the Scripture to be the Word of God and that we understand savingly the mind of God therein both which belong unto our Illumination That which I shall first enquire into is the way how and the ground whereon we come to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God in a due manner For that this is required of us in a way of duty namely that we should believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with Faith Divine and Supernatural I suppose will not be denyed and it shall be afterwards proved And what is the work of the Spirit of God herein will be our first enquiry Secondly Whereas we see by experience that all who have or enjoy the Scripture do not yet understand it or come to an useful saving Knowledg of the Mind and Will of God therein revealed our other enquiry shall be how we may come to understand the Word of God aright and what is the work of the Spirit of God in the assistance which he affordeth us unto that purpose With respect unto the first of these Enquiries whereunto the present discourse is singly designed I affirm that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God or the supernatural immediate Revelation of his mind unto us and infallibly to evidence it unto our minds so as that we may spiritually and savingly acquiesce therein Some upon a mistake of this Proposition do seem to suppose that we resolve all Faith into private suggestions of the Spirit or deluding pretences thereof and some it may be will be ready to apprehend that we confound the efficient Cause and formal Reason of Faith or believing rendring all rational Arguments and external Testimonies useless But indeed there neither is nor shall be any occasion administred unto these fears or imaginations For we shall plead nothing in this matter but what is consonant to the Faith and Judgment of the Ancient and present Church of God as shall be fully evidenced in our progress I know some have found out other ways whereby the minds of men as they suppose may be sufficiently satisfied in the Divine Authority of the Scripture But I have tasted of their new Wine and desire it not because I know the Old to be better though what they plead is of use in its proper place My Design requires that I should confine my discourse unto as narrow bounds as possible and I shall so do shewing 1. What it is in general infallibly to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God and what is the Ground and Reason of our so doing Or what it is to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God as we are required to believe it so to be in a way of Duty 2. That there are external Arguments of the divine Original of the Scripture which are effectual Motives to perswade us to give an unfeigned assent thereunto 3. That yet moreover God requires of us that we believe them to be his Word with Faith divine supernatural and infallible 4. Evidence the Grounds and Reasons whereon we do so believe and ought so to do Unto these Heads most of what ensues in the first part of this Discourse may be reduced It is meet that we should clear the Foundation whereon we build and the Principles whereon we do proceed that what we design to prove may be the better understood by all sorts of Persons whose edification we intend For these things are the equal concernment of the learned and unlearned Wherefore some things must be insisted on which are generally known and granted And our first Enquiry is What it is to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with Faith divine and supernatural according as it is our duty so to do And in our Believing or our Faith two things are to be considered 1. What it is that we do believe And 2. Wherefore we do so believe it The first is the material Object of our Faith namely the things which we do believe the latter the formal Object of it or the Cause and Reason why we do believe them and these things are distinct The Material Object of our Faith is the things revealed in the Scripture declared unto us in propositions of Truth For things must be so proposed unto us or we cannot believe them That God is one in three Persons that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the like propositions of Truth are the material Object of our Faith or the things that we do believe And the Reason why we do believe them is because they are proposed in the Scripture Thus the Apostle expresseth the whole of what we intend 1 Cor. 15. 3 4. I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures Christs Death and Burial and Resurrection are the things proposed unto us to be believed and so the Object of our Faith But the Reason why we believe them is because they are declared in the Scriptures see Acts 8. 28 29 30. Sometimes indeed this Expression of believing the Scriptures by a Metonymy denotes both the formal and material Objects of our Faith the Scriptures themselves as such and the things contained in them so John 2. 22. They believed the Scripture and the Word that Jesus said or the things delivered in the Scripture and further declared by Christ which before they understood not And they did so believe what was declared in the Scriptures because it was so declared in them both are intended in the same Expression they believed the Scripture under various considerations so Acts 26. 27. The material Object of our Faith therefore are the Articles of our Creed by whose Enumeration we answer unto that question what we believe giving an account of the hope that is in us as the Apostle doth Acts 26. 22 23. But if moreover we are asked a Reason of our Faith or Hope or why we believe the things we do profess as God to be One in three Persons Jesus Christ to be the Son of God we do not answer because so it is for this is that which we believe which were senseless But we must give some other Answer unto that Enquiry whether it be made by others or our selves The proper Answer unto this Question contains the formal Reason and Object of our Faith that which it rests upon and is resolved into And this is that which we look after 2. We do not in this Enquiry intend any kind of Perswasion or Faith but that which is divine and infallible both which it is from its formal Reason or objective Cause Men may be able to give some kind of Reasons why they believe what they profess so to do that will not suffice or abide the trial in this case although they themselves may rest in
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 property is to level the ground and
believe it so to be and then to believe the things contained in it For this Proposition that the Scripture is the Word of God is a divine Revelation and so to be believed But God no where requires nor ever did that we should believe any divine Revelation upon such Grounds much less on such Grounds and Motives only They are left unto us as consequential unto our Believing to plead with others in behalf of what we profess and for the Justification of it unto the World But that which requires our Faith and Obedience unto in the receiving of divine Revelations whether immediately given and declared or as recorded in the Scripture is his own Authority and Veracity I am the Lord the High and Lofty One. Thus saith the Lord. To the Law and to the Testimony This is my Son hear him All Scripture is given by Inspiration from God Believe the Lord and his Prophets This alone is that which he requires us to resolve our Faith into So when he gave unto us the Law of our Lives the eternal and unchangeable Rule of our Obedience unto him in the ten Commandments he gives no other Reason to oblige us thereunto but this only I am the Lord thy God The sole formal Reason of all our Obedience is taken from his own Nature and our Relation unto him Nor doth he propose any other Reason why we should believe him or the Revelation which he makes of his Mind and Will And our Faith is part of our Obedience the Root and principal Part of it therefore the Reason of both is the same Neither did our Lord Jesus Christ nor his Apostles ever make use of such Arguments or Motives for the ingenerating of Faith in the minds of men nor have they given Directions for the use of any such Arguments to this End and Purpose But when they were accused to have followed cunningly devised Fables they appealed unto Moses and the Prophets to the Revelations they had themselves received and those that were before recorded It is true they wrought Miracles in confirmation of their own divine Mission and of the Doctrine which they taught But the Miracles of our Saviour were all of them wrought amongst those who believed the whole Scripture then given to be the Word of God and those of the Apostles were before the Writings of the Books of the New Testament Their Doctrine therefore materially considered and their Warranty to teach it was sufficiently yea abundantly confirmed by them But Divine Revelation formally considered and as written was left upon the old Foundation of the Authority of God who gave it No such Method is prescribed no such Example is proposed unto us in the Scripture to make use of these Arguments and Motives for the Conversion of the Souls of men unto God and the ingenerating of Faith in them Yea in some Cases the use of such means is decryed as unprofitable and the Sole Authority of God putting forth his Power in and by his Word is appealed unto 1 Cor. 2. 