express Words of Scripture and if in some of the Questions there be somewhat Subsumed of what in my Judgment is the plain and naked Import of the Words it is not to Impose my Sense upon the Reader but to make way for the next Question for the dependence of the Matter 's sake I shall leave it to the reason of any Vnderstanding and Judicious Man who is not byassed by Self-Interest that great Enemy to true Equity and who in the least measure is willing to give way to the Light of Christ in his Conscience if the Scriptures do not pertinently and aptly Answer to the Questions As I have upon serious Grounds Separated from most of the Confessions and Catechisms heretofore published so not without Cause I have now taken another Method They usually place their Confession of Faith before the Catechism I judge it ought to be otherwise in regard that which is Easiest and is Composed for Children or such as are Weak ought in my Judgment to be placed first it being most Regular to Begin with things that are Easie and Familiar and lead on to things that are more Hard and Intricate Besides that things be more largely opened in the Catechism and divers Objections Answered which are proposed in the Questions the Reader having past through that first will more perfectly understand the Confession which consisteth mainly in positive Assertions Not long after I had received and believed the Testimony I now bear I had in my view both the possibility and facility of such a Work and now after a more large and perfect acquaintance with the Holy Scripture I found Access to allow some time to set about it and have also been helped to accomplish the same I doubt not but it might be enlarged by divers Citations which are here omitted as not being at present brought to my Remembrance Yet I find Cause to be contented in that God hath so far assisted me in this Work by his Spirit that good Remembrancer the Manifestation of which as it is minded will help such as Seriously and Conscientiously Read this to find out and cleave to the Truth and also Establish and Confirm those who have already believed Which of all things is most earnestly desired and daily prayed for By FromVrie the Place of my Being in my Native Country of Scotland the 11th of the 6th Month 1673. ROBERT BARCLAY A Servant of the Church of CHRIST THE CONTENTS Chap. 1. OF God and the true and saving Knowledge of him Chap. 2. Of the Rule and Guide of Christians and of the Scriptures Chap. 3. Of Jesus Christ's being manifest in the Flesh the Use and End of it Chap. 4. Of the New Birth the Inward Appearance of Christ in Spirit and the Unity of the Saints with him Chap. 5. Concerning the Light wherewith Jesus Christ hath enlightned every Man the Universality and Sufficiency of God's Grace to all the World made manifest therein Chap. 6. Concerning Faith Justification and Works Chap. 7. Concerning Perfection or Freedom from Sin Chap. 8. Concerning Perseverance and falling from Grace Chap. 9. Concerning the Church and Ministry Chap. 10. Concerning Worship Chap. 11. Concerning Baptism and Bread and Wine Chap. 12. Concerning the Life of a Christian in general what and how it ought to be in this World Chap. 13. Concerning Magistracy Chap. 14. Concerning the Resurrection Chap. 15. A short Introduction to the Confession of Faith Chap. 16. A Confession of Faith containing Twenty Three Articles Article 1. Concerning God and the True and Saving Knowledge of him Art 2. Concerning the Guide and Rule of Christians Art 3. Concerning the Scriptures Art 4 Concerning the Divinity of Christ and his being from the Beginning Art 5. Concerning his Appearance in the Flesh. Art 6. Concerning the End and Use of that Appearance Art 7. Concerning the Inward Manifestation of Christ. Art 8. Concerning the New Birth Art 9. Concerning the Unity of the Saints with Christ. Art 10. Concerning the Universal Love and Grace of God to all Art 11. Concerning the Light that enlightneth every Man Art 12. Concerning Faith and Justification Art 13. Concerning Good Works Art 14. Concerning Perfection Art 15. Concerning Perseverance and Falling from Grace Art 16. Concerning the Church and Ministry Art 17. Concerning Worship Art 18. Concerning Baptism Art 19. Concerning Eating of Bread and Wine Washing of one anothers Feet abstaining from things strangled and from Blood and Anointing of the Sick with Oil. Art 20. Concerning the Liberty of such Christians as are come to know the Substance as to the using or not using of these Rites and of the Observation of Days Art 21. Concerning Swearing Fighting and Persecution Art 22. Concerning Magistracy Art 23. Concerning the Resurrection Chap. 17. A short Expostulation with and Appeal to all other Professors Chap. 18. A short Examination of some of the Scripture-Proofs alledged by the Divines at Westminster to prove divers Articles in their Confession of Faith and Catechism A CATECHISM c. year 1673 CHAP. I. Of GOD and the True and Saving Knowledge of Him Question SEeing it is a thing Vnquestioned by all sorts of Christians that the Hight of Happiness consisteth in coming to know and enjoy Eternal Life what is it in the Sense and Judgment of Christ Answer This is Life Eternal that they might know thee John 17.3 the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Q. How doth God Reveal this Knowledge A. For God who commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness 2 Cor. 4.6 hath shined in our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ. Q. How many Gods are there A. One God We know that an Idol is nothing in the World Ephes. 4.9 1 Cor. 8.4 6. and that there is none other God but one But to us there is but one God Q. What is God A. God is a Spirit John 4.24 Q. Among all the Blessed Glorious and Divine Excellencies of God which are ascribed and given to him in the Scriptures what is that which is most needful for us to take notice of as being the Message which the Apostles Recorded in special manner to declare of him now under the Gospel A. This then is the Message which we have heard of him and declare unto you That God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all 1 John 1.5 Q. What are they that bear Record in Heaven A. There are Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father 1 John 5.7 the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One. Q. How cometh any Man to know God the Father according to Christ's Words A. All things are delivered to me of my Father and no Man knows who the Son is but the Father and who the Father is Luke 10.22 Mal. 11.27 John 14.6 but the Son and he to whom the Son will Reveal him Jesus saith unto him I am the Way the Truth and
that which may be known of himself A. That which may be known of God is manifest in them Rom. 1.19 for God hath shewed it unto them Q. Is then this Light or Seed sown in the Hearts of Evil Men A. And he spake many things to them in Parables Behold a Sower went forth to sow and when he sowed Matth. 13.3 4 5 7. some Seeds fell by the way-side c. some fell among stony places c. and some fell among Thornes c. Q. Are these places where the Seed is said to have fallen understood of the Heart of Man A. Hear ye therefore the Parable of the Sower when any one heareth the Word of the Kingdom Matth. 13.18 19. and understandeth it not then cometh the Wicked One and catcheth away that which was sown in his Heart this is he which received the Seed by the way-side c. Q. Is this Seed small in its first Appearance A. The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a Grain of Mustard Seed which a Man took and sowed in his Field Matth. 