them Some it may be can give no other Account hereof but that they have been so instructed by them whom they have sufficient reason to give credit unto or that they have so received them by Tradition from their Fathers Now whatever Perswasion these Reasons may beget in the minds of men that the things which they profess to believe are true yet if they are alone it is not divine Faith whereby they do believe but that which is meerly humane as being resolved into humane Testimony only or an Opinion on probable Arguments for no Faith can be of any other kind than is the Evidence it reflects on or ariseth from I say it is so where they are alone for I doubt not but that some who have never further considered the reason of their believing than the teaching of their Instructors have yet that Evidence in their own souls of the Truth and Authority of God in what they believe that with respect thereunto their Faith is divine and supernatural The Faith of most hath a beginning and progress not unlike that of the Samaritans John 4. 40 41 42. as shall be afterwards declared 3. When we enquire after Faith that is infallible or believing infallibly which as we shall shew hereafter is necessary in this case we do not intend an inherent quality in the Subject as though he that believes with Faith infallible must himself also be infallible much less do we speak of Infallibility absolutely which is a property of God who alone from the perfection of his Nature can neither deceive nor be deceived But it is that Property or Adjunct of the Assent of our Minds unto divine Truths or supernatural Revelations whereby it is differenced from all other kinds of Assent whatever And this it hath from its formal Object or the Evidence whereon we give this Assent For the nature of every Assent is given unto it by the nature of the Evidence which it proceedeth from or relyeth on This in divine Faith is divine Revelation which being infallible renders the Faith that rests on it and is resolved into it infallible also No man can believe that which is false or which may be false with divine Faith for that which renders it divine is the divine Truth and Infallibility of the Ground and Evidence which it is built upon But a man may believe that which is true infallibly so and yet his Faith not be infallible That the Scripture is the Word of God is infallibly true yet the Faith whereby a man believes it so to be may be fallible for it is such as his Evidence is and no other He may believe it to be so on Tradition or the Testimony of the Church of Rome only or on outward Arguments all which being fallible his Faith is so also although the things he assents unto be infallibly true Wherefore unto this Faith divine and infallible it is not required that the Person in whom it is be infallible nor is it enough that the thing it self believed be infallibly true but moreover that the Evidence whereon he doth believe it be infallible also So it was with them who received divine Revelations immediately from God It was not enough that the things revealed unto them were infallibly true but they were to have infallible Evidence of the Revelation it self then was their Faith infallible though their persons were fallible With this Faith then a man can believe nothing but what is divinely true and therefore it is infallible and the reason is because Gods Veracity who is the God of Truth is the only Object of it Hence saith the Prophet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Chron. 20. 20. Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established or that Faith which is in God and his Word is fixed on Truth or is infallible Hence the Enquiry in this case is what is the Reason why we believe any thing with this faith divine or supernatural or what it is the believing whereof makes our Faith divine infallible and supernatural Wherefore 4. The Authority and Veracity of God revealing the material Objects of our Faith or what it is our Duty to believe is the formal Object and Reason of our Faith from whence it ariseth and whereinto it is ultimately resolved That is the only Reason why we do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God that God is one single Essence subsisting in three Persons is because that God who is Truth the God of Truth Deut. 32. 4. who cannot lye Tit. 1. 2. and whose Word is Truth John 17. 17. and the Spirit which gave it out is Truth 1 John 5 6. hath revealed these things to be so and our believing these things on that ground renders our Faith divine and supernatural Supposing also a Respect unto the subjective Efficiency of the Holy Ghost inspiring it into our minds whereof afterwards For to speak distinctly our Faith is supernatural with respect unto the production of it in our minds by the Holy Ghost and infallible with respect unto the formal Reason of it which is divine Revelation and is divine in opposition unto what is meerly humane on both accounts As things are proposed unto us to be believed as true Faith in its Assent respects only the Truth or Veracity of God but whereas this Faith is required of us in a way of Obedience and is considered not only physically in its nature but morally also as our Duty it respects also the Authority of God which I therefore joyn with the Truth of God as the formal Reason of our Faith see 2 Sam. 7. 28. And these things the Scripture pleads and and argues when Faith is required of us in the way of Obedience Thus saith the Lord is that which is proposed unto us as the Reason why we should believe what is spoken whereunto often times other divine Names and Titles are added signifying his Authority who requires us to believe Thus saith the Lord God the Holy One of Israel Isa. 30. 15. Thus saith the High and Lofty One who inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is Holy Isa. 57. 15. Believe the Lord your God 2 Chron. 20. 20. The Word of the Lord precedeth most Revelations in the Prophets and other Reason why we should believe the Scripture proposeth none Heb. 1. 1 2. yea the Interposition of any other Authority between the things to be believed and our Souls and Consciences besides the Authority of God overthrows the nature of divine Faith I do not say the Interposition of any other means whereby we should believe of which sort God hath appointed many but the interposition of anyother Authority upon which we should believe as that pretended in and by the Church of Rome No men can be Lords of our Faith though they may be helpers of our Joy 5. The Authority and Truth of God considered in themselves absolutely are not the immediate formal Object of our Faith though they are the ultimate whereinto it is resolved
For we can believe nothing on their Account unless it be evidenced unto us and this Evidence of them is in that Revelation which God is pleased to make of himself for that is the only means whereby our Consciences and Minds are affected with his Truth and Authority We do therefore no otherwise rest on the Truth and Veracity of God in any thing than we rest on the Revelation which he makes unto us for that is the only way whereby we are affected with them Not the Lord is true absolutely but Thus saith the Lord and the Lord hath spoken is that which we have immediate regard unto Hereby alone are our minds affected with the Authority and Veracity of God and by what way soever it is made unto us it is sufficient and able so to affect us At first as hath been shewed it was given immediately to some Persons and preserved for the use of others in an oral Ministry but now all Revelation as hath also been declared is contained in the Scriptures only 6. It follows that our Faith whereby we believe any divine supernatural Truth is resolved into the Scripture as the only means of divine Revelation affecting our Minds and Consciences with the Authority and Truth of God or the Scripture as the only immediate divine infallible Revelation of the Mind and Will of God is the first immediate formal Object of our Faith the sole Reason why and ground whereon we do believe the things that are revealed with Faith Divine Supernatural and Infallible We do believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God Why do we so do on what ground or reason It is because of the Authority of God commanding us so to do and the Truth of God testifying thereunto But how or by what means are our Minds and Consciences affected with the Authority and Truth of God so as to believe with respect unto them which makes our Faith Divine and Supernatural It is alone the Divine Supernatural Infallible Revelation that he hath made of this sacred Truth and of his Will that we should believe it But what is this Revelation or where is it to be found It is the Scripture alone which contains the entire Revelation that God hath made of himself in all things which he will have us to believe or do Hence 7. The last Enquiry ariseth how or on what ground for what Reasons do we believe the Scripture to be a divine Revelation proceeding immediately from God or to be that Word of God which is Truth divine and infallible Whereunto we answer it is solely on the Evidence that the Spirit of God in and by the Scripture it self gives unto us that it was given by immediate Inspiration from God Or the Ground and Reason whereon we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God are the Authority and Truth of God evidencing themselves in and by it unto the Minds and Consciences of Men. Hereon as whatever we assent unto as proposed in the Scripture our Faith rests on and is resolved into the Veracity and Faithfulness of God so is it also in this of believing the Scripture it self to be the infallible Word of God seeing we do it on no other Grounds but its own Evidence that so it is This is that which is principally to be proved and therefore to prepare for it and to remove prejudices something is to be spoken to prepare the way thereunto 1. There are sundry cogent Arguments which are taken from External considerations of the Scripture that evince it on rational Grounds to be from God All these are motives of credibility or effectual perswasives to account and esteem it to be the Word of God And although they neither are nor is it possible they ever should be the Ground and Reason whereon we believe it so to be with Faith Divine and Supernatural yet are they necessary unto the confirmation of our Faith herein against Temptations Oppositions and Objections These Arguments have been pleaded by many and that usefully and therefore it is not needful for me to insist upon them And they are the same for the substance of them in antient and modern Writers however managed by some with more Learning Dexterity and force of Reasoning than by others It may not be expected therefore that in this short discourse designed unto another purpose I should give them much improvement However I shall a little touch on those which seem to be most cogent and that in them wherein in my Apprehention their strength doth lye And I shall do this to manifest that although we plead that no Man can believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God with Faith Divine Supernatural and Infallible but upon its own internal Divine Evidence and Efficacy yet we allow and make use of all those external Arguments of its sacred Truth and divine Original which are pleaded by others ascribing unto them as much weight and cogency as they can do acknowledging the perswasion which they beget and effect to be as firm as they can pretend it to be Only we do not judg them to contain the whole of the Evidence which we have for Faith to rest in or to be resolved into yea not that at all which renders it Divine Supernatural and Infallible The Rational Arguments we say which are or may be used in this matter with the humane Testimonies whereby they are corroborated may and ought to be made use of and insisted on And it is but vainly pretended that their use is superseded by our other Assertions as though where Faith is required all the subservient use of Reason were absolutely discarded and our Faith thereby rendred irrational And the assent unto the divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures which the mind ought to give upon them we grant to be of as high a nature as is pretended to be namely a moral certainty Moreover the Conclusion which unprejudiced Reason will make upon these Arguments is more firm better grounded and more pleadable than that which is built meerly on the sole Authority of any Church whatever But this we assert that there is an assent of another kind unto the divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures required of us namely that of Faith divine and supernatural Of this none will say that it can be effected by or resolved into the best and most cogent of rational Arguments and external Testimonies which are absolutely humane and fallible For it doth imply a contradiction to believe infallibly upon fallible evidence Wherefore I shall prove that beyond all these Arguments and their effect upon our minds there is an Assent unto the Scripture as the Word of God required of us with Faith divine Supernatural and Infallible and therefore there must be a divine Evidence which is the Formal Object and Reason of it which alone it rests on and is resolved into which shall also be declared and proved But yet as was said in the first place because their