4 5 13. chap. 14. 26 27. 2 Cor. 4. 7. But yet in a way of Preparation subservient unto the receiving the Scripture as the Word of God and for the Defence of it against Gainsayers and their Objections their use hath been granted and proved But from first to last in the Old and New Testament the Authority and Truth of God are constantly and uniformly proposed as the immediate Ground and Reason of Believing his Revelations nor can it be proved that he doth accept or approve of any kind of Faith or Assent but what is built thereon and resolved thereinto The Sum is We are obliged in a way of Duty to believe the Scriptures to be a Divine Revelation when they are ministerially or providentially proposed unto us whereof afterwards The Ground whereon we are to receive them is the Authority and Veracity of God speaking in them we believe them because they are the Word of God Now this Faith whereby we so believe is Divine and Supernatural because the mal Reason of it is so namely Gods Truth and Authority Wherefore we do not nor ought to believe the Scripture as highly probable or with a moral Perswasion and Assurance built upon Arguments absolutely fallible and humane only For if this be the formal Reason of Faith namely the Veracity and Authority of God if we believe not with Faith divine and supernatural we believe not at all 2. The moral Certainty treated of is a meer Effect of Reason There is no more required unto it but that the Reasons proposed for the Assent required be such as the mind judgeth to be convincing and prevalent whence an inferiour Kind of Knowledge or a firm Opinion or some kind of Perswasion which hath not yet gotten an intelligible Name doth necessarily ensue There is therefore on this Supposition no need of any Work of the Holy Ghost to enable us to believe or to work Faith in us for no more is required herein but what necessarily ariseth from a naked Exercise of Reason If it be said that the Enquiry is not about what is the Work of the Spirit of God in us but concerning the Reasons and Motives to Believing that are proposed unto us I answer it is granted but that we urge herein is that the Act which is exerted on such Motives or the Perswasion which is begotten in our minds by them is purely natural and such as requires no especial Work of the Holy Ghost in us for the effecting of it Now this is not Faith nor can we be said in the Scripture sense to believe thereby and so in particular not the Scriptures to be the Word of God For Faith is the Gift of God and is not of our selves Ephes 2. 8. It is given unto some on the behalf of Christ Phil. 1. 29. and not unto others Mat. 11. 29. chap. 13. 11. But this Assent on external Arguments and Motives is of our selves equally common and exposed unto all No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12. 3. But he who believeth the Scripture truly aright and according to his Duty doth say so No man cometh to Christ but he that hath heard and learned of the Father John 6. 45. And as this is contrary to the Scripture so it is expresly condemned by the ancient Church particularly by the second Arausican Council Can. 5. 7. Si quis sicut augmentum ita etià m initium Fidei ipsumque credulitatis affectum non per gratiae donum id est per inspirationem Spiritus Sancti corrigentem voluntatem nostram ab infidelitate ad fidem ab impietate ad pietatem sed naturalitèr nobis inesse dicit Apostolicis Dogmatibus adversarius approbatur And plainly Can. 7. Si quis per naturae vigorem bonum aliquod quod ad Salutem pertinet vitae eternae cogitare ut expedit aut eligere sive salutari id est evangelicae Praedicaiioni consentire
posse affirmat absque illumi natione et inspiratione Spiritus Sancti qui dat omnibus suavitatem consentiendo et credendo veritati haeretico fallitur Spiritu It is still granted that the Arguments intended that is all of them which ar true indeed and will endure a strict Examination for some are frequently made use of in this Cause which will not endure a Trial are of good use in their place and unto their proper end that is to beget such an Assent unto the Truth as they are capable of effecting For although this be not that which is required of us in a way of Duty but inferior to it yet the mind is prepared and disposed by them unto the receiving of the Truth in its proper Evidence 3. Our Assent can be of no other Nature than the Arguments and Motives whereon it is built or by which it is wrought in us as in Degree it cannot exceed their Evidence Now these Arguments are all humane and fallible exalt them unto the greatest esteem possible yet because they are not Demonstrations nor do necessarily beget a certain Knowledg in us which indeed if they did there were no room left for Faith or our Obedience therein they produce an Opinion only though in the highest kind of Probability and firm against Objections For we will allow the utmost Assurance that can be claimed upon them But this is exclusive of all divine Faith as to any Article Thing Matter or Object to be believed For Instance a man professeth that he believes Jesus Christ to be the Son of God Demand the Reason why he doth so and he will say because God who cannot lie hath revealed and declared him so to be proceed yet further and ask him where or how God hath revealed and declared this so to be and he will answer in the Scripture which is his Word enquire now further of him which is necessary wherefore he believes this Scripture to be the Word of God or an immediate Revelation given out from him for hereunto we must come and have somewhat that we may ultimately rest in excluding in its own Nature all further Enquiries or we can have neither certainty nor stability in our Faith On this Supposition his answer must be that he hath many cogent Arguments that render it highly propable so to be such as have prevailed with him to judg it so to be and whereon he is fully perswaded as having the highest Assurance hereof that the matter will bear and so doth firmly believe them to be the Word of God Yea but it will be replied all these Arguments are in their kind or Nature humane and therefore fallible such as it is possible they may be false for every thing may be so that is not immediately from the first essential Verity This Assent therefore unto the Scriptures as the Word of God is humane fallible and such as wherein we may be deceived And our Assent unto the things revealed can be of no other kind than that we give unto the Revelation it self For thereinto it is resolved and thereunto it must be reduced these waters will rise no higher than their Fountain And thus at length we come to believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God with a Faith humane and fallible and which at last may deceive us which is to receive the Word of God as the Word of Men and not as it is in truth the Word of God contrary to the Apostle 1 Thes. 2. 13. Wherefore 4. If I believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with an humane Faith only I do no otherwise believe whatever is contained in it which overthrows all Faith properly so called And if I believe what is contained in the Scripture with Faith divine and supernatural I cannot but by the same Faith believe the Scripture it self which removes the moral Certainty treated of out of our way And the Reason of this is that we must believe the Revelation and the things revealed with the same kind of Faith or we bring confusion on the whole work of believing No man living can distinguish in his Experience between that Faith wherewith he lieves the Scripture and that wherewith he believes the Doctrine of it or the things contained in it nor is there any such Distinction or Difference intimated in the Scripture it self but all our believing is absolutely resolved into the Authority of God revealing Nor can it be rationally apprehended that our Assent unto the things revealed should be of a kind and nature superior unto that which we yield unto the Revelation it self For let the Arguments which it is resolved into be never so evident and cogent let the Assent it self be as firm and certain as can be imagined yet is it humane still and natural and therein is inferior unto that which is divine and supernatural And yet on this Supposition that which is of a superior kind and nature is wholly resolved into that which is of an inferior and must be take it self on all occasions thereunto for relief and confirmation For the Faith whereby we believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God is on all occasions absolutely melted down into that whereby we believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God But none of these things are my present especial Design and therefore I have insisted long enough upon them I am not enquiring what Grounds men may have to build an Opinion or any kind of humane Perswasion upon that the Scriptures are the the Word of God no nor yet how we may prove or maintain them so to be unto Gainsayers but what is required hereunto that we may believe them to be so with Faith divine and supernatural and what is the Work of the Spirit of God therein But it may be further said that these external Arguments and Motives are not of themselves and considered separately from the Doctrine which they testify unto the sole Ground and Reason of our Believing For if it were possible that a thousand Arguments of a like cogency with them were offered to confirm any Truth or Doctrine if it had not a divine Worth and Excellency in it self they could give the mind no Assurance of it Wherefore it is the Truth it self or Doctrine contained in the Scripture which they testify unto that animates them and gives them their Efficacy For there is such a Majesty Holiness and Excellency in the Doctrine of the Gospel and moreover such a Suitableness in them unto unprejudiced Reason and such an Answerableness unto all the rational Desires and Expectations of the Soul as evidence their Procedure from the Fountain of infinite Wisdom and Goodness It cannot but be conceived impossible that such excellent heavenly Mysteries of such use and benefit unto all Mankind should be the Product of any created Industry Let but a man know himself his State and Condition in any measure with a desire of that Blessedness which his nature is capable of