13 31 32. which indeed is the least of all Seeds Q. Forasmuch as many understand not this under the Notion and Appellation of Light or Seed it being quite another Dialect than the common though I must needs confess it is the very Language of the Scriptures Is there a saving Manifestation of the Spirit given unto all A. The Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 Q. Sure if it be to profit withal it must be in order to save for were it not useful nor yet sufficient to save what Profit could it be of But in regard some speak of a Grace that is Common and of a Grace that is Saving is there such a Grace Common unto all as brings Salvation A. The Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men. Tit. 2.11 Q. That which brings Salvation must needs be saving What doth that Grace teach us A. Teaching us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Tit. 2.12 Righteously and Godly in this present World Q. Certainly that which teacheth both Righteousness and Godliness must be sufficient for therein consisteth the whole Duty of Man What saith the Apostle elsewhere of this Instructor A. And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the Word of his Grace Acts 20.32 which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance among all those that are Sanctified Q. What is the Word of God A. The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any Two-edged Sword Hebr. 4.12 13. piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joints and Marrow and is a Discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart Neither is there any Creature that is not Manifest in his Sight but all things are naked and open to the Eyes of him with whom we have to do Q. Ought we not to take heed to this Word A. We have also a more Sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed 2 Pet. 1.19 as unto a Light that shineth in a Dark Place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in your Hearts Q. I perceive the Scriptures are very clear both concerning the Vniversality and Sufficiency of this Light Seed Grace and Word of God but is this Word nigh or afar off Inward or Outward A. Say not in thine Heart Who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring Christ down from above Rom. 10.6 7 8. or who shall descend into the Deep that is to bring up Christ again from the Dead But what saith it The Word is nigh in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that is the Word of Faith which we preach Q. That is clear as to the Word Is there any Scripture speaks of the Light 's being Inward A. God who commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness has shin'd in our Hearts 2 Cor. 4.6 7 to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ. But we have this Treasure in Earthen Vessels that the Excellency of the Power may be of God and not of us Q. But seeing it is also called the Seed of the Kingdom is the Kingdom of God also within A. The Kingdom of God comes not with Observation neither shall they say Lo here or Lo there for behold Luke 17.20 21. the Kingdom of God is within you CHAP. VI. Concerning Faith Justification and Works Question WHat is Faith Answer Hebr. 11.1 Faith is the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen Q. Is Faith of absolute necessity A. Without Faith it is Impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them Hebr. 11.6 that diligently seek him Q. Are we Justified by Faith A. Wherefore the Law was our School-Master to bring us unto Christ that we might be Justified by Faith Gal. 3.24 Q. What is the Nature of this Faith that availeth to Justification A. For in Jesus Christ neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but Faith which worketh by Love Gal. 5.6 Q. Are Works then necessary to Justification as well as Faith A. But wilt thou know O Vain Man that Faith without Works is Dead Was not Abraham our Father justified by Works Jam. 2.20 21 22 23 24. when he had offered Isaac his Son upon the Altar Seest thou how Faith wrought with his Works and by Works was Faith made perfect And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for Righteousness He was called the Friend of God Ye see then how that by Works a Man is justified and not by Faith only Q. If then both be equally required in Justification what are these Works which the Apostle excludes so much Rom. 3.20 A. By the Deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be Justified in his sight Q. But though we be not Justified by the Deeds of the Law is not this to exclude Boastings that the Grace of God may be exalted Ephes. 2.8 9 10. A. For by Grace are ye saved through Faith and not of your selves it is the Gift of God not of the Works lest any Man should boast for we are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works Q Are even the Works which are performed by Grace excluded Are we never said to be saved or justified by them Tit. 3 5 6.7 A. Not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour that being justified by his Grace we should be made Heirs according to the hope of Eternal Life Q. I perceive then that to be
Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World q 1 Joh 2.1 2. For by the Grace of God he hath tasted Death for every Man r Hebr 2.9 And gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due Time s 1 Tim. 2.6 Willing all Men to be saved and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth t 1 Tim. 2.4 Not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance u 2 Pet. 3.9 For God sent not his Son into the World to Condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved x John 3 17. And Christ came a Light into the World that whosoever believeth in him should not abide in Darkness y John 12.46 Therefore as by the Offence of One Judgment came upon All Men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of One the free Gift came upon all Men to Justification of Life z Rom. 5.18 ARTICLE XI Concerning the Light that enlightneth every Man THe Gospel was preached to every Creature under Heaven a Col. 1.23 which Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation to them that believe b Rom. 1.16 And if it be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them which believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine into them c 2 Cor. 4.3 4. And this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are Evil d John 3.19 And this was the true Light which lightneth every Man that cometh into the World e John 1.9 By which all things that are reproveable are made manifest for whatsoever maketh manifest is Light f Ephes. 5.11 Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved but he that doth Truth cometh to to the Light that his Deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God g Joh. 3 20 21. And they that walk in the Light as Christ is in the Light have Fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth them from all Sin h 1 John 1. Therefore ought we to believe in the Light while we have the Light that we may be the Children of the Light i John 12.36 Therefore to Day if we will hear his Voice let us not harden our Hearts k Hebr. 4 7. For Christ wept over Jerusalem saying If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy Day the Things which belong unto thy Peace But now they are hid from thine Eyes l Luke 19.42 And he would often have gathered her Children as a Hen gathereth her Chickens but they would not m Matth. 23.37 for the stiff-necked and uncircumcised in Heart and Ears do always Resist the Holy Ghost n Acts 7.51 And are of those that Rebel against the Light o Job 24.13 Therefore God's Spirit will not always strive with Man p Gen. 7.3 For the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men who hold the Truth in Unrighteousness q Rom. 1.18 Because what is to be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them r Rom. 1.19 And a Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal s 1 Cor. 12.7 For the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World t Tit. 2.11 12. And this Word of this Grace is able to build up and give an Inheritance among all those that are Sanctified u Acts 20.32 For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of the Soul and Spirit and of the Joints and Marrow and is a Discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart x Hebr. 4.12 Is that more sure Word of Prophesy whereunto we do well that we take heed as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in the Heart y 2 Pet. 1. â—9 And this is the Word of Faith which the Apostles Preached which is nigh in the Mouth and in the Heart z Rom. 10.8 For God who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined in our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ a 2 Cor. 4.6 But we have this Treasure in Earthen Vessels that the Excellency of the Power may be of God b 2 Cor. 4.7 and not of us for the Kingdom of God cometh not by Observation but is within us ARTICLE XII Concerning Faith and Justification FAith is the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen d Hebr. 11.1 Without which it is impossible to please God e Hebr. 11.6 Therefore we are justified by Faith which worketh by Love f Gal. 5.6 For Faith without Works being dead is by Works made perfect g Jam. 2.23 26. By the Deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be justified h Rom. 3.20 Nor yet by the Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy we are saved by the Washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost i 1 Tit. 3.5 For we are both washed sanctified and justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God k 1 Cor. 6.11 ARTICLE XIII Concerning Good Works IF we live after the Flesh we shall die but if we through the Spirit do mortifie the Deeds of the Body we shall live l Rom. 8.13 For they which believe in God must be careful to maintain good Works m T it 3.8 For God will render to every Man according to his Deeds according to his Righteous Judgment to them who by patient Continuance in well-doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality Eternal Life n Rom. 2.6 7. For such are counted worthy of the Kingdom of God o 2 Thess. 1.5 and cast not away their Confidence which hath great Recompence of Reward p Hebr. 10.35 Blessed then are they that do his Commandments that they may have Right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the Gates into the City q Rev. 22.14 ARTICLE XIV Concerning Perfection SIn shall not have Dominion over such as are not under the Law but under Grace r Rom. 6.14 For there is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit for the Law of the
