the Scripture to be the Word of God and that we understand savingly the mind of God therein both which belong unto our Illumination That which I shall first enquire into is the way how and the ground whereon we come to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God in a due manner For that this is required of us in a way of duty namely that we should believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with Faith Divine and Supernatural I suppose will not be denyed and it shall be afterwards proved And what is the work of the Spirit of God herein will be our first enquiry Secondly Whereas we see by experience that all who have or enjoy the Scripture do not yet understand it or come to an useful saving Knowledg of the Mind and Will of God therein revealed our other enquiry shall be how we may come to understand the Word of God aright and what is the work of the Spirit of God in the assistance which he affordeth us unto that purpose With respect unto the first of these Enquiries whereunto the present discourse is singly designed I affirm that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God or the supernatural immediate Revelation of his mind unto us and infallibly to evidence it unto our minds so as that we may spiritually and savingly acquiesce therein Some upon a mistake of this Proposition do seem to suppose that we resolve all Faith into private suggestions of the Spirit or deluding pretences thereof and some it may be will be ready to apprehend that we confound the efficient Cause and formal Reason of Faith or believing rendring all rational Arguments and external Testimonies useless But indeed there neither is nor shall be any occasion administred unto these fears or imaginations For we shall plead nothing in this matter but what is consonant to the Faith and Judgment of the Ancient and present Church of God as shall be fully evidenced in our progress I know some have found out other ways whereby the minds of men as they suppose may be sufficiently satisfied in the Divine Authority of the Scripture But I have tasted of their new Wine and desire it not because I know the Old to be better though what they plead is of use in its proper place My Design requires that I should confine my discourse unto as narrow bounds as possible and I shall so do shewing 1. What it is in general infallibly to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God and what is the Ground and Reason of our so doing Or what it is to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God as we are required to believe it so to be in a way of Duty 2. That there are external Arguments of the divine Original of the Scripture which are effectual Motives to perswade us to give an unfeigned assent thereunto 3. That yet moreover God requires of us that we believe them to be his Word with Faith divine supernatural and infallible 4. Evidence the Grounds and Reasons whereon we do so believe and ought so to do Unto these Heads most of what ensues in the first part of this Discourse may be reduced It is meet that we should clear the Foundation whereon we build and the Principles whereon we do proceed that what we design to prove may be the better understood by all sorts of Persons whose edification we intend For these things are the equal concernment of the learned and unlearned Wherefore some things must be insisted on which are generally known and granted And our first Enquiry is What it is to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with Faith divine and supernatural according as it is our duty so to do And in our Believing or our Faith two things are to be considered 1. What it is that we do believe And 2. Wherefore we do so believe it The first is the material Object of our Faith namely the things which we do believe the latter the formal Object of it or the Cause and Reason why we do believe them and these things are distinct The Material Object of our Faith is the things revealed in the Scripture declared unto us in propositions of Truth For things must be so proposed unto us or we cannot believe them That God is one in three Persons that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the like propositions of Truth are the material Object of our Faith or the things that we do believe And the Reason why we do believe them is because they are proposed in the Scripture Thus the Apostle expresseth the whole of what we intend 1 Cor. 15. 3 4. I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures Christs Death and Burial and Resurrection are the things proposed unto us to be believed and so the Object of our Faith But the Reason why we believe them is because they are declared in the Scriptures see Acts 8. 28 29 30. Sometimes indeed this Expression of believing the Scriptures by a Metonymy denotes both the formal and material Objects of our Faith the Scriptures themselves as such and the things contained in them so John 2. 22. They believed the Scripture and the Word that Jesus said or the things delivered in the Scripture and further declared by Christ which before they understood not And they did so believe what was declared in the Scriptures because it was so declared in them both are intended in the same Expression they believed the Scripture under various considerations so Acts 26. 27. The material Object of our Faith therefore are the Articles of our Creed by whose Enumeration we answer unto that question what we believe giving an account of the hope that is in us as the Apostle doth Acts 26. 22 23. But if moreover we are asked a Reason of our Faith or Hope or why we believe the things we do profess as God to be One in three Persons Jesus Christ to be the Son of God we do not answer because so it is for this is that which we believe which were senseless But we must give some other Answer unto that Enquiry whether it be made by others or our selves The proper Answer unto this Question contains the formal Reason and Object of our Faith that which it rests upon and is resolved into And this is that which we look after 2. We do not in this Enquiry intend any kind of Perswasion or Faith but that which is divine and infallible both which it is from its formal Reason or objective Cause Men may be able to give some kind of Reasons why they believe what they profess so to do that will not suffice or abide the trial in this case although they themselves may rest in
and which he cannot but design when the Scripture is proposed unto him in the Ministry of the Church attested by the Arguments insisted on there will appear unto him in the Truths and Doctrines of it or in the things contained in it such an Evidence of the Majesty and Authority of God as will prevail with him to believe it to be a divine Revelation And this Perswasion is such that the mind is established in its Assent unto the Truth so as to yield Obedience unto all that is required of us And whereas our Belief of the Scripture is in order only to the right Performance of our Duty or all that Obedience which God expecteth from us our minds being guided by the Precepts and Directions and duly influenced by the Promises and Threatnings of it thereunto there is no other Faith required of us but what is sufficient to oblige us unto that Obedience This being so far as I can apprehend the Substance of what is by some learned men proposed and adhered unto it shall be briefly examined And I say here as on other occasions that I should rejoyce to see more of such a Faith in the World as would effectually oblige men unto Obedience out of a Conviction of the Excellency of the Doctrine the Truth of the Promises and Threatnings of the Word though learned men should never agree about the formal Reason of Faith Such Notions of Truth when most diligently inquired into are but as sacrifice compared with Obedience But the Truth it self is also to be enquired after diligently This Opinion therefore either supposeth what we shall immediatly declare namely the necessity of an internal effectual Work of the Holy Spirit in the Illumination of our minds so enabling us to believe with Faith divine and supernatural or it doth not If it doth it will be found as I suppose for the Substance of it to be co-incident with what we shall afterwards assert and prove to be the formal Reason of Believing However as it is usually proposed I cannot absolutely comply with it for these two Reasons among others 1. It belongs unto the Nature of Faith of what sort soever it be that it be built on and resolved into Testimony This is that which distinguisheth it from any other Conception Knowledge or Assent of our minds on other Reasons and Causes And if this Testimony be divine so is that Faith whereby we give assent unto it on the part of the Object But the Doctrines contained in the Scripture or the subject Matter of the Truth to be believed have not in them the Nature of a Testimony but are the material not formal Objects of Faith which must always differ If it be said that these Truths or Doctrines do so evidence themselves to be from God as that in and by them we have the Witness and Authority of God himself proposed unto us to resolve our Faith into I will not further contend about it but only say that the Authority of God and so his Veracity do manifest themselves primarily in the Revelation it self before they do so in the things revealed which is that we plead for 2. The Excellency of the Doctrine or things revealed in the Scriptures respects not so much the Truth of them in speculation as their Goodness and Suitableness unto the Souls of Men as to their present Condition and eternal End Now things under that Consideration respect not so much Faith as spiritual Sense and Experience Neither can any man have a due Apprehension of such a goodness suitable unto our Constitution and Condition with absolute usefulness in the Truth of the Scripture but on a Supposition of that antecedent Assent of the mind unto them which is Believing which therefore cannot be the Reason why we do believe But if this Opinion proceed not upon the aforesaid Supposition immediately to be proved but requires no more unto our satisfaction in the Truth of the Scripture and Assent thereon but the due Exercise of Reason or the natural Faculties of our Minds about them when proposed unto us then I suppose it to be most remote from the Truth and that amongst many other Reasons for these that ensue 1. On this Supposition the whole Work of Believing would be a Work of Reason Be it so say some nor is it meet it should be otherwise conceived But if so then the Object of it must be things so evident in themselves and their own Nature as that the Mind is as it were compelled by that Evidence unto an Assent and cannot do otherwise If there