves in order to bring us out of our lost and faln condition and first Nature and confess that of our selves we are able to do nothing that is good so neither can we procure remission of sins or justification by any act of our own so as to merit it or draw it as a debt from God due unto us but we acknowledg all to be of and from his Love which is the original and fundamental cause of our acceptance Secondly God manifested this love towards us in the sending of his Beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ into the world who gave himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour and having made peace through the blood of his Cross that he might reconcile us unto himself and by the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot unto God and suffered for our sins the Just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God Thirdly then forasmuch as all men who have come to man's estate the Man Jesus only excepted have sinned therefore all have need of this Saviour to remove the Wrath of God from them due to their offences in this respect he is truly said to have born the Iniquities of us all in his Body on the Tree and therefore is the Only Mediator having qualified the Wrath of God towards us so that our former sins stand not in our way being by vertue of his most satisfactory Sacrifice removed and pardoned Neither do we think that remission of sins is to be expected sought or obtained any other way or by any works or Sacrifice whatsomever though as has been said formerly they may come to partake of this remission that are ignorant of the History So then Christ by his death and sufferings hath reconciled us to God even while we are Enemies that is he offers reconciliation unto us we are put into a capacity of being reconciled God is willing to forgive us our iniquities and to accept us as is well expressed by the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath put in us the Word of Reconciliation And therefore the Apostle in the next verses treats them in Christs stead to be reconciled to God intimating that the Wrath of God being removed by the obedience of Christ Jesus he is willing to be reconciled unto them and ready to remit the sins that are past if they repent We consider then our Redemption in a two fold respect or state both which in their own Nature are perfect though in their application to us the one is not nor cannot be without respect to the other The first is the Redemption performed and accomplished by Christ for us in his Crucified Body without us The other is the Redemption wrought by Christ in us which no less properly is called and accounted a Redemption than the former The first then is that whereby man as he stands in the fall is put into a capacity of Salvation and hath conveighed unto him a measure of that Power Vertue Spirit Life and Grace that was in Christ Jesus which as the free Gift of God is able to counter-ballance overcome and root out the Evil Seed wherewith we are naturally as in the fall leavened The second is that whereby we witness and know this pure and perfect Redemption in our selves purifying cleansing and redeeming us from the power of Corruption and bringing us into unity Favour and Friendship with God By the first of these two we that are lost in Adam plunged in the bitter and corrupt Seed unable of our selves to do any good thing but naturally joyned and united to evil forward and propense to all iniquity servants and slaves to the Power and Spirit of Darkness are notwithstanding all this so far reconciled to God by the death of his Son while Enemies that we are put into a capacity of Salvation having the glad tidings of the Gospel of peace offered unto us and God is reconciled unto us in Christ calls and invites us to himself in which respect we understand these Scriptures He stew the enmity in himself He loved us first seeing us in our blood he said unto us live he who did not sin his own self bare our sins in his own Body on the Tree and he died for our sins the just for the unjust By the second we witness this capacity brought into act whereby receiving and not resisting the purchase of his death to wit the Light Spirit and Grace of Christ revealed to us we witness and possess a real true and inward Redemption from the power and prevalency of sin and so come to be truly and really redeemed justified and made righteous and to a sensible union and friendship with God Thus he died for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and thus we know him and the Power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable to us This last follows the first in order and is a consequence of it proceeding from it as an effect from its cause So as none could have enjoyed the last without the first had been such being the will of God so also can none now partake of the first but as he witnesseth the last Wherefore as to us they are both causes of our Justification The first the procuring efficient the other the formal cause Fourthly we understand not by this Justification by Christ barely the good works even as wrought by the Spirit of Christ for they as Protestants truly affirm are rather an effect of Justification than the cause of it But we understand the formation of Christ in us Christ born and brought forth in us from which good works as naturally proceed as Fruit from a Fruitful Tree It is this inward Birth in us bringing forth Righteousness and Holyness in us that doth Justâ—fie us which having removed and done away the contrary Nature and Spirit that did bear rule and bring condemnation now is in dominion over all in our hearts Those then that come to know Christ thus formed in them do enjoy him wholly and undivided who is The LORD our RIGHTEOVSNESS Jer. 23.6 This is to be cloathed with Christ and to have put
