that they might be Witnesses c. and the promise of the Holy Ghost which Christ received from the Father Acts 2.23 peculiarly concerned the miraculous Gifts which were bestowed after Christs Ascension and this as I conceive the Doctor acknowledgeth by saying that Christ shed forth what they saw and heard in the miraculous operations and effects of it Now saith he In this promise viz. Acts 1. vers 4 8. the Lord Christ founded the Church it self and by it he builded it up And this is the Hinge whereon the whole weight of it doth turn and depend unto this day It is indeed certain that the faith of the Church is at this day founded upon the extraordinary testimonies that were given to the Gospel by the Spirit in the first ages of the Church But that which follows is absolutely false Take away this promise suppose it to cease as unto a continual Accomplishment and there will be an absolute end of the Church of Christ in this world For as he elsewhere confesses himself Miracles are ceased and yet there is a Church He proceeds thus No Dispensation of the Spirit no Church he that would utterly separate the Spirit from the Word had as good burn his Bible Be not so hasty for although this happens to be a truth yet 't is more than you have proved The Operations of the Spirit may now be utterly separated from the Word for all Acts 1.4 And although you very truely tell us that the bare Letter of the New Testament cannot ingenerate Faith and Obedience in the hearts of men yet for any thing you have here said it may For those Texts upon which you ground your confidence speak onely of the miraculous Gifts whereby the Gospel was confirmed Now these being recorded in the New Testament together with that Doctrine which was proved by them may be as able to assure men of the truth of the Gospel and make them obedient to the Law of Christ as they were when they were seen and heard and that of themselves too for any thing you have shewn to the contrary from Acts 1. though the contrary may well be shewn from other Scriptures Now I cannot see to what end these men when they are speaking of the Promise of the Spirit which will in all ages be accomplished should fly so often as they do to those Texts which mention those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit that were bestowed in the first unless it be to make their followers believe that the true Ministers of the Gospel are inspired as the Apostles were and that they preach in the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power as the Apostles did Which because we do not pretend to it is left to them who do so to be sole owners of the Priviledge Just as the Papists support their pretence to Miracles and Infallibility by drawing the promises peculiarly made to the Apostles and first Believers into consequence for the Church of Rome in every age And I fear by the like device our Author hath laid his Plot to unchurch us quite and clean who conform to the Laws For saith he Let men cast themselves into what order they please institute what forms of Government and religious Worship they please let them do it by an attendance according to the best of their Vnderstandings unto the Letter of the Scripture i. e. let their Government and Worship be as neer the rule of the Scripture as they can possibly frame it yet if the work of the Spirit of God be disowned or disclaimed by them if they disown those extravagant pretences to the Spirit which you set up to magnifie your selves withal If there be not in them and upon them such a work of his as is promised by our Lord Jesus Christ there is no Church-state amongst them nor as such is it to be owned and esteemed And is this that you have been driving at all this while you have now found out a new colour for your Schism and it seems the separation from the Church of England must go forward upon this pretence that the work of the Spirit promised by our Lord Jesus Christ is not in us and upon us which in many places of your Book also you spare not to say we reproach and disavow But I beseech you dare you say that you have that work of the Spirit in you and upon you which is signified by the fore-mentioned Texts If you say so we shall presently desire you to convince us of it by Miracles and such signes as the Apostles did If you dare not say it then it seems that work of the Spirit is no more in you and upon you than 't is in us and then I hope we are not unchurched for not pretending to it nor fit to be accounted Reprobates because we are not Liars I acknowledge that promise of our Saviour mentioned by you in your next Section Matth. 28.20 I am with you always even unto the end of the world proves the constant presence of Christ in his Church by his Spirit but then Sir it doth not prove nor I think are you able to prove that the fore-mentioned promise made to the Apostles is the same promise with that which is here made Now as to that work of the Spirit which will indeed continue through all ages of the Church God forbid that we should disown and disclaim it But we disown the proving it from such places of Scripture as you lay the great stress of your proof upon lest we should seem to pretend to those influences of the Holy Spirit which were poured forth upon the Church at her first appearance in the world to confirm the Christian Faith by signes and wonders and not being able to make good our pretence be laughed at for our pains It would not avail us to say that we pretend not to those measures of the Spirit those extraordinary Gifts which the Apostles and first Believers had for it would be unanswerably returned upon us that these Texts cannot be proved to speak of any but these and thus we should disparage a good cause by arguing no better for it Therefore Doctor if the whole work of the Spirit in and towards the Church it self be openly derided as you complain you may I doubt in great part thank your self and such as you who by imprudent Discourses upon this subject have given profane persons occasion to make a question whether now-a-days there be any work at all of Gods Spirit upon the hearts of men I shall now endeavour to shew that there is and that by laying together what the Holy Scriptures say concerning it All which I suppose may be reduced to these three heads 1. What those effects are for the producing of which in the mindes of men God will give the Holy Spirit in all ages of the Church 2. To whom this promise of the Holy Spirit is made 3. What is the manner and measure of his Operations By
thereof p. 277. An instance of his excessive boldness in this matter p. 280. The manner of the holy Spirit 's Operations suitable to the rational nature of Mankinde p. 282. which is in words granted but in effect denied by Dr. Owen p. 283. His vain endeavours to reconcile this Proposition with his Physical immediate Operation p. 286. Isa. 5.4 discoursed upon p. 290. The holy Spirit operates in that manner as to leave our diligence necessary to attain the end of his Operations p. 292. What is meant by God's working in us to will and to do p. 293. And by giving a new Heart p. 296. The Operations of the Spirit suited to our spiritual estate p. 298. That his Graces are wrought gradually is an useful consideration p. 302. That the Operations of the holy Spirit are in themselves imperceptible and known onely by their effects p. 305. That to be guided by the Holy Spirit and by the Gospel and by a good Conscience is one and the same thing p. 309. That men resist the Holy Spirit when they think of nothing less p. 312. That the Operations of the Holy Spirit are Assistances p. 314. Dr. Owen falsly pretends that his Adversaries deny the Assistances of Grace p. 315. That his errour is more justly chargeable upon himself p. 318. The promise of the Holy Spirit a forcible motive to Godliness shewn from the general Heads of the whole Discourse p. 324. The Conclusion of the First Part p. 326. THE INTRODUCTION SECT I. FRom what St. Paul saith Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure it is evident that the consideration of that Divine Assistance whereof the Apostle speaks is a pregnant motive to excite our greatest care and endeavour to do the will of God For I suppose no Christian will say that St. Paul pretended to enforce his Exhortation with an Argument that had little or no force in it to perswade The forcibleness of this Motive lies principally in this Supposition that as they upon whom the aids of the Holy Spirit which are promised in the Gospel are bestowed may fulfil the conditions of obtaining Eternal Life so withal they may miscarry through their own negligence and then their sin becomes more inexcusable and their punishment will be more heavy And this is a clear reason why even those in whom God worketh both to will and to do are yet exhorted to work out their Salvation with fear and trembling Upon this Supposition the Author to the Hebrews doth earnestly exhort Christians to perseverance in the profession and practice of the Gospel For saith he of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath done despite to the spirit of grace which he saith plainly for this end to excite them to an effectual care in improving those Spiritual Aids whereby they were able to persevere This I think will easily be granted unless we can imagine that the Apostle talks at as strange a rate as Dr. John Owen frequently doth in his Book concerning the Holy Spirit where he often threatens them with the day of Judgement that look upon him and divers of his notions in Divinity to be senseless and fanatical For we shall see that his threatnings have not that charitable meaning in them which the admonitions of the Apostle have He tells us that Those by whom Regeneration i. e. his notion of it is exposed to scorn will one day understand the necessity of it although it may be not before 't is too late to obtain any advantage by it Now one would think it to be the Doctor 's opinion that those who shall one day be damned might by a timely care have prevented it and that he intended this warning to make them careful to understand the necessity of Regeneration before it be too late But if you think so you are much mistaken and you do not yet understand this man's Principles for throughout his whole Book he supposes a certain powerful illumination of the Holy Ghost given to none but those that shall certainly be saved to be necessary in order to a saving knowledge of Regeneration And as for the rest the darkness that is in them is no less effectual to binde them in a state of Sin than it is in the Devils themselves Now I do not understand how the Doctor 's Warnings could be of any use to the Devils themselves And I do as little understand why he makes such frequent excursions as he doth to threaten his Adversaries with the day of Judgement unless as one would be tempted to believe by the insulting language that goes along with it it be some refreshing to a man so naturally vindictive to think he shall one day see 'em damn'd This is one great exception I have against this Man's Book that whereas he contends so fiercely for his Opinions as he doth all along pretending in particular That it is of the highest importance to us to enquire into and secure unto our selves the promised workings of the Spirit yet supposing his notions thereof to be true it is no matter whether they be enquired into or no for neither can we have a true understanding what they are nor if we could would that excite our endeavours to secure them for according to him it is impossible for a man to understand a spiritual truth or do any thing that is spiritually good unless he be enabled by such an Almighty Power as leaves it on the other hand impossible for him to be spiritually blinde and dead any longer For this power he saith is irresistible and he affirmeth it to be false that the Will can make use of that Grace for Conversion which it can refuse Now the Doctor confesses that this kinde of blindness and deadness with respect unto spiritual things is a matter which the World cannot endure to hear of and is ready to fall into a tumult upon the mention of it And if he says true I am very glad on 't because if the World could not endure to hear such Doctrines as these are we might hope to see a great many men wiser and better than they are for he hath stated the Doctrine of the operations of the Spirit in that manner that instead of exciting men thereby to hearty endeavours after true goodness he hath laid down Principles that will excuse them if they be never so careless and so hath betray'd this great encouragement of the Gospel into the hands of lazy and wicked men I shall therefore endeavour to give a better account of what the Holy Scripture teacheth us in this matter then I think he hath done and I shall withal examine those Arguments wherewith he pretends so to demonstrate his notions that the proudest and most petulant of his Adversaries shall not be able to return any thing of a solid answer