be such a Light and Evidence in the things themselves with respect unto our Reason in the right use and exercise of it then is the Mind thereby necessitated unto its Assent which both overthrows the Nature of Faith substituting an Assent upon natural Evidence in the room thereof and is absolutely exclusive of the necessity or use of any Work of the Holy Ghost in our Believing which sober Christians will scarce comply withal 2. There are some Doctrines revealed in the Scripture and those of the most Importance that are so revealed which concern and contain things so above our Reason that without some previous supernatural Dispositions of Mind they carry in them no Evidence of Truth unto meer Reason nor of Suitableness unto our Constitution and End There is required unto such an Apprehension both the spiritual Elevation of the Mind by supernatural Illumination and a divine Assent unto the Authority of the Revelation thereon before Reason can be so much as satisfied in the Truth and Excellency of such Doctrines Such are those concerning the Holy Trinity or the Subsistence of one singular Essence in three distinct Persons the Incarnation of the Son of God the Resurrection of the dead and sundry other that are the most proper Subjects of divine Revelation There is an heavenly Glory in some of these things which as Reason can never throughly apprehend because it is finite and limited so as 't is in us by Nature it can neither receive them nor delight in them as doctrinally proposed unto us with all the Aids and Assistance before mentioned Flesh and Blood reveals not these thisgs unto our minds but our Father which is in Heaven Nor doth any man know these Mysteries of the Kingdom of God but he unto whom it is given nor do any learn these things aright but those that are taught of God 3. Take our Reason singly without the Consideration of divine Grace and Illumination and it is not only weak and limited but depraved and corrupted And the carnal mind cannot subject it self unto the Authority of God in any supernatural Revelation whatever Wherefore the Truth is that the Doctrines of the Gospel which are purely and absolutely so are so far from having a convincing Evidence in themselves of their divine Truth Excellency and Goodness unto the Reason of men as unrenewed by the Holy Ghost as that they are foolishness and most undesirable
insisted on Especially ought they to be pleaded when the Scripture is attacked by an Atheism arising from the Love and Practice of those Lusts and Sins which are severely condemned therein and threatned with the utmost Vengeance With others they may be considered as previous inducements unto believing or concomitant means of strengthning Faith in them that do believe In the first way I confess to the best of my Observation of things past and present their Use is not great nor ever hath been in the Church of God For assuredly the most that do sincerely believe the divine Original and Authority of the Scripture do it without any great Consideration of them or being much influenced by them And there are many who as Austin speaks are saved simplicitate credendi and not subtilitate disputandi that are not able to enquire much into them nor yet to apprehend much of their Force and Efficacy when they are proposed unto them Most Persons therefore are effectually converted to God and have saving Faith whereby they believe the Scripture and virtually all that is contained in it before they have ever once considered them And God forbid we should think that none believe the Scripture aright but those who are able to apprehend and manage the subtil Arguments of learned men produced in their Confirmation Yea we affirm on the contrary that those who believe them on no other Grounds have indeed no true Divine Faith at all Hence they were not of old insisted on for the ingenerating of Faith in them to whom the Word was preached nor ordinarily are so to this day by any who understand what is their Work and Duty But in the second way wherever there is occasion from Objections Oppositions or Temptations they may be pleaded to good use and purpose And they may do well to be furnished with them who are unavoidably exposed unto trials of that Nature For as for that Course which some take in all places and at all times to be disputing about the Scriptures and their Authority it is a Practice giving countenance unto Atheism and is to be abhorred of all that fear God and the Consequents of it are sufficiently manifest 2. The Ministry of the Church as it is the Ground and Pillar of Truth holding it up and declaring it is in an ordinary way previously necessary unto Believing For Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God We believe the Scripture to be the Word of God for it self alone but not by it self alone The Ministry of the Word is the means which God hath appointed for the Declaration and making known the Testimony which the Holy Spirit gives in the Scripture unto its Divine Original And this is the ordinary way whereby men are brought to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God The Church in its Ministry owning witnessing and avowing it so to be instructing all sorts of Persons out of it there is together with a sense and apprehension of the Truth and Power of the things taught and revealed in it Faith in it self as the Word of God ingenerated in them 3. We do also here suppose the internal effectual Work of the Spirit begetting Faith in us as was before declared without which we can believe neither the Scripture nor any Thing else with Faith divine not for want of Evidence in them but of Faith in our selves These things being supposed we do affirm that it is the Authority and Truth of God as manifesting themselves in the supernatural Revelation made in the Scripture that our Faith ariseth from and is resolved into And herein consists that Testimony which the Spirit gives unto the Word of God that it is so for it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is Truth The Holy Ghost being the immediate Author of the whole Scripture doth therein and thereby give Testimony unto the Divine Truth and Original of it by the Characters of Divine Authority and Veracity impressed on it and evidencing themselves in its Power and Efficacy And let it be observed that what we assert respects the Revelation it self the Scripture the Writing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not meerly the things written or contained in it The Arguments produced by some to prove the Truth of the Doctrines of the Scripture reach not the Cause in hand For our Enquiry is not about believing the Truths revealed but about believing the Revelation it self the Scripture it self to be Divine And this we do only because of the Authority and Veracity of the Revealer that is of God himself manifesting themselves therein To manifest this fully I shall do these things 1. Prove that our Faith is so resolved into the Scripture as a Divine Revelation and not into any thing else that is we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God for its own sake and not for the sake of any thing else either external Arguments or authoritative Testimony of men whatever 2. Shew how or by what means the Scripture doth evidence its own divine Original or the Authority of God is so evidenced in it and by it as that we need no other formal Cause or Reason of our Faith whatever Motives or Means of Believing we may make use of And as to the first of these 1. That is the formal Reason whereon we do believe which the Scripture proposeth as the only Reason why we should so do why it is our Duty to do so and whereunto it requireth our Assent Now this is to it self as it is the Word of God and because it is so Or it proposeth the Authority of God in it self and that alone which we are to acquiesce in and the Truth of God and that alone which our Faith is to rest on and is resolved into It doth not require us to believe it upon the Testimony of any Church or on any other Arguments that it gives us to prove that it is from God but speaks unto us immediately in his name and thereon requires Faith and Obedience Some it may be will ask Whether this prove the Scripture to be the Word of God because it says so of it self when any other Writing may say the same But we are not now giving Arguments to prove unto others the Scripture to be the Word of God but only proving and shewing what our own Faith resteth on and is resolved into or at least ought so to be How it evidenceth it self unto our Faith to be the Word of God we shall afterwards declare It is sufficient unto our present purpose that God requires us to believe the Scripture for no other Reason but because it is his Word or a Divine Revelation from him and if so his Authority and Truth are the formal Reason why we believe the Scripture or any thing contained in it To this purpose do Testimonies abound in particular besides that general Attestation which is given unto it in that sole Preface of divine Revelations Thus saith the
the divine Witness whereunto our Faith is ultimately resolved doth not consist herein yet it is the greatest corroborating Testimony whereof we are capable This is that which brings us unto the Riches of the full Assurance of Vnderstanding Col. 2. 2. as also 1 Thes. 1. 5. And on the Account of this Spiritual Experience is our perception of Spiritual Things so often expressed by Acts of Sense as tasting seeing feeling and the like means of Assurance in things natural And when Believers have attained hereunto they do find the divine Wisdom Goodness and Authority of God so present unto them as that they need neither Argument nor Motive nor any thing else to perswade them unto or confirm them in believing And whereas this spiritual Experience which Believers obtain through the Holy Ghost is such as cannot rationally be contended about seeing those who have received it cannot fully express it and those who have not cannot understand it nor the Efficacy which it hath to secure and establish the mind it is left to be determined on by them alone who have their Senses exercised to discern Good aad Evil. And this belongs unto the internal subjective Testimony of the Holy Ghost 2. He assists helps and relieves us against Temptations to the contrary so as that they shall not be prevalent Our first prime Assent unto the divine Authority of the Scripture upon its proper Grounds and Reasons will not secure us against future Objections and Temptations unto the contrary from all manner of Causes and Occasions David's Faith was so assaulted by them as that he said in his hast that all men were liars And Abraham himself after he had received the Promise that in his Seed all Nations should be blessed was reduced unto that anxious Enquiry Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless Gen 15. 