of the Promise in our hearts yea the effects of those absolute Promises of the first Grace Ezek. 36. Ier. 32. Or else notwithstanding Christ's performance of Redemption on his part we can neither be justified nor saved For I don't think you intend to lay the Conditions of Repentance or believing upon Christ who in the New Covenant hath laid them upon us tho in the same Covenant he graciously undertakes to work them in us and yet your words sound in that wild Antinomian Note But I suppose you take my Notion to be as self-repugnant as your own when I say Faith is an antecedent Condition to Justification because I also say this Grace is also supernaturally wrought in us and is not of our selves This staggers you and is the very stone you stumble at all along this Controversie for in your sense p. 34. every Condition is meritorious by condignity or congruity First What do I say more in all this than what those Worthies before-mentioned do expresly affirm Doth not Dr. Owen the man whom you deservedly value make Conditions both in Adam's Covenant and the New with this difference that Adam's Covenant required them but the New Covenant effects them in all the Foederates Sir We take it for no contradiction to assert That the planting of the Principle and the assisting and exciting of the Acts of Faith are the proper Works of the Spirit of God and are also contained in the absolute Promises of the New Covenant Ezek. 36. 26 27. Ier. 32. 39 40. And yet Faith notwithstanding this is truly and properly our work and duty and that upon our believing or not believing we have or have not an actual interest in Christ Righteousness and Life For though the Author of Faith be the Spirit of God yet believing is properly our Act and an Act required of us by a plain Command 1 Iohn 3. 23. This is the Command of God That ye believe And if its being wrought in God's strength makes it cease to be our Work I would fain know what Exposition you would give of that place Phil. 2. 12 13. Work out your own Salvation c. for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do And as this Faith is truly and properly our work though wrought in God's strength for it is not God but we that do believe so it is wrought in us by him by your own confession before the application of pardoning Mercy which is consequent in order of nature thereunto and therefore hath the true nature of an antecedent Condition which is that I contend for and did you but understand your own words you would not contend against Oh but say you p. 34. every Condition is meritorious either by way of congruity or condignity This is your ignorance of the nature of a Condition with which I find you as unacquainted as with the nature of a Covenant A Condition whilst unperformed only suspends the act of the Law or Testament it being the will of the Testator Legislator or Donor that his Law or Testament should act or effect when the Condition is performed and not before but it is not essential to a Condition to be a meritorious or impulsive cause moving him to bestow the benefit for the sake thereof A man freely gives another out of his love and bounty such an Estate or Sum of Money which he shall enjoy if he live to such a year or day and not before is this quando dies veniet this appointed time the meritorious or impulsive cause of the gift surely no man will say it but that it is a causa sine quâ non or a Condition suspending the enjoyment of the gift no man will deny that knows what the nature of a Condition is An act meritorious by way of Congruity is that to which a reward is not due out of strict justice but out of decency or some kind of meetness Merit of condignity is a voluntary action for which a reward is due to a man out of justice and cannot be denied him without injustice Our Faith is truly the Condition of the New Covenant and yet we detest the meritoriousness of it in either sense But you object my words to me in my Method of Grace where I assert the impossibility of believing without the efficacy of supernatural Grace p. 102 103. Sir I own the words you quote and am bold to challenge the most envious Eye that shall read those lines to shew me the least repugnancy betwixt what I said there and what I have said in my Vindiciae Legis c. p. 9. of the Prolegomena and p. 61. of that Book You shew your good-will to make an advantagious thrust but your Weapon is too short and can draw no blood But leaving these weak and impertinent Cavils let us come to your Solution of my Arguments p. 98. by which I proved the Conditionality of the New Covenant My first Argument was this If we cannot be justified or saved till we believe and are justified when we believe Then Faith is the Condition on which those consequent Benefits are suspended c. The sum of your Answer without denying distinguishing or limiting one Proposition is this That here Faith is properly put into the room of perfect Obedience and is to do what perfect Obedience was to do under the Law whereas say you Faith is only appointed as an Instrument to receive and apply the Righteousness of Christ which is the alone matter of our Justification before God and Faith it self is not our Righteousness as it would be if it were a Condition p. 105 106. Not to note the weakness and impertinence of this Answer I shall only take notice of what you here allow and grant That Faith is appointed as an Instrument to receive and apply the Righteousness of Christ which is the alone matter of our Iustification before God Whence I infer three Conclusions First That we cannot be justified before God till we believe except you can prove that the unaccepted and unapplied Righteousness of Christ doth actually justify our persons before God Secondly That the justification of our persons before God is and must be suspended as by a non-performed Condition untill we actually believe Which two Conclusions yield up your Cause to my Argument which you here seem to oppose Thirdly That hereby you perfectly renounce and destroy your Antinomian Fancy before-mentioned That if Christ have fulfilled the Law and purchased Heaven for men nothing can remain but to declare this to them c. for it seems by this they must receive and apply Christ's Righteousness by Faith or they cannot be justified you say not declaratively in their own Consciences but before God And thus instead of answering you have confirmed and yielded my first Argument and only oppose your own Mistakes not the sense or force of my Arguments in all that you say to it or the Scriptures
live but understand not that they live are born to a great Inheritance but have no knowledge of it or present comfort in it 4. I will further grant That the Eye of a Christian may be too intently fixed upon his own gracious qualification and being wholly taken up in the reflex Acts of Faith may too much neglect the direct Acts of Faith upon Christ to the great detriment of his Soul But all this notwithstanding The examination of our Justification by our Sanctification is not only a lawful and possible but a very excellent and necessary work and duty 'T is the course that Christians have taken in all Ages And that which God hath abundantly blessed to the joy and encouragement of their Souls He hath furnished our Souls to this end with noble self-reflecting Powers and Abilities He hath answerably furnished his Word with variety of marks and signs for the same end and use Some of these marks are exclusive to detect and bar bold presumptuous Pretenders 1 Cor. 6. 9. Rev. 21. 8 27. Some are inclusive marks to measure the strength and growth of Grace by Rom. 4. 20. And others are positive signs flowing out of the very essence of Grace or the New-Creature 1 Iohn 4. 13. Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit He hath also expresly commanded us to examine and prove our selves upbraided the neglectors of that duty and enforced their duty upon them by a thundring Argument 2 Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves know ye not your own selves how that Iesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates In a word For this end and purpose amongst others were the Scriptures written 1 Iohn 5. 