shewing what we are taught in the Scriptures concerning these things I hope the Reader who hath not so well considered them may gain a profitable knowledge of this part of Christian Doctrine And that is a profitable knowledge of it which will incite him to the study of Godliness and Virtue For this promise is made to encourage men to be good and the principal end which I aim at in this undertaking is to make it appear what great reason they have to endeavour earnestly after true goodness since God hath promised to give his Holy Spirit CHAP. II. Concerning those effects for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is given to Believers SECT I. DOctor O. saith well that when we treat of the Operations of the Holy Spirit we are exercised in such a Subject as wherein we have no rule nor guide nor any thing to give us assistance but pure Revelation For I suppose he means by these words that all our knowledge concerning this matter depends upon Revelation For the promise of the Spirit is a branch of the New Covenant which depended upon the pleasure of God therefore our knowledge of this part of the Covenant must be grounded upon the Scriptures which contain the revelation of it And by God's assistance I shall endeavour to govern my self by that rule while I am debating those Questions I have propounded concerning the Operations of the Holy Spirit The first whereof is this What those effects are for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is given to men And this I the rather begin withal because the end of his Operations being well understood we shall be the better able to judge of the meaning of those Texts which tell us who they are to whom the Spirit is promised and what is the manner of his Operations What the effects themselves are for which the Spirit is given may be known 1. In great part from that promise of the Holy Spirit which our Saviour made to his Disciples Luke 11.13 2. They may be fully known from those other places of Scripture which mention the several Graces of the Holy Spirit I begin with the promise in St. Luke whereby we may understand for what purposes the Holy Spirit is promised to those that believe in Christ. The Text is this How much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him These words deserve our attention the more because they are the first wherein we finde our Saviour mentioning the Gift of the Holy Spirit to his Disciples and therefore let us consider their connexion with the precedent part of the Chapter to come by that means to their true meaning and hereby also we shall plainly see what those effects are for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is promised to us in this place We finde vers 1. that one of his disciples said unto him Lord teach us to pray whereupon he taught them that Form of Prayer Our Father c. Having thus answered their desire he takes this occasion to require them to pray fervently and importunately urging his Command with this Argument that if they did so they should certainly be heard and their requests should be granted for thus he speaks to them vers 9. I say unto you Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened to you for every one that asketh receiveth c. This argument is enforced by two similitudes whereof the former makes way for the latter to proceed with more strength towards the proving of this thing that God will hear our earnest Prayers The first is that of a man that goes to his friend at midnight to beg three Loaves for the entertainment of another friend of his vers 5 6. Now it is here observed that the request was very troublesome and unseasonable vers 7. Trouble me not the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed and withal the trouble was so great that the bare friendship that was between them would not have prevailed vers 8. He will not rise and give him because he is his friend Yet on the other side 't is observed that two considerations prevailed with him viz. that of the necessity and that of the importunity of his friend Yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth Now from hence our Saviour concludes vers 9. that if we ask we shall have i. e. God will give us whatsoever things we ask of him importunately if those things are needful for us And this with great reason for 1. God is our best Friend and greatest Benefactor 2. We are never unseasonable to him and the giving of what we ask is never uneasie to himself Wherefore if a man will grant to his friend what he is importunate with him for if it be needful for him though he cannot do it without trouble and uneasiness to himself much more will God who loveth us more than a man can do his friend bestow such things upon us as are needful if we earnestly desire him since he can without any trouble to himself grant our requests In the next Similitude the Argument is improved If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father will he give him a stone or if he ask a fish will he for a fish give him a serpent Or if he shall ask an egg will he offer him a scorpion vers 11 12. Now here 1. The Son asks of the Father where on the one hand the natural affection is greater between a Father and his Son and on the other the dependance greater in the Son upon his Father than in one Friend upon another 2. The Son requests food necessary to sustain himself not for the entertainment of another as in the former Similitude wherefore seeing here is greater love on his part that is asked greater dependance and necessity on his that asks our Saviour concludes he will prevail so that the Father instead of giving that which is necessary will not give that which is unprofitable as a Stone instead of Bread much less will he instead of that which is profitable give that which is hurtful as a Serpent for a Fish and a Scorpion for an Egg. From hence our Saviour argues If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him The Argument proceeds à minori and the force of it lies in this That earthly Parents who may be tenacious towards others and envy what they enjoy for in that sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken Is thine eye evil because mine is good will not yet be so towards their Children when they ask such things as they need much less will God who is in this Similitude affirmed to be our Father as in the former he is supposed to be our Friend and who
extemporary praying and to pass for one that hath a double measure of the Spirit with them who are apt to ascribe all Heat and Eloquence in matters of Religion to a divine Principle I do not speak this to undervalue any man's abilities in this kinde but onely to shew that they may be set too high As for them that do so they may undeceive themselves by observing the very Prayers of those persons whose gifts this way are most remarkable for although these men are sometimes pleased to decry the use of Forms as not savouring of the Spirit yet it is plain enough that their own Prayers as spiritual as they look may be as purely Humane as the Prayers of a Book are by them judged to be For it is evident that they tie up themselves to those usual Topicks of Prayer and Heads of Devotion according to which Book-prayers as they call them are framed They usually begin with the Invocation of God by the acknowledgement of his Attributes and then they run through the common places of Confession Petition and Thanksgiving which are the subjects that furnish set Forms of Prayer They confess the same Sins they beg the same Graces they praise God for the same Blessings in all their Prayers Now this is that which I suppose none of them will deny and then I think they must confess that their Prayers as to the matter of them are as formal as those of the Liturgy But further as the matter of their Prayers is confined to certain Heads so for the most part they use the same expressions onely with this condition that they are laid in with such good store of them that they need not use them all at once but may keep some against another time And thus indeed they do not tie up themselves to a form of Words because they have as many Forms to use as may be made by the shifting and transposing of those Phrases which they have in stock and so many Forms they have more or fewer according as that stock increases more or less And thus as we pray out of our Books so do they out of their Memories and the difference between their way and ours for I speak now of those that do not use to talk idly and extravagantly in their extemporary Prayers is this that ours hath the advantage of Safety and theirs of Popularity and Ostentation But I am not able to divine what that is in Extemporary praying as that is distinguish'd from using a set Form which must needs be ascribed to the immediate suggestion of the Spirit The matter of such Prayers is certainly the most considerable and the knowledge of that we see may come another way which seem'd to be the minde too of the late Assembly who although they threw aside the Book of Common-prayers to make way for Extemporary Performances yet thought fit to give the Minister a Directory for the Matter without leaving him to be guided in that by the suggestion of the Holy Ghost which made some men think they might e'ne as well have prescribed a set Form unless they intended to leave the meaner office of supplying him with words to the Holy Spirit But the words and phrases as I have shewn you may come from a more familiar Principle And then there is nothing left but that shifting and changing of places with them which makes the great show of variety But this is so unworthy to be ascribed to a divine principle that I may conclude extemporary Prayers allowing them to be never so useful and profitable need not to be dictated by Inspiration and therefore no such Inspiration was promised by