2. And Peter was so winnowed by Satan that although his Faith failed not yet he greatly failed and fainted in its Exercise And we all know what fears from within what fightings from without we are exposed unto in this matter And of this sort are all those Atheistical Objections against the Scripture which these Days abound withal which the Devil useth as fiery Darts to enflame the Souls of men and to destroy their Faith and indeed this is that Work which the Powers of Hell are principally ingaged in at this day Having lopt off many Branches they now lay their Ax to the Root of Faith and thence in the midst of the Profession of Christian Religion there is no greater Controversy than whether the Scriptures are the Word of God or not Against all these Temptations doth the Holy Ghost give in such a continual supply of spiritual Strength and Assistance unto Believers as that they shall at no time prevail nor their Faith totally fail In such cases the Lord Christ intercedes for us that our Faith fail not and Gods Grace is sufficient against the buffetings of these Temptations And herein the Truth of Christs Intercession with the Grace of God and its Efficacy are communicated unto us by the Holy Ghost What are those internal Aids whereby he establisheth and assureth our Minds against the Force and Prevalency of Objections and Temptations against the Divine Authority of the Scripture how they are communicated unto us and received by us this is no place to declare in particular It is in vain for any to pretend unto the name of Christians by whom they are denied And these also have the nature of an internal real Testimony whereby Faith is established And because it is somewhat strange that after a long quiet Possession of the professed Faith and Assent of the Generality of the Minds of Men thereunto there should now arise among us such an open Opposition unto the divine Authority of the Scriptures as we find there is by Experience it may not be amiss in our passage to name the principal Causes or Occasions thereof For if we should bring them all into one Reckoning as justly we may who either openly oppose it and reject it or who use it or neglect it at their pleasure or who set up other Guides in Competition with it or above it or otherwise declare that they have no sense of the immediate Authority of God therein we shall find them to be like the Moors or Slaves in some Countries or Plantations they are so great in number and force above their Rulers and other Inhabitants that it is only want of Communication with Confidence and some distinct Interests that keep them from casting off their Yoak and Restraint I shall name three Causes only of this surprizing and perillous Event 1. A long continued outward Profession of the Truth of the Scripture without an inward Experience of its Power betrays men at length to question the Truth it self at least not to regard it as divine The Owning of the Scriptures to be the Word of God bespeaks a divine Majesty Authority and Power to be present in it and with it Wherefore after men who have for a long time so professed do find that they never had any real Experience of such a divine Presence in it by any Effects upon their own Minds they grow insensibly regardless of it or to allow it a very common place in their thoughts When they have worn off the Impressions that were on their mind from Tradition Education and Custom they do for the future rather not oppose it than in any way believe it And when once a Reverence unto the Word of God on the Account of its Authority is lost an Assent unto it on the Account of Truth will not long abide And all such Persons under a Concurrence of Temptations and outward Occasions will either reject it or prefer other Gnides before it 2. The Power of Lust rising up unto a Resolution of living in those Sins whereunto the Scripture doth unavoidably annex eternal Ruine hath prevailed with many to cast off its Authority For whilst they are resolved to live in an Outrage of Sin to allow a divine Truth and Power in the Scripture is to cast themselves under a present Torment as well as to ascertain their future Misery for no other can be his Condition who is perpetually sensible that God always condemns him in all that he doth and will assuredly take vengeance of him which is the constant language of the Scripture concerning such Persons Wherefore although they will not immediately fall into an open Atheistical Opposition unto it as that which it may be is not consistent with their Interest and Reputation in the World yet looking upon it as the Devils did on Jesus Christ as that which comes to torment them before their time they keep it at the greatest distance from their thoughts and minds until they have habituated themselves unto a Contempt of it There being therefore an utter impossibility of giving any pretence of Reconciliation between the Owning of the Scriptures to be the Word of God
and supernatural rests upon that is it is to be believed for its own sake But saith our Lord Jesus Christ himself if men will not hear that is believe Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead and come and preach unto them a greater Miracle than which they could not desire Now this could not be spoken if the Scripture did not contain in it self the whole entire formal Reason of Believing for if it have not this something necessary unto believing would be wanting though that were enjoyed And this is directly affirmed John 20. 30 31. And many other Signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you might have life through his Name The Signs which Christ wrought did evidence him to be the Son of God But how come we to know and believe these Signs what is the way and means thereof Saith the blessed Apostle these things are written that you may believe this writing of them by Divine Inspiration is so far sufficient to beget and assure Faith in you as that thereby you may have eternal life through Jesus Christ. For if the writing of Divine Things and Revelations be the means appointed of God to cause men to believe unto eternal life then it must as such carry along with it sufficient Reason why we should believe and Grounds whereon we should do so And in like manner is this matter determined by the Apostle Peter 2 Pet. 1. 16 17 18 19 20 21. For we have not followed cunningly devised Fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye-witnesses of his Majesty For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a Voice to him from the excellent Glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And this Voice which came from Heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy Mount We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts Knowing this first that no Prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation For the Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost The Question is about the Gospel or the Declaration of the powerful Coming of Jesus Christ whether it were to be believed or no and if it were upon what Grounds Some said it was a cunningly devised Fable others that it was a fanatical Story of mad men as Festus thought of it when preached by Paul Acts 26. 24. and very many are of the same mind still The Apostles on the contrary averred that what was spoken concerning him were Words of truth and soberness yea faithful Sayings and worthy of all acceptation 1 Tim. 1. 15. that is to be believed for its Worth and Truth The Grounds and Reasons hereof are two 1. The Testimony of the Apostles who not only conversed with Jesus Christ and were eye Witnesses of his Majesty beholding his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth John 1. 14. which they gave in Evidence of the Truth of the Gospel 1 John 1. 1. But also heard a miraculous Testimony given unto him immediately from God in Heaven ver 17. 18. This gave them indeed sufficient Assurance but whereinto shall they resolve their Faith who heard not this Testimony Why they have a more sure that is a most sure Word of Prophecy that is the written Word of God that is sufficient of it self to secure their Faith in this matter especially as confirmed by the Testimony of the Apostles whereby the Church comes to be built in its Faith on the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Ephes. 2. 20. But why should we believe this Word of Prophecy may not that also be a cunningly devised Fable and the whole Scripture be but the Suggestions of mens private Spirits as is objected Ver. 20. All is finally resolved into this that the Writers of it were immediately moved and acted by the Holy Ghost from which Divine Original it carrieth along its own Evidence with it Plainly that which the Apostle teacheth us is that we believe all other Divine Truths for the Scriptures sake or because they are declared therein but the Scripture we believe for its own sake or because holy men of God wrote it as they were moved by the Holy Ghost So is the whole Object of Faith proposed by the same Apostle 2 Pet. 3. 2. The Words that were spoken before by the holy Prophets and the Commandments of the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour And because our Faith is resolved into them we are said to be built upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles as was said Eph. 2. 20. that is our Faith rests solely as on its proper Foundation which bears the weight of it on the Authority and Truth of God in their Writings Hereunto we may add that of Paul Rom. 16. 25 26. According to the Revelation of the Mystery which was kept secret since the World began but now is made manifest and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the Commandment of the everlasting God made known unto all Nations for the Obedience of Faith The matter to be beleived is the Mystery of the Gospel which was kept secret since the World began or from the giving of the first Promise not absolutely but with respect unto that full manifestation which it hath now received This God commands to be believed the everlasting God he who hath sovereign Authority over all requires Faith in a way of Obedience hereunto But what Ground or Reason have we to believe it This alone is proposed namely the Divine Revelation made in the Preaching of the Apostles and Writings of the Prophets for Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Rom. 10. 17. This Course and no other did our Saviour even after his Resurrection take to beget and confirm Faith in the Disciples Luk. 24. 25 26 27. That great Testimony to this purpose 2 Tim. 3. 14 15 16 17. I do not plead in particular because I have so fully insisted on it in another Discourse From these and many other Testimonies to the same purpose which might be produced it is evident 1. That it is the Scripture it self the Word or Will of God as revealed or written which is proposed unto us as the Object of our Faith and Obedience which we are to receive and believe with Faith divine and supernatural 2. That no other Reason is proposed unto us either as a Motive to encourage us or as an Argument to assure us that we shall not