not another Truth than is therein Mentioned But this Reader will not do I must ask Questions too What is Revealed to thee by them Thou Readest of God of Christ of the Spirit and hast framed an Image or Idea of them in thy mind but is that Revelation Revelation in Religion is Knowledge Experience thy own Sight and Sense that of which thou art a true Witness Mind me I beseech thee Regeneration is the great Work of Religion yea Religion true Christian Religion is Regeneration as I before hinted for it is the very End of Christ's Coming we cannot be Saved without it Nay it is called that very Salvation Hear the Apostle But after the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour appeared Tit. 3.4 5 6. not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he Saved us by the Washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour Now so far is God Revealed to thee and art thou truly Religious as thou art Born again Washed and Renewed by the Regenerating Spirit of God and no further If the Scripture were all the Revelation needful the Wicked Jews must have known it as well as the Believing Jews because they could read them and had as good or better Natural Capacities to take the Grammatical and Literal Sense of what they Deliver But they were so far from understanding Christ and his Doctrine though he did Wonders and spake as we Read among them that Christ both tells us they were Blind and Solemnly Thanks his Father that he had hid those Secrets from the Wise and Prudent of that Day and Revealed them unto Babes Mat. 11.25 And to this Christ himself beareth Testimony when he saith That No Man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son Revealeth him Luk. 10.22 And as the Son Reveals the Father so the Father must bear Witness Reveal and Draw to the Son Joh. 5.37 or Men cannot come to him that Opens and Reveals the Father Thus in that notable Saying of Christ to Peter when asking him But who sayest thou that I am and he Answering Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God he replyed upon him Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona Matt. 16.17 Flesh and Blood hath not Revealed this unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven So that though Peter both heard and saw abundance of what Christ said and did it was needful to such a Confession that God should give a further Revelation of his Son And if Peter wanted under all the Advantages he had above us this Revelation can we hope to know him without it O no Reader As he knew him thou must know him For none cometh to the Son but whom the Father draweth O mind these Drawings in thy own Soul Joh. 6.44 And how does the Father draw Few Alass trouble themselves to weigh these Matters and yet they must be Christians for all that But what say the Schools the Criticks and Learned upon these things Why they search their Books study and beat their Brains and Imagine the Meaning Some say it is by the Scripture but that won't do for that says no such thing On the Contrary that the Father Reveals the Son and Draws to him and the Son Reveals the Father and not the Scripture that tells us so which is neither the Father nor the Son Nor indeed is it Comprehensible how the Father should Reveal the Son by Scripture and the Son the Father for so the Scripture would Reveal both which is the Reciprocal Work of the Father and Son And were it so Caiphas would have known Christ as well as Peter and the Wicked would know both the Father and the Son as well as the Good because the Scriptures are as much in their Power Which is Absurd and Impossible But others more Refined say It is by the Spirit opening the Scripture As indeed the First Reformers and all those that have been pushing on a further Reformation ever since have spoken and have founded their Belief of the Divine Authority of the Scripture upon the Testimony and Revelation of the Spirit in them These come near But then what is this Spirit how dost thou know it its Manifestations Revelations and Operations and by what Tokens is it to be Known and Discerned This is a Question not to be Answered but by an Experienced Man for the Spirit of God Reveals not the deep things of God to the Carnal and Disobedient Man Many are the Degrees Steps and Lessons of this Holy Spirit of God in and to Man as Man receives it and obeys it and daily inclines to Learn the Lesson it teaches I may tell thee Reader and I am not far from the Matter that this great Work is as Mechanicks and Chymists speak a Manual Operation a spiritual Labour and Travel Work out your own Salvation Phil. 2.12 13. saith the Apostle with Fear and Trembling by whom by him by whom all things were made of old and that maketh all things new Jo. 1.3 4. even Christ the Word in whom is Life and that Life is the Light of Men. It is this Sort of Revelation we Contend for not that of particular Persons or things past or to come which refer not Immediately to the Knowledge and Work of God in Man by which God makes himself savingly known to Men. That Private or Particular sort of Revelation is however called a Revelation also as the Visions of the Prophets Peter's Sense of the Hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira and Agabus's Foresight by the Holy Ghost of Paul's Sufferings at Jerusalem This Sort of Extraordinary Knowledge is truly called Revelation But this is not the Revelation we insist upon though neither is this Ceased Nor yet is it those Doctrines as of the Incarnation of the Son of God his Death Resurrection and Ascension c. Confirmed and Enforced upon the Belief of Men by the Authority of Miracles which is also another sort of Revelation which being once done need not to be Repeated and of which the Wicked are as much Possessors as the Good the Matter of Fact I mean of the visible Transaction of the Son of God being Recorded in the Scriptures of Truth which they also have in their Hands But the Inward sight sense and knowledge of the Will of God by the Operation of his Light and Spirit shining and working in our Hearts and the Spiritual Sense of that blessed Appearance of the Son of God in the Flesh and the Moral End of it to our Benefit and Advantage is no more Conceivable by Carnal Men than is Regeneration without which no Man can enter into the Kingdom of God Christ tells us John 3.5 there is such a thing and the two Principles of it Water and Spirit but he do's not tell us what they are how to be Obtained what way they Operate or we are to Apply them or our selves to them for that New Birth
So I say it is after the Rejecting of the Day of Visitation that the Judgment of Obduration is inflicted upon men and women as Christ pronounceth it upon the Jews out of Isa. 6.9 which all the Four Evangelists make mention of Matth. 13.14 Mark 4.12 Luke 8.10 John 12.40 And last of all the Apostle Paul after he had made offer of the Gospel of Salvation to the Jews at Rome pronounceth the same Acts 28.26 after that some believed not Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the Prophet unto our Fathers saying Go unto this people and say hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive For the Heart of this people is waxed gross and their Ears are dull of hearing and their Eyes have they closed lest they should see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears and understand with their Heart and should be Converted and I should heal them So it appears that God would have them to see but they closed their Eyes and therefore they are justly hardned Cyrill Alex. Of this matter Cyrillus Alexandrinus upon John l. 6. c. 21. speaks well answering to this Objection But some may say if Christ be come into the World that those that see may be blinded their blindness is not to be Imputed unto them but it rather seems that Christ is the Cause of their blindness who saith he is come into the World that those that see may be blinded But saith he they speak not rationally who object these things unto God and are not affraid to call him the Author of Evil For as the sensible Sun is carried upon our Horizon that it may Communicate the gift of its Clearness unto All and make its Light shine upon all but if any one Close his Eye-lids The Cause of Man's Remaining in Darkness the Closing his Eyes or willingly turn himself from the Sun refusing the benefit of its light he wants its Illumination