13. These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life And therefore to neglect this duty is exceeding dangerous but to deny and deride it intolerable It may justly be feared such men will be drown'd in perdition who fall into the waters by making a bridge over them with their own shadows For my own part I verily believe that the sweetest hours Christians enjoy in this World is when they retire into their Closets and sit there concealed from all eyes but him that made them looking now into the Bible then into their own Hearts and then up to God closely following the grand Debate about their Interest in Christ till they have brought it to the happy desired issue And now Reader for a close of all I call the Searcher of Hearts to witness That I have not intermedled with these Controversies of Antipaedobaptism and Antinomianism our of any delight I take in Polemical Studies or an unpeaceable contradicting Humour but out of pure zeal for the Glory and Truths of God for the vindication and defence whereof I have been necessarily ingaged therein And having discharged my duty thus far I now resolve to return if God will permit me to my much sweeter and more agreeable Studies Still maintaining my Christian Charity for those whom I oppose not doubting but I shall meet those in Heaven from whom I am forced in lesser things to dissent and differ upon Earth FINIS GOSPEL-UNITY Recommended to the CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN A SERMON Preached by I. F. Author of the Foregoing DISCOURSE FROM I COR. I. 10. Now I beseech you brethren by the name of our Lord Iesus Christ That ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment WHEN I consider this Healing and Uniting Text and the scandalous Divisions of the Congregations to which I recommend it I could chuse rather to comment thereon with Tears than Words 'T is just matter of lamentation to think what feeble influences such Divine and Pathetical Exhortations have upon the minds and hearts of professed Christians But it is not Lamentations but proper Counsels and convictions obey'd must do the work The Primitive and Purest Churches of Christ consisted of imperfect Members who notwithstanding they were knit together by the same internal bond of the Spirit and the same external bonds of common Profession and common Danger and enjoyed extraordinary helps for uniting in the Presence and Doctrine of the Apostles among them yet quickly discovered a Schismatical Spirit dividing both in Judgment and Affection to the great Injury of Religion and Grief of the Apostle's Spirits To check and heal this growing-Evil in the Church at Corinth the Apostle addresses his Pathetical Exhortation to them and to all future Churches of Christ whom it equally concerns in the words of my Text. Now I beseech you brethren c. Where note 1. The Duty exhorted to 2. The Arguments enforcing the Duty 1. The Duty exhorted to namely Unity the Beauty Strength and Glory as well as the Duty of a Church This Unity he describes two ways 1. As it is Exclusive of its opposite Schism or Division All Rents and rash Separations are contrary to it and destructive of it I beseech you brethren that there be no Divisions or Schisms among you 2. As it is inclusive of all that belongs to it namely the Harmony and Agreement of their Judgments Hearts and Language 1. That ye all speak the same thing 2. That ye be perfectly joined together in one Mind And 3. In the same Judgment This threefold Union in Judgment Affection and Language includes all that belongs to Christian Concord makes the Saints 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men of one Heart and Soul the loveliest sight this World affords Acts 2. 46 47. 2. The Arguments enforcing this Duty upon them comes next under consideration And these are Three 1. I beseech you 2. I beesech you Brethren 3. I beseech you brethren by the name of our Lord Iesus Christ. These Arguments are not of equal Force and Efficacy The first is great The second greater The last the most efficacious and irresistible of all the rest But all together should come with such Power and irresistible Efficacy upon the Judgments Consciences and Hearts of Christians as should perfectly knit them together and defeat all the Designs of Satan and his Agents without them or of their own Corruptions within them to rend asunder their Affections or Communion And first he enforces the Duty of Unity by a solemn Apostolical Obsecration and Adjuration I beseech you saith he he had Power to command them to this Duty and threaten them for the neglect of it He had in readiness to revenge all Disobedience and might have shaken that Rod over them but he chuseth rather to intreat and beseech them Now I beseech you Brethren Here you have as it were the great Apostle upon his knees before them Meekly and Pathetically entreating them to be at perfect Unity among themselves 'T is the intreaty of their Spiritual
to Babylon against the very Grammar of the Text and the Truth of the History And so again that place Isa. 58. 8. The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward through ignorance of the word read re-reward that is a double reward to his people But these are small matters compared with those grosser abuses of Scripture by the ignorant and unlearned which prejudice Truth and too much countenance Popish Reproaches The Remedies The proper way to prevent and remedy this mischief is not by depriving any Man of his just Liberty either to read or judge for himself what God speaks in his Word and think that way to cure Errors that were the same thing as to cut off the Head to cure an Head-ach Leave that sinful policy with the false Religion Let those only that know they do evil be afraid of coming to the light But the proper course of preventing the mischiefs that come this way is by labouring to bound and contain Christians within those limits Christ himself hath set unto this liberty which he hath granted them And these are such as follow Limitation I. Tho' Christ have indulged to the meanest and weakest Christian a liberty to read and judge of the Scriptures for himself yet he hath neither thereby nor therewith granted him a liberty publickly to Expound and Preach the Word to others That 's quite another thing Every Man that can read the Scriptures and judge of their sense is not thereby presently made Christ's Commission-Officer publickly and authoritatively to Preach and Inculcate the same to others Two things are requisite to such an employment viz. Proper Qualifications 1 Tim. 3. And a solemn Call or designation Rom. 10. 14 15. The Ministry is a distinct Office Acts 20. 17 28. 1 Thes. 5. 12. and none but qualified and ordained persons can Authoritatively Preach the Word 2 Tim. 1. 6. 1 Tim. 4. 14. 1 Tim. 5. 22. Christians may privately edify one another by reading the Scriptures communicating their sense one to another of them admonishing counselling reproving one another in a private fraternal way at seasons wherein they interfere not with more publick Duties But for every one that hath confidence enough and the ignorant usually are best stock'd with it to assume a liberty without due Qualification or Call to Expound and give the Sense of Scriptures and pour forth his crude and unstudied Notions as the pure sense and meaning of God's Spirit in the Scriptures this is what Christ never allowed and through this Flood-gate Errors have broken in and overflowed the Church of God to the great scandal of Religion and confirmation of Popish Enemies Limitation II. Though there be no part of Scripture shut up or restrained from the knowledg or use of any Christian yet Jesus Christ hath recommended to Christians of different abilities the study of some parts of Scripture rather than others as more proper and agreeable to their Age and Stature in Religion Christians are by the Apostle rank'd into three Classes Fathers Young-men and Little Children 1 Iohn 2. 13. and accordingly the Wisdom of Christ hath directed to that sort of food which is proper to either For there is in the Word all sorts of Food suitable to all Ages in Christ there 's both Milk for Babes and strong Meat for grown Christians Heb. 5. 13 14. Those that are unskilful in the Word of Righteousnes should feed upon Milk that is the easie plain but most nutritive and pleasant practical Doctrines of the Gospel But strong Meat saith he that is the more abstruse deep and mysterious truths belongeth to them that are of full Age even those who by reason of use have their Senses exercised to discern both good and evil that is Truth and Error To the same purpose he speaks 1 Cor. 3. 2. I have fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto ye were not able to bear it Art thou a weak unstudied Christian a Babe in Christ Then the easier and more nutritive Milk of plain Gospel-Doctrine is fitter for thee and will do thee more good than the stronger Meat of profound and more mysterious Points or the Bones of Controversy which are too hard for thee to deal with God hath blessed this Age with great variety of sound and allowed Expositors in our own Language by the diligent study of which and prayer for the illumination and guidance of the Spirit you may not only attain unto the true sense and meaning of the more plain and obvious but also unto greâ—ter knowledg and clearer insight into the more obscure and controverted parts of Scripture Cause III. There is also another evil disposition in the Subject rendring it easily receptive of Errors and that is spiritual SLOTHFVLNESS and carelesness in a due and serious search of the whole Scripture with a sedate and rational consideration of every part and particle therein which may give us any though the least light to understand the mind of God in those obscure and difficult points we search after the knowledg of Truth lies deep as the rich Veins of Gold do Prov. 2. If we will get the treasure we must not only beg as he directs vers 3. but dig also vers 4. else as he speaks Prov. 14. 