be mistaken but only its own Divine Original and Authority making our Duty necessary and securing our Faith infallibly And those Testimonies are with me of more weight a thousand times than the plausible Reasonings of any to the contrary With some indeed it is grown a matter of contempt to quote or cite the Scripture in our Writings such Reverence have they for the Ancient Fathers some of whose Writings are nothing else but a perpetual Contexture of Scripture But for such who pretend to despise those Testimonies in this Case it is because either they do not understand what they are produced to confirm or cannot answer the Proof that is in them For it is not unlikely but that some Persons well conceited of their own Understanding in things wherein they are most ignorant will pride and please themselves in the Ridiculousness of proving the Scripture to be the Word of God by Testimonies taken out of it But as was said we must not forgo the Truth because either they will not or cannot understand what we discourse about 2. Our Assertion is confirmed by the uniform Practice of the Prophets and Apostles and all the Penmen of the Scripture in proposing these Divine Revelations which they received by immediate Inspiration from God For that which was the Reason of their Faith unto whom they first declared those Divine Revelations is the Reason of our Faith now they are recorded in the Scripture For the writing of it being by God's Appointment it comes into the room and supplies the place of their Oral Ministry On what Ground soever men were obliged to receive and believe Divine Revelations when made unto them by the Prophets and Apostles on the same are we obliged to receive and believe them now they are made unto us in the Scripture the VVriting being by divine Inspiration and appointed as the Means and Cause of our Faith It is true God was pleased sometimes to bear witness unto their personal Ministry by Miracles or Signs and Wonders as Heb. 2. 4. God bearing them witness But this was only at some seasons and with some of them That which they universally insisted on whether they wrought any Miracles or no was that the Word which they preached declared wrote was not the Word of man came not by any private Suggestion or from any Invention of their own but was indeed the Word of God 1 Thes. 2. 13. and declared by them as they were acted by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 21. Under the Old Testament although the Prophets sometimes referred Persons unto the Word already written as that which their Faith was to acquiesce in Isa. 8. 20 Mal. 4. 4. setting out its Power and Excellency for all the ends of Faith and Obedience Psal. 19. 7 8 9. Psal. 119. and not to any thing else nor to any other Motives or Arguments to beget and require Faith but it s own Authority only yet as to their own especial Messages and Revelations they laid the Foundation of all the Faith and Obedience which they required in this alone Thus saith the Lord the God of Truth And under the New Testament the infallible Preachers and Writers thereof do in the first place propose the Writings of the Old Testament to be received for their own sake or on the Account of their Divine Original see John 45. 46 47. Luk. 16. 29 31. Mat. 21. 42. Acts 18. 24 25 28. Acts 24. 14. chap. 26. 22. 2 Pet. 1. 21. Hence are they called the Oracles of God Rom. 3. 2. And Oracles always required an Assent for their own sakes and other Evidence they pleaded none And for the Revelations which they superadded they pleaded that they had them immediately from God by Jesus Christ Gal. 1. 1. And this was accompanied with such an infallible Assurance in them that received it as to be preferred above a Supposition of the highest Miracle to confirm any thing to the contrary Gal. 1. 8. For if an Angel from Heaven should have preached any other Doctrine than what they revealed and proposed in the Name and Authority of God they were to esteem him accursed For this Cause they still insisted on their Apostolical Authority and Mission which included infallible Inspiration and Directions as the Reason of the Faith of them unto whom they preached and wrote And as for those who were not themselves divinely inspired or wherein those that were so did not act by immediate Inspiration they proved the Truth of what they delivered by its consonancy unto the Scriptures already written referring the Minds and Consciences of Men unto them for their ultimate Satisfaction Acts 18. 28. chap. 28. 33. 3. It was before granted that there is required as subservient unto believing as a means of it or the Resolution of our Faith into the Authority of God in the Scriptures the ministerial Proposal of the Scriptures and the Truths contained in them with the Command of God for Obedience unto them Rom. 16. 25. 26. This Ministry of the Church either extraordinary or ordinary God hath appointed unto this End and ordinarily it is indispensible thereunto Rom. 10. 14 15. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a Preacher and how shall they preach unless they are sent Without this ordinarily we cannot believe the Scripture to be the Word of God nor the things contained in it to be from him though we do not believe either the one or the other for it I do grant that in extraordinary cases outward Providences may supply the room of this Ministerial Proposal for it is all one as unto our Duty by what means the Scripture is brought unto us But upon a Supposition of this Ministerial Proposal of the Word which ordinarily includes the whole Duty of the Church in its Testimony and Declaration of the Truth I desire to know whether those unto whom it is proposed are obliged without further external Evidence to receive it as the Word of God to rest their Faith in it and submit their Consciences unto it The Rule seems plain that they are obliged so to do Mark 16. 16. We may consider this under the distinct ways of its Proposal extraordinary and ordinary Upon the Preaching of any of the Prophets by immediate Inspiration of the Holy Ghost or on their Declaration of any new Revelation they had from God by preaching or writing suppose Isaiah or Jeremiah I desire to know whether or no all Persons were bound to receive their Doctrine as from God to believe and submit unto the Authority of God in the Revelation made by him without any external Motives or Arguments or the Testimony or Authority of the Church witnessing thereunto If they were not then were they all excused as guiltless who refused to believe the Message they declared in the Name of God and in despising the Warnings and Instructions which they gave them For external Motives they used not and the present Church mostly
as a sufficient and perfect so the only Treasury of divine Revelations And what hath been offered by any to weaken or impair its esteem by taking off from its credibility perfection and sufficiency as unto all its own proper ends hath brought no advantage unto the Church nor benefit unto the Faith of Believers But yet Fifthly In asserting the Scripture to be the only external means of divine Revelation I do it not exclusively unto those Institutions of God which are subordinate unto it and appointed as means to make it effectual unto our souls As 1. Our own personal endeavours in reading studying and meditating on the Scripture that we my come unto a right Apprehension of the things contained in it are required unto this purpose It is known to all how frequently this Duty is pressed upon us and what Promises are annexed to the performance of it see Deut. 6. 6 7. chap. 11. 18 19. Josh. 1. 8. Psal. 1. 2. Psal. 119. Col. 3. 16. 2 Tim. 3. 15. Without this it is in vain to expect Illumination by the Word And therefore we may see multitudes living and walking in extreme darkness when yet the Word is every-where nigh unto them Bread which is the Staff of life will yet nourish no man who doth not provide it and feed upon it no more would Manna unless it was gathered and prepared Our own Natures and the Nature of divine Revelations considered and what is necessary for the application of the one to the other makes this evident For God will instruct us in his mind and will as we are men in and by the rational faculties of our souls Nor is an external Revelation capable of making any other impression on us but what is so received Wherefore when I say that the Scripture is the only external means of our Illumination I include therein all our own personal endeavours to come to the knowledge of the mind of God therein which shall be afterwards spoken unto And those who under any pretences do keep drive or perswade men from reading and meditating on the Scripture do take an effectual course to keep them in and under the power of Darkness 2. The mutual Instruction of one another in the mind of God out of the Scripture is also required hereunto For we are obliged by the Law of Nature to endeavour the good of others in various degrees as our Children our Families our Neighbours and all with whom we have Conversation And this is the principal Good absolutely considered that we can communicate unto others namely to instruct them in the knowledge of the mind of God This whole Duty in all the Degrees of it is represented in that Command Thou shalt teach my Words diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up Deut. 6. 7. Thus when our Saviour found his Disciples talking of the things of God by the way side he bearing unto them the person of a private man instructed them in the sense of the Scripture Luk. 24. 26 27 32. And the neglect of this Duty in the World which is so great that the very mention of it or the least attempt to perform it is a matter of scorn and reproach is one cause of the great ignorance darkness which yet abounds among us But the nakedness of this folly whereby men would be esteemed Christians in the open contempt of all Duties of Christianity will in due time be laid open 3. The Ministry of the Word in the Church is that which is principally included in this Assertion The Scripture is the only means of Illumination but it becometh so principally by the application of it unto the minds of men in the Ministry of the Word see Mat. 5. 14 15. 2 Cor. 5. 18 19 20. Eph. 4. 11 12 13 14 15. 1 Tim. 3. 