so many uncertain and fierce Digladiations wherein not any one Truth is asserted nor any one Duty prescribed that is not spoiled and vitiated by its Circumstances and Ends besides they never rose up so much as to a Surmise of or about the most important matters of Religion without which it is demonstrable by reason that it is impossible we should ever attain the End for which we are made nor the Blessedness whereof we are capable No account could they ever give of our Apostacy from God of the Depravation of our Nature of the Cause or necessary Cure of it In this lost and wandring Condition of Mankind the Scripture presenteth it self as a Light Rule and Guide unto all to direct them in their whole Course unto their end and to bring them unto the enjoyment of God and this it doth with that clearness and evidence as to dispel all the Darkness and put an end unto all the Confusions of the minds of Men as the Sun with rising doth the shades of the Night unless they wilfully shut their eyes against it loving Darkness rather than Light because their deeds are evil For all the Confusion of the minds of men to extricate themselves from whence they found out and immixed themselves in endless Questions to no purpose arose from their Ignorance of what we were originally of what we now are and how we came so to be by what way or means we may be delivered or relieved what are the Duties of Life or what is required of us in order to our living to God as our chiefest end and wherein the Blessedness of our Nature doth consist All the World was never able to give an Answer tolerably satisfactory unto any one of these Enquiries yet unless they are all infallibly determined we are not capable of the least Rest or Happiness above the Beasts that perish But now all these things are so clearly declared and stated in the Scripture that it comes with an Evidence like a Light from Heaven on the Minds and Consciences of unprejudiced Persons What was the Condition of our Nature in its first Creation and Constitution with the Blessedness and Advantage of that Condition how we fell from it and what was the Cause what is the Nature and what the Consequents and Effects of our present Depravation and Apostacy from God how Help and Relief is provided for us herein by infinite Wisdom Grace and Bounty what that Help is how we may be interested in it and made partakers of it what is that System of Duties or Course of Obedience unto God which is required of us and wherein our eternal Felicity doth consist are all of them so plainly and clearly revealed in the Scripture as in general to leave Mankind no ground for Doubt Enquiry or Conjecture set aside inveterate Prejudices from Tradition Education false Notions into the Mould whereof the mind is cast the Love of Sin and the Conduct of Lust which things have an inconceivable power over the Minds Souls and Affections of Men and the Light of the Scripture in these things is like that of the Sun at Noon-day which shuts up the way unto all further Enquiry and efficaciously necessitates unto an Acquiescency in it And in particular in that Direction which it gives unto the Lives of Men in order unto that Obedience which they ow to God and that Reward which they expect from him there is no instance conceivable of any thing conducing thereunto which is not prescribed therein nor of any thing which is contrary unto it that falls not under its Prohibition Those therefore whose Desire or Interest it is that the Bounds and Differences of Good and Evil should be unfixed and confounded who are afraid to know what they were what they are or what they shall come unto who care to know neither God nor themselves their Duty nor their Reward may despise this Book and deny its divine Original others will retain a sacred Veneration of it as of the Off-spring of God 4. The Testimony of the Church may in like manner be pleaded unto the same purpose and I shall also insist upon it partly to manifest wherein its true Nature and Efficacy doth consist and partly to evince the vanity of the old Pretence that even we also who are departed from the Church of Rome do receive the Scripture upon the Authority thereof whence it is further pretended that on the same Ground and Reason we ought to receive whatever else it proposeth unto us 1. The Church is said to be the Ground and Pillar of Truth 1 Tim. 3. 15. Which is the only Text pleaded with any Sobriety to give countenance unto the Assertion of the Authority of the Scripture with respect unto us to depend on the Authority of the Church But the Weakness of a Plea to that purpose from hence hath been so fully manifested by many already that it needs no more to be insisted on In short it cannot be so the Ground and Pillar of Truth that the Truth should be as it were built and rest upon it as its Foundation for this is directly contrary to the same Apostle who teacheth us that the Church it self is built upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner Stone Eph. 2. 20. The Church cannot be the Ground of Truth and Truth the Ground of the Church in the same sense or kind Wherefore the Church is the Ground and Pillar of Truth in that it holds up and declares the Scriptures and the things contained therein so to be 2. In receiving any thing from a Church we may consider the Authority of it or its Ministry By the Authority of the Church in this matter we intend no more but the weight and importance that is in its Testimony as Testimonies do vary according to the Worth Gravity Honesty Honour and Reputation of them by whom they are given For to suppose an Authority properly so called in any Church or all the Churches of the World whereon our Reception of the Scripture should depend as that which gives its Authority towards us and a sufficient Warranty to our Faith is a nice Imagination For the Authority and Truth of God stand not in need nor are capable of any such Attestation from Men all they will admit of from the children of Men is that they do humbly submit unto them and testify their so doing with the Reasons of it The Ministry of the Church in this matter is that Duty of the Church whereby it proposeth and declareth the Scripture to be the Word of God and that as it hath occasion to all the World And this Ministry also may be considered either formally as 't is appointed of God unto this End and blessed by him or materially only as the thing is done though the Grounds whereon it is done and the manner of doing it be not divinely approved We wholly deny that we receive the Scripture or ever
recompence in this World upon the Sole Account of the Doctrine taught by themselves with all other circumstances innumerable that are pleadable to evince the sincerity and integrity of any witnesses whatever do all concur to prove that they did not follow cunningly devised Fables in what they declared concerning the Mind and Will of God as immediately from himself To confront this evidence with bare Surmizes incapable of any rational Countenance or Confirmation is only to manifest what bruitish impudence Infidelity and Atheism are forced to retreat unto for shelter 2. Their Stile and Manner of Writing deserves a peculiar consideration For there are impressed on it all those Characters of a divine Original that can be communicated unto such an outward Adjunct of divine Revelation Notwithstanding the distance of the Ages and Seasons wherein they lived the difference of the Languages wherein they wrote with the great variety of their Parts Abilities Education and other circumstances yet there is upon the whole and all the parts of their writing that Gravity Majesty and Authority mixed with plainness of speech and absolute freedom from all appearance of affectation of esteem or applause or any things else that derive from humane frailty as must excite an Admiration in all that seriously consider them But I have at large elsewhere insisted on this consideration And have also in the same place shewed that there is no other writing extant in the world that ever pretended unto a divine Original as the Apocriphal Books under the Old Testament and some fragments of spurious pieces pretended to be written in the days of the Apostles but they are not only from their matter but from the manner of their writing and the plain footsteps of humane Artifice and Weakness therein sufficient for their own conviction and do openly discover their own vain pretensions So must every thing necessarily do which being meerly humane pretends unto an immediate derivation from God When men have done all they can these things will have as evident a difference between them as there is between Wheat and Chaff between real and painted Fire Jer. 23. 28 29. 2. Unto the Testimony of the Divine Writers themselves we must add that of those who in all Ages have believed in Christ through their Word which is the description which the Lord Jesus Christ giveth of his Church Joh. 17. 20. This is the Church that is those who wrote the Scripture and those who believe in Christ through their word through all Ages which beareth witness to the divine Original of the Scripture and it may be added that we know this witness is true With these I had rather venture my Faith and eternal condition then with any Society any real or pretended Church whatever And among these there is an especial consideration to be had of those innumerable multitudes who in the primitive times witnessed this confession all the World over For they had many advantages above us to know the certainty of sundry matters of fact which the verity of our Religion depends upon And we are directed unto an especial regard of their Testimony which is signalized by Christ himself In the great Judgment that is to be passed on the World the first Appearance is of the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus Christ and for the Word of God Rev. 20. 4. And there is at present an especial regard unto them in Heaven upon the account of their Witness and Testimony Rev. 6. 9 10 11. These were they who with the loss of their lives by the Sword and other ways of violence gave testimony unto the Truth of the Word of God And to reduce these things unto a rational consideration who can have the least occasion to suspect all those persons of folly weakness credulity wickedness or conspiracy among themselves which such a diffused multitude was absolutely uncapable of Neither can any man undervalue their Testimony but he must comply with their Adversaries against them who were known generally to be of the worst of Men. And who is there that believes there is a God and an eternal future State that had not rather have his Soul with Paul than Nero with the Holy Martyrs than their bestial Persecutors Wherefore this Suffrage and Testimony begun from the first writing of the Scripture and carried on by the best of Men in all Ages and made conspicuously glorious in the primitive times of Christianity must needs be with all wise men unavoidably cogent at least unto a due and sedate consideration of what they bare witness unto and sufficient to scatter all such prejudices as Atheism or prophaneness may raise or suggest Secondly What it was they gave Testimony unto is duly to be considered And this was not that the Book of the Scripture was Good Holy and True in all the contents of it only but that the whole and every part of it was given by divine Inspiration as their Faith in this matter is expressed 2 Pet. 1. 