2. 10. 23. I thought fit to enlarge upon this Particular 1. Because it is the Subject of many Controversies easily reconcilable if Men made use of Reason or of the Light of Nature in studying Divinity and reading of the Scriptures and did not make the Scriptures to speak as their Opinion I mean did not rather endeavour to make Scripture say the same thing as they say than examine what they say by that which the Scriptures say yet no better composed than by procuring an Act of Parliament against those which they call the Socinians 2. Secondly because Mankind is grown so blind and supine in Matters of Religion that not only the Scripture and the Thing it containeth specified by Mr. Keith pag. 10. of his Sermon are to him a meer Parable which he neither understands Mark 4. 11. nor endeavours to do it having got this strange Notion that they are too high for him that St. Paul is mistaken and Mr. Keith in the right St. Paul in saying that the invisible things of God may be known and understood by the works of Creation and even without Scripture for he speaks of the Heathen who have it not to peruse and so clearly too adds he that they are without Excuse who do not know God thereby Rom. 1. 20. and Mr. Keith in saying that all those things cannot be understood but by Scripture and that they consider God as a great way from His works whereas he is their Virtue and Spirit of Life Himself and that same Word of Power within them that upholds them Heb. 1. 3. 3. Thirdly because many Books of Mr. Keith and others to which this is an Answer tend more than ever before towards the establishing of a sufficiency of Scripture Revelation and an implicite knowledge of God by the outward Word and a School Divinity and to null the Light within that is the inward Teachings of God's Spirit in the Soul and God's Knowledge by Nature Whereas Men are by St. Paul Rom. 1. 20. and the Prophet Isaiah 5. 12. blamed for not regarding the Works of God in Nature the Knowledge of God by it being more plain and easy Prov. 14. 6. than his knowledge by Scripture Nature being Properly God himself manifested Natural Philosophy is Divinity it self which hath ceased amongst Men since the Schools and the Schoolmen leaving Nature and Scripture have taught it by so many Distinctions Definitions and other Oppositions and vain Terms of their Science falsly so call'd saith Paul 1 Tim. 6. 20. that Men being confounded know not what to make of them nor how to learn by their Means Non est in intellectu quod non fuit in Sensu is one of their own Notions yet they will teach to know God by cramp Words and vain Bablings without the Light of Nature Since Printing Men leaving off the use of their own Reason think to steal from other Men the Word and Knowledge of God Jer. 23. 30. and their Study being now to set up vast Libraries to look upon and read in it is no wonder if they missing the Reasons of Things gather from Reading only Scraps of other Mens Notions and fill their Heads with a Heap of in-coherent Why msies from which they cannot deduce a Natural Consequence and so build on wild Conceits a new Christian Religion and a new Philosophy which hath no ground in Nature 4. And lastly because the End and Design of this Paper is not so much to refute or to destroy and pull down the Building of Mr. Keith as to build up in its room such work as may abide 1 Cor. 3. 14. all things being to be done for Edification and the good of the Neighbour Rom. 15. 2. 24. And to conclude my Answer and Remarks on the Mistakes of Mr. Keith in this Point to wit of the Means of Faith and of Regeneration by what means they are wrought and brought to pass in the Soul I say if Faith be one of the Operations Gifts and Effects of God's Spirit as St. Paul teacheth it is 1 Cor. 12. 9. it follows that it is not wrought by the outward Word but by the Spirit Himself and that the Word and Spirit being both Agents of it may be thought one and the same Faith comes by Understanding Rom. 10. 17. and Understanding comes from the Inspiration of God or his Spirit within us Job 32. 8. that guides us into all Truth Job 16. 13. Therefore Faith is effected by the Light of that Spirit opening the Heart and the Eyes as to Lydia Acts 16. 14. and Agar Gen. 21. 19. the three Wisemen of the East Matth. 2. 2. Cornelius and others Act. 10. 44. to understand and believe and not by the outward Word Before time in Israel the Prophets that is to say knew Him were called Seers 1 Sam. 9. 9. because they saw God that is to say knew Him by His works 1 Kings 17. 