and remains in Darkness not through defect of the Sun but through his own Fault So that the true Sun who came to Inlighten those that sate in Darkness and in the region of the shadow of death visited the Earth for this cause that he might Communicate unto all the gift of Knowledge and Grace and illuminate the inward Eyes of all by a peculiar splendor but many reject this Gift of the Heavenly Light freely given to them and have closed the Eyes of their minds lest so excellent an Illumination or Irradiation of the Eternal Light should shine unto them It is not then through defect of the true Sun but only through their own Iniquity and Hardness for as the wise man saith Wisdom 2. Their Wickedness hath blinded them From all which I thus argue If there was a Day The Obstinate Jews had a Day wherein the Obstinate Jews might have known the things that belonged to their Peace which because they Rejected it was hid from their Eyes If there was a time wherein Christ would have gathered them who because they Refused could not be Gathered Then such as might have been saved do actually perish that slighted the Day of God's Visitation towards them wherein they might have been Converted and Saved But the First is true Therefore also the Last § XXI Secondly That which comes in the Second Place to be proved Prop. II is Proved That whereby God offers to work this Salvation during the day of every man's Visitation and that is That he hath given to every man a measure of saving sufficient and supernatural Light and Grace This I shall do by God's Assistance by some plain and clear Testimonies of the Scripture First From that of John 1.9 That was the true Light which Inlightneth Proof I every man that cometh into the World The Light enlightning every Man c. This place doth so clearly favour us that by some it is called The Quakers Text for it doth evidently Demonstrate our Assertion so that it scarce needs either Consequence or Deduction seeing it self is as a Consequence of two Propositions Asserted in the former verses from which it followeth as a Conclusion in the very Terms of our Faith The first of these Propositions is The Life that is in him is the Light of men the second The Light shineth in the darkness And from these two he Infers And he is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World From whence I do in short Observe that this Divine Apostle calls Observ. 1 Christ the Light of men and giveth us this as one of the Chief Properties at least considerably and especially to be Observed by us seeing hereby as he is the Light and as we walk with him in that Light which he Communicates to us we come to have Fellowship and Communion with him as the same Apostle saith elsewhere 1 Joh. 1.7 Secondly that this Light shineth in darkness though the darkness comprehend it not Thirdly that this true Light inlightneth every man Not but a certain Number of men but every man that cometh into the world Where the Apostle being directed by God's Spirit hath carefully avoided their Captiousness that would have Restricted this to any certain Number Where Every one is there is None Excluded Next should they be so obstinate as sometimes they are as to say That this Every man is only Every one of the Elect these words following Every man that cometh into the world would obviate that Objection So that it is plain there comes no man into the World whom Christ hath not Inlightned in some measure and in whose dark heart this Light doth not shine though the darkness Comprehend it not yet it shineth there and the Nature thereof is to dispell the Darkness The Light dispelling Darkness begets Faith where men shut not their Eyes upon it Now for what End this Light is given is Expressed vers 7. where John is said to Come for a Witness to bear witness to the Light that all men through it might believe to wit through the Light 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth very well Agree with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as being the nearest Antecedent though most Translators have to make it sute with their own Doctrine made it Relate to John as if all men were to believe through John For which as there is nothing directly in the Text so it is Contrary to the very Strain of the Context For seeing Christ hath lighted Every man with this Light is it not that they may come to believe through it All could not believe through John because all men could not know of John's Testimony whereas Every man being Lighted by this may come there-through to believe John shined not in the Darkness but this Light shineth in the Darkness that having dispelled the Darkness it may produce and beget Faith And lastly We must believe through That and become believers through That by Walking in which Fellowship with God is known
Exercised in the Church in the days of the Apostles were built For I am far from believing that the most Exact Conformity to the Order and Method of the Church in the Apostles days Conformity from the Life or even to what may now be Appointed by the same Spirit without the Inward Life and Vertue go along signifies any thing for I know that nothing done by meer Imitation will any thing avail in the Worship and Service of God and therefore that No Act done without Conviction will any ways be profitable to the Doer Yet that hindreth not but that such as forbear to do what by the Testimony of God in his Servants is Commanded to be performed in the Church are Justly to be blamed and be judged therefore in respect that through Disobedience and Vnwatchfulness they have blinded themselves from the sight and knowledge of their Duty For if it should be said No man were to be Condemned for not doing that which he sees not to be his Duty Then no man were to be Condemned who had by Iniquity and Vnwatchfulness brought Hardness and Blindness upon himself The Hardned and blinded see not their Duty for all the Iniquities he commits afterwards And how would this tend to Establish Ranterism the substance of which is to bring their Consciences to that pass as not to be sensible of any Checks Then the Nations are not to be blamed for all their Idolatry Wickedness and Superstition for that they are not sensible of the Evil of it Whereas Truth teaches us to believe that had they been faithful to the small measure of Light in things more obvious it would have further opened and manifested other things The Jews Crucifying Christ ignorantly Then should not the Jews have been Condemned for Crucifying Christ since Peter says They did it Ignorantly And Paul testifies That if they had known they would not have Crucified the Lord of Glory Yea then all those that persecuted and burned the Protestant Martyrs Martyrs Instanced were not to be Judged for it because they suppose they did well in it even according to Christ's Testimony who says That in killing you they shall think they do God good Service Shall men then never be Condemned for doing evil or omitting their duty because they see it not What Absurdity would follow thereupon may easily appear And yet its strange that William Rogers in his Papers should labour so much against this Affirming very positively That nothing ought to be given forth in the Church of Christ but by way of Recommendation and not of Command Wherein he doth either greatly Mistake the matter as affirmed by me or otherways run into a far greater Inconveniency than he is aware For if he mean That no Man of or from himself only or by vertue of any Office or Place he either hath or hath born in the Church of Christ ought to Command any thing to be performed in the Church I freely Agree to it and have Asserted the same in very full and ample Terms But if he will say That no man albeit really moved by the Spirit of God ought to go further than a meer Recommendation It is a most Insolent Limiting of God under a false pretence of liberty and will necessarily Conclude that God hath not power to Command any thing unless Men be content to agree to it For the Controversy is here drawn to a Narrow Compass For he that will allow that God hath power to Command things to be practised in the Church and that those Commands must be Conveyed by Immediate Revelation through some of the Members of the Church and that it may fall out that some of the Members of the Church may through Weakness or Vnwatchfulness not be sensible they must either acknowledge that Such are to be Condemned or say that God hath not power to Command or that there is no such Revelation now-a-days as do the Priests and Truth 's Enemies or that Man is not Condemnable for disobeying God if he believe it not to be his Duty which is as much as to say that Vnbelief is no sin Now let these things be seriously Considered how this is or can be Avoided without granting the things Affirmed by me For what way can the Truth be Asserted the honour and just Authority of God Acknowledged the Necessity of the continuance of Immediate Revelation Affirmed and the Iniquity of Vnbelief not Justified and the just Judgment of God upon the Rebellious and Disobedient Vindicated without Affirming what I have done And if any can do this in words more wary than I have done I shall very readily Agree to it For that things may be proposed to the Church by way of Command and further than a meer Recommendation the whole Current of the Scripture shews not only to the Churches among the Jews where Moses and the Prophets do propose the Will of God to be performed very positively and peremptorily but even under the New Covenant as appears in the Eleventh of the Acts and in many places of Paul's Epistles particularly that on 2 Thess. 