20 21. On this account and no other did they themselves receive the Scripture as also believe and yeild Obedience unto the things contained in it Neither would they admit that their Testimony was received if the whole World would be content to allow of or obey the Scripture on any other or lower terms Nor will God himself allow of an Assent unto the Scripture under any other conception but as the Word which is immediately spoken by himself Hence they who refuse to give credit thereunto are said to bely the Lord and say it is not he Jer. 5. 2. Yea to make God a liar 1 Joh. 5. 10. If all mankind should agree together to receive and make use of this Book as that which taught nothing but what is Good useful and profitable to humane Society as that which is a compleat Directory unto men in all that they need to believe or do towards God the best means under Heaven to bring them to setlement satisfaction and assurance in the Knowledg of God and themselves as the safest Guide to eternal blessedness and therefore must needs be written and composed by persons Wise Holy and Honest above all comparison and such as had that Knowledg of God and his Will as is necessary unto such an undertaking yet all this answers not the Testimony given by the Church of Believers in all ages unto the Scriptures It was not lawful for them it is not for us so to compound this matter with the World That the whole Scripture was given by Inspiration from God that it was his Word his true and faithful sayings was that which in the first place they gave Testimony unto and we also are obliged so to do They never pretended unto any other Assurance of the things they professed nor any other Reason of their Faith and Obedience but that the Scripture wherein all these things are contained was given immediately from God or was his Word And therefore they were
their Pretences 2. They differ likewise in their Nature or Kind For immediate divine prophetical Revelation consisted in an immediate Inspiration or Afflatus or in Visions and Voices from Heaven with a Power of the Holy Ghost transiently affecting their Minds guiding their Tongues and Hands to whom they were granted whereby they received and represented divine Impressions as an Instrument of Musick doth the Skill of the Hand whereby it is moved the Nature of which Revelation I have more fully discoursed elsewhere But this Revelation of the Spirit consists in his effectual Operation freeing our Minds from Darkness Ignorance and Prejudice enabling them to discern spiritual Things in a due manner And such a Spirit of Revelation is necessary unto them who would believe aright the Scripture or any thing else that is divine and supernatural contained therein And if men who through the Power of Temptations and Prejudices are in the dark or at a loss as to the great and fundamental Principle of all Religion namely the Divine Original and Authority of the Scripture will absolutely lean unto their own understandings and have the whole Difference determined by the natural Power and Faculties of their own Souls without seeking after divine Aid and Assistance or earnest Prayer for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to open the eyes of their understandings they must be content to abide in their Uncertainties or to come off from them without any Advantage to their Souls Not that I would deny unto men or take them off from the Use of their Reason in this matter for what is their Reason given unto them for unless it be to use it in those things which are of the greatest importance unto them Only I must crave leave to say that it is not sufficient of it self to enable us to the performance of this Duty without the immediate Aid and Assistance of the Holy Spirit of God If any one upon these Principles shall now ask us Wherefore we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God We do not answer It is because the Holy Ghost hath enlightned our minds wrought Faith in us and enabled us to believe it Without this we say indeed did not the Spirit of God so work in us and upon us we neither should nor could believe with Faith divine and supernatural If God had not opened the Heart of Lydia she would not have attended unto the things preached by Paul so as to have received them and without it the Light oftentimes shines into Darkness but the Darkness comprehends it not But this neither is nor can be the formal Object of our Faith or the Reason why we believe the Scripture to be of God or any thing else neither do we nor can we rationally answer by it unto this Question why we do believe This Reason must be something external and evidently proposed unto us For whatever Ability of spiritual Assent there be in the Understanding which is thus wrought in it by the Holy Ghost yet the Understanding cannot assent unto any thing with any Kind of Assent natural or supernatural but what is outwardly proposed unto it as true and that with sufficient Evidence that it is so That therefore which proposeth any thing unto us as true with Evidence of that Truth is the formal Object of our Faith or the Reason why we do believe And what is so proposed must be true and must be evidenced to be true or we cannot believe it and according to the Nature of that Evidence such is our Faith Humane if that be Humane and Divine if that be so Now nothing of this is done by that saving Light which is infused into our minds and is therefore not the Reason why we believe what we do so Whereas therefore some who seem to conceive that the only general Ground of believing the Scripture to be the Word of God doth consist in rational Arguments and Motives of Credibility do grant that private Persons may have their Assurance hereof from the Illumination of the Holy Ghost though it be not pleadable to others they grant what is not that I know of desired by any and which in it self is not true For this Work consisting solely in enabling the mind unto that Kind of Assent which is Faith divine and supernatural on supposition of an external formal Reason of it duely proposed is not the Reason why any do believe nor the Ground whereunto their Faith is resolved It remains only that we enquire whether our Faith in this matter be not resolved into an immediate internal Testimony of the Holy Ghost assuring us of the divine Original and Authority of the Scripture distinct from the Work of spiritual Illumination before described For it is the common Opinion of Protestant Divines that the Testimony of the Holy Ghost is the Ground whereon we believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God and in what sense it is so shall be immediately declared But hereon are they generally charged by those of the Church of Rome and others that they resolve all the Ground and Assurance of Faith into their own particular Spirits or the Spirit of every one that will pretend thereunto And this is looked upon as a sufficient Warranty to reproach them with giving countenance unto Enthusiasms and exposing the minds of men to endless delusions Wherefore this matter must be a little further enquired into And By an internal Testimony of the Spirit an extraordinary Afflatus or new immediate Revelation may be intended Men may suppose they have or ought to have an internal particular Testimony that the Scripture is the Word of God whereby and whereby alone they may be infallibly assured that so it is And this is supposed to be of the same nature with the Revelation made unto the Prophets and Penmen of the Scripture for it is neither an external Proposition of Truth nor an internal Ability to assent unto such a Proposition And besides these there is no divine Operation in this kind but an immediate Prophetical Inspiration or Revelation Wherefore as such a Revelation or immediate Testimony of the Spirit is the only Reason why we do believe so it is that alone which our Faith rests on and is resolved into This is that which is commonly imputed unto those who deny either the Authority of the Church or any other external Arguments or Motives of Credibility to be the formal Reason of our Faith Howbeit there is no one of them that I know of who ever asserted any such thing And I do therefore deny that our Faith is resolved into any such private Testimony immediate Revelation or Inspiration of the Holy Ghost And that for the ensuing Reasons 1. Since the finishing of the Canon of the Scripture the Church is not under that Conduct as to stand in need of such new extraordinary Revelations It doth indeed live upon the internal gracious Operations of the Spirit enabling us to understand believe and obey the perfect
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
nempe in qua securius constantiusque mens qui scat quam in ullis rationibus talis denique sensus qui nisi ex caelesti Revelatione nequeat Non aliud loquor quam quod apud se experitur fidelium unusquisque nisi quod longe infra justam rei explicationem verba subsidunt Calv. Instit. lib. 2. cap. 7 8 9. And we may here briefly call over what we have attained or passed through For 1. We have shewed in general both what is the Nature of divine Revelation and divine Illumination with their mutual Respect unto one another 2. What are the principal external Arguments or Motives of Credibility whereby the Scripture may be proved to bâ— of a divine Original 3. What kind of Perswasion is the Effect of them or what is the Assent which we give unto the Truth of the Scriptures on their Account 4. What objective Evidence there is unto Reason in the Doctrine of the Scriptures to induce the mind to assent unto them 5. What is the Nature of that Faith whereby we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God and how it is wrought in us by the Holy Ghost 6. What is that Internal Testimony which is given unto the divine Authority of the Scriptures by the holy Spirit what is the Force and Use thereof The Principal Part of our Work doth yet remain That which we have thus far made way for and which is now our only remaining Enquiry is What is the Work of the Holy Ghost with respect unto the objective Evidence which we have concerning the Scripture that it is the Word of God which is the formal Reason of our Faith and whereinto it is resolved that is we come to enquire and to give a direct Answer unto that Question Why we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God what it is that our Faith rests upon herein and what it is that makes it the Duty of every man to believe it so to be unto whom it is proposed And the Reason why I shall be the briefer herein is because I have long since in another Discourse cleared this Argument and I shall not here again call over any thing that was delivered therein because what hath been unto this day gainsaid unto it or excepted against it hath been of little Weight or Consideration Unto this great Enquiry therefore I say We believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with divine Faith for its own sake only or our Faith is resolved into the Authority and Truth of God only as revealing himself unto us therein and thereby And this Authority and Veracity of God do infallibly manifest or evince themselves unto our Faith or our Minds in the exercise of it by the Revelation it self in the Scripture and no otherwise Or Thus saith the Lord is the Reason why we ought to believe and why we do so why we believe at all in general and why we believe any thing in particular And this we call the formal Object or Reason of Faith And it is evident that this is not God himself absolutely considered for so he is only the material Object of our Faith He that cometh unto God must believe that he is Heb. 11. 