1. But now the Case is altered according to Mr. Keith and that for the worse besides against what he saith himself of a better Covenant to Believers pag. 9. and the many Promises of God's Spirit to Christians who are now but bare Hearers and that not of God Himself but of Men and of their Word If Faith be wrought in Man but by the Doctrine of Christ as it is preached to him the Faith of them that believe that which Mr. Keith preacheth is erroneous and false as by what I have shew'd it doth already appear 25. Mr. Keith having thus said that it is the outward Word which begets the Saints again and that worketh Faith in them concludes in the 9th Page that the written Word therefore is not only the compleat and the adequate Rule of our Faith and Practice but that the Precepts thereof are of far larger extent than those writ in Man's heart without or before man hath the Scripture Revelation proving it by a Passage which maketh nothing for him Psal 119. 96. David's meaning in that Place being not of the outward or written Word of God for the Law and the Prophets which make up the written Word were not extant in his time there being not yet extant more than the Books of Joshua Judges and the Pentateuch but of the Law written in his Heart and of that word which he kept hid in his Heart v 11. and which he desireth God by no means to hide from him v. 19. but to enlarge or open his heart wide V. 32. to contain it V. 18. 33 34. 26. To which my Answer is first that the Spirit which writes the Law and Precepts of God in the Heart of Believers teacheth and searcheth all things even the deep things of God not revealed in Scripture Joh. 14. 26. 1 Cor. 2. 10. And guideth into all Truth Joh. 16. 13. Therefore the Law written by it in the Heart of Men is of a larger extent than all that the Written or Preached Word can suggest Secondly that Peter saith 2 Epist 1. 19. that the Word of Prophecy
or the Law and the Prophets which was all the written word was extant in Peters time is but untill the day dawn and the Day or Morning Star which is Christ the inward word Ap. 22. 16. arise and shine in the Heart It is no more at thy word as some said to their Preacher the Samaritain Woman Joh. 4. 42. that we have Faith or Believe but because we our selves have heard Christ and know from him that he is really the Christ and the Saviour of the World Which shews that the inward word goeth beyond all the Scriptures and Scripture Revelation And thirdly that Christ himself by these words I have yet many things to say to you which you cannot as yet bear before the Holy Ghost comes but when he comes to guide you into the Truth of all things he will suggest them to you nay and shew you things to come Joh. 16. 12 13. which last things viz. things to come the Scripture declares no where but Enigmatically as in the Revelations shews us since he had as yet many things to say to us and doth refer us for them to the Light and the guidance of God's Spirit when he comes that all that he had to say is not contain'd in Scripture and that the Light comes from it is not so great and so full as that of the Inward Word And since what he had to say is as Necessary to Life as what he had said except we suppose and grant that he might speak idle words that sha'nt stand but pass away Matth. 24. 35. and hath condemned himself Ch. 12. 36. the Scripture doth not contain all that is necessary for life and for Salvation and so is not the compleat rule of Faith and of Practice St. Paul to shew that he did not take the word he preach'd for the compleat rule of Faith nor for a sufficient Revelation of the things to be known and believed refers those he preached to for the Truth of what he preach'd to the Revelation of God by the word in them Phil. 2. 15. as being that which God speaks to the Saints by since Christ's time Hebr. 1. 2. St. John also by saying that the World would not contain the Books might be written of all that Christ did Ch. 21. 25. and Taught Act. 1. 1. shews that the written Word doth not contain all the Laws and Doctrine and Works of Christ which he did for an example 1 Cor. 11. 1. Pet. 2. 21. that its Laws are not so full as those writ in the Mind and Heart by the Inward Word and that it is not therefore the compleat Rule of Conscience 27. Mr. Keith in his Wisdom being conscious of this Truth for he had formerly taught Immediat Revel pag. 96. that he that seeks for the Light in the writtin outward Word and for Life or to get Life or be Born again by it seeks the living among the dead the Light being not therein but in Christ the Inward Word adds to this Doctrine of his pag. 9. and 11. that the Knowledge and the Faith of the Mysteries and things revealed in the Scriptures which he relates pag. 10. are given us by the Word Preach'd and heard outwardly with the illumination and working of the Spirit or Word of God inwardly And would not have any think Retract p. 12. that he relinquisheth God's inward Revelation and teachings by his Spirit Joyning here both the inward and outward word together as necessary for Faith and the right understanding of the Scriptures c. but ascribing Faith before wholly to the outward Word Thus affirming in one place that which he will not confess but denies in the other and confounding both at last I mean both the inward and outward Word to confound and surprize the unwary and to leave some holes open for himself to evade at For if both necessary for understanding and Faith why doth he lay such stress upon the outward elswhere saying it is the compleat and adequate Rule of Faith And what hath this Learned Man disputed for all the while 28. The Truth is that both these words do very well together being the two witnesses that do testify of Christ Joh. 5. 