hold upon some little combustible matter lying near unto it yea if it fall out that several met together be straying in their minds though outwardly silent and so wandring from the measure of Grace in themselves which through the working of the enemy and negligence of some may fall out it either one come in or may be in who is watchful and in whom the Life is raised in a great measure as that one keeps his place he will feel a secret Travel for the rest in a sympathy with the Seed which is oppressed in the other and kept from arising by their thoughts and wanderings and as such a faithful one waits in the Light and keeps in this Divine work God often-times answers the secret travel and breathings of his own Seed through such a one so that the rest will find themselves secretly smitten without words and that one will be as a Midwife through the secret travel of his Soul to bring forth the life in them just as a little water thrown into a Pump brings up the rest whereby life will come to be raised in all and the vain imaginations brought down and such a one is felt by the rest to minister life into them without words yea sometimes when there is not a word in the meeting but all are silently waiting if one come in that is rude and wicked and in whom the power of darkness prevaileth much perhaps with an intention to mock or do mischief if the whole meeting be gathered into the Life and it be raised in a good measure it will strike terror into such an one and he will feel himself unable to resist but by the secret strength and vertue thereof the power of darkness in him will be chained down and if the day of his Visitation be not expired it will reach to the measure of Grace in him and raise it up to the redeeming of his Soul and this we often bear witness of so as we had hereby frequent occasion in this respect since God hath gathered us to be a People to renew this old saying of many Is Saul also among the Prophets For not a few have come to be convinced of the Truth after this manner of which I my self in a part am a true witness who not by strength of arguments or by a particular disquisition of each Doctrine and convincement of my understanding thereby came to receive and bear witness of the Truth but by being secretly reached by this Life For when I came into the silent Assemblies of God's People I felt a secret power among them which touched my heart and as I gave way unto it I found the evil weakning in me and the good raised up and so I became thus knit and united unto them hungering more and more after the increase of this Power and Life whereby I might feel my self perfectly redeemed and indeed this is the surest way to become a Christian to whom afterwards the knowledg and understanding of Principles will not be wanting but will grow up so much as is needful as the natural Fruit of this good root and such a knowledg will not be barren nor unfruitful after this manner We desire therefore all that come among us to be prosolyted knowing that though Thousands should be convinced in their understandings of all the Truths we maintain yet if they were not sensible of this inward Life and their Souls not changed from unrighteousness to righteousness they could add nothing to us for this is that cement whereby we are joyned as to the Lord so to one another and without this none can Worship with us Yea if such should come among us and from that understanding and convincement they have of the Truth speak ever so true things and utter them forth with ever so much excellency of speech if this Life were wanting it would not edify us at all but be as sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal 1 Cor. 13.1 § VIII Our work then and worship is when we meet together for every one to watch and wait upon God in themselves and to be gathered from all visibles thereinto And as every one is thus stated they come to find the good arise over the evil and the pure over the impure in which God reveals himself and draweth near to every individual and so he in the midst in the general Whereby each not only partakes of the particular refreshment and strength which comes from the good in himself but is a sharer of the whole body as being a living member of the body having a joynt fellowship and communion with all and as this Worship is stedfastly preached and kept to it becomes easie though it be very hard at first to the natural man whose roving imaginations and running worldly desires are not so easily brought to silence and therefore the Lord often-times when any turns toward him and have true desires thus to wait upon him and find great difficulty through the unstayedness of their minds doth in condescension and compassion cause his Power to break forth in a more strong and powerful manner and when the mind sinks down and waits for the appearance of Life and that the power of darkness in the Soul wrestles and works against it then the good Seed as it ariseth will be found to work as Physick in the Soul especially if such a weak one be in the Assembly of divers others in whom the Life is arisen in greater dominion and through the contrary workings of the power of darkness there will be found an inward striving in the Soul as really in the mystery as ever Esau and Jacob strove in Rebeckahs Womb. And from this inward travel while the darkness seeks to obsure the Light and the Light break through the darkness which always it will do if the Soul give not its strength to the darkness there will be such a painful travel found in the Soul that will even work upon the outward man so that often-times through the working thereof the body will be greatly shaken and many groans and sighs and tears even as the pangs of a Woman in travel will lay hold upon it yea and tais not only as to one but when the Enemy who when the Children of God assemble together is not wanting to be present to see if he can let their comfort hath prevailed in any measure in a whole meeting and strongly worketh against it by spreading and propagating his dark power and by drawing out the minds of such as are met from the Life in them as they come to be sensible of this power of his that works against them and to wrestle with it by the Armour of Light sometimes the power of God will break forth into a whole meeting and there will be such an inward travel while each is seeking to overcome the evil in themselves that by the strong contrary workings of these opposite powers like the going of two contrary tides every individual will be