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
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
condemned them and their Ministry as is plain and the Case of Jeremiah Now it is impious to imagine that those to whom they spake in the Name of God were not obliged to believe them and it tends to the overthrow of all Religion If we shall say that they were obliged to believe them and that under the Penalty of divine Displeasure and so to receive the Revelation made by them or their Declaration of it as the Word of God then it must contain in it the formal Reason of believing or the full and entire Cause Reason and Ground why they ought to believe with Faith divine and supernatural Or let another Ground of Faith in this Case be assigned Suppose the Proposal be made in the ordinary Ministry of the Church Hereby the Scripture is declared unto Men to be the Word of God they are acquainted with it and what God requires of them therein and they are charged in the Name of God to receive and believe it Doth any Obligation unto believing hence arise It may be some will say that immediately there is not only they will grant that men are bound hereon to enquire into such Reasons and Motives as are proposed unto them for its Reception and Admission I say there is no doubt but that Men are obliged to consider all things of that Nature which are proposed unto them and not to receive it with brutish implicit Belief For the receiving of it is to be an Act of Mens own Minds or Understandings on the best Grounds and Evidences which the Nature of the thing proposed is capable of But supposing Men to do their Duty in their diligent Enquiries into the whole Matter I desire to know whether by the Proposal mentioned there come upon Men an Obligation to believe If there do not then are all Men perfectly innocent who refuse to receive the Gospel in the preaching of it as to any respect unto that preaching which to say is to overthrow the whole Dispensation of the Ministry If they are obliged to believe upon the preaching of it then hath the Word in it self those Evidences of its Divine Original and Authority which are a sufficient Ground of Faith or Reason of Believing For what God requires us to believe upon hath so always As the Issue of this whole Discourse it is affirmed that our Faith is built on and resolved into the Scripture it self which carries with it its own Evidence of being a Divine Revelation And therefore doth that Faith ultimately rest in the Truth and Authority of God alone and not in any Human Testimony such as is that of the Churh nor in any rational Arguments or Motives that are absolutely fallible It may be said that if the Scripture thus evidence it self to be the Word of God as the Sun manifesteth it self by Light and Fire by Heat or as the first Principles of Reason are evident in themselves without further Proof or Testimony then every one and all men upon the Proposal of the Scripture unto them and its own bare Assertion that it is the Word of God would necessarily on that Evidence alone assent thereunto and believe it so to be But this is not so all Experience lyeth against it nor is there any pleadable Ground of Reason that so it is or that so it ought to be In Answer unto this Objection I shall do these two things 1. I shall shew what it is what Power what Faculty in the Minds of Men whereunto this Revelation is proposed and whereby we assent unto the Truth of it wherein the Mistakes whereon this Objection proceedeth will be discovered 2. I shall mention some of those things whereby the Holy Ghost testifieth and giveth Evidence unto the Scripture in and by it self so as that our Faith may be immediately resolved into the Veracity of God alone 1. And in the first place we may consider that there are three Ways whereby we assent unto any thing that is proposed unto us as true and receive it as such 1. By inbred Principles of natural Light and the first rational Actings of our Minds This in Reason answers Instinct in irrational Creatures Hence God complains that his People did neglect and sin against their own natural Light and first Dictates of Reason whereas brute Creatures would not forsake the Conduct of the Instinct of their Natures Isa. 1. 3. In general the Mind is necessarily determined to an Assent unto the proper Objects of these Principles it cannot do otherwise It cannot but assent unto the prime Dictates of the Light of Nature yea those Dictates are nothing but its Assent Its first Apprehension of the things which the Light of Nature embraceth without either express Reasonings or further Consideration are this Assent Thus doth the Mind embrace in it self the general Notions of moral Good and Evil with the Difference between them however it practically complies notwith what they guide unto Jude v. 10. And so doth it assent unto many Principles of Reason as that the whole is greater than the part without admitting any debate about them 2. By rational Considerations of things externally proposed unto us Herein the Mind exerciseth its discursive Faculty gathering one thing out of another and concluding one thing from another And hereon is it able to assent unto what is proposed unto it in various Degrees of Certainty according unto the nature and degree of the Evidence it proceeds upon Hence it hath a certain Knowledg of some things of others an Opinion or Perswasion prevalent against the Objections to the contrary which it knows and whose Force it understands which may be true or false 3. By Faith This respects that Power of our Minds whereby we are able to assent unto any thing as true which we have no first Principles concerning no inbred Notions of nor can from more known Principles make unto our selves any certain rational Conclusions concerning them This is our Assent upon Testimony whereon we believe many Things which no Sense inbred Principles nor Reasonings of our own could either give us an Acquaintance with or an Assurance of And this Assent also hath not only various Degrees but is also of divers Kinds according as the Testimony is which it ariseth from and resteth on as being Humane if that be Humane and Divine if that be so also According to these distinct Faculties and Powers of our Souls God is pleased to reveal or make known himself his Mind or Will three ways unto us For he hath implanted no Power on our Minds but the principal Use and Exercise of it are to be with respect unto himself and our living unto him which is the end of them all And a neglect of the improvement of them unto this end is the highest Aggravation of Sin It is an Aggravation of Sin when men abuse the Creatures of God otherwise than he hath appointed or in not using them to his Glory when they take his Corn and Wine and Oil and spend