23. The talk of the lips tends only to poverty We are not to take up with that which lies uppermost and next at hand upon the surface of the Text but to search with the most sedate and considerative mind into all parts of the written Word examining every Text which hath any respect to the truth we are searching for heedfully to observe the Scope Antecedents and Consequents and to value every Apex Tittle and Iota for each of these are of Divine Authority Matt. 5. 18. and sometimes greater weight is laid upon a small word yea upon the addition or change of a Letter in a word as appears in the names of Abram and Sarai It will require some strength of mind and great sedulity to lay all parts of Scripture before us and to compare words with words and things with things as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 2. 13. comparing spiritual things with spiritual And though it be true that some important Doctrines as that of Iustification by Faith are methodically disposed and throughly clear'd and setled in one and the same Context yet it is as true that very many other points of Faith and Duty are not so digested but are delivered sparsinì here a little and there a little as he speaks Isa. 28. 10. You must not think to find all that belongs to one Head or Point of Faith or Duty lay'd together in a System or common place in Scripture but scattered abroad in several pieces some in the Old Testament and some in the New at a great distance one from another Now in our searches and inquiries after the full and satisfying knowledg of the Will of God in such Points it is necessary that the whole Word of God be throughly
searched and all those parcels brought together to an interview Ex. Gr. If a Man would see the entire discovery that was made of Christ to the Fathers under the Old-Testament he shall not find it laid together in any one Prophet but shall find that one speaks to one part of it and another to another Moses gives the first general hint of it Gen. 3. 15. The seed of the woman shall break the serpents head But then if you would know more particularly of whose Seed according to the flesh he should come you must turn to Gen. 22. 18. In thy seed saith God to Abraham shall all nations of the earth be blessed And if you yet doubt what Seed God means there you must go to the Apostle Gal. 3. 16. To thy seed which is Christ. If you would further know the place of his Nativity the Prophet Micha must inform you of that Mic. 5. 2. it should be Bethlehem-Ephrata If you inquire of the quality of his Parent another Prophet gives you that Isa. 7. 14. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and call his name Immanuel If the time of his Birth be inquired after Moses and Daniel must inform you of that Gen. 49. 10. Dan. 9. 24. So under the New-Testament If a Man inquire about the change of the Sabbath he must not expect to find a formal repeal of the Seventh day and an express institution of the first day in its room but he is to consider First What the Evangelist speaks Mark 2. 28. That Christ is Lord of the Sabbath and so had power not only to dispense with it but to change it Secondly That on the first day of the Week Christ rose from the dead Matt. 28. 1 2. And that this is that great day foretold to be the day to be solemnized upon that account Psal. 118. 24. Thirdly That accordingly the first day of the Week is emphatically styled the Lord's day Rev. 1. 10. where you find his own name written upon it Fourthly You shall find this was the day on which the Apostles and Primitive Christians assembled together for the stated and solemn performance of Publick Worship Iohn 20. 19. and other publick church-Church-Acts and Duties 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. And so by putting together and considering all these Particulars we draw a just Conclusion That it is the Will of God that since the Resurrection of Christ the first day of the week should be observed as the Christian-Sabbath In like manner as for the Baptizing of Believers Infants We are not to expect it in the express words of a New-Testament-Institution or Command that Infants under the Gospel should be Baptized but God hath left us to gather satisfaction about his Will and our Duty in that point by comparing and considering the several Scriptures of the Old and New-Testament which relate to that matter which if we be impartial and considerative we may do First By considering that by God's express Command Gen. 17. 9 10. the Infant Seed of his People were taken into Covenant with their Parents and the then Sign of that Covenant commanded to be applied to them Secondly That though the Sign be altered the Promise and Covenant is still the same and runs as it did before to Believers and their Children Acts 2. 38 39. Thirdly That the foederal holiness of our Children is plainly asserted under the New-Testament 1 Cor. 7. 14. Rom. 11. 16. Fourthly We shall further find that Baptism succeeds in the room of Circumcision and that by an Argument drawn from the compleatness of our Privileges under the New-Testament no way inferiour but rather more extensive than those of the Iews Col. 2. 10 11 12. Fifthly We shall find that upon the Conversion of any Master or Parent the whole Houshold were Bapized By puting all these things with some others together we may arrive to the desired satisfaction about the Will of God in this matter But some Men want abilities and others are too sluggish and lazy to gather together compare and weigh all these and many more hints and discoveries of the Mind of God which would give much light unto this point but they take an easier and cheaper way to satisfy themselves with what lies uppermost upon the surface of Scripture and so as it were by consent let go and lose their own and their Childrens blessed and invaluable Privileges for want of a little labour and patience to search the Scriptures a folly which few would be guilty of if but a small earthly inheritance were concerned therein The Remedies To cure this Spiritual sluggishness and awaken us to the most serious and diligent search after the Will of God in such controversal and doubtful points that we may not neglect the smallest hint given us about it the following Considerations will be found of great use and weight Consideration I. The most sedate impartial and diligent inquiries after the Will of God revealed in his Word is a Duty expresly enjoyned by his Soveraign Command which immediately and indispensibly binds the Conscience of every Christian to the practice of it Remarkable is that Text to this purpose Rom. 12. 2. And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God Here you find this Duty not only associated with but made the very end of our Non-conformity to the World and renovation of our minds the very things which constitute a Christian And to sweeten our pains in this work that Will of God for the discovery whereof we search is presented to us under three illustrious and alluring properties viz. Good Acceptable and Perfect Good it must needs be because the Will and Essence of God the chief Good are not two things but one and the same And Perfect it must needs be because it is the Beam and Standard by which the Actions of all reasonable Creatures ought to be weighed and tryed as to the moral good or evil of them And being both good and perfect How can it chuse but upon both accounts be highly Acceptable and grateful to an upright Soul as that Epithete 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there imports Search the Scriptures saith Christ Ioh. 5. 39. To the Law and to the Testimony faith the Prophet Isa. 8. 20. This is not matter of meer Christian Liberty but Commanded Duty and at our peril◠be it if we neglect it Consideration II. No act of ours can be good and acceptable to the Lord further than it is agreeable to his Will revealed in the Word No Man can be a Rule to himself He can be no more his own Rule than his own End One Man cannot be a Rule to another The best of Men and their Actions and Examples are only so far a rule of imitation to us as they themselves are ruled by the Divine revealed Will 1 Cor. 11. 1. uncommanded acts of Worship are abominable to