15. The Church and the Ministry of it are the Ordinances of God unto this end that his Mind and Will as revealed in the Word may be made known to the Children of Men whereby they are enlightned And that Church and Ministry whereof this is not the first principal design and work is neither appointed of God nor approved by him Men will one day find themselves deceived in trusting to empty Names it is Duty alone that will be Comfort and Reward Dan. 12. 3. Sixthly That the Scripture which thus contains the whole of divine Revelation may be a sufficient external cause of Illumination unto us two things are required 1. That we believe it to be a divine Revelation that is the Word of God or a Declaration of Himself his Mind and Will immediatly proceeding from Him or that it is of a pure divine Original proceeding neither from the folly or deceit nor from the skill or honesty of men so is it stated 2 Pet. 1. 19 20 21. Heb. 1. 1. 2 Tim. 3. 16. Isa. 8. 20. It tenders no light or instruction under any other notion but as it comes immediatly from God not as the Word of Man but as it is indeed the Word of the Living God 1 Thes. 2. 13. And what ever any one may learn from or by the Scriptures under any other consideration it belongeth not unto the Illumination we enquire after Nehem. 8. 8. Isa. 28. 9. Hos. 14. 9. Prov. 1. 6. Psal. 119. 34 Mat. 15. 16. 2 Tim. 2. 7. 1 John 5. 20. 2. That we understand the things declared in it or the Mind of God as revealed and expressed therein For if it be given unto us a sealed Book which we cannot read either because it is sealed or because we are ignorant and cannot read whatever Visions or means of Light it hath in it we shall have no advantage thereby Isa. 29. 11 12. It is not the Words themselves of the Scripture only but our understanding them that gives us light Psal. 119. 130. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the opening the Door the entrance of thy Word giveth light It must be opened or it will not enlighten So the Disciples understood not the Testimonies of the Scripture concerning the Lord Christ they were not enlightned by them until he expounded them unto them Luk. 24. 27 45. As we have the same instance in the Eunuch and Philip Acts 8. 31 35 36. To this very day the Nation of the Jews have the Scriptures of the old Testament and the outward Letter of them in such esteem and veneration that they even adore and worship them yet are they not enlightned by it And the same is fallen out among many that are called Christians or they could never embrace such foolish opinions and practise such Idolatries in worship as some of them do who yet enjoy the Letter of the Gospel And this brings me to my design which we have been thus far making way unto and it is to shew that both these are from the Holy Ghost namely that we truly believe
Probability of Success in such an undertaking This the Jews marked in them with contempt Act. 4. 13. And the Gentiles also generally despised them on the same account As they afforded our Apostle no better title than that of a Babler Act. 17. 18. So for a long time they kept up the Publick Vogue in the World that Christianity was the Religion of Ideots and Men Illiterate But God had another design in this order of things which our Apostle declares upon an admission of the inconsiderable meanness of them unto whom the dispensation of the Gospel was committed 2 Cor. 4. 7. We have this treasure in Earthen Vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us The Reason why God would make use of such Instruments only in so great a work was that through their meanness his own glorious power might be more conspicuous There is nothing more common among men nor more natural unto them than to admire the excellencies of those of their own Race and Kind and a willingness to have all evidences of a divine Supernatural power clouded and hidden from them If therefore there had been such persons employed as Instruments in this work whose Powers Abilities Qualifications and Endowments might have been probably pretended as sufficient and the immediate causes of such an effect there would have been no observation of the divine power or glory of God But he who is not able to discern them in the bringing about of so mighty a work by means so disproportionate thereunto is under the power of the unrelievable prejudices intimated by our Apostle in this case 2 Cor. 4. 4 5 7. Secondly The Means which were to be used unto this end namely the subduing of the World unto the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel so erecting the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ in the minds of men who before were under the Power and Dominion of his Adversary must either be Force and Armes or Eloquence in plausible perswasive reasonings And mighty works have been wrought by the one and the other of them By the former have Empires been set up and established in the World and the superstition of Mahomet imposed on many Nations And the latter also hath had great effects on the minds of many Wherefore it might have been expected that those who had engaged themselves in so great a design and work as that mentioned should betake themselves unto the one or other of these means and ways For the Wit of Man cannot contrive any way unto such an end but what may be reduced unto one of these two seeing neither upon the principles of nature nor on the Rules of humane Wisdom or Policy can any other be imagined But even both these ways were abandoned by them and they declared against the use of either of them For as outward Force Power and Authority they had none the use of all carnal weapons being utterly inconsistent with this Work and Design so the other way of perswasive Orations of enticing words of Alluring Arts and Eloquence with the like effects of humane Wisdom and Skill were all of them studiously declined by them in this work as things extremely prejudicial to the success thereof 1 Cor. 2. 4 5. But this alone they betook themselves unto they went up and down preaching to Jews and Gentiles that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again according to the Scriptures 1 Cor. 15. 3 4. And this they did by Vertue of those Spiritual Gifts which were the hidden Powers of the World to come whose Nature Virtue and Power others were utterly unacquainted withal This Preaching of theirs this Preaching of the Cross both for the Subject Matter and Manner of it without Art Eloquence or Oratory was looked on as a marvellous foolish thing a sweaty kind of babling by all those who had got any Reputation of Learning or Cunning amongst men This our Apostle at large discourseth 1 Cor. 1. In this State of things every thing was under as many improbabilities of Success unto all rational Conjectures as can be conceived Besides together with the Doctrine of the Gospel that they preached which was new and uncouth unto the World they taught Observances of Religious Worship in Meetings Assemblies or Conventicles to that end which all the Laws in the World did prohibit Acts 18. 13. c. 16. 21. Hereupon no sooner did the Rulers and Governours of the World begin to take notice of them and what they did but they judged that it all tended to Sedition and that Commotions would ensue thereon These things enraged the Generality of Mankind against them and their Converts who therefore made havock of them with incredible fury And yet notwithstanding all these Disadvantages and against all these Oppositions their Doctrine prevailed to subdue the World to the Obedience thereof And there may be added unto all these things one or two Considerations from the State of Things at that time in the World which signalize the quality of this Work and manifest it to have been of God As 1. That in the New Testament the Writers of it do constantly distribute all those with whom they had to do in this World into Jews and Greeks which we render Gentiles the other Nations of the World coming under that Denomination because of their Preeminence on various Accounts Now the Jews at that time were in solidum possessed of all the true Religion that was in the World and this they boasted of as their Priviledge bearing up themselves with the Thoughts and Reputation of it every where and on all occasions it being at that time their great Business to gain Proselytes unto it whereon also their Honour and Advantage did depend The Greeks on the other side were in as full a possession of Arts Sciences Literature and all that which the World calls Wisdom as the Jews were of Religion and they had also a Religion received by a long Tradition of their Fathers from time immemorial which they had variously cultivated and dressed with Mysteries and Ceremonies unto their own compleat satisfaction Besides the Romans who were the ruling Part of the Gentiles did ascribe all their Prosperity and the whole Raising of their stupendous Empire to their Gods and the religious Worship they gave unto them so that it was a fundamental Maxim in their Policy and Rule that they should prosper or decay according as they observed or were negligent in the Religion they had received As indeed not only those who owned the true God and his Providence but before Idolatry and Superstition had given place unto Atheism all people did solemnly impute all their Atchievements and Successes unto their Gods as the Prophet speaks of the Caldeans Mal. 1. 11. And he who first undertook to record the Exploits of the Nations of the World doth constantly assign all their Good and Evil unto their Gods as they were pleased or provoked The Romans in especial boasted that their Religion was the