to evidence it self to be so is exceedingly prejudicial unto his Honour and Glory seeing the everlasting Welfare of the Souls of Men is incomparably more concerned therein than in the other ways mentioned And what Reason could be assigned why he should implant a less Evidence of his Divine Authority on this than on them seeing he designed far greater and more glorious Ends in this than in them If any one shall say the Reason is because this kind of Divine Revelation is not capable of receiving such Evidences it must be either because there cannot be evident Characters of Divine Authority Goodness Wisdom Power implanted on it or mixed with it or because an Efficacy to manifest them cannot be communicated unto it That both these are otherwise shall be demonstrated in the last Part of this Discourse which I shall now enter upon It hath been already declared that it is the Authority and Veracity of God revealing themselves in the Scripture and by it that is the formal Reason of our Faith or Supernatural Assent unto it as it is the Word of God It remains only that we enquire in the Second Place into the Way and Means whereby they evidence themselves unto us and the Scripture thereby to be the Word of God so as that we may undoubtedly and infallibly believe it so to be Now because Faith as we have shewed is an Assent upon Testimony and consequently Divine Faith is an Assent upon Divine Testimony There must be some Testimony or Witness in this case whereon Faith doth rest And this we say is the Testimony of the Holy Ghost the Author of the Scriptures given unto them in them and by them And this Work or Testimony of the Spirit may be reduced unto two Heads which may be distinctly insisted on 1. The Impressions or Characters which are subjectively left in the Scripture and upon it by the Holy Spirit its Author of all the Divine Excellencies or Properties of the Divine Nature are the first Means evidencing that Testimony of the Spirit which our Faith rests upon or they do give the first Evidence of its Divine Original and Authority whereon we do believe it The Way whereby we learn the eternal Power and Deity of God from the Works of Creation is no otherwise but by those Marks Tokens and Impressions of his Divine Power Wisdom and Goodness that are upon them For from the Consideration of their Subsistence Greatness Order and Use Reason doth necessarily conclude an Infinite Subsisting Being of whose Power and Wisdom these things are the manifest Effects These are clearly seen and understood by the Things that are made we need no other Arguments to prove that God made the World but it self It carrieth in it and upon it the infallible Tokens of its Original See to this purpose the blessed Meditation of the Psalmist Psal. 104. throughout Now there are greater and more evident Impressions of Divine Excellencies left on the written Word from the Infinite Wisdom of the Author of it than any that are communicated unto the Works of God of what sort soever Hence David comparing the Works and the Word of God as to their instructive Efficacy in declaring God and his Glory although he ascribe much unto the Works of Creation yet doth he prefer the Word incomparably before them Psal. 19. 1 2 3 7 8 9. and Psal. 146. ver 8 9. c. and 19. 20. And these do manifest the Word unto our Faith to be his more clearly than the other do the Works to be his unto our Reason As yet I do not know that it is denied by any or the contrary asserted namely that God as the immediate Author of the Scripture hath left in the very Word it self Evident Tokens and Impressions of his Wisdom Prescience Omniscience Power Goodness Holiness Truth and other Divine Infinite Excellencies sufficiently evidenced unto the enlightned Minds of Believers Some I confess speak suspitiously herein but until they will directly deny it I shall not need further to confirm it than I have done long since in another Treatise And I leave it to be considered whether morally speaking it be possible that God should immediately by himself from the eternal Counsels of his Will reveal Himself his Mind the Thoughts and Purposes of his Heart which had been hidden in Himself from Eternity on purpose that we should believe them and yeild Obedience unto him according to the Declaration of Himself so made and yet not give with it or leave upon it any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any infallible Token evidencing him to be the Author of that Revelation Men who are not ashamed of their Christianity will not be so to profess and seal that Profession with their Blood and to rest their eternal Concernments on that Security herein which they have attained namely that there is that Manifestation made of the glorious Properties of God in and by the Scripture as it is a Divine Revelation which incomparably excells in Evidence all that their Reason receives concerning his Power from the Works of Creation This is that whereon we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with Faith Divine and Supernatural if we believe it so at all There is in it self that Evidence of its Divine Original from the Characters of Divine Excellencies left upon it by its Author the Holy Ghost as Faith quietly rests in and is resolved into And this Evidence is manifest unto the meanest and most unlearned no less than unto the wisest Philosophers And the Truth is if Rational Arguments and External Motives were the sole Ground of receiving the Scripture to be the Word of God it could not be but that learned Men and Philosophers would have always been the forwardest and most ready to admit it and most firmly to adhere unto it and its Profession For whereas all such Arguments do prevail on the Minds of Men according as they are able aright to discern their Force and judge of them learned Philosophers would have had the Advantage incomparably above others And so some have of late affirmed that it was the wise rational and learned Men who at first most readily received the Gospel an Assertion which nothing but gross Ignorance of the Scripture it self and all the Writings concerning the Original of Christianity whether of Christians or Heathens could give the least Countenance unto see 1 Cor. 1. 23 26. From hence is the Scripâ—ure so often compared unto Light called Light a Light shining in a dark place which will evidence it self unto all who are not blind or do wilfully shut their Eyes or have their Eyes blinded by the God of this World lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them which Consideration I have handled at large elsewhere 2. The Spirit of God evidenceth the Divine Original and Authority of the Scripture by the Power and Authority which he puts forth in it and by it over the
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
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
always esteemed no less Traytors to Christianity who gave up their Bibles to Persecutors than those who denyed Jesus Christ. 3. The manner wherein this Testimony was given adds to the importance of it For 1. Many of them especially in some seasons gave it in and with sundry miraculous operations This our Apostle pleadeth as a corroboration of the witness given by the first preachers of the Gospel unto the Truths of it Heb. 2. 4. as the same was done by all the Apostles together Act. 5. 32. It must be granted that these Miracles were not wrought immediately to confirm this single Truth that the Scripture was given by inspiration of God But the end of miracles is to be an immediate witness from Heaven or Gods attestation to their Persons and Ministry by whom they were wrought His Presence with them and Approbation of their Doctrine were publickly declared by them But the miracles wrought by the Lord Christ and his Apostles whereby God gave immediate Testimony unto the divine Mission of their Persons and infallible truth of their Doctrine might either not have been written as most of them were not or they might have been written and their doctrine recorded in Books not given by inspiration from God Besides as to the miracles wrought by Christ himself and most of those of the Apostles they were wrought among them by whom the Books of the Old Testament were acknowledged as the oracles of God and before the writing of those of the New So that they could not be wrought in the immediate confirmation of the one or the other Neither have we any infallible Testimony concerning these Miracles but the Scripture it self wherein they are recorded whence it is necessary that we should believe the Scripture to be infallibly true before we can believe on grounds infallible the miracles therein recorded to be so Wherefore I grant that the whole force of this consideration lyeth in this alone that those who gave Testimony to the Scripture to be the Word of God had an Attestation given unto their Ministry by these miraculous operations concerning which we have good collateral security also 2. Many of them confirmed their Testimony with their Sufferings being not only witnesses but Martyrs in the peculiar Church notion of that word grounded on the Scripture Act. 22. 20. Rev. 2. 13. Chap. 17. 7. So far were they from any Worldly advantage by the Profession they made and the Testimony they gave as that in the confirmation of them they willingly and cheerfully underwent whatever is evil dreadful or destructive to humane nature in all its temporary concerns It is therefore unquestionable that they had the highest Assurance of the Truth in these things which the Mind of Man is capable of The management of this Argument is the principal design of the Apostle in the whole 11th Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews For having declared the nature of faith in general namely that it is the subsistence of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen ver 1. That is such an â—ssent unto and confidence of invisible things things capable of no demonstration from Sense or Reason as respects divine Revelation only whereinto alone it is resolved for our encouragement thereunto and establishment therein he produceth a long Catalogue of those who did suffered and obtained great things thereby That which he principally insists upon is the Hardships Miseries Cruelties Tortures and several sorts of Deaths which they underwent especially from ver 35. to the end These he calleth a Cloud of Witnesses wherewith we are compassed about Chap. 12. 