39. 15. 26 27. and in the Mouth of which two every word which we read in the one is confirmed Ch. 8. 17. But the outward word alone is far from being capable of guiding into the Truth of what it saith or relates of convincing and being the full rule of the Conscience Being but like a Parable or dark to natural Men. Mark 4. 11. 1 Cor. 2. 14. who witness all the errors of so many Christian Sects cannot find the Truth by it and imperfect of it self teaching no where for instance what are the fiery Tryal and those Sufferings of Christ St. Peter makes mention of 1 Ep. 4. 12. and how God hath brought himself into Nature and into Man and the World What death Adam died of on the day he Transgressed Gen. 2. 17. what was the Sin of Angels and many other such things Besides as I have shew'd by several instances it is not well translated nor divided in Verses making two Verses of one as of the 15. and 16. of the 2d of Romans which ought to be but one Verse And over and above this it is contradictory containing contradictions by no means reconcileable Such as between Act. 9. V. 7. where it is said that the Men which were with Paul heard the voice that spake with him and Act. 22. 9. which saith that they heard it not And above a hundred such which I have collected not to pick holes in Scripture for they do rather confirm the Truth of it in the main than blast its Authority for it shews that its Pen-men did not combine together to make a formal story or they had agreed better And why should I be more offended at Christ as God for so many faults and lies put upon him in that word and made by the Transcribers than for all the Sufferings put upon him in his Flesh Matth. 11. 6. I see him through them all believing no more in him at the word in the Scriptures but because I know him and could as well as others demonstrate him to the Jews if there were no more Scriptures left to prove him in the World Tho' they serve me still to do what I do here with them viz. to confirm and to prove to those that make use of them the Doctrine and the Notions the inward word suggests me 29. The way for a Man to know the Will and Doctrine of God and direct his ways by it according to Gods own Word is not so much to peruse and to study the Scriptures as to do the Will of Christ Joh. 7. 17. that Will or Law which the Light of Nature shews and dictates and to follow and to work what it suggests to be good as many Wise Heathens did Act. 10. 2. For any Man that doth so is acceptable to God V. 35.
of God and of this spiritual Seed to have it remain in us 1 Joh. 3. 9. and have the Kingdom of God or life eternal in us Luk. 17. 21. The Seed it self which the Flesh is born and begotten of is a Spirit abstracted from the Soul and the Body of Parents which are but Men Much more then that of the Soul regenerated of God who is only a Spirit and the Father of Spirits Joh. 4. 24. Hebr. 12. 9. ought to be a Spiritual and not a Material Thing such as is the outward Word which Mr. Keith soweth about in Sermons and in Papers which Booksellers and Printers catch at so nimbly and put Impune upon the World 10. Now Christ himself is the word Joh. 1. 1 14. in the Heart and in the Mouth Rom. 10. 9. and being that same Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. by which God made all Joh. 1. 2 3. the World and all Things therein Hebr. 1. 2. and which upholdeth all things v. 3. and gives them their Light and Life Joh. 8. 12. 14. 6. it is he that begets Souls and he is the same also as the Spirit or Power which hath been shew'd to doe it Jesus being the same Word as Paul spake of v. 8. of Chap. 10. of Rom. and the same Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. as Paul saith the Gospel is Rom. 1. 16. And the Lord is that Spirit which Paul was Minister of 2 Cor. 3. 8 16. and when the Holy Ghost comes it is Christ that comes Himself Joh. 14. 16 18. And upon the whole Matter Christ being the Word of God that was from the Beginning Chap. 1. 2. and by whom all things were made and Emmanuel God in us Matth. 1. 