6. Nor is it the Truth of God absolutely for that we believe as we do other essential Properties of his Nature But it is the Truth of God revealing himself his mind and will unto us in the Scripture This is the sole Reason why we believe any thing with Divine Faith It is or may be enquired wherefore we do believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God or that God is one in Nature subsisting in three Persons the Father Son and Holy Spirit I answer it is because God himself the first Truth who cannot lie hath revealed and declared these things so to be and he who is our All requireth us so to believe If it be asked how wherein or whereby God hath revealed and declared these things so to be or what is that Revelation which God hath made hereof I answer It is the Scripture and that only And if it be asked how I know this Scripture to be a Divine Revelation to be the Word of God I answer 1. I do not know it demonstratively upon rational scientifical Principles because such a Divine Revelation is not capable of such a Demonstration 1. Cor. 2. 9. 2. I do not assent unto it or think it to be so upon Arguments and Motives highly probable or morally uncontroulable only as I am assuredly perswaded of many other things whereof I can have no certain Demonstration 1 Thes. 2. 15. But I believe it so to be with Faith divine and supernatural resting on and resolved into the Authority and Veracity of God himself evidencing themselves unto my Mind my Soul and Conscience by this Revelation it self and not otherwise Here we rest and deny that we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God formally for any other Reason but it self which assureth us of its Divine Authority And if we rest not here we must run on the Rock of a moral Certainty only which shakes the Foundation of all Divine Faith or fall into the Gulf and Labyrinth of an endless Circle in proving two things mutually by one another as the Church by the Scripture and the Scripture by the Church in an everlasting Rotation Unless we intend so to wander we must come to something wherein we may rest for its own sake and that not with a strong and firm Opinion but with Divine Faith And nothing can rationally pretend unto this Priviledge but the Truth of God manifesting it self in the Scripture And therefore those who will not allow it hereunto do some of them wisely deny that the Scriptures being the Word of God is the Object of Divine Faith directly but only of a moral Perswasion from eternal Arguments and Considerations And I do believe that they will grant that if the Scripture be so to be believed it must be for its own sake For those who would have us to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God upon the Authority of the Church proposing it unto us and witnessing so to be though they make a fair appearance of a ready and easy way for the exercise of Faith yet when things come to be sifted and tried they do so confound all sorts of things that they know not where to stand or abide But it is not now my Business to examine their Pretences I have done it elsewhere I shall therefore prove and establish the Assertion laid down after I have made way to it by one or two previous Observations 1. We suppose herein all the Motives of Credibity before mentioned that is all the Arguments ab extra which vehemently perswade the Scripture to be the Word of God and wherewith it may be protected against Objections and Temptations to the contrary They have all of them their Use and may in their proper place be
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
Place that the Plea hitherto insisted on cannot be managed without great Disadvantage to Christian Religion For if we take away the Rational Grounds on which we believe the Doctrine of Christ to be True and Divine and the whole Evidence of the Truth of it be laid on things not only derided by Men of Atheistical Spirits but in themselves such as cannot be discerned by any but such as do believe on what Grounds can we proceed to convince an Unbeliever Answer 1. By the way it is one thing to prove and believe the Doctrine of Christ to be True and Divine another to prove and believe the Scripture to be given by Inspiration of God or the Divine Authority of the Scripture which alone was proposed unto Consideration A Doctrine True and Divine may be written in and proposed unto us by Writings that were not divinely and infallibly inspired and so might the Doctrine of Christ have been but not without the unspeakable Disadvantage of the Church And there are sundry Arguments which forcibly and effectually prove the Doctrine of Christ to have been True and Divine which are not of any Efficacy to prove the Divine Authority of the Scriptures though on the other hand whatever doth prove the Divine Authority of the Scriptures doth equally prove the Divine Truth of the Doctrine of Christ. 2. There are two Ways of convincing Vnbelievers the one insisted on by the Apostles and their Followers the other by some learned Men since their Days The Way principally insisted on by the Apostles was by preaching the Word it self unto them in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit by the Power whereof manifesting the Authority of God in it they were convinced and falling down acknowledged God to be in it of a Truth 1 Cor. 2. 4 5. ch 14. 25 26. It is likely that in this their Proposal of the Gospel the Doctrine and Truths contained in it unto Unbelievers that those of Atheistical Spirits would both deride them and it and so indeed it came to pass many esteeming themselves to be Bablers and their Doctrine to be errant Folly But yet they desisted not from pursuing their Work in the same way whereunto God gave success The other VVay is to prove unto Vnbelievers that the Scripture is True and Divine by rational Arguments wherein some learned Persons have laboured especially in these last Ages to very good purpose And certainly their Labours are greatly to be commended whilst they attend unto these Rules 1. That they produce no Arguments but such as are cogent and not liable unto just Exceptions For if to manifest their own Skill or Learning they plead such Reasons as are capable of an Answer and Solution they exceedingly prejudice the Truth by subjecting it unto dubious Disputations whereas in it self it is Clear Firm and Sacred 2. That they do not pretend their rational Grounds and Arguments to be the Sole Foundation that Faith hath to rest upon or which it is resolved into For this were the ready way to set up an Opinion instead of Faith Supernatural and Divine Accept but of these two Limitations and it is acknowledged that the rational Grounds and Arguments intended may be rationally pleaded and ought so to be unto the Conviction of Gainsayers For no Man doth so plead the self-evidencing Power of the Scripture as to deny that the Use of other external Motives and Arguments is necessary to stop the Mouths of Atheists as also unto the further Establishment of them who do believe These Things are subordinate and no way inconsistent The Truth is if we will attend unto our own and the Experience of the whole Church of God the way whereby we come to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God ordinarily is this and no other God having first given his Word as the Foundation of our Faith and Obedience hath appointed the Ministry of Men at first extraordinary afterwards ordinary to propose unto us the Doctrines Truths Precepts Promises and Threatnings contained therein Together with this Proposition of them they are appointed to declare that these things are not from themselves nor of their own Invention 2 Tim. 3. 14 15 16 17. And this is done variously Unto some the VVord of God in this Ministry thus comes or is thus proposed preached or declared whilst they are in a Condition not only utterly unacquainted with the Mysteries of it but filled with contrary Apprehensions and consequently Prejudices against it Thus it came of old unto the Pagan World and must do so unto such Persons and Nations as are yet in the same state with them Unto these the first Preachers of the Gospel did not produce the Book of the Scriptures and tell them that it was the Word of God and that it would evidence it self unto them so to be For this had been to despise the Wisdom and Authority of God in their own Ministry But they preached the Doctrines of it unto them grounding themselves on the Divine Revelation contained therein And this Proposition of the Truth or Preaching of the Gospel was not left of God to work it self into the Reasons of Men by the Suitableness of it thereunto but being his own Institution for their Illumination and Conversion he accompanied it with Divine Power and made it effectual unto the Ends designed Rom. 1. 16. And the Event hereof among Mankind was that by some this new Doctrine was derided and scorned by others whose Hearts God opened to attend unto it it was embraced and submitted unto Among those who after the Propagation of the Gospel are born as they say within the Pale of the Church the same Doctrine is variously instilled into Persons according unto the several Duties and Concerns of others to instruct them Principally the Ministry of the Word is ordained of God unto that End wheron the Church is the Ground and Pillar of Truth Those of both Sorts unto whom the Doctrine mentioned is preached or proposed are directed unto the Scriptures as the Sacred Repository thereof For they are told that these things come by Revelation from God and that Revelation is contained in the Bible which is his Word Upon this Proposal with Enquiry into it and Consideration of it God co-operating by his Spirit there is that Evidence of its Divine Original communicated unto their Minds through its Power and Efficacy with the Characters of Divine Wisdom and Holiness implanted on it which they are now enabled to discern that they believe it and rest in it as the immediate Word of God Thus was it in the Case of the Woman of Samaria and the Inhabitants of Sychar with respect unto their Faith in Christ Jesus John 4. 42. This is the way whereby Men ordinarily are brought to believe the Word of God Rom. 10. 14 15. and that neither by external Arguments or Motives which no one Soul was ever converted unto God by nor by any meer naked Proposal and Offer of the Book unto them