our Saviour when be promised the Gift of the Holy Spirit to all his Disciples Thus have I shewn that neither of these three things come under the promise in St. Luke 11.13 For they are not Gifts of that kinde which are there promised to them that ask the Spirit And I adde it may be strongly presumed that they are promised nowhere else since they do not fall under this general promise of the Spirit which comprehends all the rest But because there are some men so vehemently perswaded that the Holy Spirit is given for these purposes that they reckon it little better than Blasphemy to gainsay it I shall proceed to those places of Scripture upon which such mighty confidence is grounded to see whether they afford any reason for it SECT 4. And first as to those testimonies which are alledged out of the Bible in favour of interpreting or understanding Scripture by the immediate revelation of the Spirit I refer the Reader wholly to Dr. Hammond's Postscript concerning New Light and divine Illumination annexed to his Paraphrase c. upon the New Testament where they are all considered and shewn to infer no such thing as is desired to be concluded from them But if after all any man should say that he knows by the Light of the Spirit that Interpretation which Dr. Hammond hath given of those Texts to be nothing better than carnal Reasoning and come over with Dr. Owen's talk of the Natural Man and the impossibility of understanding the spiritual sence of Gospel-truths without the Almighty Illumination of the Spirit I confess it will prove a matter of as great difficulty to reply to such a pretender as it is to finde out a way to convince a Quaker For what success can any man promise himself by replying to a confident Enthusiast who perpetually appeals from the most evident reasons the plainest testimonies of Scripture and the most rational inferences from them to the testimony of the Spirit However this I will venture to say that if it were granted impossible to understand these Texts without that New Light which the Papists call an Infallible Spirit and Dr. Owen and his party an Almighty work of the Holy Ghost for in effect they are both the same thing then it must be granted withal that these Texts are impertinently produced to convince us who do not pretend to this Infallible Spirit that there are a sort of men upon whom God bestows that priviledge For that theirs is the true sence cannot be proved to us but by rational means i. e. either by arguing from the original words or the Context or parallel places or the like or else by some clear divine testimony proper to convince us that they in particular are inspired such as real and undoubted Miracles This latter way is pretended to onely by the Papists and though the frauds they have been deprehended in sufficiently shew those amongst them that have raised the noise of their Miracles to be Impostors yet it is to be acknowledged that they pretend to offer a rational means of Conviction that their Church interprets the Scripture by an infallible Spirit which the men I am at present speaking of do not offer in the least As for the former way of convincing us by rational evidence from the Text it self it is that which we are
more sensibly affected with those joys of the Holy Ghost which increase the love of Virtue and confirm him in every divine disposition 2. This is further evident from those passages in Holy Writ where we are required to grow in grace to abound in the work of the Lord and to go on to perfection For these places and the like do strongly imply that we cannot on a sudden arrive to any degree of goodness which we fall greatly short of at present much less that we can presently be filled with the fulness of God Wherefore it plainly follows that the Holy Spirit does not affect our mindes when we begin the Christian life in the same manner and measure that he moveth us in after we have made some progress in it or shall arrive to such an eminent degree of Christianity as may answer that expression of being filled with the fulness of God For if it were thus then we might become Men in Christ assoon as we are Babes and come to the fulness of our stature without growing and going on to perfection It is further observable that the Word of God is affirmed to be the means of our increasing in holiness we must desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby as St. Peter tells us and in Col. 1.9 St. Paul instructs us that the way whereby the Spirit maketh us to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing being fruitful in every good work is by filling us with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding From whence I observe that our improvement in holiness is greater or lesser according as we consider and meditate upon divine Truths viz. for this end of governing our lives by them which is to know them in Wisdom and spiritual Vnderstanding Now since the effects of the Holy Spirit 's Operation in our mindes are as I have shewn the genuine and proper effects of the Word of God seriously considered and laid to heart it follows that the Holy Spirit worketh in us according to that measure wherein divine Truths are considered by us Therefore since our fruitfulness depends upon our increasing in the knowledge of God or that spiritual Vnderstanding which the Apostle speaks of the Holy Spirit who worketh in us by the Word of God does not make us capable of arriving to that state of walking before the Lord in all well-pleasing all at once but by degrees viz. as we increase in the knowledge of God by daily Meditation Lastly since by the experience we have of Humane Nature we see that customes are not easily and presently put off and that matters of difficulty cannot be made familiar to us but by use and practice more particularly that they who are accustomed to do evil cannot of a sudden learn to do well that ill habits are not wasted but by degrees that the difficulties of a Religious life press most upon us when we first enter upon it and that they wear away insensibly by continuance in well-doing likewise that vertue is improved by exercise and that the Path of the just as the Wise man speaks is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day I say this being considered we must needs acknowledge that the Holy Spirit does not produce the effects of his Grace in the mindes of men all at once but that he accommodates his Operations to the state in which they are at present prompting them to that amendment which the measure of their capacity will admit And this I take to be a Consequence also of what the Doctor so fully grants viz. that the Spirit acts the mindes of men onely as they are meet to be acted according to their own Nature Power and Ability and according to their natural Operations For if we may trust the constant experience of Mankinde both of the good and the bad although an evil habit is sooner contracted than a good one yet none is gained without some use and exercise and ordinarily it cannot be otherwise Now if the Spirit moves us no otherwise than according to the Nature Power and Ability of our mindes we must not think that by his Grace we may leap out of a wicked course of life in a moment into the habits of Piety and Virtue but that he is in that manner present with us as to enable us to make a good beginning and if we do so that by his more abundant Grace we may proceed and so by degrees come to a divine temper of minde and to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing There is no doubt but God if he pleaseth can in an instant change the most vicious man into a Saint but we have no more reason to think that he will do so than that he should work new Miracles to convert us But we have great reason to perswade us that he will not do so for if we may judge of the Manner and Measure of the Holy Spirit 's Operations by the promises of special Grace which belong onely to qualified and prepared persons or by the Commands of the Scripture to grow in Grace and in the knowledge of Christ or by the general experience of Humane Nature we may conclude that an habitual Sinner cannot become a good man in an instant He must first learn to be afraid of God's angry Justice he must be heartily sorry for his sins he must deeply consider the promises of the Gospel he must avoid the occasions of sin and fortifie himself with vehement resolutions to forsake his wicked course and he must make many earnest prayers before he can subdue his Lusts and overcome the world and yield a sincere obedience to all the Commands of God And by consequence he cannot expect that the Operations of the Holy Spirit should make him a holy man but by the former means and therefore by degrees This Consideration ought not to have been omitted because it may be of great use to two very different sorts of men 1. To those who have been long accustomed to a sinful course of life and think it impossible to recover themselves although they have the opportunities of amendment before them For it happens sometimes that such men wish they had taken an early care to live in the fear of God and the practice of Religion and Virtue but they believe it is now in vain to strive against those fatal habits which are so deeply rooted in their mindes and so they abandon themselves to carelessness and desperation The reason whereof is commonly this that when they attempted their own reformation and had purposed to lead a new life they soon found themselves surprized again by their former temptations and carried away as strongly by their sensual appetites as ever they were before which makes them conclude it is to no purpose to take any more pains with themselves as if because their freedom from the servitude of sin could not be effected in a
