Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	darkness_n	heart_n	shine_v	3,010	5	9.0570	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65873	The light and life of Christ within and the extent and efficacy thereof demonstrated. And the Quakers principles justified by the scriptures of truth, the doctrine of Christ and his Apostles, from the false and blasphemous constructions put upon them by William Burnet, in his book, stiled, The captial principles of the people called Quakers : herein the rest of the Baptists that own him may see, his antichristian spirit and doctrines detected ... / by ... G. Whitehead.	Whitehead, George, 1636?-1723.	1668 (1668)	Wing W1941; ESTC R20094	56,660	72

to shew me that Text in Scripture where any of God's Worthies directed people to turn to a Light within and obey the Light within to expect salvation This is altogether contrary to the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles John exhorts his followers to believe in him that should come after him and not a Christ that should come into them the Apostle preached Christ to the Jews whom they by wicked hands had crucified slain Paul preached a Christ made of a Woman and not a Christ in them that God will redeem the World by Reply Because this our opposer is so ignorant of the Scriptures and of the Light and Power of God which saveth I may Answer his Challenge and inform him that the tendency and drift of all the preaching and directions of the holy men of God Christ and the Apostles was to turn people from darkness to the Light to the knowledge of God and Christ which is spiritual and therefore inwardly and spiritually to be received and revealed for that which may be known of God who is Light is manifest within Rom. 1. And Paul said God who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus 2 Cor. 4. And Christ exhorted to beleive in the Light that they might be the Children of the Light And was not that in them which did beget them to God and bring them to be his Children And did not Christ say he that is with you shall be in you and I in them and they in me Joh. 17. And this appearance without in the flesh and coming after John Baptist and being slain by wicked hands as touching the flesh doth not destroy nor make void the doctrine of his spiritual appearance in his People no more then his coming after John did his being before him in Spirit for John said he that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me mark he was before John 1 Joh. 1.13 though not in the flesh or body in which he was crucified but being quickned by the Spirit thereby he went and preached unto the spirits in Prison and was not this preaching spiritual and directed to Spirit Life and Light within which opened the eyes of the understandings to see the power of God in Christ the Light even the same power that raised up Jesus And was not the Word within a Light which both Moses and the Apostles directed to and the Spirit or Anointing within to teach lead into all truth and save from sin and death which has reigned in people And what is Redemption but a freeing from the servitude of sin and it is fulfilled in every true Believer by Christ who is the power of God who is made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption and all these are inwardly experienced by such as know that God hath wrought all their works in them And therefore for W. Burnet to deny that Christ in them to redeem is his gross error and ignorance and contradiction to the Apostles Doctrine as also how appearently does he contradict himself when he grants that the fruits and effects of our Justification doth shew it self within and without And surely then the cause thereof must be known within Christ within the Spirit that Sanctifies and Justifies within God who works all our works in us Isa. 26.12 dwels in his people 2 Cor. 6. Now if Christ be to be known within then that which reveals him and may be known of God is within there must be an eye or else no seeing and if it be blind or vailed it must be opened by that which makes manifest things that are reproved which is Light But now as to Christs being in every man p. 4. that 's not our affirmation nor words but that there is a Light of Christ in every man even in the Rebellious to leave them without excuse And what T. Tayler has said in that case is true and will stand over the head of this our ignorant opposer who hath carped at this expression of the word in the heart and the Light shining in man yea in every man as being a present help against sin which is neither a marring of his work nor any extenuation of the glory of the true Christ nor any falshood as it is very ignorantly charged for the Word in the heart is to be obeyed it saves the soul the Light shining in the heart gives the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Therefore 't is helpful against sin 1. in that it saves from it 2. in that it leads such as be kept in it to the Glory which is immortal and leaves them that rebel against the Light without excuse which if it had not sufficiency and a saving property in it it could not for otherwise its insufficiency therein would be ground of excuse And as touching the Word which is nigh IN the heart and wherewith shall a young-man cleanse his way Psal. 119. W.B. his perswasion is that neither of those Scriptures refer to Christ but to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament which is called both the Word of God and of Christ he sayes To which I reply This Baptists ignorance and absurdity in this plainly appears touching both the Word that cleanseth and the Scriptures which are the Writings that contain many Words of Truth in the plural whereas the Word which clenseth and sanctifieth Joh. 17. is but one which also is both a discerner of the thoughts and powerful in the operation Also when David directed to the Word which was a light unto his paths much of the Old Testament was not given forth or written and to be sure not the New And when the Apostle directed to the Word of Faith which was nigh in the heart to obey it this could not be the Scriptures or Writings of the New-Testament for he was then but a writing part of them and several other Epistles were unwritten neither were they bound up into one Volumn till many years after besides many have corrupted the Scriptures but the Word which sanctifies and redeems is the Incorruptible Seed which lives and abides for ever And is not that Seed or Word Christ And how comes any to know and rightly to understand the Scriptures but by the Spirit of God for it 's granted p. 4. That the Law of God is made applicable to us by the Spirit of God So then men are to be directed to the Spirit of God within which convinceth the world but in contradiction to himself he saith Paul's knowledge of sin came by the Law not by the Light within Surely not by the Law without the Light within if by the Spirit of God it be applicable to us as before for it was not the Law outward as it was in the letter of it that convinced Paul for he had that before when