3.14 If any man Obey not our word by this Epistle note that man and have no Company with him that he may be ashamed This then being manifest with respect to those Times I would know of W. R. Whether Christ has now lost any of his Authority as he has left off to Rule his Church Immediately by his Spirit and whether so to Affirm be not grosly to Contradict the Antient and Primitive Doctrine of Friends Fifthly Whereas some did suppose that I did make the Difference Expl. V in the end but very small betwixt Decisive Judgment among Friends and among Papists and other Persons because I say Decisive Judgment They place the Decisive Judgment in the plurality of an Assembly made up of their Chief Teachers and Ministers And albeit I Limit it not to that yet I seem to Affirm that it most usually is so conveyed and so the difference only is that they make it always so and I most usually To this I Answer That if in Charity I may suppose this Insinuation comes not from Malice at least it proceeds from great Ignorance of the Popish Principle and it were better for such to be Silent than to Judge of things they do not understand For the Difference here is very great and Fundamental in respect both Papists and others do Affirm That men by vertue of an outward Succession or Vocation may have true Right to sit and give Judgment in such Assemblies Papists pleading Succession c. albeit they be void of true Holiness and have not the Grace of God which they say is no Necessary Qualification to the being of a Minister So that they place the power of Judgment not only in the plurality of Votes absolutely in which we differ from them but also in the Judgment of such as may without any absurdity by their own Principles be supposed to be all
we make absolutely necessary for the building up of true Faith neither do nor can ever Contradict the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or right and sound Reason yet from hence it will not follow that the Divine Revelations are to be subjected to the Test either of the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or of the Natural Reason of man as to a more-noble or certain Rule and Touch-stone For this Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident and clear of it self forcing by its own Evidence and Clearness the well-disposed understanding to Assent irresistibly moving the same thereunto even as the common principles of natural Truths do move and incline the mind to a natural Assent As That the whole is greater than its part That two Contradictories can neither be both true nor both false § I. IT is very probable that many Carnal and Natural Christians will oppose this Proposition who being wholly unacquainted with the Movings and Actings of God's Spirit upon their hearts Revelations by Apostate Christians Rejected judge the same nothing Necessary and some are apt to flout at it as Ridiculous Yea to that Heighth are the generality of all Christians Apostatized and degenerated that though there be not any thing more plainly Asserted more seriously Recommended nor more certainly Attested to in all the writings of the Holy Scriptures yet nothing is less minded and more rejected by all sorts of Christians than Immediate and Divine Revelation in so much that once to lay Claime to it is matter of Reproach Whereas of old none were ever judged Christians but such As had the Spirit of Christ Rom. 8.9 But now many do boldly call themselves Christians who make no difficulty of confessing They are without it and laugh at such as say they have it Of old they were accounted the Sons of God who were led by the Spirit of God ibid. vers 14. but now many aver themselves Sons of God who know nothing of this Leader and he that affirms himself so led is by the pretended Orthodox of this Age presently proclaimed a Heretick The Reason hereof is very manifest viz. Because many in these days under the name of Christians do experimentally find that they are not acted nor led by God's Spirit yea many great Doctors Divines Teachers and Bishops of Christianity commonly so called have wholly shut their Ears from hearing and their Eyes from seeing this inward Guide and so are become strangers unto it whence they are by their own Experience brought to this Strait either to Confess that they are as yet Ignorant of God and have only the shadow of knowledge and not the true knowledge of him or that this knowledge is acquired without Immediate Revelation For the better understanding then of this Proposition we do distinguish betwixt the Certain Knowledge of God Knowledge Spiritual and Literal distinguished and the Vncertain betwixt the Spiritual Knowledge and the Literal the Saving heart-heart-Knowledge and soaring airy head-head-Knowledge The last we Confess may be divers ways obtained but the first by no other way than the Inward Immediate Manifestation and Revelation of God's Spirit shining in and upon the heart inlightning and opening the understanding § II. Having then proposed to my self in these Propositions to Affirm those things which relate to the True and Effectual Knowledge which brings Life Eternal with it therefore I have Affirmed and that truly That this Knowledge is no otherways attained and that none have any true ground to believe they have attained it who have it not by this Revelation of God's Spirit The Certainty of which Truth is such that it hath been acknowledged by some of the most Refined and Famous of all sorts of Professors of Christianity in all ages who being truly Vpright-hearted and Earnest Seekers of the Lord however stated under the disadvantages and Epidemical Errors of their several Sects or Ages the true Seed in them hath been answered by God's Love who hath had regard to the Good and hath had of his Elect ones among all who finding a distast and disgust in all other outward Means even in the very Principles and Precepts more particularly relative to their own Forms and Societies have at last concluded with one Voice That there was no true Knowledge of God but that which is Revealed inwardly by his own Spirit Whereof take these following Testimonies of the Ancients 1. It is the inward Master saith Augustin that teacheth it is Christ that teacheth Aug. ex Tract Epist. Joh. 3. it is Inspiration that teacheth where this Inspiration and Unction is wanting it is in vain that Words from without are beaten in And thereafter For he that Created us and Redeemed us and called us by Faith and dwelleth in us by his Spirit unless he speaketh unto you inwardly it is needless for us to Cry out 2. There is a difference saith Clemens Alexandrinus betwixt that which any one saith of the Truth and that which the Truth it self Interpreting it self saith A Conjecture of Truth differeth from the Truth it self a Similitude of a thing differeth from the thing it self It is one thing Clem. Alex. Lib. 1. Strom. that is acquired by Exercise and Discipline and another thing which by Power and Faith Lastly the same Clemens saith Truth is neither hard to be arrived at nor is it impossible to apprehend it Paedag. for it is most nigh unto us even in our houses as the most Wise Moses hath insinuated 3. How is it Tertullianus Lib. de Veland Virginibus Cap. 1. saith Tertullian that since the Devil always worketh and stirreth up the mind to Iniquity that the work of God should either cease or desist to act Since for this end the Lord did send the Comforter that because human Weakness could not at once bear all things Knowledg might be by little and little directed formed and brought to perfection by the holy Spirit that Vicar of the Lord. I have many things yet saith he to speak unto you but ye cannot as yet bear them but when that Spirit of Truth shall come he shall lead you into all Truth and shall teach you these things that are to come But of his work we have spoken above What is then the Administration of the Comforter but that Discipline be derived and the Scriptures Revealed c. 4. The Law saith Hierom is spiritual Hieron Epist Paulin. 103. and there is need of a Revelation to understand it And in his Epistle 150. to Hedibia Quest. 11. he saith The whole Epistle to the Romans needs an Interpretation it being involved in so great Obscurities that for the understanding thereof we need the help of the holy Spirit who through the Apostle dictated it 5. So great things saith Athanasius doth our Saviour daily Athanasius de Incarnatione Verbi Dei he Draws unto Piety Perswades unto Vertue Teaches Immortality Excites to the desire of Heavenly things Reveals Knowledge from the Father