God and highly dangerous to our selves they kindle the fire of his jealousie to the ruin and destruction of the presumptuous Sinner Lâ—vit 10. 1 2. So that if the beauty and excellency of the Will of God be not enough to allure us the danger of acting without the knowledg of it may justly terrify us Consideration III. In this Duty we tread in the Footsteps of the wisest and holiest Men that ever went to Heaven before us It is not only the Characteristical note of a good Man Psal. 1. 2. but it has been the constant practise of the most eminent believers in all Ages The greatest Prophets that had this advantage of us that they were the Organs or inspired instruments of discovering the Will of God to others yet were not excused from neither did they neglect to search it diligently themselves 1 Pet. 1. 10 11. Daniel that great favourite of Heaven who had the Visions and Revelations of God yet he himself diligently searched the written Word in order to the discovery of the Mind of God Dan. 9. 2. Consideration IV. Every discovery of the Will of God by fervent Prayer diligent and impartial search of the Scriptures and all other allowed helps gives the highest pleasure the mind of Man is capable of in this World If Archimedes upon the discovery of a Mathematical Truth was so transported and ravished that he cried out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have found it I have found it what pleasure then must the investigation and discovery of a Divine Truth give to a sanctified Soul Thy words were found of me saith Ieremiah and I did eat them and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoycing of my heart Jer. 15. 16. as pleasant food to a Famished Man for now Conscience is quieted comforted and cheered in the way of Duty A Man walks not at adventure with God as that word signifies Levit. 26. 40 41. but hath the pleasant directive light of the Word and Will of God shining sweetly upon the path of his Duty Consideration V. By this means you shall find your Faith greatly confirmed in the truth of the Scriptures The sweet consent and beautiful harmony of all the parts of the written Word is a great Argument of its Divinity and this you will clearly discern when by a due search you shall find things that lye at the remotest distance to conspire and consent in one and one part casting light as well as adding strengh to another Thus you shall find Vetus Testamentum in novo revelatum novum in vetere velatum The New Testament veiled in the Old and the Old revealed in the New And that such a consent of things so distant in time and place can never be the project and invention of Man Consideration VI. The diligent and impartial search and inquiry after the Will of God out of no other design than to please him in the whole course of our Duties will turn to us for a testimony of the integrity and sincerity of our hearts Thy word said David have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee And God will not hide his Will from those that thus seek to know it If Men would apply themselves to search the Word by fervent Prayer and fixed Meditations upon so pure a design not bringing their prejudiced or prepossessed minds unto it the Spirit of the Lord would guide them into all Truth and keep them out of dangerous and destructive Errors Fourth Cause Besides the slothfulness of the mind there is found in many Persons another evil Disposition preparing them easily to receive Erroneous Impressions namely the INSTABILITY and Fickleness of the Judgment and Unsetledness of mind about the Truth of the Gospel Of this the Apostle warns us Eph. 4. 14. That we henceforth be no more Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in weight to deceive None are so constant and steddy in the profession of the Truth as those that are fully convinced of and well satisfied with the grounds of it Every Professor like every Ship at Sea should have an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a ballast and steddiness of his own 2 Pet. 3. 17. ready and prepared to render a reason of the hope that is in him 1 Pet. 3. 15. able upon all occasions to give an account of those inward motives which constrained his assent to the Truth He that professeth a Truth ignorantly cannot be rationally supposed to adhere to it constantly He that is but half convinced of a truth when he engages in the profession of it must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a double-minded Man as the Apostle calls him Iam. 1. 8. half the mind hangs one way and half another and so it is easily moveable this way or that with the least breath of temptation And hence it comes to pass they are so often at a loss about their Duty and their Practise for Animi volutatio pendentem reddit vitam A doubtful Mind must needs make a staggering and uncertain Practice Erroneous Teachers are called wandring Stars Jude 13. which keep no certain course as the fixed Stars do but are sometimes nearer and sometimes remoter one from another Thus Errorists first imbibe unsetling Opinions and then discover them in their inconstant Practises Berâ—ius wrote a Book de Apostatià Sanctorum and soon after turned Papist The Socinians and Libertines teach That a Man of any Perswasion in Religion may be saved so that he walk not contrary to his own Light such Doctrine directly tends to Sceptecism in Religion And this Instability of the Judgment proceeds either from Hypocrisie or weakneâ—â— Sometimes from Hypocrisâ—e All Hypocrites are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 double-minded Men Iam. 4. 8. The double-minded man that is the Hypocrite is unstable in all his ways One of that number was not ashamed to say Se duas habere animas in eodem corpore unam Deo dicatam alteram unicuique illam vellet That he had two Souls in one Body one for God and another for whosoever would have it Sometimes Instability of the mind is the effect only of Weakness in the Judgment proceeding merely from want of age and growth in Christ not having as yet attained Senses exercised to discern both good and evil Heb. 5. 14. they are but Children in Christ and Children are easie and credulous Creatures Eph. 4. 14. presently taken with a new Toy and as soon weary of it such a wavering and instable temper invites temptation and falls an easie prey into its hands I confess some Cases may happen where the Pretences on both sides may be so fair as to put a judicious Christian to a stand what to chuse but then their deliberation will be answerable and then they will not change their Opinions every month as Scepticks do Wherever Error finds such a mutable disposition its work is half done before it
Whether any Condition required by it on our part have any thing in its own nature meritorious of the Benefits promised nor 4. Whether we be able in our own strength and by the power of our Free-will without the preventing as well as the assisting Grace of God to perform any such work or duty as we call a Condition These things I told you were to be excluded out of this Controversy But the only Question betwixt us is Whether in the New Covenant some act of ours though it have no merit in it nor can be done in our own single strength be not required to be performed by us antecedently to a blessing or privilege consequent by vertue of a promise And whether such an act or duty being of a suspending nature to the blessing promised it have not the true and proper nature of a Gospel-condition In your Reply contrary to all rule and reason you include and chiefly argue against the very Particulars by me there excluded and scarcely if at all touch the true Question as it was stated and by you ought accordingly to have been considered I might therefore justly think my self discharged from any further concernment with you about it for if you will include what I plainly excluded you argue not against mine but another man's Position which I am not concerned to defend You here dispute against meritorious Conditions which I explode and abhor as much as your self You say p. 34. of your Reply that a Condition plainly implies something of merit by way of condignity or congruity which is false and turns the Question from me to the Papists And were it not more for the clearing up of so great a Point for the instruction and satisfaction of others than any hope you give me of convincing you I should not have touched this Question again unless I had found your Replies more distinct and pertinent But finding the Point in controversy of great weight I will once more tell you 1. What the word Condition signifies 2. In what sense it is by us used in this Controversy 3. Establish my Arguments for the conditionality of the New Covenant 1. And first we grant That neither our word Condition nor your term Absolute are either of them found in Scripture with respect to God's covenanting with Man so that we contend not about the signification of a Scripture term But though the word Conditional be not there yet the thing being found there That brings the word Conditional into use in this Controversy For we know not how to express those â— sacred Particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If If not Vnless But if Except Only and the like which are frequently used to limit and restrain the Grants and Privileges of the New Covenant Rom. 10. 9. Matt. 18. 3. Mark 5. 36. Mark 11. 26. Rom. 4. 24. I say we know not how to express the true sense and force of these Particles in this Controversy by any other word so fit and full as the word Conditional is Now this word Condition being a Law-term is variously used among Iurists and the various use of the word occasions that confusion which is found in this Controversy He therefore that shall clearly distinguish the various senses and uses of the word is most likely to labour with success in this Controversy I shall therefore briefly note the principal senses and uses of the term and shew in what sense we here take it Of Conditions there be two sorts Conditions 1. Antecedent 2. Consequent As to the latter namely consequent Conditions you your self acknowledge p. 100. That in the outward dispensation of the Covenant many things are required of us in order unto the participation or enjoyment of the full end of the Covenant in glory So then the Covenant is acknowledged to be consequently conditional which is no more than to say with the Apostle Without holiness no man shall see God or that if any man drawâ— back his soul shall have no pleasure in him c. Our Controversy therefore is not about consequent Conditions laid by God upon Believers after they are in Christ and the Covenant the Covenant so considered à posteriori will not be denied to be Condiâ—tional The only Question is about Antecedent Conditions and of these we are here to consider 1. Such as respect the first Sanction of the Covenant in Christ. 