1. giving Testimony unto what we do believe that is divine Revelation and in an especial manner the promises therein contained unto our encouragement in the same duty as he there declares And certainly what was thus testified unto by so many Great Wise and Holy Persons and that in such a way and manner hath as great an outward evidence of its Truth as any thing of that nature is capable of in this World 3. They gave not their Testimony casually or on some extraordinary Occasion only or by some one solemn act or in some one certain way as other Testimonies are given nor can be given otherwise but they gave their Testimony in this cause in their whole course in all that they thought spake or did in the World and in the whole disposal of their ways lives and actions as every true Believer continueth to do at this day For a man when he is occasionally called out to give a verbal Testimony unto the divine original of the Scripture ordering in the mean time the whole course of his conversation his hopes designs ayms and ends without any eminent respect or regard unto it his Testimony is of no value nor can have any influence on the minds of sober and considerate men But when men do manifest and evince that the Declaration of the mind of God in the Scripture hath a Sovereign divine Authority over their Souls and Consciences absolutely and in all things then is their Witness cogent and efficacious There is to me a thousand times more force and weight in the Testimony to this purpose of some holy persons who universally and in all things with respect unto this World and their future eternal condition in all their thoughts words actions and ways do really experiment in themselves and express to others the power and Authority of this Word of God in their Souls and Consciences living doing suffering and dying in peace assurance of mind and consolation thereon then in the verbal declaration of the most splendid numerous Church in the World who evidence not such an inward sense of its power and Efficacy There is therefore that force in the real Testimony which hath been given in all Ages by all this sort of persons not one excepted unto the divine Authority of the Scripture that it is highly arrogant for any one to question the Truth of it without evident convictions of its imposture which no person of any tolerable Sobriety did ever yet pretend unto I shall add in the last place the consideration of that Success which the doctrine derived solely from the Scripture and resolved thereinto hath had in the World upon the Minds and Lives of Men especially upon the first preaching of the Gospel And two things offer themselves hereon immediately unto our consideration First the Persons by whom this doctrine was successfully carried on in the World and Secondly the Way and Manner of the propagation of it Both which the Scripture takes notice of in particular as evidences of that divine power which the Word was really accompanied withal For the persons unto whom this work was committed I mean the Apostles and first Evangelists were as to their outward condition in the World Poor Low and every way despised and as unto the endowments of their minds destitute of all those Abilities and Advantages which might give them either Reputation or
shall be all taught of God John 6. 45. That there is a divine and heavenly Excellency in the Scripture cannot be denied by any who on any Grounds or Motives whatever do own its divine Original For all the Works of God do set forth his Praise and it is impossible that any thing should proceed immediately from Him but that there will be express Characters of divine Excellencies upon it and as to the Communication of these Characters of Himself he hath magnified his Word above all his Name But these we cannot discern be they in themselves never so illustrious without the effectual Communication of the Light mentioned unto our Minds that is without divine supernatural Illumination Herein he who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness shineth into our Hearts the Knowledg of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 6. He irradiates the Mind with a spiritual Light whereby it is enabled to discern the Glory of spiritual Things This they cannot do in whom the God of this World hath blinded the eyes of them that believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine into them v. 6. Those who are under the Power of their natural Darkness and Blindness especially where there are in them also superadded Prejudices begotten and increased by the craft of Satan as there are in the whole World of Unbelievers cannot see nor discern that divine Excellency in the Scripture without an Apprehension whereof no man can believe it a right to be the Word of God Such Persons may assent unto the Truth of the Scripture and its divine Original upon external Arguments and rational Motives but believe it with Faith Divine and Supernatural on those Arguments and Motives only they cannot There are two things which hinder or disenable men from believing with Faith divine and supernatural when any Divine Revelation is objectively proposed unto them First The natural Blindness and Darkness of their Minds which are come upon all by the Fall and the Depravation of our Nature that ensued thereon Secondly The Prejudices that through the Crafts of Satan the God of this World their minds are possessed with by Traditions Educations and Converse in the World This last Obstruction or Hinderance may be so far removed by external Arguments and Motives of Credibility as that men may upon them attain unto a moral Perswasion concerning the Divine Original of the Scripture But these Arguments cannot remove or take away the native Blindness of the mind which is removed by their Renovation and Divine Illumination alone Wherefore none I think will positively affirm that we can believe the Scripture to be the Word of God in the way and manner which God requireth without a supernatural Work of the Holy Spirit upon our minds in the Illumination of them So David prays that God would open his eyes that he might behold wonderous things out of the Law Psal. 119. 10. That he would make him understand the way of his Precepts v. 27. That he would give him understanding and he should keep the Law v. 34. So the Lord Christ also opened the understandings of his Disciples that they might understand the Scriptures Luk. 24. 45. As he had affirmed before that it was given unto some to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God and not unto others Mat. 11. 25. chap. 13. 11. And neither are these things spoken in vain nor is the Grace intended in them needless The Communication of this Light unto us the Scripture calleth Revealing and Revelation Mat. 11. 25. Thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes that is giving them to understand the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven when they were preached unto them And no man knoweth the Father but he to whom the Son revealeth him v. 27. So the Apostle prayeth for the Ephesians that God would give them the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledg of Christ that the eyes of their understandings being enlightned they might know c. chap. 1. v. 17 18 19. It is true these Ephesians were already Believers or considered by the Apostle as such but if he judged it necessary to pray for them that they might have the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to enlighten the eyes of their Vnderstanding with respect unto further Degrees of Faith and Knowledge or as he speaks in another place that they might come unto the full Assurance of Vnderstanding to the acknowledgment of the Mystery of God Col. 2. 2. Then it is much more necessary to make them Believers who before were not so but utter strangers unto the Faith But as a Pretence hereof hath been abused as we shall see afterwards so the pleading of it is liable to be mistaken For some are ready to apprehend that this Retreat unto a Spirit of Revelation is but a pretence to discard all rational Arguments and to introduce Enthusiasm into their room Now although the Charge be grievous yet because it is groundless we must not forego what the Scripture plainly affirms and instructs us in thereby to avoid it Scripture Testimonies may be expounded according to the Analogy of Faith but denied or despised seem they never so contrary unto our Apprehension of things they must not be Some I confess seem to disregard both the objective Work of the Holy Spirit in this matter whereof we shall treat afterwards and his subjective Work also in our minds that all things may be reduced unto Sense and Reason But we must grant that a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to open the eyes of our Understanding is needful to enable us to believe the Scripture to be the Word of God in a due manner or forgo the Gospel And our Duty it is to pray continually for that Spirit if we intend to be established in the Faith thereof But yet we plead not for external immediate Revelations such as were granted unto the Prophets Apostles and other Penmen of the Scripture The Revelation we intend differs from them both in its especial Subject and formal Reason or Nature that is in the whole kind For 1. The subject matter of divine Prophetical Revelation by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or immediate divine Inspiration are things not made known before Things they were hid in God or the Counsels of his Will and revealed unto the Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit Ephes. 2. 5 9 10. Whether they were Doctrines or Things they were at least as unto their present Circumstances made known from the Counsels of God by their Revelation But the Matter and Subject of the Revelation we treat of is nothing but what is already revealed It is an internal Revelation of that which is outwardly and antecedent unto it beyond the Bounds thereof it is not to be extended And if any pretend unto immediate Revelations of things not before revealed we have no concernment in