their Logick silence it nor can the securest among them stop its Voice from Crying and Reproving them within for all their Confidence in the outward Knowledge of Christ or of what he hath Suffered outwardly for them For as hath been often said in a Day it strives with all wrestles with all and it 's the Vnmortified Nature the first Nature the old Adam yet alive in the Wisest in the Learnedest in the most-zealous for the outward Knowledge of Christ that denies this that despises it that shuts it out to their own Condemnation They come all under this Description Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his deeds should be Reproved Joh. 3.20 so that it may be said now and we can say from a true and certain Experience as it was said of old Psal. 118.22 Matth. 21.42 Mark 12.10 Luke 20.17 Acts 4.11 The Stone which the Builders of all kinds have Rejected the same is become unto us the Head of the Corner Glory to God for ever who hath chosen us a First-Fruits to himself in this day wherein he is arisen to plead with the Nations and therefore hath sent us forth to preach this Everlasting Gospel unto all Christ nigh to all the Light in all the Seed sown in the Hearts of all that men may come and apply their minds to it And we Rejoice that we have been made to lay down our Wisdom and Learning such of us as have had some of it and our Carnal Reasoning to Learn of Jesus and sit down at the feet of Jesus in our hearts and hear him who there makes all things manifest and reproves all things by his Light Eph. 5.13 The Wise and Learned in the Notion Crucifiers of Christ. For many are Wise and Learned in the Notion in the letter of the Scripture as the Pharisees were and can speak much of Christ and plead strongly against Infidels Turks and Jews and it may be also against some Heresies who in the mean time are Crucifying Christ in the small Appearance of his Seed in their Hearts O! better were it to be Stript naked of all to account it as dross and dung and become a Fool for Christ's sake thus knowing him to Teach thee in thy heart so as thou may'st witness him Raised there feel the virtue of his Cross there and say with the Apostle I glory in nothing save in the Cross of Christ whereby I am Crucified to the World and the World unto me This is better than to write Thousands of Commentaries and to preach many Sermons And it is thus to preach Christ and direct people to his Pure Light in the Heart None are saved by the Knowledge of the History but by the Operation of the Light of Christ in the Mystery that God hath raised us up and for which the Wise Men of this World account us Fools because by the Operation of this Cross of Christ in our hearts we have denied our own Wisdom and Wills in many things and have forsaken the vain Worships Fashions and Customs of this World For these divers Centuries the World hath been full of a dry fruitless and barren Knowledge of Christ feeding upon the husk and neglecting the kernel following after the shadow but strangers to the Substance Hence the Devil matters not how much of that Knowledge abounds provided he can but possess the heart and rule in the Will Crucify the Appearance of Christ there and so keep the Seed of the Kingdom from taking Root For he has led them abroad lo here and lo there and has made them wrestle in a false Zeal so much one against another contending for this outward Observation Contentions about outward Observations and Lo-here's c. and for the other outward Observation seeking Christ in this and the other External thing as in Bread and Wine contending one with another how he is there while some will have him to be present therein this way and some the other way and some in Scriptures in Books in Societies and Pilgrimages and Merits But some Confiding in an External Barren Faith think all is well if they do but firmly believe that he died for their sins past present and to come while in the mean time Christ lies Crucified and Slain and is daily Resisted and Gainsaid in his Appearance in their hearts The Call of God to blinded Christendom Thus from a sense of this Blindness and Ignorance that is come over Christendom it is that we are led and moved of the Lord so constantly and frequently to Call all Invite all Request all to turn to the Light in them to mind the Light in them to believe in Christ as he is in them And that in the Name Power and Authority of the Lord not in School-Arguments and Distinctions for which many of the Wise men of this World account us Fools and Mad-men we do Charge and Command them to lay aside their Wisdom to come down out of that proud airy brain-brain-knowledge and to stop that mouth how Eloquent soever to the worldly Ear it may appear and to be silent and sit down as in the Dust and to mind the Light of Christ in their own Consciences Which if it be minded they would find as a sharp two-edged Sword in their hearts and as a fire and a hammer that would knock against and burn up all that Carnal gathered natural Stuff and make the stoutest of them all Tremble and become Quakers indeed Which those that come not to feel now and kiss not the Son while the day lasteth but harden their hearts will feel to be a certain Truth when it is too late To conclude as saith the Apostle All ought to Examine themselves whether they be in the Faith indeed and Try their own selves for except Jesus be in them they are certainly Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 Part 2 § XXV Secondly That which remains now to be proved is That by the operation of this Light and Seed some have been Proved and may yet be saved to whom the Gospel is not outwardly preached nor the History of Christ outwardly known That many by the Light may be saved that have not the outward Knowledge of Christ. To make this the easier we have already shewn how that Christ hath died for all men and consequently these are Inlightned by Christ and have a measure of Saving Light and Grace yea that the Gospel though not in any outward Dispensation is preached to them and in them so that thereby they are stated in a possibility of Salvation From which I may thus Argue Arg. To whom the Gospel the Power of God unto Salvation is manifest they may be Saved whatever Outward Knowledge they want But this Gospel is preached in Every Creature in which is certainly comprehended many that have not the Outward Knowledge Therefore of those many may be saved But to those Arguments by which it hath been proved that all men have a
all things never faileth albeit other Gifts have 1 Cor. 13. from the first Verse As by this the Excellency of Love is shewn so the Necessity of pressing after it and living in it will be readily acknowledged by all but seeing the Sum of this Love as well as the Perfection thereof consists in Loving God above all so whatever diverteth in any thing there from is not to be accounted Love though the same Word be used to Express it and that in the Scripture it self Self-Love such as the Love of Self the Love of the World the Love of any Creature Hence for the Attaining of the true and excellent Love the Love of all these other things is not only to be laid aside and the Love of God preferred to them but they are to be hated as Christ himself Phraseth it He that hateth his Life Jo. 12.25 Yea he useth it so as to speaking of hating Father and Mother Luk. 14.26 Though when the Love to such is truly Subordinate to the other it is both Commended and Commanded The Testimony of the Love of God is to keep his Commandments The Testimony which is required of our Really being in the Love of God Christ himself signifieth to us If you Love me keep my Commandments And as the Beloved Disciple John said in the Case of Knowledge shewing us the Falshood of such as pretend to know God and yet do not so saying He that says he knows God and keeps not his Commandments is a Lyar and the Truth is not in him 1 Jo. 2.4 So may be also said He that saith he loves God and keeps not his Commandments is a Liar and the Truth is not in him according as the same Apostle saith 1 Jo. 5.3 For this is the Love of God that we keep his Commandments Hence it is apparent that Love without Purity is but a False Pretence and that whatsoever hinders from the Practice of this Love of God or withdraws from the Obedience of the least of his Commands is to be denied and no ways to be Entertained as being either the Love of the Devil the