23. dwelling in us for ever according to his Promise Joh. 14 17. except we be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. and the Holy Ghost himself he is the Word in the Heart that abideth for ever and of whom St. Peter meant the Faithful are born again Being upon this account called the second Adam that is the second Father or Begetter of Mankind and the Bridegroom infusing his spiritual Seed in Man and impregnating his Soul which becomes his Mother thereby and by the same means he becomes the Son of Man and is formed within Man Gal. 4. 19. And in short Christ and the Word and the Spirit are all one 11. And he is called the word in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Reason because he is Wisdom Light and Understanding in God in the World and in the Soul In God he is the Wisdom and the Power 1 Cor. 1. 24. Will and Act For God having no Organs as Mouth or Hands his word is the thing it self that is done by his Power and Wisdom and having no other Will than his Power and his Act because Voluntas saith one Consilio nascitur and there is nothing but Sight no thinking nor consulting at all in the most Wise God his Wisdom Power Will Act are all one that is his Word In the World he is the Light Joh. 8. 12. and the Spirit that moved in the deep to form the Light Gen. 1. 2. and which the Wise and Pulcher ordo Mundi proceeds from And in the Soul he is both the Light of Nature in all and the Light of Grace that is the Understanding in some being natural in all granted to all at their Birth by the prerogative of their Essence or nature above other Animals enlightning every Man that cometh into the World Joh. 1. 9 This is what they call Reason And supernatural in the regenerated granted them of Grace again by the gift of the Spirit upon their Birth of Water And this is properly that which they call Understanding I say he is called the word because he is Light Understanding and Wisdom in us as well as in God Quicquid in nobis videt audit verbum Dei That Light and that faculty whereby we see and perceive and hear and understand things is the Word of God in us that is Christ and his Spirit Understanding comes from Christ 1 Joh. 5. 20. and he is the Light of Men. Joh. 1. 4 9. and from the Spirit he sends Ch. 16. 17. to Guide Men into all Truth V. 13. to teach all things Ch. 14. 26. and to search even the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. understanding comes likewise Understanding is the word in the Heart The Light whereby the Mind conceiâ—â— in the Heart and sends forth the Spirit thence into the Mouth is the Woâ—â— not the combined Syllables nor the sound which the Air makes in the Thrâ—â—â— and in the Mouth The Heart conceives from the Light that riseth there the flash at every pullation and sends it into the Head whence returning to the Heart it is sent with the Spirit that issueth out of the Flash into the Tongue to move it the Tongue moving beats the Air in the Throat and in the Mouth according to those Organs which articulates its sound and forms the out spoken word and speaks forth the conception So that the Light the Spirit and the Conceit or notion is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the word That which the vulgar call Words being nothing but vo ces an articulated Noise and a combination of divers Sounds or Syllables by the Spirit from the Heart and neither the thing conceiv'd nor the Spirit expressing or speaking it forth themselves 12. To conclude Understanding Reason and Light in the Soul is from the Spirit of Christ the word of God Christ himself of whom we are born again and who worketh Faith in us From him and from his Spirit the hearing of Faith proceeds For Understanding as was said before proceeds from them and hearing in the Scriptures signifyeth Understanding as in that place where Christ saith he that hath Ears to hear let him hear c And Faith is one of the Gifts and Effects of the Spirit 1 Cor. 12. 9. No Faith without Conversion and no Conversion without Understanding Matth. 13. 15. By Hearing we Believe Turn or Convert and what we understand not we neither do nor believe Intelligere ipsum credere est by your leave Mr. Keith and Madam Rome No implicite Faith avails When God openeth our Hearts or gives us Understanding we believe as Lydia Act. 16. 14. and confess with our Mouth Rom. 10. 9. and come and shew our Deeds as Zacheus Luk. 19. 8 9. and those which burned their Learned Books did Act. 19. 18 19. and Faith is dead without Deeds Jam. 2. 26. So that to have Faith we must Understand in the first place and so have Understanding and the light of Christ's Spirit or Christ himself within us All which if we can obtain from the outward word Preached Mr. Keith is in the right but then Christ died in vain for he died to get us the effect of the Promise which is the Holy Spirit Luk. 24. 49. Act. 1. 4 5. from which Understanding comes 13. Therefore since we