the divine Witness whereunto our Faith is ultimately resolved doth not consist herein yet it is the greatest corroborating Testimony whereof we are capable This is that which brings us unto the Riches of the full Assurance of Vnderstanding Col. 2. 2. as also 1 Thes. 1. 5. And on the Account of this Spiritual Experience is our perception of Spiritual Things so often expressed by Acts of Sense as tasting seeing feeling and the like means of Assurance in things natural And when Believers have attained hereunto they do find the divine Wisdom Goodness and Authority of God so present unto them as that they need neither Argument nor Motive nor any thing else to perswade them unto or confirm them in believing And whereas this spiritual Experience which Believers obtain through the Holy Ghost is such as cannot rationally be contended about seeing those who have received it cannot fully express it and those who have not cannot understand it nor the Efficacy which it hath to secure and establish the mind it is left to be determined on by them alone who have their Senses exercised to discern Good aad Evil. And this belongs unto the internal subjective Testimony of the Holy Ghost 2. He assists helps and relieves us against Temptations to the contrary so as that they shall not be prevalent Our first prime Assent unto the divine Authority of the Scripture upon its proper Grounds and Reasons will not secure us against future Objections and Temptations unto the contrary from all manner of Causes and Occasions David's Faith was so assaulted by them as that he said in his hast that all men were liars And Abraham himself after he had received the Promise that in his Seed all Nations should be blessed was reduced unto that anxious Enquiry Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless Gen 15. 2. And Peter was so winnowed by Satan that although his Faith failed not yet he greatly failed and fainted in its Exercise And we all know what fears from within what fightings from without we are exposed unto in this matter And of this sort are all those Atheistical Objections against the Scripture which these Days abound withal which the Devil useth as fiery Darts to enflame the Souls of men and to destroy their Faith and indeed this is that Work which the Powers of Hell are principally ingaged in at this day Having lopt off many Branches they now lay their Ax to the Root of Faith and thence in the midst of the Profession of Christian Religion there is no greater Controversy than whether the Scriptures are the Word of God or not Against all these Temptations doth the Holy Ghost give in such a continual supply of spiritual Strength and Assistance unto Believers as that they shall at no time prevail nor their Faith totally fail In such cases the Lord Christ intercedes for us that our Faith fail not and Gods Grace is sufficient against the buffetings of these Temptations And herein the Truth of Christs Intercession with the Grace of God and its Efficacy are communicated unto us by the Holy Ghost What are those internal Aids whereby he establisheth and assureth our Minds against the Force and Prevalency of Objections and Temptations against the Divine Authority of the Scripture how they are communicated unto us and received by us this is no place to declare in particular It is in vain for any to pretend unto the name of Christians by whom they are denied And these also have the nature of an internal real Testimony whereby Faith is established And because it is somewhat strange that after a long quiet Possession of the professed Faith and Assent of the Generality of the Minds of Men thereunto there should now arise among us such an open Opposition unto the divine Authority of the Scriptures as we find there is by Experience it may not be amiss in our passage to name the principal Causes or Occasions thereof For if we should bring them all into one Reckoning as justly we may who either openly oppose it and reject it or who use it or neglect it at their pleasure or who set up other Guides in Competition with it or above it or otherwise declare that they have no sense of the immediate Authority of God therein we shall find them to be like the Moors or Slaves in some Countries or Plantations they are so great in number and force above their Rulers and other Inhabitants that it is only want of Communication with Confidence and some distinct Interests that keep them from casting off their Yoak and Restraint I shall name three Causes only of this surprizing and perillous Event 1. A long continued outward Profession of the Truth of the Scripture without an inward Experience of its Power betrays men at length to question the Truth it self at least not to regard it as divine The Owning of the Scriptures to be the Word of God bespeaks a divine Majesty Authority and Power to be present in it and with it Wherefore after men who have for a long time so professed do find that they never had any real Experience of such a divine Presence in it by any Effects upon their own Minds they grow insensibly regardless of it or to allow it a very common place in their thoughts When they have worn off the Impressions that were on their mind from Tradition Education and Custom they do for the future rather not oppose it than in any way believe it And when once a Reverence unto the Word of God on the Account of its Authority is lost an Assent unto it on the Account of Truth will not long abide And all such Persons under a Concurrence of Temptations and outward Occasions will either reject it or prefer other Gnides before it 2. The Power of Lust rising up unto a Resolution of living in those Sins whereunto the Scripture doth unavoidably annex eternal Ruine hath prevailed with many to cast off its Authority For whilst they are resolved to live in an Outrage of Sin to allow a divine Truth and Power in the Scripture is to cast themselves under a present Torment as well as to ascertain their future Misery for no other can be his Condition who is perpetually sensible that God always condemns him in all that he doth and will assuredly take vengeance of him which is the constant language of the Scripture concerning such Persons Wherefore although they will not immediately fall into an open Atheistical Opposition unto it as that which it may be is not consistent with their Interest and Reputation in the World yet looking upon it as the Devils did on Jesus Christ as that which comes to torment them before their time they keep it at the greatest distance from their thoughts and minds until they have habituated themselves unto a Contempt of it There being therefore an utter impossibility of giving any pretence of Reconciliation between the Owning of the Scriptures to be the Word of God