Strangers from the Covenant of Promise and walking according to the course of this World in that sence they were said to be without Christ and without God in the World their understandings being darkned and their minds alienated but it does not follow that they had none of Christs Light in them or that the Spirit did not reprove them they being in the World for the Spirit reproves the World of sin surely it would be a blind inference to say That neither God nor his Spirit were in the World because they were without God in the World and sometimes afar off whereas his Presence fills Heaven and Earth and from his Presence Spirit Hell cannot hide nor the deeps cover though God beholds all the wicked a far off and they are without him as to any living sense union or injoyment their minds being estranged from his Light in them which in that state appears or shines in darkness though it comprehends not the Light and these are those that rebel against the Light that know not its wayes because they abide not in its paths Job 24.13 and that say to the Almighty Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes Job 21.14 wherefore the Almighty is nigh unto them convicting and striving with them by his Spirit though it shall not alwayes strive with man so that they may be said to be both without God and without Light as to the true knowledge and possession and yet have both nigh to them even reaching their Consciences Bapt. Those were in Eph. 2. without God and Christ in the world what then can such turn to within for Life and Salvation Answ. To the Light of Christ wherewith every man 's inlightned and the reproofes of the Spirit of Truth which reproves the world of sin that they may know the true God and his Son which is Life Eternal Bapt. The cause of acceptance is what God hath done for man and not mans unspotted Life that doth perform his obedience but Christ becoming obedient to the Father for man Answ. The unspotted Life is an effect of God's work in reconciling man in Christ and this is acceptable to God which the spotted corrupt life is not Neither will your applying Christ's obedience render you in your spotted lives and sins acceptable or justified for he came in the likeness of sinful flesh that he might condemn sin in the flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in them that walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Mark within is the fulfilling and effect of Christ's obedience Rom. 8. Again for W.B. to argue that because the Saints were in darkness in the time of their unregenerate state that therefore no man can be said to have either God Christ or the Spirit in him in that state This argument is fallacious for he might as well argue that the light cannot shine in darkness whereas a man may have the Light in him when he i● not in it or walks not in the Spirit and if he should say that God or his presence is not in the world because the world knows him not but is in darkness and in that sence without God this were absurd and fallacious of the nature of his argument Bapt. To what then shall such turn within for Light that have there nothing but darkness Answ. This contradicts his former confessing that Light is in every man that doth convince of sin which is something besides darkness But there are those that put darkness for light and he hath herein done no less to his own confutation and surely that light in every man that convinceth of sin is worth the turning to to lead the mind out of sin Bapt. The fourth proof Esay 8.20 From this may be gathered that those that are not principled with the knowledg of the Law of God and testimony of Christ but contrary thereto do exhort are in the dark and blind without any light in them they have no light in them if that be so there be a people that have no light such have neither Father Son nor Spirit in them P. 9. Answ. That of Isa. 8.20 No light should be no morning as in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shachar i. e. Aurora but there is a light shining in darkness Before the day dawn and day-star arise or the morning appear in them But how has this man flatly contradicted himself whilst in other places he ha's confessed to a convincing light in every man that doth reprove him for sin and by which a wicked man upon sins commiting receiveth checks from see Pag. 8 16. tells us of the Light of Nature Creation-Light Spirit that God hath plac'd in man every man by nature having the Law plac'd in his heart viz. the Ten Commandments that is to say in the substance of them Thus far he hath in plain words confessed to a Light in every man though other whiles he affirms they have no Light no not any Light in them Who know not but act contrary to the Law of God And thus the Reader may see how he has given a deadly blow to his own evil cause against the Light for might not I as well argue against him that if some have not any Light in them then no convincing Light and how then is the Law and substance of the Ten Commandements in every man But then on the other hand if the substance of that Law or those Commandments be in every man then this is not natural but Spiritual the Law is Spiritual as writen in the heart and the substance of this Law enjoyns to love the Lord God with all the heart and soul and thy neighbour as thy self which Christ said to the Lawyer This do and thou shalt live after he had asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life Luke 10.25 26 27 28. Now that Light which leads to eternal Life must needs be the Light of Christ saving and this is in every man which teacheth so to love God as is confessed that life eternal may be inherited which to say is the light of nature an uncertain guide as the titles of his pages and to scorn it as the Quakers Christ this shews the great ignorance and folly of this our opposer and his gross and apparant contradictions and it is not his scornfully saying over and over thus you may see the Quakers Christ that can confute us or destroy our Christ who is Gods Christ. Bap. It would be a vain and fond saying to say when the natural Sun is hid under a Cloud or the darkness of the night therefore there is no Sun there but these have none neither shining nor hid in them To what should such turn to within then for Life and Salvation Answ. Yes there is some Light hid in men who are dark By the same reason as before the Light of Christ may be where it is clouded and vailed with darkness and it doth for a time shine