whatever various Apprehensions men may have through their Weakness or Prejudices concerning the things taught therein yet are they in themselves absolutely the same that ever they were and that without the loss or change of a material Word or Syllable in the manner of their Delivery This I have proved elsewhere and it is a thing capable of the most evident Demonstration Wherefore whatever Entertainment this Gospel meets withal at present in the World its former Prevalency may be pleaded in Justification of its divine Original 2. The Cause of this Event lyeth principally in the Soveraign Will and Pleasure of God For although the Scripture be his Word and he hath testified it so to be by his Power put forth and exerted in Dispensations of it unto men yet is not that divine Power included or shut up in the Letter of it so that it must have the same Effect where ever it comes We plead not that there is absolutely in its self its Doctrine the Preaching or Preachers thereof such a Power as it were naturally and physically to produce the Effects mentioned But it is an Instrument in the Hand of God unto that work which is his own and he puts forth his Power in it and by it as it seems good unto him And if he doth at any time so put forth his divine Power in the Administration of it or in the use of this Instrument as that the great Worth and Excellency of it shall manifest it self to be from him he giveth a sufficient Attestation of it Wherefore the Times and Seasons of the Prevalency of the Gospel in the World are in the Hand and at the Sovereign Disposal of God And as he is not obliged for who hath known the Mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor to accompany it with the same Power at all times and seasons so the Evidence of his own Power going along with it at any time whiles under an open Claim of a divine Original is an uncontroulable Approbation of it Thus at the first Preaching of the Word to fullfil the Promises made unto the Fathers from the Foundation of the World to glorify his Son Jesus Christ and the Gospel it self which he had revealed he put forth that effectual divine Power in its Administration whereby the World was subdued unto the Obedience of it And the Time will come when he will revive the same Work of Power and Grace to retrieve the World into a subjection to Jesus Christ. And although he doth not in these latter Ages cause it to run and prosper among the Nations of the world who have not as yet received it as he did formerly yet considering the state of things at present among the Generality of Mankind the Preservation of it in that small Remnant by whom it is obeyed in sincerity is a no less glorious Evidence of his Presence with it and Care over it than was its eminent Propagation in days of old 3. The Righteousness of God is in like manner to be considered in these things For whereas he had granted the inestimable Priviledge of his Word unto many Nations they through their horrible ingratitude and wickedness detained the Truth in Vnrighteousness so that the continuance of the Gospel among them was no way to the Glory of God no nor yet unto their own Advantage For neither Nations nor Persons will ever be advantaged by an outward Profession of the Gospel whilst they live in a Contradiction and Disobedience to its Precepts yea nothing can be more pernicious to the Souls of Men. This Impiety God is at this day revenging on the Nations of the World having utterly cast off many of them from the Knowledg of the Truth and given up others unto strong Delusions to believe Lies though they retain the Scriptures and outward Profession of Christianity How far he may proceed in the same way of Righteous Vengeance towards other Nations also we know not but ought to tremble in the Consideration of it When God first granted the Gospel unto the World although the Generality of Mankind had greatly sinned against the Light of Nature and had rejected all those supernatural Revelations that at any time had been made unto them yet had they not sinned against the Gospel it self nor the Grace thereof It pleased God therefore to wink at and pass over that Time of their Ignorance so as that his Justice should not be provoked by any of their former sins to with-hold the Efficacy of his divine Power in the Administration of the Gospel from them whereby he called them to Repentance But now after that the Gospel hath been sufficiently tendred unto all Nations and hath either as unto its Profession or as unto its Power with the Obedience that it requires been rejected by the most of them things are quite otherwise stated It is from the Righteous Judgment of God revenging the sins of the World against the Gospel it self that so many Nations are deprived of it and so many left obstinate in its Refusal Wherefore the present state of things doth no way weaken or prejudice the Evidence given unto the Scripture by that mighty Power of God which accompanied the Administration of it in the World For what hath since fallen out there are secret Reasons of Sovereign Wisdom and open Causes in Divine Justice whereunto it is to be assigned These things I have briefly called over and not as though they were all of this kind that may be pleaded but only to give some Instance of those external Arguments whereby the divine Authority of the Scripture may be confirmed Now these Arguments are such as are able of themselves to beget in the Minds of Men sober humble intelligent and unprejudiced a firm Opinion Judgment and Perswasion that the Scripture doth proceed from God Where Persons are prepossessed with invincible Prejudices contracted by a Course of Education wherein they have imbibed Principles opposite and contrary thereunto and have increased and fortified them by some fixed and hereditary Enmity against all those whom they know to own the Divinity of the Scripture as it is with Mahometans aud some of the Indians these Arguments it may be will not prevail immediately to work nor effect their Assent It is so with respect unto them also who out of Love unto and Delight in those ways of Vice Sin and Wickedness which are absolutely and severely condemned in the Scripture without the least hope of a Dispensation unto them that continue under the Power of them who will not take these Arguments into due Consideration Such Persons may talk and discourse of them but they never weigh them seriously according as the Importance of the Cause doth require For if men will examine them as they ought it must be with a sedate Judgment that their eternal Condition depends upon a right Determination of this Enquiry But for those who can scarce get Liberty from the Service and Power of their Lusts seriously
and a Resolution to live in an excess of known Sin Multitudes suffer their Minds to be bribed by their corrupt Affections to a Relinquishment of any Regard unto it 3. The scandalous Quarrels and Disputations of those of the Church of Rome against the Scripture and its Authority have contributed much unto the ruine of the Faith of many Their great Design is by all means to secure the Power Authority and Infallibility of their Church Of these they say continually as the Apostle in another case of the Mariners unless these stay in the Ship we cannot be saved Without an Acknowledgment of these things they would have it that men can neither at present believe nor be saved hereafter To secure this Interest the Authority of the Scripture must be by all means questioned and impaired A divine Authority in it self they will allow it but with respect unto us it hath none but what it obtains by the Suffrage and Testimony of their Church But whereas Authority is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and consists essentially in the Relation and Respect which it hath unto others or those that are to be subject unto it to say that it hath an Authority in it self but none towards us is not only to deny that it hath any Authority at all but also to reproach it with an empty name They deal with it as the Souldiers did with Christ they put a Crown on his Head and cloathed him with a purple Robe and bowing the Knee before him mocked him saying Hail King of the Jews The ascribe unto it the Crown and Robe of Divine Authority in it self but not towards any one Person in the World So if they please God shall be God and his Word be of some Credit among men Herein they seek continually to entangle those of the weaker Sort by urging them vehemently with this Question How do you know the Scripture to be the Word of God and have in continual readyness a number of sophistical Artifices to weaken all Evidences that shall be pleaded in its behalf Nor is that all but on all Occasions they insinuate such Objections against it from its Obscurity Imperfection want of Order Difficulties and seeming Contradictions in it as are suited to take off the minds of men from a firm Assent unto it or Reliance on it As if a Company of men should conspire by crafty multiplied Insinuations divulged on all advantages to weaken the Reputation of a chast and sober Matron although they cannot deprive her of her Vertue yet unless the World were wiser than for the most part it appears to be they will insensibly take off from her due esteem And this is as bold an Attempt as can well be made in any Case For the first Tendency of these Courses is to make men Atheists after which success it is left at uncertain hazard whether they will be Papists or no. Wherefore as there can be no greater nor more dishonourable Reflection made on Christian Religion than that it hath no other Evidence or Testimony of its Truth but the Authority and Witness of those by whom it is at present professed and who have notable worldly advantages thereby so the minds of multitudes are secretly influenced by the Poison of these Disputes to think it no way necessary to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God or at least are shaken off from the Grounds whereon they have professed it so to be And the like Dis-service is done unto Faith and the Souls of Men by such as advance a Light within or immediate Inspiration into Competition with it or the Room of it For as such Imaginations take place and prevail in the minds of men so their Respect unto the Scripture and all Sense of its divine Authority doth decay as Experience doth openly manifest It is I say from an unusual Concurrence of these and the like Causes and Occasions that there is at present among us such a Decay in Relinquishment of and Opposition unto the Belief of the Scripture as it may be former Ages could not parallel But against all these Objections and Temptations the Minds of true Believers are secured by Supplies of spiritual Light Wisdom and Grace from the Holy Ghost There are several other especial gracious Actings of the Holy Spirit on the minds of Believers which belong also unto this internal real Testimony whereby their Faith is established Such are his anointing and sealing of them his witnessing with them and his being an Earnest in them all which must be elsewhere spoken unto Hereby is our Faith every day more and more increased and established Wherefore although no internal Work of the Spirit can be the formal Reason of our Faith or that which it is resolved into yet is it such as without it we can never sincerely believe as we ought nor be established in believing against Temptations and Objections And with respect unto this Work of the Holy Ghost it is that Divines at the first Reformation did generally resolve our Faith of the divine Authority of the Scripture into the Testimony of the Holy Spirit But this they did not do exclusively unto the proper use of external Arguments and Motives of Credibility whose Store indeed is great and whose Fountain is inexhaustible For they arise from all the indubitable Notions that we have of God or our selves in reference unto our present Duty or future Happiness Much less did they exclude that Evidence thereof which the Holy Ghost gives unto it in and by it self Their Judgment is well expressed in the excellent Words of one of them Maneat ergo saith he hoc fixum quos Spiritus intus docuit solidè acquiescere in Scripturâ hanc quidem esse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neque demonstrationi rationibus subjici eam fas esse quam tamen meretur apud nos certitudinem Spiritus testimonio consequi eisi enim Reverentiam sua sibi ultro Majestate conciliat tunc tamen demum serio nos afficit quum per Spiritum obsignata est cordibus nostris Istius ergo veritate illuminati jam non aut nostro aut aliorum judicio credimus a Deo esse Scripturam sed supra humanum judicium certo certius constituimus non secus ac si ipsius Dei numen illic intueremur hominum ministerio ab ipsissimo Dei ore ad nos fluxisse Non Argumenta non veri Similitudines quaerimus quibus judicium nostrum incumbat sed ut rei extra estimandi aleam positae judicium ingeniumque nostrum subjicimus Non qualiter superstitionibus solent miseri homines captivam mentem addicere sed quia non dubiam vim Numinis illic sentimus vigere spirare quam ad parendum scientes ac volentes vividius tamen efficacius quam pro humana aut voluntate aut scientia trahimur accendimur Talis ergo est Persuasio quae rationes non requirat talis notitia cui optima ratio cosnstet