and supernatural rests upon that is it is to be believed for its own sake But saith our Lord Jesus Christ himself if men will not hear that is believe Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead and come and preach unto them a greater Miracle than which they could not desire Now this could not be spoken if the Scripture did not contain in it self the whole entire formal Reason of Believing for if it have not this something necessary unto believing would be wanting though that were enjoyed And this is directly affirmed John 20. 30 31. And many other Signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you might have life through his Name The Signs which Christ wrought did evidence him to be the Son of God But how come we to know and believe these Signs what is the way and means thereof Saith the blessed Apostle these things are written that you may believe this writing of them by Divine Inspiration is so far sufficient to beget and assure Faith in you as that thereby you may have eternal life through Jesus Christ. For if the writing of Divine Things and Revelations be the means appointed of God to cause men to believe unto eternal life then it must as such carry along with it sufficient Reason why we should believe and Grounds whereon we should do so And in like manner is this matter determined by the Apostle Peter 2 Pet. 1. 16 17 18 19 20 21. For we have not followed cunningly devised Fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye-witnesses of his Majesty For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a Voice to him from the excellent Glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And this Voice which came from Heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy Mount We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts Knowing this first that no Prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation For the Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost The Question is about the Gospel or the Declaration of the powerful Coming of Jesus Christ whether it were to be believed or no and if it were upon what Grounds Some said it was a cunningly devised Fable others that it was a fanatical Story of mad men as Festus thought of it when preached by Paul Acts 26. 24. and very many are of the same mind still The Apostles on the contrary averred that what was spoken concerning him were Words of truth and soberness yea faithful Sayings and worthy of all acceptation 1 Tim. 1. 15. that is to be believed for its Worth and Truth The Grounds and Reasons hereof are two 1. The Testimony of the Apostles who not only conversed with Jesus Christ and were eye Witnesses of his Majesty beholding his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth John 1. 14. which they gave in Evidence of the Truth of the Gospel 1 John 1. 1. But also heard a miraculous Testimony given unto him immediately from God in Heaven ver 17. 18. This gave them indeed sufficient Assurance but whereinto shall they resolve their Faith who heard not this Testimony Why they have a more sure that is a most sure Word of Prophecy that is the written Word of God that is sufficient of it self to secure their Faith in this matter especially as confirmed by the Testimony of the Apostles whereby the Church comes to be built in its Faith on the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Ephes. 2. 20. But why should we believe this Word of Prophecy may not that also be a cunningly devised Fable and the whole Scripture be but the Suggestions of mens private Spirits as is objected Ver. 20. All is finally resolved into this that the Writers of it were immediately moved and acted by the Holy Ghost from which Divine Original it carrieth along its own Evidence with it Plainly that which the Apostle teacheth us is that we believe all other Divine Truths for the Scriptures sake or because they are declared therein but the Scripture we believe for its own sake or because holy men of God wrote it as they were moved by the Holy Ghost So is the whole Object of Faith proposed by the same Apostle 2 Pet. 3. 2. The Words that were spoken before by the holy Prophets and the Commandments of the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour And because our Faith is resolved into them we are said to be built upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles as was said Eph. 2. 20. that is our Faith rests solely as on its proper Foundation which bears the weight of it on the Authority and Truth of God in their Writings Hereunto we may add that of Paul Rom. 16. 25 26. According to the Revelation of the Mystery which was kept secret since the World began but now is made manifest and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the Commandment of the everlasting God made known unto all Nations for the Obedience of Faith The matter to be beleived is the Mystery of the Gospel which was kept secret since the World began or from the giving of the first Promise not absolutely but with respect unto that full manifestation which it hath now received This God commands to be believed the everlasting God he who hath sovereign Authority over all requires Faith in a way of Obedience hereunto But what Ground or Reason have we to believe it This alone is proposed namely the Divine Revelation made in the Preaching of the Apostles and Writings of the Prophets for Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Rom. 10. 17. This Course and no other did our Saviour even after his Resurrection take to beget and confirm Faith in the Disciples Luk. 24. 25 26 27. That great Testimony to this purpose 2 Tim. 3. 14 15 16 17. I do not plead in particular because I have so fully insisted on it in another Discourse From these and many other Testimonies to the same purpose which might be produced it is evident 1. That it is the Scripture it self the Word or Will of God as revealed or written which is proposed unto us as the Object of our Faith and Obedience which we are to receive and believe with Faith divine and supernatural 2. That no other Reason is proposed unto us either as a Motive to encourage us or as an Argument to assure us that we shall not
upon them that they cannot see nor discern Spiritual Things no not when they are externally proposed unto them as I have at large evinced elsewhere And no Man can give a greater Evidence that it is so than he who denies it so to be With Respect unto both these Kinds of Darkness the Scripture is a Light and accompanied with a Spiritual Illuminating Efficacy thereby evidencing it self to be a Divine Revelation For what but Divine Truth could recall the Minds of Men from all their wandrings in Error Superstition and other Effects of Darkness which of themselves they love more than Truth All Things being filled with Vanity Error Confusion Misapprehensions about God and our selves our Duty and End our Misery and Blessedness the Scripture where it is communicated by the Providence of God comes in as a Light into a Dark Place discovering all Things clearly and steadily that concern either God or our selves our present or future Condition causing all the Ghosts and false Images of Things which Men had framed and fancied unto themselves in the Dark to vanish and disappear Digitus Dei this is none other but the Power of God But principally it evidenceth this its Divine Efficacy by that Spiritual Saving Light which it conveighs into and implants on the Minds of Believers Hence there is none of them who have gained any Experience by the Observation of God's Dealings with them but shall although they know not the Ways and Methods of the Spirits Operations by the Word yea can say with the Man unto whom the Lord Jesus restored his Sight One thing I know that whereas I was born blind now I see This Power of the Word as the Instrument of the Spirit of God for the Communication of Saving Light and Knowledge unto the Minds of Men the Apostle declares 2 Cor. 3. 18. chap. 4. 4 6. By the Efficacy of this Power doth he evidence the Scripture to be the Word of God Those who believe find by it a Glorious Supernatural Light introduced into their Minds whereby they who before saw nothing in a distinct affecting manner in Spirituals do now clearly discern the Truth the Glory the Beauty and Excellency of Heavenly Mysteries and have their Minds transformed into their Image and LikeLineness And there is no Person who hath the Witness in himself of the kindling of this Heavenly Light in his Mind by the Word but hath also the Evidence in himself of its Divine Original 3. It doth in like manner evidence its Divine Authority by the Awe which it puts on the Minds of the Generality of Mankind unto whom it is made known that they dare not absolutely reject it Multitudes there are unto whom the Word is declared who hate all its Precepts despise all its Promises abhor all its Threatnings like nothing approve of nothing of what it declares or proposes and yet dare not absolutely refuse or reject it They deal with it as they do with God Himself whom they hate also according to the Revelation which he hath made of Himself in his Word They wish he were not sometimes they hope he is not would be glad to be free of his Rule but yet dare not cannot absolutely deny and disown Him because of that Testimony for Himself which he keeps alive in them whether they will or no. The same is the Frame of their Hearts and Minds towards the Scripture and that for no other Reason but because it is the Word of God and manifesteth it selfsso to be They hate it wish it were not hope it is not true but are not by any Means able to shake off a Disquiet in the Sense of its Divine Authority This Testimony it hath fixed in the Hearts of Multitudes of its Enemies Psal. 45. 5. 