Love of the World or the Love of Self and not the Love of the Father And as from the True Love of God having taken Place both upon the Vnderstanding and Will there ariseth a great Fervency and Desire of Mind that it may be wholly Vnited with the Lord and made Conformable unto his Will in all things So from hence ariseth also a certain Aversion from Indignation of and even Hatred to whatsoever is Contrary thereunto or has a Tendency to lead from it which is commonly called Zeal Which Zeal having a right Bottom and Foundation The True Zeal proceeds from the love of God and proceeding purely from the Love of God is a great Virtue greatly to be commended and pressed after and the Defect thereof is justly reproveable in a Christian. That Zeal then thus considered is a thing Excellent Pure and Holy of it self appears in that it is ascribed to God himself 2 Kings 19.13 Where the Performance of the Blessed Evangelical Promises is to be performed by the Zeal of the Lord Isa. 19.17 He is said to be Cloathed with Zeal as with a Cloak and 63.15 His Zeal is numbred with his Bowels and Mercies Next David Recommends himself to God for that the Zeal of his house had eaten him up Psal. 69.9 and 119.139 And Paul commends the Corinthians for their Zeal 2 Cor. 7.11 1 Cor. 14.12 And for this End has the Grace of God appeared unto all that there might be a People gathered Zealous of good Works Tit. 2.14 And as this is commended and recommended on the one hand so is the contrary thereof to wit Indifferency and Luke-warmness reproved and rebuked as a thing displeasing to the Lord. Of many Instances whereof that might be given that unto the Church of Laodicea may serve at present Rev. 13.15 16. Because for a Remedy against this Evil she is Exhorted vers 19. To be Zealous and Repent But as there is a True Zeal so is there a False one The False Zeal its Kinds and Degrees and it is not more needful to have the one than it is to avoid the other Now as the True Zeal proceedeth only from the pure Love of God and single Regard to his Honour and Glory so the False Zeal proceedeth from the Love of something else and the Regard to other things And of this False Zeal there are several Kinds as well as Degrees all of which though they ought to be shunned yet some are far more hurtful and pernicious than others The Worst and Highest of these is when as Men through the height of Pride Lust Ambition or Envy shew themselves Furious and Zealous to satisfy and fulfil their Desires and Affections 1. A Furious Cain 's Zeal This is the highest Zeal for Self From this Zeal did Cain slay Abel Ishmael mocked Isaac and Esau hated Jacob Pharaoh Persecuted the Children of Israel Saul David and Jezabel the True Prophets of the Lord. A Second Kind is when as Men that are not True and Faithful even to those Principles of Religion they profess themselves to acknowledge as True as being Conscious to themselves 2. A Wicked Persecutors Zeal and also publickly known to be such as are Vitious and Profligate yet do violently Persecute and Oppress others that differ from them though they be not only Equal to them but even by their own Acknowledgment exceed them in Temperance and Virtue having nothing to charge them with but that they Agree not with them in Judgment and Practice in Matters of Religion This apparently is a False Zeal and not of God for if it proceeded from the true Love of God it would first Operate in themselves to the removing of all those Things which they acknowledge to be Contrary to this Love of God before it exerted it self towards others seeing as the Proverb is Charity begins at home And like unto this was the Zeal of the Scribes and Pharisees Scribes and Pharisees Instanced who Persecuted Christ for a Breaker of the Law which themselves did not fulfil As is also the Zeal both of the Papists and Protestants in their Persecutions at this Day A Third Sort is of such 3. A Blind Religious Zeal who do indeed walk strictly and closely to their own Principles making Conscience of their Way but yet being Blinded in their Understanding do Persecute Truth supposing it to be Error Of this Number was Paul before his Conversion Being as to the Law Blameless and Persecuting the Saints out of Zeal Act. 22.3 Gal. 1.14 And therefore in this Class he numbers his Countrymen saying They have a Zeal for God but not according to knowledge Rom. 10.2 And perhaps among these such may be numbred of whom Christ speaketh saying to his Disciples And when they kill you they shall think to do God good Service 4. A Rash Self-willed Zeal A
no doubt with them will deny That Immediate Revelation now is since they positively say That it is Ceased and James Durham whom I. B. applauds as a Reverend Brother and Pastor of the Church hath most absurdly affirmed in his Treatise upon the Revelation That when John finished that Book God spake his last words to his Church ¶ 7. When he cometh pag. 28. to my Proposition Asserting That these Revelations were of old the Formal Object of Faith he beginneth to Inquire and Conjecture what I mean by the Formal Object and upon that he bestows the following page For answering then his Scruples in that matter I say In a Divine Revelation two things are to be considered 1. The thing Revealed and 2. The Revelation The Thing Revealed is indeed the Material Object The Revelation is the Formal Object In which may be considered not only The Manner of the Revelation The Material and Formal Object of Faith distinguished that is the Voice or Speech of God unto the Soul or his Imprinting in the Soul by a Divine Manifestation the things Revealed but also God himself so Operating both which to wit Deus loquens id est God speaking is the Formal Object of Faith He himself his Veracity is the Original Ground of our Faith His Voice Holy Influence and Manifestation by which he Expresseth himself gives us the Certainty and Assurance that it is He and is very distinguishable by those of a Spiritual Discerning from the most subtile Appearance and Transformations of the Devil since Christ saith My Sheep hear my Voice and will not hear that of a Stranger Even as the Voice and Appearance of two Men of the most contrary and different Humours Statures and Complexions are different and distinguishable by a Man of a sharp Sight to whom those Men are well known But of this I wrote more largly in my Letter to a certain Ambassadour printed the last Year at Roterdam at the End of the Letter written to the Ambassadours of Nimmegen whereto I refer him for further Satisfaction But I wholy deny the Consequence deduced by him that if God's Veracity because it is God that speaketh and commandeth be the formal Object of Faith therefore it is all one whether it be Mediate or Immediate Since albeit that be the Original Ground yet the Immediate Revelation is necessary that we may certainly know that it is he For what avails it me to believe That all that God Commands is True and ought to be Obeyed if I do not certainly know the things I believe as Truth do come from him And the Question is Whether certain Knowledge can be had without Immediate Revelation And therefore to this his Question in the following page 30. What was the formal Object of the Faith of the People to whom the Patriarchs and Prophets said Thus saith the LORD I answer The Inward Testimony of the Spirit in their Heart assuring them That the things spoken were from the Lord and not the Divinations of the Mens Brains that spake them and therefore inclining their Hearts to receive and acknowledge these things as the Commands of God unto them Since as J. B. Confesseth They were not to believe them because spoken by those Men but because of the Authority of God It must be that which wrought this Perswasion and Assurance in them was the formal Object of their Faith as the things spoken were the Material Even as the Light serves by way of formal Object to make us see what is proposed unto us ¶ 8. Pag. 31 and 32. he acknowledgeth That Divine and Inward Revelations need not be tried by the Scripture as a more Noble Rule by him who hath such a Revelation but by those to whom he delivers it And then giveth the Instance of the Beraeans being Commended To which I shall willingly Assent judging no Man that delivers or declares a Revelation to another ought to be offended that he Try it by the Scripture which no true Revelation can Contradict The Spirit of God in the Heart to try Revelations by is a more noble Rule than the Scriptures But that such may not also Try it by the Testimony of the Spirit of God in their Hearts I cannot deny and that it is the More Noble Rule as being most Vniversal Since some Divine Revelations such as Prophecies of Contingent Truths or things to come cannot be Tried by the Scriptures as was that of George Wishart concerning the Cardinal's Death For had another taken upon him at that time to