condemned them and their Ministry as is plain and the Case of Jeremiah Now it is impious to imagine that those to whom they spake in the Name of God were not obliged to believe them and it tends to the overthrow of all Religion If we shall say that they were obliged to believe them and that under the Penalty of divine Displeasure and so to receive the Revelation made by them or their Declaration of it as the Word of God then it must contain in it the formal Reason of believing or the full and entire Cause Reason and Ground why they ought to believe with Faith divine and supernatural Or let another Ground of Faith in this Case be assigned Suppose the Proposal be made in the ordinary Ministry of the Church Hereby the Scripture is declared unto Men to be the Word of God they are acquainted with it and what God requires of them therein and they are charged in the Name of God to receive and believe it Doth any Obligation unto believing hence arise It may be some will say that immediately there is not only they will grant that men are bound hereon to enquire into such Reasons and Motives as are proposed unto them for its Reception and Admission I say there is no doubt but that Men are obliged to consider all things of that Nature which are proposed unto them and not to receive it with brutish implicit Belief For the receiving of it is to be an Act of Mens own Minds or Understandings on the best Grounds and Evidences which the Nature of the thing proposed is capable of But supposing Men to do their Duty in their diligent Enquiries into the whole Matter I desire to know whether by the Proposal mentioned there come upon Men an Obligation to believe If there do not then are all Men perfectly innocent who refuse to receive the Gospel in the preaching of it as to any respect unto that preaching which to say is to overthrow the whole Dispensation of the Ministry If they are obliged to believe upon the preaching of it then hath the Word in it self those Evidences of its Divine Original and Authority which are a sufficient Ground of Faith or Reason of Believing For what God requires us to believe upon hath so always As the Issue of this whole Discourse it is affirmed that our Faith is built on and resolved into the Scripture it self which carries with it its own Evidence of being a Divine Revelation And therefore doth that Faith ultimately rest in the Truth and Authority of God alone and not in any Human Testimony such as is that of the Churh nor in any rational Arguments or Motives that are absolutely fallible It may be said that if the Scripture thus evidence it self to be the Word of God as the Sun manifesteth it self by Light and Fire by Heat or as the first Principles of Reason are evident in themselves without further Proof or Testimony then every one and all men upon the Proposal of the Scripture unto them and its own bare Assertion that it is the Word of God would necessarily on that Evidence alone assent thereunto and believe it so to be But this is not so all Experience lyeth against it nor is there any pleadable Ground of Reason that so it is or that so it ought to be In Answer unto this Objection I shall do these two things 1. I shall shew what it is what Power what Faculty in the Minds of Men whereunto this Revelation is proposed and whereby we assent unto the Truth of it wherein the Mistakes whereon this Objection proceedeth will be discovered 2. I shall mention some of those things whereby the Holy Ghost testifieth and giveth Evidence unto the Scripture in and by it self so as that our Faith may be immediately resolved into the Veracity of God alone 1. And in the first place we may consider that there are three Ways whereby we assent unto any thing that is proposed unto us as true and receive it as such 1. By inbred Principles of natural Light and the first rational Actings of our Minds This in Reason answers Instinct in irrational Creatures Hence God complains that his People did neglect and sin against their own natural Light and first Dictates of Reason whereas brute Creatures would not forsake the Conduct of the Instinct of their Natures Isa. 1. 3. In general the Mind is necessarily determined to an Assent unto the proper Objects of these Principles it cannot do otherwise It cannot but assent unto the prime Dictates of the Light of Nature yea those Dictates are nothing but its Assent Its first Apprehension of the things which the Light of Nature embraceth without either express Reasonings or further Consideration are this Assent Thus doth the Mind embrace in it self the general Notions of moral Good and Evil with the Difference between them however it practically complies notwith what they guide unto Jude v. 10. And so doth it assent unto many Principles of Reason as that the whole is greater than the part without admitting any debate about them 2. By rational Considerations of things externally proposed unto us Herein the Mind exerciseth its discursive Faculty gathering one thing out of another and concluding one thing from another And hereon is it able to assent unto what is proposed unto it in various Degrees of Certainty according unto the nature and degree of the Evidence it proceeds upon Hence it hath a certain Knowledg of some things of others an Opinion or Perswasion prevalent against the Objections to the contrary which it knows and whose Force it understands which may be true or false 3. By Faith This respects that Power of our Minds whereby we are able to assent unto any thing as true which we have no first Principles concerning no inbred Notions of nor can from more known Principles make unto our selves any certain rational Conclusions concerning them This is our Assent upon Testimony whereon we believe many Things which no Sense inbred Principles nor Reasonings of our own could either give us an Acquaintance with or an Assurance of And this Assent also hath not only various Degrees but is also of divers Kinds according as the Testimony is which it ariseth from and resteth on as being Humane if that be Humane and Divine if that be so also According to these distinct Faculties and Powers of our Souls God is pleased to reveal or make known himself his Mind or Will three ways unto us For he hath implanted no Power on our Minds but the principal Use and Exercise of it are to be with respect unto himself and our living unto him which is the end of them all And a neglect of the improvement of them unto this end is the highest Aggravation of Sin It is an Aggravation of Sin when men abuse the Creatures of God otherwise than he hath appointed or in not using them to his Glory when they take his Corn and Wine and Oil and spend
Minds and Consciences of Men with its Operation of Divine Effects thereon This the Apostle expresly affirms to be the Reason and Cause of Faith 1 Cor. 14. 24 25. If all prophesy and there comes in one that believeth not or one unlearned he is convinced of all he is judged of all And thus are the Secrets of his Heart made manifest and so falling down on his Face he will worship God and report that God is in you of a Truth The Acknowledgment and Confession of God to be in them or among them is a Profession of Faith in the Word administred by them Such Persons assent unto its Divine Authority or believe it to be the Word of God And on what Evidence or Ground of Credibility they did so is expresly declared It was not upon the Force of any external Arguments produced and pleaded unto that Purpose It was not upon the Testimony of this or that or any Church whatever nor was it upon a Conviction of any Miracles which they saw wrought in its Confirmation Yea the Ground of the Faith and Confession declared is opposed unto the Efficacy and Use of the Miraculous Gift of Tongues v. 23 24. Wherefore the only Evidence whereon they received the Word and acknowledged it to be of God was that Divine Power and Efficacy whereof they found and felt the Experience in themselves He is convinced of all judged of all and thus are the Secrets of his Heart made manifest whereon he falls down before it with an Acknowledgment of its Divine Authority finding the VVord to come upon his Conscience with an irresistible Power of Conviction and Judgment thereon He is convinced of all judged of all He cannot but grant that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Divine Efficacy in it or accompanying of it Especially his Mind is influenced by this that the Secrets of his Heart are made manifest by it For all Men must acknowledge this to be an Effect of Divine Power seeing God alone is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he who searcheth knoweth and judgeth the Heart And if the VVoman of Samaria believed that Jesus was the Christ because he told her all things that ever she did John 4. 29. there is Reason to believe that VVord to be from God which makes manifest even the Secrets of our Hearts And although I do conceive that by the Word of God Heb. 4. 