Scripture to be the VVord of God in a way of Duty For it is not to be meerly Human how firm soever the Perswasions in it may be but Divine and Supernatural of the same kind with that whereby we believe the things themselves contained in the Scripture 7. VVe cannot thus believe the Scripture to be the VVord of God nor any Divine Truth therein contained without the effectual Illumination of our Minds by the Holy Ghost And to exclude the Consideration of his VVork herein is to cast the whole Enquiry out of the Limits of Christian Religion 8. Yet is not this VVork of the Holy Spirit in the Illumination of our Minds whereby we are enabled to believe in a way of Duty with Faith Supernatural and Divine the Ground and Reason why we do believe or the Evidence whereon we do so nor is our Faith resolved thereinto 9. VVhereas also there are sundry other Acts of the Holy Spirit in and upon our minds establishing this Faith against Temptations unto the contrary and further ascertaining us of the Divine Original of the Scripture or testifying it unto us yet are they none of them severally nor all of them joyntly the formal Reason of our Faith nor the Ground which we believe upon Yet are they such as that as without the first VVork of Divine Illumination we cannot believe at all in a due manner so without his other consequent Operations we cannot believe stedfastly against Temptations and Oppositions VVherefore 10. Those only can believe the Scripture aright to be the VVord of God in a way of Duty whose minds are enlightned and who are enabled to believe by the Holy Ghost 11. Those who believe not are of two Sorts for they are either such as oppose and gainsay the VVord as a cunningly devised Fable or such as are willing without prejudice to attend unto the consideration of it The former Sort may be resisted opposed and rebuked by external Arguments and such moral Considerations as vehemently perswade the Divine Original of the Scripture and from the same Principles may their mouths be stopped as to their Cavils and Exceptions against it The other Sort are to be led on unto believing by the Ministry of the Church in the dispensation of the VVord it self which is the Ordinance of God unto that purpose But 12. Neither sort do ever come truly to believe either meerly induced thereunto by force of moral Arguments only or upon the Authority of that Church by whose Ministry the Scripture is proposed unto them to be believed VVherefore 13. The formal Reason of Faith Divine and Supernatural whereby we believe the Scripture to be the VVord of God in the way of Duty and as it is required of us is the Authority and Veracity of God alone evidencing themselves unto our Minds and Consciences in and by the Scripture it self And herein consisteth that Divine Testimony of the Holy Ghost which as it is a Testimony gives our Assent unto the Scriptures the general nature of Faith and as it is a Divine Testimony gives it the especial nature of Faith Divine and Supernatural 14. This Divine Testimony given unto the Divine Original of the Scripture in and by it self whereinto our Faith is ultimately resolved is evidenced and made known as by the Characters of the infinite Perfections of the Divine Nature that are in it and upon it so by the Authority Power and Efficacy over and upon the Souls and Consciences of Men and the Satisfactory Excellency of the Truths contained therein wherewith it is accompanied 15. Wherefore although there be many cogent external Arguments whereby a moral stedfast Perwasion of the Divine Authority of the Scriptures may be attained and it be the principal Duty of the true Church in all Ages to give Testimony thereunto which it hath done successively at all all times since first it was intrusted with it and so although there be many other Means whereby we are induced perswaded and enabled to believe it yet is it for its own sake only efficaciously manifesting it self to be the Word of God or upon the Divine Testimony that is given in it and by it thereunto that we believe it to be so with Faith Divine and Supernatural Corel Those who either deny the necessity of an internal subjective Work of the Holy Ghost enabling us to believe or the objective Testimony of the Holy Spirit given unto the Scripture in and by it self or do deny their joynt concurrence in and unto our Believing do deny all Faith properly Divine and Supernatural This being the Substance of what is declared and pleaded for in the preceding Treatise to prevent the Obloquy of some and confirm the Judgment of others I shall add the Suffrage of Antient and Modern Writers given unto the principal Parts of it and whereon all other things asserted in it do depend Clemens Alexandrinus discourseth at large unto this purpose Stromat 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We have the Lord himself for the Principle or Beginning of Doctrine who by the Prophets the Gospel and blessed Apostles in various manners and by divers degrees goeth before us or leads us unto knowledg This is that which we lay down as the Reason and Ground of Faith namely the Authority of the Lord himself instructing us by the Scriptures So he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if any one suppose that he needeth any oâ—her Principle the Principle will not be kept that is if we need any other Principle whereinto to resolve our Faith the Word of God is no more a Principle unto us But he who is faithful from himself is worthy to be believed in his Sovereign Writing and Voice which as it appeareth is administred by the Lord for the benefit of men And certainly we use it as a Rule of judging for the invention of things But whatever is judged is not credible or to be believed until it is judged and that is no Principle which stands in need to be judged The Intention of his Words is that God who alone is to believed for himself hath given us his Word as the Rule whereby we are to judg of all things And this Word is so to be believed as not to be subject unto any other Judgment because if it be so it cannot be either a Principle or a Rule And so he proceeds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore it is meet that embracing by Faith the most sufficient indemonstrable Principle and taking the Demonstrations of the Principle from the Principle it self we are instructed by the Voice of the Lord himself unto the acknowledgment of the Truth In few Words he declares the Substance of what we have pleaded for No more do we maintain in this Cause but what Clemens doth here assert namely that we believe the Scripture for it self as that which needeth no antecedent or external Demonstration but all the Evidence and Demonstration of its Divine Original is to be taken from it self alone which yet
God preaching writing or teaching of it but yet as if we had seen him we believe and firmly hold that the things which we read proceeded from the Holy Ghost It may be this is the Reason why we so firmly adhere unto it that truth is more solid in it though not more clear than in other writings for all Truth hath a perswasive power the greater Truth the greater power and that which is greatest the greatest Efficacy of all But why then do not all believe the Gospel Answ. Because all are not drawn of God But what need is there of any long disputation we therefore firmly believe the Scriptures because we have received a Divine Inspiration assuring of us And in what Sense this is allowed hath been declared in the preceding Discourse I shall close the whole with the Testimony of them by whom the Truth which we assert is most vehemently opposed when it riseth in opposition unto an especial interest of their own Two things there are which are principally excepted against in the Doctrine of Protestants concerning our belief of the Scripture The first is with respect unto the Holy Spirit as the efficient cause of Faith for whereas they teach that no man can believe the Scripture to be the Word of God in a due manner and according unto his duty without the real internal Aid and Operation of the Holy Ghost however it be proposed unto him and with what Arguments soever the Truth of its Divine Original be confirmed this is charged on them as an Error and a Crime And secondly whereas they also affirm that there is an inward Testimony or Witness of the Holy Spirit whereby he assures and confirms the minds of men in the Faith of the Scriptures with an Efficacy exceeding all the perswasive Evidence of outward Arguments and Motives this also by some they are traduced for And yet those of the Roman Church who are looked on as most averse from that Resolution of Faith which most Protestants acquiesce in do expresly maintain both these Assertions The Design of Stapleton de principiis Fidei controver 4. lib. 8. cap. 1. is to prove impossibile esse sine speciali gratia ac dono fidei divinitùs infuso actum verae fidei producere aut ex veri nominis fide credere Which he there proves with sundry Arguments namely that it is impossible to produce any act of Faith or to believe with Faith rightly so called without special Grace and the Divine Infusion of the Gift of Faith And Bellarmin speaks to the same purpose Argumenta quae articulos fidei nostrae credibiles faciunt non talia sunt ut fidem omnino indubitatam reddant nisi mens divinitùs adjuvetur De Grat. lib. Arbit lib. 6. cap. 3. The Arguments which render the Articles of our Faith credible are not such as produce an undoubted Faith unless the mind be divinely assisted Melchior Canus loc Theol. lib. 2. cap. 8. disputes expresly to this purpose Id statuendum est authoritatem humanam incitamenta omnia illa praedicta sive alia quaecunque adhibita ab eo qui proponit fidem non esse sufficientes causas ad credendum ut credere tenemur sed praeterea opus esse interiori causa efficiente id est Dei speciali auxilio moventis ad credendum This is firmly to be held that human Authority and all the Motives before mentioned nor any other which may be used by him who proposeth the Object of Faith to be believed are not sufficient causes of believing as we are obliged to believe but there is moreover necessary an internal efficient Cause moving us to believe which is the especial Help or Aid of God And a little after he speaks yet more plainly Externae igitur omnes humanae persuasiones non sunt satis ad credendum quantumcunque ab hominibus competenter ea quae sunt fidei proponantur sed necessaria est insuper causa interior hoc est divinum quoddam lumen incitans ad credendum oculi quidam interiores Dei beneficio ad videndum dati Wherefore all external human Perswasions or Arguments are not sufficient Causes of Faith however the things of Faith may be sufficiently proposed by Men there is moreover necessary an internal Cause that is a certain Divine Light inciting to believe or certain internal Eyes to see given us by the Grace of God Yea all other learned men of the same Profession do speak to the same purpose The other Assertion also they do no less comply withal Arcanum divini Spiritus Testimonium prorsus necessarium est ut quis Ecclesiae Testimonio ac Judicio circa Scripturarum approbationem credat saith Stapleton The secret Testimony of the Spirit is altogether necessary that a Man may believe the Testimony and Judgment of the Church about the Scriptures And the Words of Gregory de Valentia are remarkable Cum hactenus ejusmodi Argumenta pro authoritate Christianae Doctrinae fecerimus quae per seipsa satis prudentibus esse debeant ut animum inducant velle credere tamen nescio an non sit argumentum iis omnibus majus quod qui vere Christiani sunt ita se animo affectos esse quod ad fidem attinet sentiunt ut praecipue quidem propter nullum Argumentum quod vel hactenus fecimus vel ratione similiter excogitari possit sed propter aliud nescio quid quod alio quodam modo longe fortius quam ulla Argumenta persuadet at ad firmiter credendum se intelligant Tom. 3. in Thom. Disp. 7. Qu. 1. punc 4. §. 2. Let any man compare these Words with those of Calvin Institut lib. 1. cap. 7. sect 5. which as I remember I have cited before and he will know whence the sense of them was taken Whereas saith he we have hitherto pleaded Arguments for the Authority of Christian Doctrine which even by themselves ought to suffice prudent persons to induce their minds to belief yet I know not whether there be not an Argument greater than they all namely that those who are truly Christians do find or feel by experience their minds so affected in this matter of Faith that they are moved and obliged firmly to believe neither for any Argument that we have used nor for any of the like sort that can be found out by Reason but for somewhat else which perswades our minds in another manner and far more effectually than any Arguments whatever And to shew what he means by this internal Argument and Perswasion he affirms elsewhere that Deus ipse imprimis est qui Christianam Doctrinam atque adeo Scripturam sacram veram esse voce Revelationis suae interno quodam instinctu impulsu humanis mentibus contestatur It is God Himself who by the voice of his Revelation and by a certain internal Instinct and Impulse witnesseth unto the minds of Men the Truth of Christian Doctrine or of the Holy Scripture These few Testimonies have I produced amongst the many that might be urged to the same purpose not to confirm the Truth which we have pleaded for which stands on far surer foundations but only to obviate Prejudices in the minds of some who being not much conversant in things of this Nature are ready to charge what hath been delivered unto this purpose with Singularity FINIS De Naturae Theologiae lib. 3. ‖ De Naturae Theologiae lib. cap. * Vbi supra de Origine Progressu Idololatriae * Exercitat on the Epist. to the Heb. Exer. 1.