done threatning a certain horror if he continued in them as also promising and communicating a certain peace and sweetness as he hath given way to it and not resisted it Tenthly It wonderfully sheweth the excellent Wisdom of God by which he hath made the means of Salvation so universal and comprehensive that it is not needful to recur to those miraculous and strange ways seeing according to this most true Doctrine the Gospel reacheth all of whatsoever condition age or nation Eleventhly It is really and effectively though not in so many words yet by deeds established and confirmed by all the Preachers Promulgators and Doctors of the Christian Religion that ever were or now are even by those that otherways in their judgment oppose this Doctrine in that they all wherever they have been or are or whatsoever people place or Country they come to do preach to the people and to every individual among them that they may be saved intreating and desiring them to believe in Christ who hath died for them so that what they deny in the general they acknowledg of every particular there being no man to whom they do not preach in order to Salvation telling him Jesus Christ calls and wills him to believe and be Saved and that if he refuse he shall therfore be condemned and that his condemnation is of himself such is the Evidence and Virtue of Truth that it constrains its Adversaries even against their wills to plead for it Lastly According to this Doctrine the former argument used by the Armenians and evited by the Calvinists concerning every mans being bound to believe that Christ died for him is by altering the assumption rendred invincible thus That which every man is bound to believe is true But every man is bound to believe that God is merciful unto him Therefore c. This assumption no man can deny seeing his mercys are said to be over all his works And herein the Scripture every way declares the mercy of God to be in that he invites and calls Sinners to Repenance and hath opened a way of Salvation for them so that though those men be not bound to believe the History of Christ's Death and Passion who never came to know of it yet they are bound to believe that God will be merciful to them if they follow his ways and that he is merciful unto them in that he reproves them for evil and incourages them to good Neither ought any man to believe that God is unmerciful to him or that he hath from the beginning ordained him to come into the World that he might be left to his own evil inclinations and so do wickedly as a means appointed by God to bring him to eternal Damnation which were it true as our Adversaries affirm it to be of many thousands I see no reason why a man might not believe for certainly a man may believe the Truth As it manifestly appears from the thing itself that these good and excellent consequences follow from the belief of this Doctrine so from the probation of them it will yet more evidently appear To which before I come it is requisite to speak somewhat concerning the state of the controversie which will bring great Light to the matter For from the not right understanding of a matter under debate sometimes both arguments on the one hand and objections on the other are brought which do no way hit the case and hereby also our sense and judgment therein will be more fully understood and opened § XII First then by this day and time of Visitation which we say God gives unto all during which they may be saved we do not understand the whole time of every mans Life though to some it may be extended even to the very Hour of Death as we see in the example of the Thief converted upon the Cross but such a season at lest as sufficiently exonereth God of every mans condemnation which to some may be sooner and to others latter according as the Lord in his Wisdom sees meet So that many men may out-live this day after which there may be no possibility of Salvation to them and God justly suffers them to be hardened as a just punishment of their unbelief and even raises them up as Instruments of Wrath and makes them a Scourge one against another Whence to men in this condition may be fitly applied those Scriptures which are abused to prove that God incites men necessarily to sin this is notably express'd by the Apostle Rom. 1. from ver 17. to the end but especially ver 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledg God gave them up to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient That many may out live this day of Gods gracious visitation unto them is shewn by the Example of Esau Heb. 12.16.17 who sold his Birth right so he had it once and was capable to have kept it but afterwards when he would have inherited the Blessing he was rejected This appears also by Christs weeping over Jerusalem Luke 19.42 saying If thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes Which plainly imports a time when they might have known them which now was removed from them though they were yet alive but of this more shall be said hereafter § XIII Secondly By this Seed Grace and Word of God and Light wherewith we say every man is enlightened and hath a measure of it which strives with them in order to save them and which may by the stubbornness and wickedness of mans will be quenched bruised wounded pressed down slain and crucified We understand not the proper Essence and Nature of God precisely taken which is not devisible into parts and measures as being a most pure simple Being void of all composition or division and therefore can neither be resisted hurt wounded crucified or slain by all the efforts and strength of men But we understand a Spiritual Heavenly and invisible Principle in which God as Father Son and Spirit dwells a measure of which Divine and Glorious Life is in all men as a Seed which of its own nature draws invites and inclines to God and this we call Vehiculum Dei or the Spiritual Body of Christ the Flesh and Blood of Christ which came down from Heaven of which all the Saints do feed and are thereby nourished unto Eternal Life And as every unrighteous Action is witnessed against and reproved by this Light and Seed so by such actions it is hurt wounded and slain and resiles or flees from them even as the Flesh of Men flees from that which is of a contrary nature to it Now because it is never separated from God nor Christ but where ever it is God and Christ are as wrapped up therein Therefore and in that respect as it is resisted God is said to be resisted and where it is born down God is said