does not say in plain terms that he is infallible yet in that Book which I have taken the pains to consider he lays claim as you will see to such an Illumination of minde by the Holy Spirit as differs very little from that kinde of Inspiration which the Apostles had But this will not hinder you from trying the Doctor 's Spirit and way of Teaching if you consider what he very well observed in the fore-mentioned Book viz. that the Bereans were highly extoll'd for searching whether the Doctrine concerning our Saviour preached by St. Paul were so or no For he must not desire to be believed more hastily than St. Paul did who we are sure spake by an infallible Spirit The more highly any man pretends to the divine Spirit the better Testimonies he had need to produce for the truth of his pretence No wise man will lightly take up that belief of another which if he once gives way to he must believe him in all things else The brighter those Illuminations are which any Teacher boasts of the less reason you have to take his bare word for it and if he be not willing that you should examine his Doctrines he gives you great cause of suspition that they will not abide the Tryal Besides the Doctor takes notice that what was praised in the Bereans is commended in the Scripture Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God because many false spirits are gone out into the world 1 Joh. 4.1 Prophets then as he goes on must be tried before they be trusted now the reason of this holds still there are many false Teachers abroad in the world wherefore try every one try his spirit his spiritual gift of Teaching and that by the Word of God I will onely adde that the reason holds more strongly now for if false Teachers pretended to an infallible Spirit even whilst the Apostles were alive to contradict them and discover them much more likely are they to do so now when they think they may do it more securely and therefore we had need to use the more diligence in trying those Teachers that pretend loftily by that Word of God which the Apostles have left us in their Writings Now if the Doctor would have you to shut your own Eyes and then trust to that New saving Light by which he pretends to explain Gospel-Truths this were enough to make you suspect that the Light that is in him is Darkness Or if he meant to except himself from being tried when he bad you try the Spirits for that reason he is least of all to be excepted I have obeyed the Apostles advice and tried him as you may see in the following Book which I was willing to make publick because those Reasons which satisfie me that he is very much out of the way in discoursing upon spiritual things after this manner may possibly seem as clear to you as they do to my self If there be any Sophistry in them or carnal Reasoning or perverting of Holy Writ 't is more than I know and I shall thank the Doctor for making the discovery which I think he is bound to do if he can not onely for your sake but for mine too For so far as I understand my self I am not less desirous to retract any errour of my own than I am to convince you of his And therefore if he be as willing as I am I shall in all probability hear further from him In the mean time I desire you to believe neither of us but to try us both If the Doctor 's friends should be troubled to find him charg'd with Nonsence in the following Book the Author has this to say for himself that he knew no other name so fit as Nonsence to call Nonsence by And he believes that he has not onely said but prov'd also that the Doctor is guilty of Nonsence where he has charged him with it He hopes also that they will not be offended with him for taking occasion sometimes to rebuke this man for those rude Words and unjust Reproaches which he has poured forth for whole Pages together upon his Adversaries of the Church of England For if it be possible he should be taught at last to manage controversies in Religion in a more Christian manner than he has done hitherto And now the Author will onely say in behalf of himself that his designe in this Book was to clear the Truth of that Question which he has undertaken to every ordinary understanding and thereby to promote the power of Godliness And the best thing he can say of the Book it self is that it hath been thought by men of far better judgement than he can pretend to not to be altogether improper for that end And if they are not mistaken may the All-wise and good God prosper the designe of it with his Blessing The CONTENTS Of the Introduction SECT I. THat the promise of the Holy Spirit is according to the Scriptures a great motive to diligence in Religion Page 1. That according to Dr. Owen's principles it seems to be none at all p. 3. The Author's designe p. 4. SECT II. The advantage which the Doctor makes by pretending that onely the Regenerate understand spiritual things spiritually p. 5. while he proves himself to be regenerate by his spiritual understanding of spiritual things p. 6. This Artifice of his discovered in some instances p. 7. That he allows onely himself and his party to be competent Judges of his Doctrine concerning the Operations of the Holy Spirit p. 11. SECT III. His interpretation of 1 Cor. 2.14 explained p. 15. SECT IV. That his meaning of the natural man is groundless p. 20. Of his not receiving the things of the Spirit absurd p. 21. And of their being foolishness to him blasphemous p. 25. The odde account he gives of the reasonableness of the Gospel in his Preface p. 27. Other reflections upon his sence of the fore-mentioned Text p. 30. That the Doctor 's pretended Gospel-mysteries need his interpretation of that Text but the real mysteries of the Gospel need it not p. 31. The pernicious consequence of his interpretation p. 32. SECT V. Another sence of the Text offered according to St. Chrysostome whose Authority the Doctor pretends in favour of his own p. 33. The scope of the Apostle in that and the former Chapter largely shewn p. 34. From whence it plainly appears what he meant by the natural man p. 40. The Scriptural notion of the state of nature p. 42. What is meant by the things of the Spirit of God and their being spiritually discerned p. 43. and by the spiritual man p. 45. The incoherence of the Doctor 's sence with the Context p. 46. Dr. Hammond's Paraphrase upon the Text vindicated from the exceptions of Dr. Owen p. 47. And shewn to agree with those passages of St. Chrysostome which Dr. Owen himself produceth p. 51. That the following Book is not to be
the Minde unprofitable to man and dishonourable to God but then withal I cannot finde them any where in the Scripture and therefore whatever he fancies of a possibility to believe that to be divinely revealed which is not believed to be consistent with the divine Attributes c. I do not so much as believe them nor do I see any likelihood that I ever shall unless some irresistible Power makes another thing of me than I finde my self to be at present And if this will content the Doctor I have no quarrel with him But then if he pretends that the real Doctrines of our Saviour's Gospel viz. That the Son of God was crucified for us and that we must be saved by Faith in him and that God will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him c. are as unintelligible and the usefulness of them as indiscernible as that of his new-fashion'd Principles I must beg his pardon if I cannot believe that neither but reckon on the contrary that the Doctor hath cast an horrible reproach upon the Christian Religion while he makes it impossible for a man that bends his Minde to consider the Doctrines thereof never so attentively and useth his reason never so modestly in the examination of them to assent to them as Doctrines worthy of God and profitable to man If that be true then this pernicious Consequence is unavoidable That it is to no purpose for a man to use any means to satisfie himself concerning the Truth of the Gospel and if it be yet pretended to him that he ought to be a right Believer he hath no way but to sit down in a lazy expectation of that Light which the Doctor saies must be created in his Minde by an Almighty Act of God before he can know and believe the Mysteries of the Gospel as they are and as they ought to be known This is the consequence of the Doctor 's interpretation of St. Paul's Text and let any man but himself judge whether it doth not infinitely disparage the whole Gospel of our Saviour and whether it do's not offer great wrong to the Souls of men by betraying them either into a contempt of Christianity or at least into a sluggish neglect of all that Consideration whereby they come to understand and believe it upon its proper grounds And this is the reason why I have been so punctual in finding out and so long in confuting his Notions of this Text which if they had not been altogether as pernicious as they are false I should have left them to perish in their own Nonsense SECT V. THe incoherence of his Interpretation with the scope of St. Paul in that and the former Chapter must be judged of by observing what St. Paul's design is in them which I now come to enquire into and thereby to lay a foundation for the true Interpretation of the Text. To allay those Contentions that were amongst the Corinthians about their Teachers whom they should follow Chap. 1. vers 11. St. Paul reminds them how he had preached the Gospel among them and by what arguments they had been won to receive it not with wisdom of words vers 17. and again not with enticing words of mans wisdom Chap. 2. vers 4. but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power i. e. not with Rhetorical Orations or Philosophical Discourses such as the wise men among the Gentiles made use of to put off their Opinions to the people withal he did not go about to perswade them in this manner but as it was fit to prove the truth of a divine Revelation which the Gospel was pretended to be he proved it to them by a divine Demonstration of the truth thereof viz. that of Supernatural Gifts bestowed now upon Believers of antient Prophesies of apparent Miracles wrought by Christ and his Apostles and such Testimonies of Gods owning the Gospel to be a Revelation from him as these are The consequence whereof was that their Faith did not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God i. e. that their Faith was not grounded upon the Eloquence or the subtle reasonings of men but upon the plain Testimony of God declared by Miracles c. And this was clearly a good consideration to take them off from contending about the persons of their Teachers who never went about to make Proselytes to themselves as vers 13. by the oftentation of Learning and Eloquence but to win them to the Christian Faith by the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power But hereupon the Apostle takes occasion to shew 1. The offence which they who were most in vogue for wisdom took at the Gospel and the way of preaching it and the prevalency of that way notwithstanding above all other methods to make men wise and good and this is the scope of chap. 1. from vers 18. to the end 2. To vindicate this way of preaching the Gospel against their pretences who rejected the Revelations of the Gospel which is the designe of chap. 2. That the former is the designe of the Apostles discourse in the first Chapter is plain from what he saith vers 18. and so forward For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness And who these were we learn from vers 20. Where is the Wise Where is the Scribe c. i. e. Let those men who are offended at the Preaching of Christ crucified come and compare the Religion they teach and the Reasons they bring for it and the Good they do by it with our Doctrine and the Testimonies we confirm it withal and the Advantages which it brings to them that believe it For it pleased God by the foolishness as they are pleased to call it of preaching to save them that believe vers 21. And the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness c. vers 25. i. e. Let it be consider'd and you will see a clear manifestation of Divine Wisdom and Power in the Death and Resurrection of Christ to the convincing of men that his Doctrine is true and the bringing of them to Salvation by it vers 24. You will see also what an infinite disparegement this wise contrivance of God will do to all the methods of human wisdom when they are compared with it For God hath chosen the foolish things of this world those waies of instructing and saving Mankinde which are so far above all the inventions and above the expectations of the wisest men that they now generally reckon them to be foolish to confound the wise to put down all that wisdom of theirs which they so much glory in and thereby to shew that God is infinitely wiser than men v. 27. That no flesh should glory in his presence vers 29. But the particular reasons why so few of those persons whose wisdome was in this manner baffled did embrace the Gospel of Christ for not many wise men after the flesh are called vers 26.