Divine and Supernatural as it is required of us in a way of Duty 2. How or by what means we may come to understand aright the Mind of God in the Scripture or the Revelations that are made unto us of his Mind and Will therein For by Illumination in general as it denotes an Effect wrought in the minds of Men I understand that Supernatural Knowledg that any Man hath or may have of the Mind and Will of God as revealed unto him by Supernatural Means for the Law of his Faith Life and Obedience And this so far as it is comprised in the first of these Inquiries is that whose Declaration we at present design reserving the latter unto a distinct Discourse by it self also Unto the former some things may be premised First Supernatural Revelation is the only Objective cause and means of Supernatural Illumination These things are commensurate There is a natural knowledg of Supernatural things and that both Theoretical and Practical Rom. 1. 19. Chap. 2. 14 15. And there may be a Supernatural knowledg of Natural things 1 Kings 4. 31 32 33 34. Exod. 31. 3 4 5 6. But unto this supernatural Illumination it is required both that its Object be things only supernaturally revealed or as supernaturally revealed 1 Cor. 2. 9 10. and that it be wrought in us by a supernatural Efficiency or the immediate Efficacy of the Spirit of God Ephes. 1. 17 18 19. 2 Cor. 4. 6. This David prays for Psal. 119. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reveal or Vncover mine eyes bring light and spiritual understanding into my mind that I may behold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with open face or as in the Syriack 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a revealed or uncovered face the vail being taken away 2 Cor. 3. 18. Wondrous things out of thy Law The Light he prayed for within did meerly respect the Doctrine of the Law without This the Apostle fully declares Heb. 1. 1 2. The various Supernatural Revelations that God hath made of himself his Mind and Will from first to last are the sole and adequate Object of Supernatural Illumination Secondly This Divine external Revelation was originally by various ways which we have elsewhere declared given unto sundry persons immediately partly for their own Instruction and Guidance in the Knowledg of God and his Will and partly by their Ministry to be communicated unto the Church So was it granted unto Enoch the seventh from Adam who thereon prophesied to the warning and instruction of others Jude 14 15. And to Noah who became thereby a Preacher of Righteousness 2 Pet. 2. 5. And to Abraham who thereon commanded his Children and Houshold to keep the way of the Lord Gen. 18. 19. And other instances of the like kind may be given Gen. 4. 26. Chap. 5. 28. And this course did God continue a long time even from the first promise to the giving of the Law before any Revelations were committed to writing for the space of 2460 years For so long a season did God enlighten the minds of Men by Supernatural external immediate occasional Revelations Sundry things may be observed of this divine dispensation As 1. That it did sufficiently evidence its self to be from God unto the minds of those unto whom it was granted and theirs also unto whom these Revelations were by them communicated For during this season Satan used his utmost endeavours to possess the minds of men with his delusions under the pretence of divine Supernatural Inspirations For hereunto belongs the Original of all his Oracles and Enthusisasmes among the Nations of the World There was therefore a divine Power and Efficacy attending all Divine Revelations ascertaining and infallably assuring the minds of men of their being from God For if it had not been so men had never been able to secure themselves that they were not imposed on by the crafty deceits of Satan especially in such Revelations as seemed to contain things contrary to their Reason as in the command given to Abraham for the sacrificing his Son Gen. 22. 2. Wherefore these immediate Revelations had not been a sufficient means to secure the Faith and Obedience of the Church if they had not carried along with them their own evidence that they were from God Of what nature that Evidence was we shall afterwards enquire For the present I shall only say that it was an Evidence unto Faith and not to Sense as is that also which we have now by the Scripture It is not like that which the Sun gives of it self by its Light which there needs no exercise of Reason to assure us of for Sense is irresistibly affected with it But it is like the Evidence which the Heavens and the Earth give of their being made and created of God and thereby of his Being and Power This they do undeniably and infallibly Psal. 19. 1 2. Rom. 1. 19 20 21. Yet is it required hereunto that men do use and exercise the best of their rational Abilities in the consideration and contemplation of them Where this is neglected notwithstanding their open and visible Evidence unto the contrary men degenerate into Atheism God so gave out these Revelations of himself as to require the exercise of the Faith Conscience Obedience and Reason of them unto whom they were made and therein they gave full Assurance of their proceeding from him So he tells us that his Word differeth from all other pretended Revelations as the Wheat doth from the Chaff Jer. 23. 28. But yet it is our duty to try and sift the Wheat from the Chaff or we may not evidently discern the one from the other 2. The things so revealed were sufficient to guide and direct all persons in the Knowledg of their duty to God in all that was required of them in a way of Faith or Obedience God from the beginning gave out the knowledg of his Will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by sundry parts and degrees yet so that every Age and Season had Light enough to guide them in the whole Obedience required of them and unto their Edification therein They had knowledg enough to enable them to offer Sacrifices in Faith as did Abel to walk with God as did Enoch and to teach their Families the fear of the Lord as did Abraham The World perished not for want of sufficient Revelation of the mind of God at any time Indeed when we go to consider those divine Instructions which are upon Record that God granted unto them we are scarce able to discern how they were sufficiently enlightned in all that was necessary for them to believe and do But they were unto them as a Light shining in a dark place Set up but a Candle in a dark room and it will sufficiently enlighten it for men to attend their necessary occasions therein But when the Sun is risen and shineth in at all the Windows the light of the Candle grows so dim and useless that it seems strange that any could
have advantage thereby The Sun of Righteousness is now risen upon us and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel If we look now on the Revelations granted unto them of old we may yet see there was light in them which yields us little more advantage than the light of a Candle in the Sun But unto them who lived before this Sun arose they were a sufficient Guide unto all Duties of Faith and Obedience For 3. There was during this season a sufficient Ministry for the declaration of the Revelations which God made of Himself and his Will There was the natural Ministry of Parents who were obliged to instruct their Children and Families in the knowledge of the Truth which they had received And whereas this began in Adam who first received the Promise and therewithal whatsoever was necessary unto Faith and Obedience the knowledg of it could not be lost without the wilful neglect of Parents in teaching or of Children and Families in learning And they had the extraordinary Ministry of such as God entrusted new Revelations withal for the confirmation and inlargment of those before received who were all of them Preachers of Righteousness unto the rest of Mankind And it may be manifested that from the giving of the first Promise when divine external Revelations began to be the Rule of Faith and Life unto the Church to the writing of the Law there was always alive one or other who receiving divine Revelations immediatly were a kind of infallible Guides unto others If it was otherwise at any time it was after the death of the Patriarks before the Call of Moses during which time all things went into Darkness and Confusion For oral Tradition alone would not preserve the Truth of former Revelations But by whom these Instructions were received they had a sufficient outward means for their Illumination before any divine Revelations were recorded by Writing Yet 4. This way of Instruction as it was in it self imperfect and liable to many disadvantages so through the weakness negligence and wickedness of men it proved insufficient to retain the knowledg of God in the World For under this Dispensation the Generality of Mankind fell into their great Apostacy from God and betook themselves unto the conduct and service of the Devil of the ways means and degrees whereof I have discoursed* elsewhere Hereon God also regarded them not but suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways Acts 14. 16. giving them up to their own hearts lusts to walk in their own Counsels as it is expressed Psal. 81. 12. And although this fell not out without the horrible wickedness and ingratitude of the World yet there being then no certain Standard of divine Truth whereunto they might repair they brake off the easier from God through the imperfection of this Dispensation If it shall be said that since the Revelation of the Will of God hath been committed unto Writing men have Apostatized from the Knowledge of God as is evident in many Nations of the World which sometimes professed the Gospel but are now over-run with Heathenism Mahometism and Idolatry I say this hath not come to pass through any defect in the way and means of Illumination or the Communication of the Truth unto them but God hath given them up to be destroyed for their wickedness and ingratitude and unless we repent we shall all likewise perish Rom. 1. 18. 2 Thes. 2. 11 12. Otherwise where the Standard of the Word is once fixed there is a constant means of preserving divine Revelations Wherefore Thirdly God hath gathered up into the Scripture all divine Revelations given out by himself from the beginning of the World and all that ever shall be so to the end thereof which are of general use unto the Church that it may be throughly instructed in the whole mind and will of God and directed in all that Worship of Him and Obedience unto Him which is necessary to give us acceptance with Him here and to bring us unto the eternal enjoyment of him hereafter For 1. When God first committed the Law to writing with all those things which accompanied it he obliged the Church unto the use of it alone without Additions of any kind Now this he would not have done had he not expressed therein that is the Books of Moses all that was any way needful unto the Faith and Obedience of the Church For he did not only command them to attend with all diligence unto his Word as it was then written for their instruction and direction in Faith and Obedience annexing all sorts of Promises unto their so doing Deut. 6. 6 7. but also expresly forbids them as was said to add any thing thereunto or to conjoyn any thing therewith Deut. 4. 2. chap. 12 32. which he would not have done had he omitted other divine Revelations before given that were any way necessary unto the use of the Church As he added many new Ones so he gathered in all the old from the unfaithful Repository of Tradition and fixed them in a Writing given by divine Inspiration 2. For all other divine Revelations which were given out to the Church for its use in general under the Old Testament they are all comprised in the following Books thereof Nor was this that I know of ever questioned by any Person pretending to Sobriety though some who would be glad of any pretence against the Integrity and Perfection of the Scripture have fruitlesly wrangled about the loss of some Books which they can never prove concerning any one that was certainly of a divine Original 3. The full Revelation of the whole mind of God whereunto nothing pretending thereunto is ever to be added was committed unto and perfected by Jesus Christ Heb. 1. 1 2. That the Revelations of God made by him whether in his own Person or by his Spirit unto his Apostles were also by divine Inspiration committed to Writing is expressly affirmed concerning what he delivered in his own personal Ministry Luk. 1. 4. Acts 1. 1. John 20. 31. and may be proved by uncontroulable Arguments concerning the rest of them Hence as the Scriptures of the old Testament were shut up with a Caution and Admonition unto the Church to adhere unto the Law and Testimony with threatning of a Curse unto the contrary Mal. 4. 4 5 6. So the Writings of the New Testament are closed with a Curse on any that shall presume to add any thing more thereunto Rev. 22. 18. Wherefore Fourthly The Scripture is now become the only external means of divine supernatural Illumination because 't is the only Repository of all divine supernatural Revelation Psal. 19. 7 8. Isa. 8. 20. 2 Tim. 3. 15 16 17. The Pretences of Tradition as a collateral means of preserving and communicating supernatural Revelation have been so often evicted of falsity that I shall not further press their impeachment Besides I intend those in this Discourse by whom it is acknowledged that the Bible is