2. Such as respect the application of the benefits of the Covenant unto Men As to the first Sanction of the Covenant in Christ we freely acknowledg â—t hath no previous Condition on Manâ—s part but depends purely and only upon the Grace of God and Merit of Christ. So that our Question proceeds about such antecedent Conditions only as respect the Application of the Benefits of the Covenant unto Men. And of these Antecedent Conditions there are likewise two sorts which must be carefully distinguished 1. Such Antecedent Conditions which have the force of a meritorious and impulsive Cause which being performed by the proper strength of Nature or at most by the help of common assisting Grace do give a Man a right to the reward or blessings of the Covenant And in this sense we utterly disclaim antecedent Conditions as I plainly told you p. 61. of my Vindiciae c. Or 2. An Antecedent Condition signifying no more than an Act of ours which though it be neither perfect in every degree nor in the least meritorious of the benefit conferred nor performed in our own natural strength yet according to the constitution of the Covenant is required of us in order to the blessings consequent thereupon by vertue of the Promise and consequently the benefits and mercies granted in the Promise in this order are and must be suspended by the Donor or Disposer of them until it be performed Such a Condition we affirm Faith to be But here again Faith 〈…〉 the Condition of the New Covenant is considered 1. Essentially Or 2. Organically and Instrumentally In the first consideration of Faith according to its Essence it is contained under Obedience and in that respect we exclude it from justifying our persons or entitling us to the saving-mercies of the New Covenant as it is a work of ours and so I excluded it p. 133. of my Method of Grace which you ignorantly or wilfully mistake when in your Reply p. 88 89. you object it against me Faith considered in this sense is not the Condition of the Covenant nor can pretend to be so more than any other Grace But We consider it Organically Relatively and as most speak Instrumentally as it receives Christ Ioh. 1. 12. and so gives us power to become the Sons of God it being impossible for any Man to partake of the saving benefits of the Covenant but as he is united to Christ. For all the Promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen 2 Cor. 1. 20. And united to Christ no Man can be before he be a believer for Christ
among them do hold those Errors but speculatively whilst the Truth lies nearer their hearts and will not suffer them to reduce their own Opinions into practice Now as to their Errors about Justification the most that I have read do make Iustification to be an immanent and eternal act of God and do affirm the Elect were justified before themselves or the World had a being Others come lower and affirm the Elect were justified at the time of Christ's death With these Dr. Crisp harmonizes Error II. That Justification by Faith is no more but a manifestation to us of what was really done before we had a being Hence Mr. Saltmarsh thus defines Faith It is saith he a being perswaded more or less of Christ's love to us so that when we believe that which was hid before doth then appear God saith another cannot charge one sin upon that man who believes this truth That God laid his Iniquities upon Christ. Error III. That men ought not to doubt of their Faith or question Whether they believe or no. Nay That we ought no more to question our Faith than to question Christ. Saltm Of Free-grace p. 92 95. Error IV. That Believers are not bound to confess Sin mourn for it or pray for the forgiveness of it because it was pardoned before it was committed and pardoned Sin is no Sin See Eaton 's Honey-comb p. 446 447. Error V. They say that God sees no Sin in Believers whatsoever Sins they commit Some of them as Mr. Town and Mr. Eaton speak out and tell us That God can see no Adultery no Lying no Blasphemy no Cozening in Believers For though Believers do fall into such Enormities yet all their Sins being pardoned from Eternity they are no Sins in them Town 's Assertions 96 97 98. Eaton's Honey-comb chap. 7. p. 136 137. with others of a more pious Character than they Error VI. That God is not angry with the Elect nor doth he smite them for their Sins and to say that he doth so is an injurious Reflection upon the Justice of God This is avouched generally in all their Writings Error VII They tell us That by God's laying our Iniquities upon Christ he became as compleatly sinful as we and we as compleatly righteous as Christ. Vide Dr. Crisp p. 270. Error VIII Upon the same ground it is that they affirm That Believers need not fear either their own Sins or the Sins of others for that neither their own nor any other mens Sins can do them any hurt nor must they do any duty for their own Salvation Error IX They will not allow the New Covenant to be made properly with us but with Christ for us and that this Covenant is all of it a Promise having no Condition on our part They do not absolutely deny that Faith Repentance and Obedience are Conditions in the New Covenant but say They are not Conditions on our part but Christ's and that he repented believed and obeyed for us Saltmarsh of Free-grace p. 126 127. Error X. They speak very slightingly of trying our selves by marks and signs of Grace Saltmarsh often calls it a weak low carnal way but the New-England Antinomians or Libertines call it a fundamental Error to make Sanctification an evidence of Justification that it is to light a Candle to the Sun that it darkens our Justification and that the darker our Sanctification is the brighter our Justification is See their Book entitled Rise Reign Error 72. In this Breviate or summary Account of Antinomian Doctrines I have only singled out and touched some of their principal Mistakes and Error into which some of them run much farther than others But I look upon such Doctrines to be in themselves of a very dangerous nature and the malignity and contagion would certainly spread much farther into the World than it doth had not God provided two powerful Antidotes to resist the malignity Viz. 1. The scope and current of Scripture 2. The experience and practice of the Saints 1. These Doctrines run cross to the scope and current of the Scriptures which constantly speak of all unregenerate Persons without exception of the very Elect themselves during that state as Children of wrath even as others without Christ and under condemnation They frequently discover God's Anger and tell us his castigatory Rods of affliction are laid upon them for their Sins They represent Sin as the greatest Evil most opposite to the Glory of God and good of the Saints and are therefore filled with Cautions and Threatnings to prevent their sinning They call the Saint frequently and earnestly not only to mourn for their Sins before the Lord but to pray for the pardon or remission of them in the blood of Christ. They give us a far different account of saving Faith and do not place it in a persuasion more or less of Christ's love to us or a manifestation in our Consciences of the actual remission of our Sins before we had a being but in our receiving Christ as the Gospel offers him for righteousness and life They frequently call the People of God to the examination and trial of their Interest in Christ by marks and signs and accordingly furnish them with variety of such marks from the divers parts or branches of Sanctification in themselves They earnestly and every-where press Believers to strictness and constancy in the duties of Religion as the way wherein God would have them to walk They infer Duties from Privileges and therefore the Antinomian Dialect is a wild note which the generality of serious Christians do easily distinguish from the Scripture-stile and Language 2. The Experience and Practice of the Saints recorded in Scripture as well as our Contemporaries or those whose Lives are recorded for our imitation do greatly secure us from the spreading malignity of Antinomianism Converse with the living or read the Histories of dead Saints and you shall find That in their Addresses to God they still bless and praise him for that great and wonderful change of state which was made upon them when they first believed in Christ and on their believing passed from death to life freely acknowledging before God they were before their conversion equal in sin and misery with the vilest Wretches in the World They heartily mourn for their daily Sins fear nothing more than Sin no Afflictions in the World go so near their heart as Sin doth They mourn for the hardness of their hearts that they can mourn no more for Sin They acknowledge the Rods of God that are upon them are not only the evidences of his displeasure against them for their Sins but the fruits of their uneven walking with him And that the greatest of their Afflictions is less than the least of their Iniquities deserve They fall at their Father's feet as oft as they fall into sin humbly and earnestly suing for pardon through the Blood of Christ. They are not only sensible that God sees Sin in them but that he seeth such