Literally and properly And I prove it thus 1. Because it is in it self absurd so to understand them 2. Because they cannot be so understood without contradicting the Scriptures 1. Because it is in itself absurd so to understand them The Reason is because these expressions of being Regenerated i. e. Born again and being Created do properly note divers things and yet our Author will confess that the same thing is to be understood by them when they are used to express the state of a man qualified for the Kingdom of Heaven or to note the Causes of that state wherefore to say also that they are properly to be understood is to say that the same thing is to be understood by them and not the same That they properly note divers things is plain for to be Born is one thing to be Created is another Adam by being Created could not properly be said to be Born nor when an Infant is Born can it be properly said to be Created Therefore to Create and Regenerate and to be Created and Regenerated cannot properly be understood when they are used to express the same thing as by all they are confessed to do in the case before us because properly they do not signifie one and the same but divers things This will farther appear if we consider what other expressions the Scripture useth to note our being Regenerated and Created anew It is called our being Drawn to Christ John 6.44 and our being Awakened 1 Cor. 15.34 and our being raised from the dead Col. 3.1 Ephes. 2.1 Now by the same reason as we shall see afterwards that being Regenerated and Created and having a new Heart and a new Spirit and Understanding must be properly understood all those other expressions must be properly understood too and then what monstrous absurdities do we charge upon the Scripture For no man can properly be said to be raised from the Dead that was not created before How can it then be properly said that a man is raised from the dead and created by the same act No man can be said properly to be awakened who is not alive How then is it possible that to give life and to awaken should be the same thing in the literal sence of those words Or how can all these things be properly drawing which in the literal sence is not akin to any of them But now according to a figurative use of these expressions they may be all used to express the same thing without any absurdity at all as any man may see that understands what is meant by them and which I shall ere-long endeavour to explain Wherefore to retort the Doctor 's charge upon himself which he hath laid against those who contend that these are Metaphorical expressions If it be so that they are as he saith proper expressions then our Lord Jesus was so far from bringing the Doctrine of Regeneration to more light by what he teacheth concerning it that he cast it thereby into more obscurity and darkness than ever it was delivered in before And again if all these expressions are properly to be understood the Scriptures must be granted to be obscure beyond those of any other Writers whatsoever always excepting our Author 's upon this subject 2. These expressions cannot be literally understood without contradicting the Scriptures which I thus prove If he that is regenerated be a new creature in the literal sence and hath properly a new nature then there must either be a removal of the former Nature and an introduction of a new one in the room of it or else the addition of a new Nature to the former But to affirm either of these things to be true in the proper sense is to contradict the Scriptures That the former Nature is properly renewed and another introduced into the room of it is contrary 1. To those texts which clearly affirm that the same persons who are now regenerate were once unregenerate as when St. Paul saith Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified c. 1 Cor. 6.11 that is they were the same persons though now regenerate But if in Regeneration literally and properly one nature is taken away and another given Regeneration cannot be said to be a change of the same man but the Annihilation of one man and the Creation of another for to take away one Nature and to give another to take away one Understanding and Will and to put in another is properly to put one Soul into the Body after the destruction of another 2. 'T is contrary to those Scriptures which suppose sin to remain in the Regenerate as when St. James saith In many things we offend all James 3.2 And then they are much mistaken who tell us that those words in Rom. 7.14 But I am carnal sold under sin to be spoken in the person of a regenerate man For supposing the old Nature to be taken away which is the onely Nature wherein there is a principle of sin and the new Nature given which is the Divine Nature it is impossible that Corruption and Sin should remain behinde for there is no principle from whence it should proceed None in the new Nature for that is the Divine Nature None in the old for that is taken away But this seems not to be the notion in which the Doctor owns the Literal sence but those passages of his which we have already noted would encline a man to believe that he favours the other viz. that Regeneration doth signifie the addition of a new Nature to the old For the new creature according to him hath a being and subsistence of its own in the Soul and it is superinduced into the essential faculties of the Soul So that our former Souls do remain still and if the new creature be literally to be understood then according to our Author there is a new creature added to the old And indeed this is clearly the consequence of his arguing For when he undertakes to explain that Text of St. Paul 2 Cor. 5.17 If any man be in Christ he is a new creature he tells us that the new creature which he that is in Christ is hath a being and subsistence of its own in the Soul and is superinduced c. wherefore 1. The former creature remains i. e. the essential faculties of the Soul and 2. The new creature is a creature or being properly distinct from the essential faculties of the Soul i. e. from the former creature Wherefore the Regenerate man is properly two creatures he is the old creature because the essential faculties of his Soul remain he is the new creature as the Apostle himself saith i. e. according to the Doctor 's explication a creature that is superinduced into the old and hath a being and subsistence of its own Now besides the absurdity of making a regenerate man to be two creatures properly distinct from one another the Old and the New the literal sence this
way clearly contradicts what the Scripture saith concerning the state of Regeneration which is the thing I am concerned to prove for the Scripture makes the state of Regeneration to consist in having the Heart of stone taken away as well as the Heart of flesh given in putting off the Old man as well as in putting on the New and when St. Paul saith He that is in Christ is a new creature we are not to understand that he is the old creature too for he tells us all old things are pass'd away and all things are become new Now thus I argue If these expressions are to be understood literally then it is literally true that the old man the old creature is put off c. as well as the new man put on and therefore it is contrary to Scripture to affirm Regeneration to consist in the addition of a new creature literally understood to the old Lastly since the Scripture doth express the state of Regeneration by phrases which literally and properly taken do some of them signifie the addition of a new Nature to the old and others the removal of the old Nature with a substitution of the new it is impossible that the literal and proper sence should be intended Thus I have proved the literal sence of these expressions to be inconsistent with the Scriptures and having before proved the absurd consequences which understanding them in this manner is chargeable with I hope it is sufficiently proved that they are not so to be understood which was the first thing to be done The consequence of what hath been said is clear that if they are not to be understood literally and properly then are they to be understood figuratively and metaphorically and nothing can be reasonably desired for the farther clearing of this point but to answer our Author's arguments against it which was the second thing proposed SECT 3. All that he saith to the contrary which can pretend to 〈◊〉 arguing we have Sect. 7. where his Arguments against the Metaphorical use of these expressions are two though they are there jumbled together by him without any distinction whereof one lies against affirming Regeneration to be a metaphorical expression or rather such an expression of what he saith his Adversaries understand by it the other lies against the supposition of any metaphorical expressions whatsoever whereby the Scripture is said to represent the work of God's Spirit upon the Souls of men The former Argument is to this purpose If Regeneration be no more than a metaphorical expression of amendment of Life according to the rules of the Scripture then our Saviour proposed unto Nicodemus a thing which he knew perfectly well before onely under a new name and notion which he had never heard of before so to take an advantage of charging him of being ignorant of what indeed he full well knew and understood But this he saith is a blasphemous imagination therefore Regeneration is no metaphorical expression of c. The latter Argument if you will be so civil as to call it an Argument is designed against the opinion that the Scripture useth any Metaphors at all in this matter For thus he concludes Some judge the things of the Gospel to be deep and mysterious the words and expressions of it to be plain and proper Others think the words and expressions of it to be mystical and figurative but the things intended to be ordinary and obvious to the Natural Reason of every man Now that which he thinks is that the things are mysterious and the words proper His Argument to prove this is contained in these passages If there be not a secret mysterious work of the Spirit of God upon the Souls of men intended in the Writings of the New Testament they must be granted to be obscure beyond those of any other Writers whatsoever If they are the Word of God the things intended in them are clearly and properly expressed The difficulties which seem to be in them arising from the mysterious nature of the things themselves contained in them and the weakness of our minds in apprehending such things and not from any obscurity or intricacy in the declaration of them Therefore some do well to judge the things of the Gospel to be deep and mysterious and the words of it to be plain and proper If there be any coherence in this Arguing I think it would be this If there be a mysterious Work of the Spirit upon the Souls of men intended in the Scripture then the words and expressions of the Gospel concerning it are plain and proper and such a mysterious work there is otherwise the Scriptures are obscure beyond all other Writings because the words of the Gospel are proper expressions of such a mysterious work I begin with this latter Argument First of all let us consider the Doctor 's Conclusion that we may afterwards see whether it is to be found in the Premises If he concludes any thing against his Adversaries he concludes that the Scripture hath used no Metaphorical expressions at all of the things of the Gospel For he