Prophesy the quite Contrary I would willingly be informed by what Scripture it could be deduced or known that the one was false or the other true yet who will be so absurd as to deny but that it could by the Immediate Testimony of the Spirit As for his Proof That the Scripture is the most certain Rule taken from those Words 2 Pet. 1.19 20. We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy c. It is but a begging of the Question in supposing that Peter by this understood the Scripture and indeed is most Ridiculous to Affirm For since the Apostle reckons this Word more sure than the Voice they heard with their outward Ears J. B. pleads the Scriptures to be the more sure Word of Prophecy and the Vision they saw with their outward Eyes it were absurd to affirm that the Description or Narration of a thing were more sure than the Immediate Seeing and Hearing it Can any Description I may receive of J. B. however True give me so certain a Knowledge of him as if I saw him and spake with him Yet without any absurdity it may be said That the Inward Word or Testimony of the Spirit in the Heart is more sure in things Spiritual than any thing that is objected to or conveyed by the outward Senses as that Vision was of which the Apostle there speaks since the Inward and Spiritual Senses are the most proper and adequate Means of conveying Spiritual Things to the Soul by which the Saints after they have laid down this Body and have no more the Use of the Outward Senses which are seated in it do most surely enjoy the Blessed Vision of God and Fellowship both with him and one another As for that of Isa. 8.20 To the Law and to the Testimony c. and that of Joh. 5.39 Search the Scriptures c. mentioned here by him I shall have occasion to speak of them hereafter It 's true We are not to believe every Spirit but it will not thence follow that the Scripture is a more sure Rule than the Spirit for such a Trial. Pag. 35. he thinks My saying That the Divine Revelation moveth the Vnderstanding well disposed Confirmeth what he saith and spoieth all my Purpose because then Every Revelation pretending to be Divine is not to be submitted to But where did ever I say so What he talks further of this Well-disposed Intellect pag. 36. I spake to in my Answer to
pages needs no answer but that of Michael to the Devil who is the Author of such Stuff The Lord Rebuke thee This Method of Answering is no less Unreasonable than his Railing for it is either by supposing things not proved by him by concluding things not following from my Assertions or by manifest Perversions all improved by the height of Abuse to render the things that displease him Absurd and Ridiculous Of these I shall take notice in order First He supposeth Nothing to be the Gospel J. B. supposes nothing to be the Gospel save the Outward Preaching save the outward preaching and that there is no Gospel where there is not an outward Administration of it And this he never offers to prove What he saith to Contradict my Asserting the Gospel to be where the outward may not be will after be Examined Upon this his meer Supposition he accounts me Absurd pag. 226. and upon this Supposition he urges all mens not having Grace as not having the Gospel p. 235 236 240. That to preach the Light within is to despise the Gospel p. 244. That according to me the preaching of the Gospel is not necessary to Salvation Another of his Suppositions is That because the Light within is common to all therefore it can be nothing but Nature And upon this false and unproved Ground he Raileth and Enlargeth p. 229. where he calls it the Pelagian Grace of God that is Man's Free-will doubting whether I will say so much as did Pelagius Which is nothing to the purpose neither proveth his Inference which is false as the Scriptures brought by me in my Apology to prove There is a Saving Spiritual Grace given to all do Evince What he saith in Answer to any of them as it occurs will hereafter be considered And yet upon this false Inference he Concludes p. 233. The Height of the Quakers Divinity is but what a Natural Conscience can teach a Man-eater and to the same purpose p. 234. and then battereth against it p. 237. saying Christ in the Saints the Hope of Glory is not brought about by Nature Which I never said and therefore he but fights with his own Shadow as he doth upon the like Occasion pag. 231 232-236-238 241 256. where he saith That Men are not made partakers of the Priviledge of the Saints in their Natural State and the Scripture saith not There is any thing in the Heart of Man by Nature which produceth Christ in the Soul c. which things were never Asserted by me More of his Mistakes of this kind may be seen pag. 257 262 265. where he concludeth The Quakers Religion and Gospel to be nothing but what meer Nature teacheth But it is observable that in that almost one and only Argument which he bringeth to make this Inferrence good albeit much of his Work and Exclamations depends upon it he involves himself in a notable Contradiction For p. 234. n. 7. to prove There is no Vniversal Light or Seed that beareth Witness against all evil Deeds he asketh J. B. denies the Light to bear Witness against Evil in the Cilicians and Messagetians How came it that this Light and Seed did not bear Witness against the Cilicians who lived upon Theft and against the Messagetians who use their Wives in common and against such as used to kill Men and eat them Now these can make nothing for his purpose unless for this Reason that because these People Commonly and Avowedly did these things therefore they had no Light that Reproved them for them otherwise their doing of them will not Import the Light did not bear Witness against their so doing more than Men under the Presbyterian Ministry committing Adultery and Murder will import there was no Witness born against these Sins by the Presbyterian Preachers But he has overthrown this his Reason himself by affirming p. 232. and 235. J. B. overthrows his former Reason asserting the Law of Nature in every Man That there is a Natural Conscience or the Law of Nature left in every Man as God's Deputy informing of some good and testifying against some Evils of which elsewhere he particularizeth Murder and Adultery and yet here he saith It is observed there is hardly one point of the Law of Nature which some Nation hath not Violated not only by their Customs but by their very Laws If then their thus violating the Law of Nature do not prove they had not the Law of Nature or were not Reproved by it which he himself has Confessed all had then neither will their doing those things prove they had no Divine Light nor Seed or were not thereby Reproved for if it prove they had not that it will as much prove they had no Natural Conscience no Law of Nature which yet he confesseth is in Every Man ¶ 4. In this Chapter also he would Insinuate and Infer to render that which he writes against Odious That the asserting of an Universal Gospel by which Salvation may be possible to such as want outward Preaching renders outward Preaching needless but this Cavil used often before by him is already Answered in the 3 and 4 Sections and therefore what he repeats of this again here p. 229.236.245 needs no further Answer And whereas he asks upon this Occasion p. 244. The History of the Gospel is necessary How can the believing of the History of the Gospel be necessary as I say it is to such as hear it if they may be saved without it Because God Commands every one to believe these Truths to whom he bringeth the Knowledge of them albeit not them to whom he hath rendred it Impossible Has he forgotten their own Distinction of some things being necessary Necessitate praecepti that are not so Necessitate medii Neither do I intend by this Belief which the proposing of the outward Knowledge requires a Belief meerly Historical Necessitas Praecepti Medii as he malitiously would Insinuate I shall now take notice of his gross Perversions and Calumnies which as he advances I observe grow thicker and are in this Chapter very Numerous As first from my saying That we understand by the Light or Seed a Spiritual and Heavenly Principle in which GOD as he is the Father the Son and the Spirit dwelleth from this he infers p. 231. It may be he doth not acknowledge a Trinity c. But if there be any ground for such an Inference from these words of mine I leave it to all Rational men to Judge Pag. 255. Because I say It is Christ's Flesh and Blood which came down from Heaven he asks If Christ had no other Flesh and Blood and then as if I had answered He had not he Concludes Us Deniers of the Incarnation of Christ asking Whether the Death of Christ his Resurrection and Ascension and all the History of his Life be but Dreams and Lies Which Malitious Insinuation and Perversion is returned upon him as false and groundless And whereas he