saving benefits and privileges of the Children of God Iohn 1. 12. But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name So that unless the Antinomians can prove that receiving of Christ and personal persuasion of pardon be one and the same thing and consequently that all Believers in the World are persuaded or assured that their sins are pardoned and reject from the number of Believers all tempted deserted dark and doubting Christians this persuasion they speak of is not nor can it be the act of Faith which justifies the person of a Sinner before God That which I think led our Antinomians into this Error was an unfound and unwary definition of Faith which in their youth they had imbibed from their Catechisms and other Systems passing without contradiction or scruple in those days which though it were a mistake and hath abundantly been proved to be so in latter days yet our Antinomians will not part with a notion so serviceable to the support of their darling Opinion of Eternal Justification Reason IV. A Man may be strongly persuaded of the Love of God to his Soul and of the pardon of his Sin and yet have no interest in Christ nor be in a pardoned State This was the Case of the Pharisees and others Luke 18. 9. Rev. 3. 17. Therefore this persuasion cannot be justifying Faith If a persuasion be that that justifies the persuaded person then the Pharisees and the Laodiceans were justified Oh! How common and easie is it for the worst of Men to be strongly persuaded of their good condition whilst humble serious Christians doubt and stagger I know not what such Doctrine as this is useful for but to beget and strengthen that sin of presumption which sends down multitudes to Hell out of the professing World For what is more common amongst the most carnal and unsanctified part of the World not only such as are meerly moral but even the most flagitious and prophane than to support themselves by false persuasions of their good estate When they are asked in order to their conviction what hopes of Salvation they have and how they are founded Their common answer is Christ died for Sinners and that they are persuaded that whatever he hath done for any other he hath done it for them as well as others But such a persuasion cometh not of him that called them and is of dangerous consequence Reason V. This Doctrine is certainly unfound because it confounds the distinction betwixt Dogmatical and Saving Faith and makes it all one to believe an Axiom or Proposition and to believe savingly in Christ to Eternal Life What is it to believe that God lay'd our iniquities upon Christ more than the mere assent of the understanding to a Scripture Axiom or Proposition without any consent of the will to receive Jesus Christ as the Gospel offers him And this is no more than what any unregenerated person may do yea the very Devils themselves assent to the truth of Scripture Axioms and Propositions as well as Men Iam. 2. 19. Thou believest there is one God thou doest well the Devils also believe and tremble What is this more than a Scripture-Axiom or Proposition God lay'd the iniquity of us all upon Christ Isa. 53. 6 And yet saith Dr. Crisp p. 296. God cannot charge one Sin upon that Man that believes this Truth That God lay'd his iniquities upon Christ. The assent of the understanding may be and often is given to a Scripture Proposition whil'st the Heart and Will remain carnal and utterly averse to Jesus Christ. I may believe Dogmatically that the iniquities of Men were lay'd upon Christ and persuade my self presumptively that mine as well as other Mens were lay'd upon him and yet remain a perfect Stranger to all saving Union and Communion with him Reason VI. This Opinion cannot be true because it takes away the only support that bears up the Soul of a Believer in times of temptation and desertion For how will you comfort such a distressed Soul that saith and saith truly I have no persuasion that Christ is mine or that my sins are pardoned but I am heartily willing to cast my poor sin-burthened Soul upon him that he may be mine I do not certainly know that he died intentionally for me but I lye at his feet cleave to him wait at the door of hope I stay and trust upon him though I walk in darkness and have no light Now let such Doctrine as this be Preached to a Soul in this condition and we may be sure 't is the condition of many thousands belonging to Christ I say bring this Doctrine to them and tell them That unless they be persuaded of the Love of God and that God lay'd their iniquities on Christ except they have some manifestation that their persons were justified from eternity their accepting of Christ consent of their Wills waiting at his Feet c. signifies nothing if they believe not that their particular sins were lay'd upon Christ and are pardoned to them by him they are still unbelievers and have no part or portion in him Whatever pretences of spiritual comfort and relief the Antinomian Doctrine makes you see by this it really deprives a very great if not the greatest number of God's people of their best and sweetest relief in days of darkness and spiritual distress So that this Doctrine which makes manifestation and assurance the very essence of justifying faith appears hereby to be both a false and very dangerous Doctrine And yet there is as much or more danger to the Souls of Men in their III. Error That Men ought not to doubt of their Faith or question whether they believe or no. Nay That they ought no more to question their Faith than to question Christ. Refutation What an easie way to Heaven is the Antinomian way Were it but as true and safe to the Soul as it is easie and pleasing to the Flesh who would not embrace it What a charm of the Devil is prepared in these two Propositions Be but persuaded more or less of Christ's Love to thy Soul saith Mr. Saltmarsh and that 's justifying Faith Here 's a snare of the Devil lay'd for the Souls of Men. And then 2. to make it fast and sure upon the Soul and effectually to prevent the discovery of their Error tell them they need no more to doubt or question their Faith than to question Christ and the work is done to all intents Now that this is an Error and a very dangerous one will appear by the following Reasons Reason I. The questioning and examining of our Faith is a commanded scripture-Scripture-duty 2 Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves c. And 2 Pet. 1. 10. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure Let him that â—nketh he standeth take heed lest he fall 1 Cor. 10. 12. The second Epistle of
John verse 8. Look to your selves that we lose not the things which we have wrought With multitude of other Scriptures recommending holy jealousy serious self-trial and examination of our Faith as the unquestionable duties of the people of God But if we ought to question our Faith no more than we ought to question Christ away then with all self-examination and diligence to make our Calling and Election sure for where there is no doubt nor danger there 's no place nor room for examination or further endeavours to make it surer than it is How do you like this Doctrine Christians How many be there among you that find no more cause to question your own faith or interest in Christ than you do to question whether there be a Christ or whether he shed his Blood for the remission of any Man's sins Reason II. This is a very dangerous Error and it is the more dangerous because it leaves no way to recover a presumptuous Sinner out of his dangerous mistakes but confirms and fixes him in them to the great hazard of his eternal ruin It cuts off all means of conviction or better information and Nails them fast to the carnal state in which they are According to this Doctrine 't is impossible for a Man to think himself something when he is nothing or to be guilty of such a Paralogism and cheat put by himself upon his own Soul Iam. 1. 22. this in effect bids a Man keep on right or wrong he is sure enough of Heaven if he be but strongly persuaded that Christ died for him and he shall come thither at last Certainly this was not the Counsel Christ gave to the self-deceived Laodiceans Rev. 3. 