saith Herein indeed consists the main controversie whereunto things with the most are reduced viz. that he and his friends judge the things of the Gospel to be mysterious and the words and expressions proper that is ALL the words and expressions of it For if he concludes only that some or the greater part of them are proper and not figurative expressions he concludes what none of his Adversaries deny and unless he concludes universally he proves nothing Now by the way I shall convince our Author that he hath concluded amiss for himself by putting him in minde that he elsewhere acknowledgeth that very thing of the Gospel which is the subject of our Debate to be in the Scripture Metaphorically exprest The work of the Spirit is exprest there by Quickning from Death to Life it is also exprest by Turning from Darkness to Light Now as to the latter our Authors words are these The term of Darkness in this case is Metaphorical and borrowed from that which is Natural As to the former these There in is men a spiritual Death called so Metaphorically from the Analogie and proportion that it bears to Death Natural Let us see whether the Doctor 's Argument will not Vnmetaphor these expressions again If there be a secret mysterious work of the Spirit intended in these expressions then they are not Metaphorical if no such work be intended by them then are the Scriptures obscure beyond all other Writers If he can Answer his Argument for himself he can Answer it for us too and then Regeneration in particular will prove a Metaphorical expression for if Death be so then Life is so too and being Born into that Life will unavoidably be so likewise Some of the expressions of the Gospel concerning these matters the Doctor allows to be Metaphorical so that the controversie we have with him one would think should
the proper sence But I do not see how so learned a man as Dr. Owen can excuse himself from dishonesty for making this construction of it which must appear ridiculous to any considering man However I hope the Reader will acknowledge that I have given a plain and reasonable account of the use of these Metaphors by shewing wherein the Similitude lies between the proper and figurative significations of them And hereby I may have helped our Author to conceive it a very possible thing that the Scriptures mean nothing more by those grand and Hyperbolical expressions as he calls them of being Regenerate c. then becoming a sincere Disciple of Christ which is his Adversaries notion of a Regenerate man Thus also I have shewn how far we may argue from these Scripture metaphors If any man can go further and finde out more Similitudes between the Metaphors and that which is meant by them I shall not be his Adversary provided he keeps himself within the bounds of Sense and Reason But to argue from the proper signification of any one or all these Metaphors to conclude something parallel in the state of a Believer to every thing which can properly be affirmed of them is to run upon such wilde and absurd consequences as any wise man would be asham'd to own and any good man would be afraid to fasten upon the Scriptures How our Author argues from them we shall see hereafter In the mean time we have proceeded thus far as to state the true notion of Regeneration SECT 10. Though I have as I conceive sufficiently proved that to be born again is to become a true Disciple of Christ yet for further confirmation and because it may be of some use to the ordinary Reader I shall make it plain that this notion is agreeable to the scope and designe of our Saviour's discourse to Nicodemus Joh. 3. which is the most famous place in the whole New Testament where this phrase is used It is one of the best ways of interpreting any difficult passage in Divine or Humane Authors to observe the designe of that whole discourse to which it belongs and then to fix such a meaning upon that passage as is apparently suitable to the scope of the Author if the words will bear that meaning That the Phrase of being Regenerate will bear that sence which I have assigned to it I have shewn and that it is the true sence thereof I have proved by clear Arguments from other Scriptures wherefore if I shew also that this sence of the Phrase is consonant to the plain scope of our Saviour in that discourse where he made the first mention of it that we read of nothing can be further desired to demonstrate that this indeed is the true meaning thereof The designe of our Saviour's discourse may easily be gathered from the plain passages of it and then it will appear to be this 1. To shew that faith in Christ and obedience to him were the means by which God had appointed to bring men to eternal Happiness 2. To shew the unreasonableness of the Jews who would not believe in him The former we finde vers 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life i. e. this is the way by which God hath determined to save Mankinde viz. by faith in his Son who was to be lifted up upon the Cross as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness a rude Salvage place and so fit to be the figure of that corrupt state of the World in which Christ came to die for us that whosoever believed in him should not perish but c. vers 14 15. Now this was so great a demonstration of God's Love to man thus to give his onely begotten Son that no man could hope to escape the anger of God who should refuse the benefit of this Sacrifice For though indeed God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved vers 17. yet he that believeth not is condemned already vers 18. is in a state to which condemnation belongs and that a more severe one for refusing so gratious an opportunity of Salvation as was now offered 2. Our Saviour shews the unreasonableness of those men that believed not and that by noting 1. The Evidence of that Truth which they disbelieved 2. The true cause of their unbelief The former he admonished Nicodemus of in these words Verily verily I say unto thee We speak that we do know and testifie that we have seen and ye receive not our testimony vers 11. i. e. Ye believe not my Doctrine concerning that onely way by which you must come to see the Kingdom of God although it be evidently true for this is that very Message which I bring you from God this is that Counsel and Decree of God which I come from him to testifie unto you that there is no other way but that Now this you acknowledge that I am a Teacher come from God for no man can do those Miracles that I do except God be with him v. 2. how strangely incredulous therefore are you that yet you will not believe me delivering that Doctrine which by these Testimonies of my coming from God I confirm For I prove that I have seen and known what I testifie I prove the truth of what I say by those Arguments that convince you that I am a Teacher come from God Hence we may probably gather the meaning of those words And no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the Son of Man which is in heaven vers 13. to be this No man hath known the secret purposes of God concerning the way of saving Mankinde viz. by the death of his Son No man hath thus ascended into Heaven but he that is come from Heaven whom God hath sent to reveal this to you even he who now speaketh to you who am in Heaven who know the purposes and intentions of my Father concerning the way of Salvation This I take to be a more probable interpretation of this difficult place than that which supposeth our Saviour to speak here of his local ascension into Heaven afterward because 1. The words themselves seem not well able to bear the notion of a future ascension 2. As Grotius hath well shewn the phrase of ascending into Heaven is in other places of Scripture to be taken in the former sence viz. of gaining knowledge from God as in Prov. 30.3 4. And 3. if thus it is understood in this place then what our Saviour saith here hath a clear connexion with vers 11. where he rebuketh the Jews for not believing his Revelations taxing them of unreasonableness for it since he delivered nothing but what he had seen and known from God and also with the precedent verse where by the heavenly things our Saviour
perswaded that it was the purpose of God from all eternity to bring a few men to eternal Life by an irresistible power and to leave the rest to unavoidable ruine he can no more hope to obtain the favour of God by doing what he can to please him than to reverse the Decrees of Heaven Wherefore if he understands his own principles he must needs be under a great Agony till he becomes assured that he is one of that happy number whom nothing no not sin it self can separate from the love of God But if we entertain honourable thoughts of God as we have great reason to do if we believe that he seriously calls upon us to repent and would have us to be saved and that he is ready to supply us with Grace sufficient 2 Cor. 12.9 then upon our care to please God in all things we shall never want so much comfort as we need i. e. the joy of well-doing which is the testimony of a good Conscience Wherefore since an absolute assurance that we shall be saved is needful neither as a condition of Salvation nor as a motive to Holiness nor as a means of Comfort I may conclude also that neither is this one of those Graces which our Saviour hath told us God will give to them that ask him SECT 3. Lastly that promise giveth us no reason to expect that the Holy Spirit will dictate extemporary Prayers to us For 1. Such Prayers themselves are not necessary to the obtaining of our requests for had that been so then certainly we should have been admonish'd in the Scriptures to pray Extempore as they call it as well as to pray at all and to beware of Book-prayers and the use of Forms as much as of neglecting the Duty altogether or performing it in a careless slothful manner And this the rather because Forms of Prayer and Thanksgiving were used in the Jewish Church and because also the modesty of many good Christians and the inabilities of many more would naturally prompt them to the use of so ready a help to devotion as pious and useful Forms of Prayer are But so far are we from finding any Command in Scripture to pray upon sudden invention that we finde no preference given to this way above the use of Forms but rather the contrary for when our Saviour taught his Disciples to pray he enjoyned them the use of a Form When ye pray say Our Father c. Luke 11. But 2. Not to contend for the usefulness of Forms of Prayer above leaving the performance of this duty to extemporary effusions but admitting the advantage lay on the side of the latter as some men perswade themselves I affirm that the suggestions of the Holy Spirit are not necessary to the conception or utterance of such Prayers For first they are not necessary to dictate what things we are to pray for since the Holy Scriptures may abundantly supply us with the knowledge of them Therefore I see no reason why Dr. Owen should say with so much anger that the Spirit of God let the proud carnal world despise it whilst they please and at their peril doth gratiously in the Prayers of Believers carry out and act their Souls and Mindes in Desires and Requests which for the matter of them are far above their natural contrivances and invention This is somewhat obscure but I would know what requests those are which for the matter of them are above your natural contrivance and invention If they be agreeable to the Word of God as