to be pressed as a Cart under sheaves and Christ is said to be slain and crucified And on the contrary as this Seed is received in the heart and suffered to bring forth its natural and proper effect Christ comes to be formed and raised of which the Scripture makes so much mention calling it the New Man Christ within the hope of Glory This is that Christ within which we are heard so much to speak and declare of every where preaching him up and exhorting People to believe in the Light and obey it that they may come to know Christ in them to deliver them from all sin But by this we do not at all intend either to equal our selves to that Holy Man the Lord Jesus Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwell bodily nor to destroy the reality of his present Existence so neither do we as some have falsly caluminated us For though we affirm that Christ dwells in us yet not immediately but mediately as he is in that Seed which is in us whereas he to wit the Eternal Word which was with God and was God dwelt immediately in that Holy Man He then is as the Head and we as the Members he the Vine and we the Branches Now as the Soul of Man dwells otherwayes and in a far more immediate manner in the Head and in the Heart than in the Hands or Legs And as the Sap Vertue and Life of the Vine lodgeth far otherwise in the Stock and Root than in the Branches so God dwelleth otherwise in the Man Jesus than in us We also freely reject the Heresie of Appollonarius who denyed him to have any Soul but said the Body was only acted by the God-head As also the error of Eutyches who made the Manhood to be wholly swallowed up of the Godhead wherefore as we believe he was a true and real man so we also believe that he continues so to be glorified in the Heavens in Soul and Body by whom God shall judge the World in the great and general day of Judgment § XIV Thirdly We understand not this Seed Light or Grace to be an accident as most men ignorantly do but a real Spiritual Substance which the Soul of man is capable to feel and apprehend from which that real Spiritual inward Birth in Believers arises called the New Creature the new Man in the Heart This seems strange to carnal minded men because they are not acquainted with it but we know it and are sensible of it by a true and certain experience though it be hard for man in his natural wisdom to comprehend it until he come to feel it in himself and if he should holding it in the mear notion it would avail him little Yet we are able to make it appear to be true and that our Faith concerning it is not without a solid ground for it is in and by this inward and substantial Seed in our Hearts as it comes to receive nourishment and to have a birth or geniture in us that we come to have those Spiritual Senses raised by which we are made capable of tasting smelling seeing and handling the things of God For a man cannot reach unto those things by his natural Spirit and Senses as is above declared Next we know it to be a Substance because it subsists in the hearts of wicked men even while they are in their wickedness as shall be hereafter proved at large Now no accident can be in a subject without it give the subject it s own denomination as where whiteness is in a subject there the subject is called white So we distinguish betwixt Holiness as it is an accident which denominates man so as the Seed receives a place in him and betwixt this Holy substantial Seed which many times lies in man's heart as a naked grain in a stony ground So also as we may distinguish betwixt Health and Medicine Health cannot be in the Body without the Body be called Healthful because Health is an accident but Medicine may be in a Body that is most unhealthful for that it is a substance And as when a Medicine begins to work the Body may in some respect be called healthful and in some respect unhealthful so we acknowledg as this Divine Medicine receives place in Mans Heart it may denominate him in some part holy and good though there remain yet a corrupted unmortified part or some part of the evil humours unpurged out for where two contrary accidents are in one subject as Health and Sickness in a Body the subject receives its denomination from the accident which prevails most so many Men are called Saints good and Holy Men and that truly when this Holy Seed hath wrought in them in a good measure and hath somewhat leavened them into its Nature though they may be yet liable to many infirmities and weaknesses yea and to some iniquities For as the seed of sin and ground of corruption yea and the capacity of yielding thereunto and sometimes actual falling doth not denominate a good and holy man impious so neither doth the Seed of Righteousness in evil men and the possibiliâ—y of their becoming one with it denominate them good or holy § XV. Fourthly We do not hereby intend any wayes to lessen or derogate from the Atonement and Sacrifice of Jesus Christ But on the contrary do magnifie and exalt it For as we believe all those things to have been certainly transacted which are recorded in the Holy Scriptures concerning the Birth Life Miracles Sufferings Resurrection and Ascension of Christ so we do also believe that it is the duty of every one to believe it to whom it pleases God to reveal the same and to bring them the knowledg of it yea we believe it were damnable unbelief not to believe when so declared but to resist that Holy Seed which as minded would lead and incline every one to believe it as it is offered unto them though it revealeth not in every one the outwardly and explicit knowledg of it nevertheless it alwayes assenteth to it ubi declaratur where it is declared Nevertheless as we firmly believe it was necessary that Christ should come that by his Death and Sufferings he might offer up himself a Sacrifice to God for our sins who his own self bore our sins in his own Body on the Tree so we believe that the remission of sins which any partake of is only in and by vertue of that most satisfactory Sacrifice and no otherwise For it is by the obedience of that One that the Free-gift is come upon all to justification for we affirm that as all men partake of the Fruit of Adam's Fall in that by reason of that evil Seed which through him is communicated unto them they are prone and inclined unto evil though thousands of thousands be ignorant of Adam's Fall neither ever knew of the eating of the forbidden Fruit so also many may come to feel