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
unto it as I have elsewhere proved at large We shall therefore proceed There are two Things considerable with respect unto our Believing the Scriptures to be the Word of God in a due manner or according to our Duty The first respects the Subject or the mind of man how it is enabled thereunto the other the Object to be believed with the true Reason why we do believe the Scripture with Faith divine and supernatural The first of these must of necessity fall under our Consideration herein as that without which what ever Reasons Evidences or Motives are proposed unto us we shall never believe in a due manner For whereas the mind of man or the minds of all men are by nature depraved corrupt carnal and enmity against God they cannot of themselves or by virtue of any innate Ability of their own understand or assent unto spiritual things in a spiritual manner which we have sufficiently proved and confirmed before Wherefore that Assent which is wrought in us by meer external Arguments consisting in the rational Conclusion and Judgment which we make upon their Truth and Evidence is not that Faith wherewith we ought to believe the Word of God Wherefore that we may believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God according to our Duty as God requireth it of us in an useful profitable and saving manner above and beyond that natural humane Faith and Assent which is the Effect of the Arguments and Motives of Credibility before insisted on with all others of the like kind there is and must be wrought in us by the power of the Holy Ghost Faith supernatural and divine whereby we are enabled so to do or rather whereby we do so This Work of the Spirit of God as it is distinct from so in order of Nature it is antecedent unto all divine objective Evidence of the Scriptures being the Word of God or the formal Reason moving us to believe it wherefore without it whatever Arguments or Motives are proposed unto us we cannot believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God in a due manner and as it is in duty required of us Some it may be will suppose these things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and impertinent unto our present purpose For while we are enquiring on what Grounds we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God we seem to fly to the Work of the Holy Ghost in our own minds which is irrational But we must not be ashamed of the Gospel nor of the Truth of it because some do not understand or will not duly consider what is proposed It is necessary that we should return unto the Work of the Holy Spirit not with peculiar respect unto the Scriptures that are to be believed but unto our own Minds and that Faith wherewith they are to be believed For it is not the Reason why we believe the Scriptures but the Power whereby we are enabled so to do which at present we enquire after 1. That the Faith whereby we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God is wrought in us by the Holy Ghost can be denied only on two Principles or Suppositions 1. That it is not Faith divine and supernatural whereby we believe them so to be but only we have other moral Assurance thereof 2. That this Faith divine and supernatural is of our selves and is not wrought in us by the Holy Ghost The first of these hath been already disproved and shall be further evicted afterwards and it may be they are very few who are of that Judgment For generally whatever men suppose the prime Object principal Motive and formal Reason of that Faith to be yet that it is Divine and Supernatural they all acknowledg And as to the second what is so 't is of the Operation of the Spirit of God For to say it is divine and supernatural is to say that it is not of our selves but that it is the Grace and Gift of the Spirit of God wrought in us by his divine and supernatural Power And those of the Church of Rome who would resolve our Faith in this matter objectively into the Authority of their Church yet subjectively acknowledge the Work of the Holy Spirit ingenerating Faith in us and that Work to be necessary to our Believing the Scripture in a due manner Externae omnes humanae persuasiones non sunt satis ad credendum quantumcunque ab hominibus competenter ea quae sunt fidei proponantur Sed necessaria est insuper causa interior hoc est divinum quoddam lumen incitans ad credendum oculi quidam interni Dei beneficio ad videndum dati saith Canus Loc. Theol. lib. 2. cap. 8. Nor is there any of the Divines of that Church which dissent herein We do not therefore assert any such divine formal Reoson of Believing as that the mind should not stand in need of supernatural Assistance enabling it to assent thereunto Nay we affirm that without this there is in no man any true Faith at all let the Arguments and Motives whereon he believes be as forcible and pregnant with Evidence as can be imagined It is in this Case as in things natural neither the the Light of the Sun nor any perswasive Arguments unto men to look up unto it will enable them to discern it unless they are endued with a due visive Faculty And this the Scripture is express in beyond all possibility of Contradiction Neither is it that I know of by any as yet in express terms denied For indeed that all which is properly called Faith with respect unto divine Revelation and is acceptted with God as such is the Work of the Spirit of God in us or is bestowed on us by him cannot be questioned by any who own the Gospel I have also proved it elsewhere so fully and largly as that I shall give it at present no other Confirmation but what will necessarily fall in with the Description of the Nature of that Faith whereby we do believe and the Way or Manner of its being wrought in us The Work of the Holy Ghost unto this purpose consists in the saving Illumination of the Mind and the Effect of it is a supernatural Light whereby the Mind is renewed see Rom. 12. 1. Ephes. 1. 18 19. chap. 3. 16 17 18 19. It is called an Heart to understand Eyes to see Ears to hear Deut. 29. 4. The opening of the Eyes of our Vunderstanding Ephes. 1. 18. The giving of an Vnderstanding 1 John 5. 20. Hereby we are enabled to discern the Evidences of the divine Original and Authority of the Scripture that are in it self as well as assent unto the Truth contained in it and without it we cannot do so For the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can be know them because they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2. 14. And unto this end it is written in the Prophets that we
Lord and therefore they are to be believed Some of them we must mention Deut. 31. 11 12 13. When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall chuse thou shalt read this Law before all Israel in their hearing Gather the people together Men Women and Children and the Stranger that is within thy Gates that they may hear and that they may learn and fear the Lord your God and observe to do all the Works of this Law and that their Children which have not known any thing may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God It is plain that God here requireth Faith and Obedience of the whole people Men Women and Children The Enquiry is what he requireth it unto It is to this Law to this Law written in the Books of Moses which was to be read unto them out of the Book at the hearing of which they were obliged to believe and obey To evidence that Law to be his he proposeth nothing but it self But it will be said that Generation was sufficiently convinced that the Law was from God by the Miracles which they beheld in the giving of it But moreover it is ordered to be proposed unto Children of future Generations who knew nothing that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord. That which by the Appointment of God is to be proposed unto them that know nothing that they may believe that is unto them the formal Reason of their Believing But this is the written Word Thou shalt read this Law unto them who have known nothing that they may hear and learn c. Whatever use therefore there may be of other Motives or Testimonies to commend the Law unto us of the Ministry of the Church especially which is here required unto the Proposal of the Word unto men it is the Law it self or the written Word which is the Object of our Faith and which we believe for its own sake see also chap. 29. 29. where revealed things are said to belong unto us and our Children that we might do them that is receive them on the Account of their Divine Revelation Isa. 8. 19 20. And when they shall say unto you Seek unto them that have familiar Spirits and unto Wizards that peep and mutter should not a people seek unto their God for the living to the dead To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Light in them The Enquiry is by what means men may come to satisfaction in their Minds and Consciences or what their Faith and Trust is in Two Things are proposed unto this end 1. Immediate diabolical Revelations real or pretended 2. The written Word of God the Law and the Testimony Hereunto are we sent and that upon the Account of its own Authority alone in opposition unto all other pretences of Assurance or Security And the sole Reason why any one doth not acquiesce by Faith in the written Word is because he hath no Mornings or Light of Truth shining on him But how shall we know the Law and Testimony this written Word to be the Word of God and believe it so to be and distinguish it from every other pretended Divine Revelation that is not so This is declared Jerem. 23. 28 29. The Prophet that hath a Dream let him tell a Dream and he that hath my Word let him speak my Word faithfully What is the Chaff to the Wheat saith the Lord Is not my Word like as fire saith the Lord and like an Hammer that breaketh the Rock in pieces It is supposed that there are two Persons in Reputation for Divine Revelations esteemed Prophets one of them only pretends so to be and declares the Dreams of his own Fancy or the Divinations of his own Mind as the Word of God The other hath the Word of God and declares it faithfully from him Yea but how shall we know the one from the other Even as men know Wheat from Chaff by their different Natures and Effects For as false pretended Revelations are but as Chaff which every Wind will scatter so the true Word of God is like a Fire and like an Hammer is accompanied with that Light Efficacy and Power that it manifests it self unto the Consciences of men so to be Hereon doth God call us to rest our Faith on it in opposition unto all other Pretences whatever But is it of this Authority and Efficacy in it self See Luk. 16. 27 28 29 30 31. Then said he the rich Man in Hell I pray thee therefore Father that thou wouldest send him Lazarus who was dead unto my Fathers house for I have five Brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment Abraham saith unto him they have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they would repent and he said unto him if they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead The Question here between Abraham and the rich Man in this Parable indeed between the Wisdom of God and the superstitious Contrivances of Men is about the way and means of bringing those who are Unbelievers and impenitent unto Faith and Repentance He who was in Hell apprehended that nothing would make them believe but a Miracle one rising from the dead and speaking unto them which or the like marvellous Operations many at this day think would have mighty power and influence upon them to settle their minds and change their lives should they see one rise from the dead and come and converse with them this would convince them of the Immortality of the Soul of future Rewards and Punishments as giving them sufficient Evidence thereof so that they would assuredly repent and change their Lives but as things are stated they have no sufficient evidence of these things so that they doubt so far about them as that they are not really influenced by them give them but one real Miracle and you shall have them for ever This I say was the Opinion and Judgment of him who was represented in Hell as it is of many who are posting thither apace He who was in Heaven thought otherwise wherein we have the immediate Judgment of Jesus Christ given in this matter determining this Controversy The Question is about sufficient Evidence and Efficacy to cause us to believe Things divine and supernatural and this he determines to be in the written Word Moses and the Prophets If he that will not believe on the single Evidence of the written Word to be from God or a Divine Revelation of his Will will never believe upon the Evidence of Miracles nor any other Motives then that written Word contains in it self the entire formal Reason of Faith or all that Evidence of the Authority and Truth of God in it which Faith divine
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
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