17 18. but instead of dissuading them from self-jealously and suspition of their condition whether their Faith and State were safe or not he rather counsels them to buy Eye-salve that is to labour after better information of the true state and condition they were in and not cast away their Souls by false persuasions and vain confidences Reason III. This Doctrine cannot be true because it supposes every persuasion or strong conceit of a Man 's own heart to be as infallibly sure and certain as the very fundamental Doctrine of Christianity No truth in the World can be surer than this That Jesus Christ died for Sinners This is a faithful saying and worthy of all accepâ—ation 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a Foundation stone a tried precious Corner-stone a sure foundation lay'd by God himself Isa. 28. 16. and shall the strong conceits and confidences of Men's hearts vye and compare in point of certainty with it As well may probable and meerly conjectural Propositions compare with Axioms that are self-evident or demonstrative Arguments that leave no doubts behind them Know we not that the heart is deceitful above all things the most notorious cheat and impostor in the World Ier. 17. 9 Does it not deceive all the formal hypocrites in the World in this very point And shall every strong conceit and presumptuous confidence begotten by Satan upon a deceitful heart and nursed up by self-love pass without any examination or suspition for as infallible and assured a truth as that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners The Lord sweep that Doctrine out of the World by Reformation which is like to sweep so many Thousand Souls into Hell by a remediless Self-deception Error IV. The fourth Antinomian Error before mentioned was this That Believers are not bound to confess their sins or pray for the pardon of them because their sins were pardoned before they were committed and pardoned sin is no sin Refutation If this be true Doctrine then it will justify and make good such Conclusions and Inferences as these which necessarily flow from it viz. 1. That there is no Sin in Believers 2. Or if there be the evil is very inconsiderable Or 3. Whatever evil is in it it is not the will of God that they should â—ither confess it mourn over it or pray for the remission of it Whatever he requires of others yet they need take no notice of it so as to afflict their hearts for it God hath exempted them from such concernments There 's nothing but joy to a Believer saith Mr. Eaton But neither of these conclusions are either true or tolerable therefore neither is the principle so which yields them 1. It is not true or tolerable to affirm that there is no Sin in a Believer 1 Ioh. 1. 8. If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us There 's not a just Man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not Eccles. 7. 20. In many things we offend all James 3. 2. The Scriptures plainly affirm it and the universal experience of all the Saints sadly confirms it 'T is true the Blood of Christ hath taken away the guilt of Sin so that it shall not condemn Believers and the spirit of Sanctification hath taken away the dominion of Sin so that it doth not reign over Believers but nothing except Glorification utterly destroys the existence of Sin in Believers The acts of sin are our acts and not Christ's and the stain and pollution of those sinful acts are the burthens and infelicities of Believers even in their justified State Dr. Crisp indeed p. 270 271. calls that objection I suppose he means distinction betwixt the guilt of Sin and Sin it self a simple objection and tells us the very Sin it self as well as the guilt of it passed off from us and was lay'd upon Christ So that speaking of the Sins of Blasphemy Murther Theft Adultery Lying c. From that time saith he that they were lay'd upon Christ thou ceasest to be a transgressor If thou hast part in the Lord Christ all these transgressions of thine become actually the transgressions of Christ. So that now thou are not an Idolater or Persecutor a Thief a Murtherer and an Adulterer thou art not a sinful person Christ is made that very sinfulness before God c. Such expressions justly offend and grieve the hearts of Christians and expose Christianity to scorn and contempt Was it not enough that the guilt of our sin was lay'd on him but we must imagine also that the thing it self Sin with all the deformity and pollution should be essentially transferred from us to Christ No no. After we are justified sin dwelleth in us Rom. 7. 17. warreth in us and brings us into captivity ver 23. Burthens and oppresseth our very Souls v. 24. Methinks I need not stand to prove what I should think no sound experienced Christian dares to deny that there is much sin still remaining in the persons of the justified He that dares to deny it hath little acquaintance with the nature of Sin and of his own Heart 2. It is neither true nor tolerable to say there is no considerable evil in the sins of Believers deserving a mournful confession or petition for
Opinions or Judgments from the perfect Rule of the Divine Law And to this all men by nature are not only liable but inclinable Indeed man by Nature can do nothing else but Err Psal. 58. 3. he goeth astray as soon as born makes not one true step till renewed by Grace and many false ones after his Renovation The Life of the Holiest man is a Book with many Errata's but the whole Edition of a wicked man's Life is but one continued Error he that thinks he cannot Err manifestly Errs in so thinking The Pope's supposed and pretended Infallibility hath made him the great deceiver of the World A good man may Err but is willing to know his Error and will not obstinately maintain it when he once plainly discerns it Error and Heresy among other things differ in this Heresie is accompanied with pertinacy and therefore the Heretick is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sels-condemned his own Conscience condemns him whilst men labour in vain to convince him He doth not formally and in terms Condemn himself but he doth so equivalently whilst he continues to own and maintain Doctrines and Opinions which he finds himself unable to defend against the evidence of Truth Humane frailty may lead a man into the first but Devilish Pride fixes him in the last The word of God which is our rule must therefore be the only Test and Touchstone to try and discover Errors for Regula est index sui obliqui 'T is not enough to convince a man of Error that his Judgment differs from other mens you must bring it to the Word and try how it agrees or disagrees therewith else he that charges another with Error may be found in as great or greater an Error himself None are more disposed easily to receive and tenaciously to defend Errors than those who are the Antesignani Heads or Leaders of Erroneous Sects especially after they have fought in defence of bad Causes and deeply engaged their Reputation The following Discourse justly entitles it self A BLOW AT THE ROOT And though you will here find the Roots of many Errors laid bare and open which comparatively are of far different degrees of Danger and Malignity which I here mention together many of them springing from the same Root Yet I am far from censuring them alike nor would I have any that are concerned in lesser Errors be exasperated because their lesser Mistakes are mentioned with greater and more pernicious ones this Candor I not only intreat but justly challenge from my Reader And because there are many general and very useful Observations about Errors which will not so conveniently come under the Laws of that Method which governs the main part of this Discourse viz. the CAVSES and CVRES of Error I have therefore sorted them by themselves and premised them to the following Part in Twenty Observations next ensuing Twenty general Observations about the rise and increase of the Errors of the times First Observation TRuth is the proper Object the natural and pleasant food of the Understanding Iob 12. 11. Doth not the ear that is the understanding by the ear try words as the mouth tasteth meat Knowledg is the assimilation of the Understanding to the truths received by it Nothing is more natural to man than a desire to know Knowledg never cloys the Mind as food doth the natural Appetite but as the one increaseth the other is proportionably sharpened and provoked The Minds of all that are not wholly immers'd in Sensuality spend their Strength in the laborious search and pursuit of Truth Sometimes climbing up from the Effects to the Causes and then descending again from the Causes to the Effects and all to discover Truth Fervent Prayer sedulous Study fixed Meditations are the labours of inquisitive Souls after Truth All the Objections and Counter-arguments the mind meets in its way are but the pauses and hesitations of a bivious Soul not able to determine whether Truth lies upon this side or upon that Answerable to the sharpness of the Minds appetite is the fine edg of Pleasure and Delight it feels in the discovery and acquisition of Truth When it hath Rack'd and Tortured it self upon knotty Problems and at last discovered the Truth it sought for with what joy doth the Soul dilate it self and run as it were with open arms to clasp and welcome it The Understanding of man at first was perspicacious and clear all Truths lay obvious in their comely order and ravishing beauty before it God made man upright Eccl. 7. 29. this rectitude of his mind consisted in Light and Knowledg as appears by the prescribed method of his Recovery Col. 3. 