be in their hearts to which God expects obedience Surely that which teacheth men to love the Lord God with all their hearts and souls teacheth them the substance of true Worship and the Law of the Lord is pure converting the soul yet it 's probable many that have a sense of this Law of God within and his Worship may not be in the form of these Baptists nor come under their form of Water-Baptism which such a great stress they lay upon and yet be accepted of God and saved notwithstanding being baptized by the Spirit Bapt. There is that light and understanding still left in nature that there is a God that there is worship due to him but the Light in man leaves him short of what the true God is and what worship is due to him Answ. The Light that God hath given in man doth not only shew that there is a God and a Worship due but also leads him to know the true God and his Worship where it is obeyed as it did to those Gentiles spoken of in Rom. 1.19 20 21. when that which might be known of God was manifest in them which was the ground of their discerning the invisible things of God even his Eternal Power and Godhead from the visible Creation so as they were left without excuse when they turned from it and liked not to retain God in their knowledg viz. which disobedience and abuse caused their Reprobation and further Apostacy and Idolatry Rom. 1.27 28. surely it would be improper to say they liked not to retain God in their knowledge if they had a knowledge of God Bapt. How uncertain a rule or guide is the Light within or the checks of Conscience for a man to build his Hope or Faith upon Ans. Not uncertain to them that have tryed it and beleived in it as Christ exhorted The Spirit that God hath given is certain the Law of God in every man is certain the substance of the ten Commandments within as is confessed is certain Conscience when acted by the Light and Law of God within is not uncertain in it's checks against sin Bapt. For if that Light that is in man be darkness or vailed with gross erorrs and so the soul run into strange enormities how sad will it be for that soul that gives up himself to follow it this is the Quakers Principle not only to look for Salvation from it but to be led by it Answ. Surely this is a very sad conclusion against the Light within and very false for he hath confounded erring conscience light and darkness together as not making a difference here in the end of his work for first a Light that convinceth and reproves the wicked of sin is confessed to be in them 2ly A knowledge of God left in man 3ly The substance or body of the ten Commandments 4thly Consciences conviction which the Law of God in the heart is the ground of none of which can truly be deemed darkness though some put light for darkness and darkness for light as this our opposer hath done Also to tell of the light in man being darkness or vailed with gross errors are two different things for the Light being vailed in some doth not change it from being light in its own essence And now it wil not be sad for that soul that gives up himself to follow the Light within which convinces and reproves for sin and teaches truly to love the Lord God and to do righteously justly before all men which answers and fulfils the substance of the moral Law which is confessed to be within men even in the very heathen as in p. 17. So that the truth of our Principle touching the Light within is evidently verified and proved both from the Scriptures of truth as also from our adversaries own confession therefore the rest of our Principles which depend upon it must needs be true the Light of Christ within being the fundamental or most binding as W.B. has confest so the less need be said to his frivolous objections against us in other particulars howbeit some things may be observed touching several passages following Bapt. Those that have not the Spirit to lead them if the Scriptures be the Rule what Rule have they Answ. Without the guidance of the Spirit the right use and end of the Scriptures cannot be known they are as a Book sealed only by the Spirit truly opened as to their not having the Spirit to lead them that 's but a begging the Question and contradicts much of what he hath said before for how are any said not to have it but in that they walk not in its way nor follow its leadings but rebell against the Spirit grieve and vex the Holy Spirit such are not without it as to its conviction and reproofs though not having it as to the true sense and apprehension of it guidances life virtue and glory of its ministration they being in that which is sensual and devilish Bapt. God never designed the Spirit to be man's Rule but to be mans assistant and helper to walk and build by the rule the Scripture doth direct him to his duty pag. 19. Answ. And are not the directions of the Spirit according to the Scriptures did not God ever design the Spirit to lead into all Truth and if the Spirit doth principle a Soul for his duty as this our Opposer confesseth then the Spirit is sufficient to guide order and be a rule to him in his duty so that in denying the Spirits sufficiency he hath denyed Scripture which testifies of the Spirit which many may be led by that cannot read the Scriptures and to his confessing That every Believer is as a wise builder that hath his judgment and skil principled within By what is the true Believer so principled if not by the Spirit or Light of Truth within Is it not the Spirit that doth so principle a man for his work both in praying hearing and obedience yea it is confest in the same page that it is the Spirit and doth it follow that the Spirit of God is not a rule sufficient or that the Light within must be excluded from trying Doctrines because the Bereans did search the Scriptures to see whether these things were so whereas they received the Word with all readiness of mind which implies that in the main they were satisfied in that they received the Word with such readiness and they searched the Scriptures which if in any particular thing this may be said to imply a doubting on their parts their doubt cannot be any Argument to detract from the Spirits sufficiency both to inform satisfie and guide them into the Truth declared of in the Scriptures So that to say It was by the Scripture without and not by the Light within This shews great ignorance thus to exclude the Light whereas he should rather have said as his former words intimate That it was by the Spirit or Light within together with the Scriptures that