of Man but of God It will be said this Testimony is private in the Minds only of them on whom this VVork is wrought And therefore do I press it no further but he that believeth hath the Witness in himself 1 John 5. 10. Let it be granted that all who are really converted unto God by the Power of the VVord have that infallible Evidence and Testimony of its Divine Original Authority and Power in their own Souls and Consciences that they thereon believe it with Faith Divine and Supernatural in Conjunction with the other Evidences before mentioned as Parts of the same Divine Testimony and it is all I aim at herein But yet although this Testimony be privately received for in it self it is not so but common unto all Believers yet is it ministerially pleadable in the Church as a Principal Motive unto Believing A Declaration of the Divine Power which some have found by Experience in the VVord is an Ordinance of God to convince others and to bring them unto the Faith Yea of all the external Arguments that are or may be pleaded to justify the Divine Authority of the Scripture there is none more prevalent nor cogent than this of its mighty Efficacy in all Ages on the Souls of Men to change convert and renew them into the Image and Likeness of God which hath been Visible and Manifest Moreover there are yet other particular Effects of the Divine Power of the Word on the Minds and Consciences of Men belonging unto this general Work either preceding or following of it which are clearly sensible and enlarge the Evidence As 1. The Work of Conviction of Sin on those who expected it not who desired it not and who would avoid it if by any means possible they could The VVorld is filled with Instances of this Nature whilst Men have been full of love to their Sins at Peace in them enjoying Benefit and Advantage by them the VVord coming upon them in its Power hath awed disquieted and terrified them taken away their Peace destroyed their Hopes and made them as it were whether they would or no that is contrary to their Desires Inclinations and carnal Affections to conclude that if they comply not with what is proposed unto them in that Word which before they took no notice of nor had any regard unto they must be presently or eternally miserable Conscience is the Territory or Dominion of God in Man which he hath so reserved unto himself that no Human Power can possibly enter into it or dispose of it in any wise But in this VVork of Conviction of Sin the VVord of God the Scripture entreth into the Conscience of the Sinner takes possession of it disposeth it unto Peace or Trouble by its Laws or Rules and no otherwise VVhere it gives Disquietments all the VVorld cannot give it Peace and where it speaks Peace there is none can give it Trouble VVere not this the Word of God how should it come thus to speak in his Name and to act his Authority in the Consciences of Men as it doth when once it begins this VVork Conscience immediately owns a new Rule a new Law a new Government in order to the Judgment of God upon it and all its Actions And it is contrary to the Nature of Conscience to take this upon it self nor would it do so but that it sensibly finds God speaking and acting in it and by it see 1 Cor. 14. 25 26. An Invasion may be made on the outward Duties that Conscience disposeth unto but none can be so upon its internal Actings No Power under Heaven can cause Conscience to think act or judge otherwise than it doth by its immediate Respect unto God For it is the Minds self-judging with respect unto God and what is not so is no Act of Conscience VVherefore to force an Act of Conscience implies a Contradiction However it may be defiled bribed seared and at length utterly debauched admit of a Superiour Power a Power above or over it self under God it cannot I know Conscience may be prepossessed with Prejudices and by Education with the Insinuation of Traditions take on it self the Power of False Corrupt Superstitious Principles and Errors as Means of Conveying unto it a Sense of Divine Authority So is it with the Mâ—humetans and other false Worshippers in the World But the Power of those Divine Convictions whereof we treat is manifestly different from such prejudicate Opinions For where these are not imposed on Men by Artifices and Delusions easily discoverable they prepossess their Minds and Inclinations by Traditions antecedently unto any right Judgment they can make of themselves or other things and they are generally wrapt up and condited in their secular Interests The Convictions we treat of come from without upon the Minds of Men and that with a sensible Power prevailing over all their previous Thoughts and Inclinations Those first affect deceive and delude the notional Part of the Soul whereby Conscience is insensibly influenced and diverted into improper Respects and is deceived as to its judging of the Voice of God these immediately principle the Practical Understanding and self-judging Power of the Soul Wherefore such Opinions and Perswasions are gradually insinuated into the Mind and are admitted insensibly without Opposition or Reluctancy being never accompanied at their first Admission with any secular Disadvantage But these Divine Convictions by the Word befall Men some when they think of nothing less and desire nothing less some when they design other Things as the Pleasing of their Ears or the Entertainment of their Company and some that go on purpose to deride and scoff at what should be spoken unto them from it It might also be added unto the same purpose how confirmed some have been in their carnal Peace and Security by Love of Sin with innumerable inveterate Prejudices what Losses and Ruine to their outward Concernments many have fallen into by admitting of their Convictions what Force Diligence and Artifices have been used to defeat them what Contribution of Aid and Assistance hath there been from Satan unto this purpose and yet against all hath the Divine Power of the Word absolutely prevailed and accomplished its whole designed Effect See 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. Jerem. 23. 29. Zach. 1. 6. 2. It doth it by the Light that is in it and that Spiritual Illuminating Efficacy wherewith it is accompanied Hence it is called a Light shining in a dark Place 2 Pet. 1. 19. That Light whereby God shines into the Hearts and Minds of Men 2 Cor. 4. 4 6. Without the Scripture all the World is in Darkness Darkness covers the Earth and thick Darkness the People Isa 60. 2. It is the Kingdom of Satan filled with Darkness and Confusion Superstition Idolatry lying Vanities wherein Men know not at all what they do nor whither they go fill the whole World even as it is at this Day And the Minds of Men are naturally in Darkness there is a Blindness
nor by Miracles nor by Immediate Revelation or private subjective Testimony of the Spirit nor is their Faith a Perswasion of Mind that they can give no Reason of but only that they are so perswaded But it will be yet further objected that if there be such clear Evidences in the thing it self that is in the Divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures that none who freely use their Reason can deny it then it lies either in the naked Proposal of the Things unto the understanding and if so then every one that assents unto this Proposition that the whole is greater than the part must likewise assent unto this that the Scripture is the Word of God or the Evidence must not ly in the naked Proposal but in the Efficacy of the Spirit of God in the minds of them unto whom it is proposed Answ. 1. I know no Divine Ancient or Modern Popish or Protestant who doth not assert that tere is a work of the Holy Ghost on the minds of men necessary unto a due Belief of the Scriptures to be the VVord of God And the Consideration hereof ought not by any Christian to be excluded But they say not that this is the Objective Testimony or Evidence on which we believe the Scripture to be the VVord of God concerning which alone is our Enquiry 2. We do not dispute how far or by what means this Proposition the Scripture is the Word of God may be evidenced meerly unto our Reason but unto our understanding as capable of giving an Assent upon Testimony It is not said that this is a first Principle of Reason though it be of Faith nor that it is capable of a Mathematical Demonstration That the whole is greater than the part is self-evident unto our Reason upon its first Proposal but such none pretends to be in the Scripture because it is a Subject not capable of it Nor do those who denying the self-evidence of the Scripture pretend by their Arguments for its Divine Authority to give such an Evidence of it unto Reason as is in first Principles or Mathematical Demonstrations but content themselves with that which they call a Moral Certainty But it is by Faith we are obliged to receive the Truth of this Proposition which respects the Power of our Minds of assent unto Truth upon Testimony infallibly on that which is infallible And hereunto it evidenceth its own Truth not with the same but with an Evidence and Certainty of an higher nature and nobler kind than that of the strictest Demonstration in things natural or the most forcible Argumens in things moral 3. It will be objected that if this be so then none can be obliged to receive the Scripture as the Word of God who hath not Faith and none have Faith but those in whom it is wrought by the Spirit of God and thereinto all will be resolved at last Answ. 1. Indeed there is no Room for this Objection for the whole Work of the Spirit is pleaded only as he is the efficient Cause of Believing and not the objective or Reason why we do believe But 2. We must not be ashamed to resolve all we do well spiritually and in obedience to the Command of God unto the Efficacious Operation of the Holy Ghost in us unless we intend to be ashamed of the Gospel But this still makes his internal Operation to be the efficient and not his internal Testimony to be the formal Reason of our Faith 3. It is another Question whether all Obligation unto Duty is and must be proportionate unto our own Strength without Divine Assistance which we deny and affirm that we are obliged unto many things by virtue of Gods Command which we have no power to answer but by virtue of his Grace 4. Where the Proposal of the Scripture is made in the way before described those unto whom it is proposed are obliged to receive it as the Word of God upon the Evidence which it gives of it self so to be Yea every Real True Divine Revelation made unto Men or every Proposal of the Scripture by Divine Providence hath that Evidence of its being from God accompanying of it as is sufficient to oblige them unto whom it was made to believe it on pain of his Displeasure If this were otherwise then either were God obliged to confirm every particular Divine Revelation with a Miracle which as to its Obligation unto Believing wants not its difficulty which he did not as in many of the Prophets nor doth at this day at the first Proposal of the Gospel to the Heathen or else when he requires Faith and Obedience in such ways as in his Wisdom he judgeth meet that is in the ordinary Ministry of the Word they are not obliged thereby nor is it their Sin to refuse a Compliance with his Will 5. If this Difficulty can be no otherwise avoided but by affirming that the Faith which God requires of us with respect unto his VVord is nothing but a natural Assent unto it upon rational Arguments and Considerations which we have an Ability for without any spiritual Aid of the Holy Ghost or respect unto his Testimony as before described which overthrows all Faith especially that which is Divine I shall rather ten thousand times allow of all the just Consequences that can follow on the Supposition mentioned than admit of this Relief But of those Consequences this is none that any unto whom the Scripture is proposed are excepted from an Obligation unto Believing In like manner there is no difficulty in the usual Objection which respects particular Books of the Scripture why we receive them as Canonical and reject others as namely the Book of Proverbs and not of Wisdom of Ecclesiastes and not Ecclesiasticus For 1. As to the Books of the Old Testament we have the Canon of them given us in the New where it is affirmed that unto the Church of the Jews were committed the Oracles of God which both confirms all that we receive and excludes all that we exclude And unto the New there are no Pretenders nor ever were to the least Exercise of the Faith of any 2. All Books whatever that have either themselves pretended unto a Divine Original or have been pleaded by others to be of that Extract have been and may be from themselves without further help evicted of falshood in that pretence They have all of them hitherto in matter or manner in plain Confessions or other sufficient Evidence manifested themselves to be of an human Original And much Danger is not to be feared from any that for the future shall set forth with the same pretence 3. VVe are not bound to refuse the Ministry of the Church or the Advantages of Providence whereby the Scripture is brought unto us with the Testimonies which either directly or collaterally any one Part of it gives unto another Although the Scripture be to believed for it self yet it is not ordinarily to be believed by it self without