4. It evidences its Divine Power in administring strong Consolations in the deepest and most unrelievable Distresses Some such there are and such many Men fall into wherein all Means and Hopes of Relief may be utterly removed and taken away So is it when the Miseries of Men are not known unto any that will so much as pity them or wish them Relief or if they have been known and there hath been an Eye to pity them yet there hath been no Hand to help them Such hath been the Condition of innumerable Souls as on other Accounts so in particular under the power of Persecutors when they have been shut up in filthy and nasty Dungeons not to be brought out but unto Death by the most exquisite Tortures that the Malice of Hell could invent or the bloody Cruelty of Man inflict Yet in these and the like Distresses doth the Word of God by its Divine Power and Efficacy break through all interposing Difficulties all dark and discouraging Circumstances supporting refreshing and comforting such poor distressed Sufferers yea commonly filling them under overwhelming Calamities with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Though they are in Bonds yet is the Word of God not bound neither can all the Power of Hell nor all the Diligence or Fury of Men keep out the Word from entring into Prisons Dungeons Flames and to administer strong Consolations against all Fears Pains Wants Dangers Deaths or whatever we may in this mortal Life be exposed unto And sundry other Instances of the like Nature might be pleaded wherein the Word gives evident Demonstrations unto the Minds and Consciences of Men of its own Divine Power and Authority which is the second Way whereby the Holy Ghost its Author gives Testimony unto its Original But it is not meerly the Grounds and Reasons whereon we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God which we designed to declare The whole Work of the Holy Spirit enabling us to believe them so to be was proposed unto Consideration And beyond what we have insisted on there is yet a further peculiar Work of his whereby he effectually ascertains our minds of the Scriptures being the Word of God whereby we are ultimately established in the Faith thereof And I cannot but both admire and bewail that this should be denied by any that would be esteemed Christians Wherefore if there be any Necessity thereof I shall take Occasion in the Second Part of this Discourse further to confirm this Part of the Truth thus far debated namely that God by his Holy Spirit doth secretly and effectually perswade and satisfy the Minds and Souls of Believers in the Divine Truth and Authority of the Scriptures whereby he infallibly secures their Faith against all Objections and Temptations whatsoever so that they can safely and comfortably dispose of their Souls in all their Concernments with respect unto this Life and Eternity according unto the undeceivable Truth and Guidance of it But I shall no further insist on these Things at present Three Things do offer themselves unto Consideration from what hath been discoursed 1. What is the Ground and Reason why the meanest and most unlearned Sort of Believers do assent unto this Truth that the Scriptures are
the help of other means 4. On these Suppositions I fear not to affirm that there are on every Individual Book of the Scripture particularly those named those Divine Characters and Criteria which are sufficient to difference them from all other VVritings whatever and to testify their Divine Authority unto the Minds and Consciences of Believers I say of Believers for we enquire not on what Ground unbelievers or those who do not believe do believe the VVord of God nor yet directly on what outward Motives such Persons may be induced so to do But our sole Enquiry at present is what the Faith of them who do believe is resolved into It is not therefore said that when our Lord Jesus Christ for we acknowledg that there is the same Reason of the first giving out of Divine Revelations as is of the Scripture came and preached unto the Jews that those meer VVords I am the Light of the World or the like had all this Evidence in them or with them for nothing he said of that kind may be separated from its Circumstances but supposing the Testimonies given in the Scripture before hand to his Person Work Time and Manner of Coming with the Evidence of the Presence of God with him in the declaration that he made of his Doctrine and himself to be the Messiah the Jews were bound to believe what he taught and himself to be the Son of God the Saviour of the World and so did many of them upon his Preaching only John 4. 42. And in like manner they were bound to believe the Doctrine of John Baptist and to submit unto his Institutions although he wrought no Miracle and those who did not rejected the Counsel of God for their Good and perished in their unbelief But although our Lord Jesus Christ wrought no Miracles to prove the Scripture then extant to be the VVord of God seeing he wrought them among such only as by whom that was firmly believed yet the VVisdom of God saw it necessary to confirm his Personal Ministry by them And without a Sense of the Power and Efficacy of the Divine Truth of the Doctrine proposed Miracles themselves will be despised so they were by some who were afterwards converted by the Preaching of the VVord Acts 2. 13. chap. 3. 7 8. or they will produce only a false Faith or a ravished Assent upon an Amazement that will not abide Acts 8. 13 21. APPENDIX A Summary Representation of the Nature and Reason of that Faith wherewith we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God with some Attestations given unto the Substance of what hath been delivered concerning it shall give a Close to this Discourse As to the first Part of this Design the Things that follow are proposed I. Unto the Enquiry on what Grounds or for what Reason we believe the Scripture to be the Word of God many Things are supposed as on all hands agreed upon whose Demonstration or Proof belongs not unto our present Work Such are 1. The Being of God and his Self-subsistence with all the Essential Properties of his Nature 2. Our Relation unto him and Dependance on him as our Creator Benefactor Preserver Judge and Rewarder both as unto Things Temporal and Eternal Wherefore 3. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatever may be known of God by the Light of Nature whatever is manifest in or from the Works of Creation or Providence and necessary Actings of Conscience as to the Being Rule and Authority of God is supposed as acknowledged in this Enquiry 4. That beyond the Conduct and Guidance of the Light of Nature that Men may live unto God believe and put their Trust in him according to their Duty in that Obedience which he requireth of them so as to come unto the Enjoyment of Him a Supernatural Revelation of his Mind and Will unto them especially in that Condition wherein all Mankind are since the Entrance of Sin is necessary 5. That all those unto whom God hath granted Divine Revelations immediately from Himself for their own use and that of all other Men unto whom they were to be communicated were infallibly assured that they came from God and that their Minds were no way imposed on in them 6. That all these Divine Revelations so far as they are any way necessary to guide and instruct Men in the true Knowledg of God and that Obedience which is acceptable unto him are now contained in the Scriptures or those Books of the Old and New Testament which are commonly received and owned among all Sorts of Christians These Things I say are supposed unto our present Enquiry and taken for granted so as that the Reader is not to look for any direct Proof of them in the preceding Discourse But on these Suppositions it is alledged and proved 1. That all Men unto whom it is duly proposed as such are bound to believe this Scripture these Books of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God that is to contain and exhibit an Immediate Divine Supernatural Revelation of his Mind and Will so far as is any way needful that they may live unto him and that nothing is contained in them but what is of the same Divine Original 2. The Obligation of this Duty of thus Believing the Scripture to be the Word of God ariseth partly from the Nature of the Thing it self and partly from the especial Command of God For it being that Revelation of the Will of God without the Knowledg whereof and Assent whereunto we cannot live unto God as we ought nor come unto the enjoyment of him it is necessary that we should believe it unto those Ends and God requireth it of us that so we should do 3. We cannot thus believe it in a way of Duty but upon a sufficient Evidence and prevalent Testimony that so it is 4. There are many cogent Arguments Testimonies and Motives to perswade convince and satisfy unprejudiced Persons that the Scripture is the Word of God or a Divine Revelation and every way sufficient to stop the Mouths of Gain-sayers proceeding on such Principles of Reason as are owned and approved by the Generality of Mankind And Arguments of this Nature may be taken from almost all Considerations of the Properties of God and his Government of the World of our Relation unto him of what belongs unto our present Peace and future Happiness 5. From the Arguments and Testimonies of this Nature a firm Perswasion of Mind defensible against all Objections that the Scripture is the Word of God may be attained and that such as that those who live not in Contradiction unto their own Light and Reason through the Power of their Lusts cannot but judg it their Wisdom Duty and Interest to yield Obedience unto his VVill as revealed therein 6. But yet that Perswasion of Mind which may be thus attained and which resteth wholly upon these Arguments and Testimonies is not entirely that Faith wherewith we are obliged to believe the