10. Renewed in knowledg after the Image of him that created him Truth in the Mind or the Minds union with Truth being part of the Divine Image in man discovers to us the Sin and Mischief of Error which is a defacing so far as it prevails of the Image of God No sooner was man created but by the exercise of knowledg he soon discovered God's Image in him aâ—d by his Ambition after more lost what he had So that now there is an haziness or cloud spread over Truth by Ignorance and Error the sad effects of the Fall Second Observation Of Knowledg there are divers sorts and kinds some is Humane and some Divine some Speculative and some Practical some Ingrafted as the Notions of Morality and some Acquired by painful search and Study But of all knowledg none like that Divine and Supernatural knowledg of saving truths revealed by Christ in the Scriptures from whence ariseth the different degrees both of the Sinfulness and danger of Errors those Errors being always the worst which are committed against the most important Truths revealed in the Gospel These Truths lye infolded either in the plain words or evident and necessary consequences from the words of the Holy Scriptures Scripture-Consequences are of great use for the refutation of Errors it was by a Scripture-consequence that Christ successfully proved the Resurrection against the Sadduces Matth. 22. The Arrians and other Hereticks rejected consequential proofs and required the express words of Scripture only hoping that way to defend and secure their Errors against the arguments and assaults of the Orthodox Some think that reason and natural light is abundantly sufficient for the direction of life but certainly nothing is more necessary to us for that end than the written Word for though the remains of natural light have their place and use in directing us about natural and earthly things yet they are utterly insufficient to guide us in spiritual and heavenly things 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of God c. Eph. 5. 8. Once were ye darkness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now are ye light in the Lord i. e. by a beam of heavenly light shining from the Spirit of Christ through the written Word into you minds or understandings 'T is the written Word which shines upon the path of our Duty
Psal. 119. 105. the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament do jointly make the Solid Foundation of a Christian's Faith Hence Eph. 2. 20. we are said to be built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets We are bound therefore to honour Old Testament Scriptures as well as New they being part of the Divine Canon and must not scruple to admit them as sufficient and authentick proofs for the confirmation of Truths and refutation of Errors Christ referr'd the people to them Ioh. 5. 39. and Paul Preached and Disputed from them Acts 26. 22. Third Observation Vnto the Attainment of Divine Knowledg out of the Scriptures some things are naturally yet less principally requisite in the Subject and something absolutely and principally necessary The natural qualifications desirable in the Subject are clearness of Apprehension solidity of Judgment and fidelity of Retention These are desirable requisites to make the Understanding susceptible of knowledg but the irradiation of the mind by the Spirit of God is principally necessary Joh. 16. 13. He shall guide you into all truth The clearest and most comfortable light he giveth to men is in the way of Sanctification called the teachings of the Anointing 1 Iohn 2. 27. When this spiritual sanctifying light shines upon a mind naturally enriched and qualified with the three forementioned requisites that Mind excels others in the riches of knowledg And yet the teachings of the Spirit in the way of Sanctification do very much supply and recompence the defects and weaknesses of the forementioned qualifications Whence two things are highly remarkable 1. That men of great abilities of natute clear apprehensions in natural things strong Judgments and tenacious memories do not only frequently fall into gross Errors and damnable Heresies themselves but become Heresiarchs or Heads of erroneous Factions drawing multitudes into the same sin and misery with themselves as Arrius Socinus Pelagius Bellarmin and multitudes of others have done And secondly It is no less remarkable that men of weaker parts but Babes in comparison through the Sanctification and direction of the Spirit for which they have humbly waited at his feet in Prayer have not only been directed and guided by him into the Truth but so confirm'd and fixed therein that they have been kept sound in their Judgments in times of abounding Errors and firm in their adherence to it in days of fiercest Persecution How men of excellent natural parts have been blinded and men of weak natural parts illuminated see 1 Cor. 1. 26 27. Matth. 11. 25. Fourth Observation Among the manifold impediments to the obtaining of true Knowledg and setling the mind in the truth and faith of the Gospel these Three are of special remark and consideration viz. Ignorance Curiosity and Error Ignorance slights it or despairs of attaining it Truth falls into contempt among the ignorant from sluggishness and apprehension of the difficulties that lye in the way to it Prov. 24. 7. Wisdom is too high for a fool Curiosity runs beside or beyond it This Pride and Wantonness of the mind puffs it up with a vain conceit that it is not only able to penetrate the deepest Mysteries revealed in the Scripture but even unrevealed secrets also Col. 2. 18. intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind But Error militates directly against it contradicts and opposeth Truth especially when an Error is maintained by pride against inward convictions or means of better information 'T is bad to maintain an Error for want of light but abundantly worse to maintain it against light This is such an affront to the Spirit of God as he usually punishes with Penal Ignorance and gives them up to a spirit of Error Fifth Observation Error is binding upon the Conscience as well as Truth and altogether as much and sometimes more influential upon the Affections and Passions as Truth is For it presents not it self to the Soul in its own name and nature as Error but in the name and dress of Truth and under that notion binds the Conscience and vigorously influences the passions and affections and then being more indulgent to lust than Truth is it is for that so much the more embraced and hugg'd by the deceived soul Acts 22. 4 5. The heat that Error puts the soul into differs from Religious Zeal as a Feverish doth from a Natural heat which is not indeed so benign and agreeable but much more fervent and scorching A mind under the power of Error is restless and impatient to propagate its Errors to others and these heats prey upon and eat up the vital Spirits and Powers of Religion Sixth Observation 'T is exceeding difficult to get out Error when once it is imbib'd and hath rooted it self by an open profession Errors like some sorts of Weeds having once seeded in a Field or Garden 't is scarce possible to subdue and destroy them especially if they be hereditary Errors or have grown up with us from our youth à teneris assuescere multum est faith Seneca 't is a great advantage to Truth or Error to have an early and long possession of the mind The Pharisees held many erroneous opinions about the Law as appears by their corruptive Commentaries upon it refuted by Christ Matth. 5. but did he root them out of their heads and hearts thereby No no they sooner rid him out of the world The Sadduces held a most dangerous Error about the Resurrection Christ disputed with them to the admiration of others and proved it clearly against them and yet we find the Error remaining long after Christ's Death 2 Tim. 2. 18. The Apostles themselves had their minds tinctured with this Error That Christ should be outwardly great and magnificent in the world and raise his Followers to great Honours and Preferments amongst men Christ plainly told them it was their Mistake and Error for the Son of man came not to be ministred unto but to minister yet this did not rid their minds of the Error it stuck fast in them even till his Ascension to Heaven Oh how hard is it to clear the heart of a good man once leaven'd with Error and much more hard to separate it from a wicked man Some have chose rather to die than to part with their darling Errors and Soul-damning Heresies I have read saith Mr. Bridges of a great Atheist that was burnt at Paris for blaspheming Christ held fast his Atheistical Opinions till he came to the very stake boasted to the Priests and Fryars that followed him how much more confidently he went to sacrifice his life in the strength of reason under which he suffered than Christ himself did but when he began to feel Torments indeed then he roared and raged to the purpose Vidi ego hominem saith the Author in hs Life he was Loose in his Imprisonments Sullen and at his Death Mad with the Horrors of Conscience Some inded have recovered the soundness of their Judgments after