I suppose you will say they are then either you knew them to be so before you pray'd or you knew it not If you did you have no reason to say that the matter of these requests was above your natural contrivance and invention if you mean thereby as I think you do that when you were praying you could not possibly have thought of those requests without a supernatural suggestion for you confess that you knew well enough before that you were to pray for such things as then come to your minde But if you knew them not then either you prayed for such things as you did not then know to be agreeable to God's Word or else you must suppose that the Holy Spirit which then gave you the first notice of them did immediately reveal to you that they were And yet you said just before I do not think that the Spirit worketh supplications in us by an immediate supernatural divine Afflatus so as he inspir'd the Prophets of old who oft-times understood not the things uttered by themselves Now that Revelation is as immediate and supernatural as the Inspiration of the Prophets was and to make all even you say elsewhere that let prophane and ignorant persons whilst they please deride what they understand not nor are able to disprove the Holy Spirit of God doth guide Believers in and by the working and experience of Faith to pray for those things the depths of whose mysteries they cannot comprehend So that if you neither know them before nor understand them afterward I think you may lay claim to the Afflatus of the old Prophets upon a double Title by your own account Now I shall be so far from deriding your pretence that I shall not go about to disprove it but onely tell you that we are not bound to believe you to be Inspired men unless you could prove it by some evident divine Testimony for want of which you again appeal to your Experiences and let us know withal that he who hath not experience hereof i. e. of having the matter of his Prayers suggested to him by the Spirit is a greater stranger to these things than will at length be unto his advantage which any man may say who speaks more than he understands All that I contend for is that the matter of our Prayers needs not to be dictated by Inspiration and that because the Spirit teacheth us by the written Word of God what we may and what we ought to pray for Nor 2. The words in which we pray for a ready use of our Mother-tongue will serve us with them freely enough so that a competent understanding of the chief Heads of Religion and the retaining in memory of a certain number of Scripture-phrases and Passages of holy Writ proper to be converted into Petitions together with a tolerable readiness of uttering ones thoughts in proper words will in some measure furnish a man with this gift and being thus qualified he shall not need to have the matter or the words of his Prayers dictated to him by the Holy Spirit any more than of an ordinary discourse with his Neighbour upon a subject which he is used to speak of But if he hath over and above a warm Invention and a voluble Tongue and a good share of Assurance in himself especially if he be apt to be heated with his own thoughts and expressions he is then qualified to excel in the way of
understood which is this That although Faith be an effect of divine Grace yet there is an higher measure of Grace promised to us if we believe and a greater than that if we sincerely obey the Gospel The greater promises of Grace are made to those that are in a good way already and the better that way is in which they are the more plentiful communications of the divine Spirit are they capable of It is indeed impossible to assigne the several degrees of that Grace which is bestowed upon men under such qualifications as the Gospel requires because we know not the degrees by which men are more or less qualified The Scripture hath onely acquainted us that believers and good men have promises of special Grace As for the particular degrees of it it is not necessary we should know them and therefore our Saviour hath told us onely in general To him that hath shall be given that is as the Parable to which these words belong clearly imports greater measures of Grace shall be bestowed upon them who best improve the Grace they have already received And this is a very weighty encouragement to make us all careful to be better SECT 2. I come now to speak directly to the Argument of this Chapter viz. who are the Object of Grace or the Operations of the Holy Spirit and that by laying down two or three plain Propositions which being proved the Question will be sufficiently and truely answered 1. God will give special Grace to all those that perform the conditions upon which it is promised which I hope stands in need of no other medium to prove it by than that God is faithful and true and will perform his promise Dr. Owen truely observes that the same Grace in nature and kinde is communicated unto several persons in various degrees and is by them used or improved with more or less care and diligence I shall adde that this special Grace for of that he speaks is communicated unto them in those degrees according as the Grace they had formerly received was improved with more or less diligence for that is plainly the meaning of those words now mentioned To him that hath it shall be given a saying so often repeated in the Evangelists but as neer as I can remember not once taken notice of by our Author throughout his great Book though it be as material and necessary a passage for any Christian Writer that undertakes this subject to guide himself by as any is in all the Scripture For what reason he slipt over this Text though it lay so plainly before him in the Bible he knows best himself He could not but know it was very pertinent to the subject though it was impertinent to his manner of handling it I am sure it is a sufficient confutation of his designe in the Chapter concerning works preparatory to Regeneration where as I shall in due place manifest he makes all the preparatory works that one can well think of to signifie nothing at all in effect towards the obtaining of that Grace whereby we are Regenerated which besides that it confutes the Title of the Chapter is nothing less than to make the communication of that Grace an arbitrary act that depends not upon the performance of any conditions required on our part and consequently to destroy all the encouragement we have from the promise of Christ to pray for the Holy Spirit that we may become the sincere Disciples of Christ. Indeed he is now and then pleased to mince the matter as where he tells us Sometimes as to some gifts and graces God doth bestow his Spirit where there is some preparation and co-operation on our part Sometimes and some Graces and some Preparation are uncertain words But I would know what he means by those Graces which he supposeth will not be bestowed though there be never so much preparation on our part for that is also clearly supposed in his words For instance If through the grace of God a man believes the Gospel and heartily desires to live according to it praying as our Saviour hath taught him for the Holy Spirit in order to that end I would know whether upon this preparation and co-operation on his part God will not enable him so to do If our Author denies it let him answer our Saviour's saying How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him And so upon the like preparation for any special Grace that we need If he should deny that God will bestow it I would also desire him to give us his thoughts upon that other saying of our Saviour which seems to conclude against him in all instances of this nature viz. That unto every one which hath it shall be given Luke 19.26 2. On the other hand the Gospel giveth us no ground to expect any special Grace or such Operations of the Spirit as are promised to qualified persons if we do not perform the conditions upon which the promise depends But on the contrary we have reason to believe that God will withdraw that Grace which he hath already given from those slothful persons that refuse to make any good use of it Indeed how long God will extend his patience towards them and bear with their obstinacy is concealed from us and depends upon his Soveraign pleasure But our Saviour plainly told us that from him that hath i. e. improveth not even that he hath shall be taken away from him So little reason hath any such person to expect any new accession of Grace to that which he hath forfeited by receiving it altogether in vain Wherefore I am far from contradicting those men that say the promises of regenerating Grace belong not to all who have the Gospel preached to them though I take my leave of them when they tell us that these promises are restrained to a few men whom God hath personally chosen and by an absolute Decree fore-appointed to salvation but instead thereof I affirm that the restriction of these promises to certain persons is measured onely by the conditions upon which they are made i. e. that they belong onely to those by whom these conditions are performed My reason is this because there is not one promise in the whole Covenant that is made absolutely to this or that man's person but they are all made with respect to mens qualifications Now the New Covenant is the onely means by which we can know any thing of God's Councils and Decrees concerning our salvation Wherefore if the promises of the Covenant be not absolute but conditional then the reason why every man cannot claim the benefit of them is not because this man's person was absolutely excluded and that man's benefit absolutely intended by them but because some are qualified as they ought to receive the promises and others are not Thus I cannot but subscribe to the Title of our Author's third Chapter in his fourth Book viz. That Believers are