12. the Living and Eternal Word is principally intended yet the Power and Efficacy there ascribed to him is that which he puts forth by the VVord of the Gospel And so that VVord also in its Place and use pierceth to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit of the Joynts and Marrew and is a Discerner or passeth a critical Judgment on the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart or makes manifest the Secrets of mens Hearts as it is here expressed Hereby then doth the Holy Ghost so evidence the Divine Authority of the Word namely by that Divine Power which it hath upon our Souls and Consciences that we do assuredly acquiesce in it to be from God So the Thessalonians are commended that they received the Word not as the Word of Men but as it is in truth the Word of God which effectually works in them that believe 1 Thess. 2. 15. It distinguisheth it self from the Word of Men and evidences it self to be indeed the Word of God by its effectual Operation in them that believe And he who hath this Testimony in himself hath a higher and more firm Assurance of the Truth than what can be attained by the Force of external Arguments or the Credit of Humane Testimony VVherefore I say in general that the Holy Spirit giveth Testimony unto and evinceth the Divine Authority of the Word by its Powerful Operations and Divine Effects on the Souls of them that do believe So that although it be weakness and foolishness unto others yet as is Christ himself unto them that are called it is the Power of God and the VVisdom of God And I must say that although a Man be furnished with external Arguments of all Sorts concerning the Divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures although he esteem his Motives of Credibility to be effectually perswasive and have the Authority of any or all the Churches in the VVorld to confirm his Perswasion yet if he have no Experience in himself of its Divine Power Authority and Efficacy he neither doth nor can believe it to be the Word of God in a due manner with Faith Divine and Supernatural But he that hath this Experience hath that Testimony in himself which will never fail This will be the more manifest if we consider some few of those many Instances wherein it exerts its Power or the Effects which are produced thereby The Principal Divine Effect of the Word of God is in the Conversion of the Souls of Sinners unto God The Greatness and Glory of this Work we have elsewhere declared at large And all those who are acquainted with it as it is declared in the Scripture and have any Experience of it in their own Hearts do constantly give it as an Instance of the exceeding Greatness of the Power of God It may be they speak not improperly who prefer the Work of the New Creation before the Work of the Old for the express Evidences of Almighty Power contained in it as some of the Ancients do Now of this Great and Glorious Effect the Word is the only Instrumental Cause whereby the Divine Power operates and is expressive of it self For we are born again born of God not of Corruptible Seed but of Incorruptible by the Word of God which abideth for ever 1 Pet. 1. 21. For of his own Will doth God beget us with the Word of Truth Jam. 1. 18. The Word is the Seed of the New Creature in us that whereby our whole Natures our Souls and all their Faculties are changed and renewed into the Image and Likeness of God And by the same Word is this new Nature kept and preserved 1 Pet. 2. 2. and the whole Soul carried on unto the Enjoyment of God It is unto Believers an Ingrafted Word which is able to save their Souls James 1. 21. The Word of God's Grace which is able to build us up and give us an Inheritance among them that are sanctified Acts 20. 32. And that because it is the Power of God unto Salvation unto them that do believe Rom. 1. 16. All the Power which God puts forth and exerts in the Communication of that Grace and Mercy unto Believers whereby they are gradually carried on and prepared unto Salvation he doth it by the Word Therein in an especial manner is the Divine Authority of the Word evidenced by the Divine Power and Efficacy given unto it by the Holy Ghost The VVork which is effected by it in the Regeneration Conversion and Sanctification of the Souls of Believers doth evidence it infallibly unto their Consciences that it is not the VVord
to evidence it self to be so is exceedingly prejudicial unto his Honour and Glory seeing the everlasting Welfare of the Souls of Men is incomparably more concerned therein than in the other ways mentioned And what Reason could be assigned why he should implant a less Evidence of his Divine Authority on this than on them seeing he designed far greater and more glorious Ends in this than in them If any one shall say the Reason is because this kind of Divine Revelation is not capable of receiving such Evidences it must be either because there cannot be evident Characters of Divine Authority Goodness Wisdom Power implanted on it or mixed with it or because an Efficacy to manifest them cannot be communicated unto it That both these are otherwise shall be demonstrated in the last Part of this Discourse which I shall now enter upon It hath been already declared that it is the Authority and Veracity of God revealing themselves in the Scripture and by it that is the formal Reason of our Faith or Supernatural Assent unto it as it is the Word of God It remains only that we enquire in the Second Place into the Way and Means whereby they evidence themselves unto us and the Scripture thereby to be the Word of God so as that we may undoubtedly and infallibly believe it so to be Now because Faith as we have shewed is an Assent upon Testimony and consequently Divine Faith is an Assent upon Divine Testimony There must be some Testimony or Witness in this case whereon Faith doth rest And this we say is the Testimony of the Holy Ghost the Author of the Scriptures given unto them in them and by them And this Work or Testimony of the Spirit may be reduced unto two Heads which may be distinctly insisted on 1. The Impressions or Characters which are subjectively left in the Scripture and upon it by the Holy Spirit its Author of all the Divine Excellencies or Properties of the Divine Nature are the first Means evidencing that Testimony of the Spirit which our Faith rests upon or they do give the first Evidence of its Divine Original and Authority whereon we do believe it The Way whereby we learn the eternal Power and Deity of God from the Works of Creation is no otherwise but by those Marks Tokens and Impressions of his Divine Power Wisdom and Goodness that are upon them For from the Consideration of their Subsistence Greatness Order and Use Reason doth necessarily conclude an Infinite Subsisting Being of whose Power and Wisdom these things are the manifest Effects These are clearly seen and understood by the Things that are made we need no other Arguments to prove that God made the World but it self It carrieth in it and upon it the infallible Tokens of its Original See to this purpose the blessed Meditation of the Psalmist Psal. 104. throughout Now there are greater and more evident Impressions of Divine Excellencies left on the written Word from the Infinite Wisdom of the Author of it than any that are communicated unto the Works of God of what sort soever Hence David comparing the Works and the Word of God as to their instructive Efficacy in declaring God and his Glory although he ascribe much unto the Works of Creation yet doth he prefer the Word incomparably before them Psal. 19. 1 2 3 7 8 9. and Psal. 146. ver 8 9. c. and 19. 20. And these do manifest the Word unto our Faith to be his more clearly than the other do the Works to be his unto our Reason As yet I do not know that it is denied by any or the contrary asserted namely that God as the immediate Author of the Scripture hath left in the very Word it self Evident Tokens and Impressions of his Wisdom Prescience Omniscience Power Goodness Holiness Truth and other Divine Infinite Excellencies sufficiently evidenced unto the enlightned Minds of Believers Some I confess speak suspitiously herein but until they will directly deny it I shall not need further to confirm it than I have done long since in another Treatise And I leave it to be considered whether morally speaking it be possible that God should immediately by himself from the eternal Counsels of his Will reveal Himself his Mind the Thoughts and Purposes of his Heart which had been hidden in Himself from Eternity on purpose that we should believe them and yeild Obedience unto him according to the Declaration of Himself so made and yet not give with it or leave upon it any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any infallible Token evidencing him to be the Author of that Revelation Men who are not ashamed of their Christianity will not be so to profess and seal that Profession with their Blood and to rest their eternal Concernments on that Security herein which they have attained namely that there is that Manifestation made of the glorious Properties of God in and by the Scripture as it is a Divine Revelation which incomparably excells in Evidence all that their Reason receives concerning his Power from the Works of Creation This is that whereon we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with Faith Divine and Supernatural if we believe it so at all There is in it self that Evidence of its Divine Original from the Characters of Divine Excellencies left upon it by its Author the Holy Ghost as Faith quietly rests in and is resolved into And this Evidence is manifest unto the meanest and most unlearned no less than unto the wisest Philosophers And the Truth is if Rational Arguments and External Motives were the sole Ground of receiving the Scripture to be the Word of God it could not be but that learned Men and Philosophers would have always been the forwardest and most ready to admit it and most firmly to adhere unto it and its Profession For whereas all such Arguments do prevail on the Minds of Men according as they are able aright to discern their Force and judge of them learned Philosophers would have had the Advantage incomparably above others And so some have of late affirmed that it was the wise rational and learned Men who at first most readily received the Gospel an Assertion which nothing but gross Ignorance of the Scripture it self and all the Writings concerning the Original of Christianity whether of Christians or Heathens could give the least Countenance unto see 1 Cor. 1. 23 26. From hence is the Scripâ—ure so often compared unto Light called Light a Light shining in a dark place which will evidence it self unto all who are not blind or do wilfully shut their Eyes or have their Eyes blinded by the God of this World lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them which Consideration I have handled at large elsewhere 2. The Spirit of God evidenceth the Divine Original and Authority of the Scripture by the Power and Authority which he puts forth in it and by it over the