motive included in the nature of this Operation nor does the Spirit use any motive when he thus operates for as these men say this Physical Operation is the immediate cause of Conversion And now let any man tell me in what capacity the Word of God can stand to be a means of Grace In the mean time our Author if you will believe him pays a great regard to the Scriptures which he does not onely render thus useless in general but many plain testimonies whereof he contradicts in particular and for instance that passage in our Saviour's Prayer Sanctifie them through thy truth thy Word is truth I desire him at his leisure to consider whether the Grace which our Saviour praied for in his Disciples behalf were an immediate Physical Operation if not whether we are now sanctified by another sort of Operation than that which Christ praied for Now to say in express terms that the Word of God is of no use in the conversion of a Sinner would sound so horridly in any sober Christians Ears that the Doctor himself has not ventured upon it but on the contrary he is often perswading his Reader that he attributes as much to the efficacy of the Word as any of them all For he tells us Whereas some contend that the whole of the Grace of God consists in the effectual application of it unto the mindes and affections of men whereby they are enabled to comply with it and turn unto God by Faith and Repentance they do not ascribe a greater power unto the Word than we do by whom this administration of it is denied to be the Total Cause of Conversion For we assigne the same power to the Word as they do and MORE also onely we affirm that there is an effect to be wrought in this Work which all this Power if alone is insufficient for After a few such sayings as these a man need not be ashamed to say any thing For 1. They who contend that the administration of the Word by the Spirit applying it to the minde is insufficient to cause Conversion and that there is another action of the Spirit wherein no use is made of the Word at all necessary to Conversion do not attribute so much power to the Word as they do who say the former is sufficient 2. Much less do they so if withal they pretend that this other Operation is the immediate cause of Conversion whereby the Word is excluded from intervening as a Means 3. And yet much less if they say this Operation produces the effect irresistibly and till this irresistible act hath taken place the Word is utterly ineffectual 4. Least of all can it be pretended that they assigne more power to the Word than their Adversaries do I wonder at this man's confidence to venture such open falshoods abroad as these are It had been enough in conscience for a modest man to say that those of our Author's opinion ascribe as much power to the Word as we do but to say they assigne more to it is too much in all reason to go for a mere mistake And therefore one may well think he saw clearly enough that he defer'd not so much to the Word as we and that because he affirmed the contrary he resolved to put on a Face for something and say withal that he ascribed more For truely he may e'ne say that as well as the other for this passage of his is but the next Page before he asserts and endeavours to prove for a great while together that till the Soul is changed by his Physical Operation the Word of God hath no more power to make a due impression on it no though the motives thereof be urged by the internal perswasion of the Spirit than you have to stir a Rock by speaking to it or to raise a dead Body from the Grave by a Syllogiâ—â—â— And yet this is the maâ— that just before would make you believe how he yields as much nay more efficacy to the Word than we who say that Mankinde is not so incapable of being converted by the Word but that when it is blessed and used as he well enough expresseth it by the Holy Spirit it is sufficient to convert a man without any such Physical Operation as they talk of But you see this man makes it to be no more than a Dead Letter even when it is quickened by the Spirit too and after all his Flourishes resolves Conversion into an irresistible Operation in which there is no use of the Word at all And this is enough to shew you what an irreverent opinion he has of it whatever he pretends to the contrary And so much for the first Proposition SECT 2. 2. The manner wherein the Holy Spirit acts upon the mindes of men is suitable to the ratioâ—nal nature of Mankinde Which is a truth so fully express'd and liberally granted by Dr. Owen that I shall need to say the less of it For he saith The power which the Holy Ghost puts forth in our Regeneration is such in its acting or exercise as 〈◊〉 Mindes Wills and Affections are suted to be wrought upon and to be affected by it according to their Natures and natural Operations Again he doth not act in them otherwise than they themselves are meet to be acted according to their own Nature Power and Ability He draws us with the Cords of a man And then he tells us the work it self is expressed by perswading and alluring and that it carries no more repugnancy to our Faculties than a prevalent perswasion doth Again that our mindes are not merely passive Instruments as formerly in Prophetical inspirations moved above their own natural Capacity and Activity as to the manner of Operation But he works on the Mindes of men in and by their own natural actings through an immediate influence and impression of his Power Lastly that he offers no violence or compulsion to the Will this he saith that Faculty is not naturally capable to give admission unto if it be compelled it is destroyed These are very fair concessions and â—â—less you have given over wondering at our Author's way of writing you would hardly believe they should drop from his Pen. But they are his own words I assure you though Light and Darkness may be assoon reconciled as they can be to that Opinion concerning the manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operations which he so eagerly contends for For if a Physical Operation immediately and irresistibly producing Faith and Holiness be utterly unsuitable and repugnant to the natural faculties and operations of the minde in which those effects are wrought then is it most evident that those Concessions are inconsistent with the Hypothesis of Conversion by that Physical Work Now let him tell me whether the minde of man is according to its Nature and natural Operations suited to be wrought upon by such a Power as makes not the least use of the Understanding of the least Thought
but according to a candid construction very true But this I think may at least be inferred from them That without Revelation we could not have known that the Spirit operates in the mindes of men in order to their Regeneration And consequently that his Operations are imperceptible by us now for if we were sensible that the Holy Spirit moves us we might argue from our own sense as well as from Revelation that the Spirit is given to us Wherefore the best rule we can have to know when we are moved by the Holy Spirit must be taken from the Nature and End of his Operations When we finde our selves inclined to that which is good when we are bent upon the doing of God's Will when we perform our Duty and govern our Actions by the Word of God then we may conclude that we are acted by a divine Spirit and that therefore we have occasion given us of humble and thankful Praises But if we forsake the steady rules of our duty written upon our Hearts in our Creation or in the Bible by the inspired Messengers of God and take every violent impulse that we feel within us for a suggestion of the Holy Spirit we may easily mistake a brutish Inclination or a suggestion of the Devil for divine direction since no sort of men are acted with a more sensible and impetuous zeal than they that are strongly led by the Devil and their own corrupt affections Therefore unless we will expose our selves to Fanatical and Diabolical delusions we must keep close to Reason and Scripture and try the nature of all the impulses and motions of our mindes by them We must not pretend that the Spirit inciteth us to such an action and therefore 't is warranted by the Scripture for the motions of the Spirit are in themselves imperceptible But we must first see what the Scripture would have us do and then if we have a minde to that we may conclude that the Spirit hath moved us to it for the Spirit inclineth us onely to what is good and the Scripture is a steady and unalterable rule of that These are very plain and evident truths and yet we can hardly say too much to possess the mindes of men with the apprehension of them since we can remember what infinite dishonours have been done to God in the late times by men professing Godliness and pretending to the special Guidance of the Spirit how they asked counsel of God whether they should commit Murder and Treason Rebellion and Sacriledge how they thought to justifie the most execrable Parricide as the Doctor knows who did that was ever heard of in these parts of the World and how blasphemously they pretended that the Lord had put these things into their Hearts God does not now give the Spirit to justifie the actions of men but to assist them in those that are good and he hath shewn us what is good partly by the light of Nature which is common to all men and compleatly by the publick revelation of his Will contained in the Scriptures Wherefore since the Operations of the Spirit are imperceptible by us and merely an object of our Faith we have no other way of assuring our selves that we follow the guidance of the Spirit but by following the rule of God's Word To this purpose it is observable that the word Spirit does sometimes signifie the Gospel as several Divines have proved and particularly when St. Paul does oppose the Spirit to the Flesh as in Gal. 3.3 We are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and have no confidence in the flesh i. e. we are the true Children of Abraham who worship God according to the Gospel placing no confidence in the observation of Moses's Law And in Gal. 5.16 Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh i. e. walk according to that Law of Love vers 14. which the Gospel so strictly prescribes and do not yield to inclinations of Revenge Hatred Variance c. vers 20. But at least in these and the like places 't is indifferent whether by the word Spirit you understand the Gospel or the Holy Ghost because it is in effect the same thing to be led by the Spirit and to obey the Gospel Thus when the Apostle Rom. 8. so often notes the difference between those that walk after the Flesh and those that walk after the Spirit we may easily see that walking after the Spirit may indifferently be interpreted either by living according to the rules of the Gospel or by following the perswasion of a well-instructed Minde or Conscience or by obeying the motions of the Holy Spirit of God For to do one of these things is to do them all since they are the Precepts of the Gospel which the Conscience ought to be directed by and 't is the obedience of the Gospel to which the Holy Spirit doth move and incite us We may observe also that in this Chapter these following expressions are equivalent viz. To walk after the Spirit v. 1. To be freed from the law of sin v. 2. To minde the things of the Spirit v. 5. To be spiritually minded v. 6. To be subject to the law of God v. 7. To please God v. 8. To have the Spirit of Christ v. 9. Christ being in us v. 10. The Spirit of God dwelling in us v. 11. Mortifying the deeds of the body by the Spirit v. 13. And being led by the Spirit v. 14. These several Phrases I say do all express the same state viz. our being the true Disciples of Christ onely they conspire to express the same thing under different respects That of being subject to the Law of God respecting the rule of our Lives as that of minding the things of the Spirit regards that serious consideration of the Doctrines of the Gospel which disposeth us to walk according to that Rule To be freed from the Law of sin notes the same thing with respect to our former condition Not to be carnally but spiritually minded not to live after the flesh but to mortifie the deeds of the body the Spirit are expressions that principally regard the prevalency of our Conscience over our sensual Appetites The Spirit of God dwelling in us is an expression of that constant readiness in good men to do the Will of God which is cherished in them by the Holy Spirit as our having 〈◊〉 the Spirit of Christ seems principally to regard that likeness to him which we gain by becoming such persons Finally to walk after the Spirit or to be led by the Spirit are Phrases which seem to take in all these respects indifferently Now because it is really one and the same state and disposition that is signified by these Phrases there can be no dangerous mistake incurred if a man should understand any one of them under a respect which perhaps was not principally intended as for instance if by the Spirit of God dwelling in us he should