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
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
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
whatever various Apprehensions men may have through their Weakness or Prejudices concerning the things taught therein yet are they in themselves absolutely the same that ever they were and that without the loss or change of a material Word or Syllable in the manner of their Delivery This I have proved elsewhere and it is a thing capable of the most evident Demonstration Wherefore whatever Entertainment this Gospel meets withal at present in the World its former Prevalency may be pleaded in Justification of its divine Original 2. The Cause of this Event lyeth principally in the Soveraign Will and Pleasure of God For although the Scripture be his Word and he hath testified it so to be by his Power put forth and exerted in Dispensations of it unto men yet is not that divine Power included or shut up in the Letter of it so that it must have the same Effect where ever it comes We plead not that there is absolutely in its self its Doctrine the Preaching or Preachers thereof such a Power as it were naturally and physically to produce the Effects mentioned But it is an Instrument in the Hand of God unto that work which is his own and he puts forth his Power in it and by it as it seems good unto him And if he doth at any time so put forth his divine Power in the Administration of it or in the use of this Instrument as that the great Worth and Excellency of it shall manifest it self to be from him he giveth a sufficient Attestation of it Wherefore the Times and Seasons of the Prevalency of the Gospel in the World are in the Hand and at the Sovereign Disposal of God And as he is not obliged for who hath known the Mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor to accompany it with the same Power at all times and seasons so the Evidence of his own Power going along with it at any time whiles under an open Claim of a divine Original is an uncontroulable Approbation of it Thus at the first Preaching of the Word to fullfil the Promises made unto the Fathers from the Foundation of the World to glorify his Son Jesus Christ and the Gospel it self which he had revealed he put forth that effectual divine Power in its Administration whereby the World was subdued unto the Obedience of it And the Time will come when he will revive the same Work of Power and Grace to retrieve the World into a subjection to Jesus Christ. And although he doth not in these latter Ages cause it to run and prosper among the Nations of the world who have not as yet received it as he did formerly yet considering the state of things at present among the Generality of Mankind the Preservation of it in that small Remnant by whom it is obeyed in sincerity is a no less glorious Evidence of his Presence with it and Care over it than was its eminent Propagation in days of old 3. The Righteousness of God is in like manner to be considered in these things For whereas he had granted the inestimable Priviledge of his Word unto many Nations they through their horrible ingratitude and wickedness detained the Truth in Vnrighteousness so that the continuance of the Gospel among them was no way to the Glory of God no nor yet unto their own Advantage For neither Nations nor Persons will ever be advantaged by an outward Profession of the Gospel whilst they live in a Contradiction and Disobedience to its Precepts yea nothing can be more pernicious to the Souls of Men. This Impiety God is at this day revenging on the Nations of the World having utterly cast off many of them from the Knowledg of the Truth and given up others unto strong Delusions to believe Lies though they retain the Scriptures and outward Profession of Christianity How far he may proceed in the same way of Righteous Vengeance towards other Nations also we know not but ought to tremble in the Consideration of it When God first granted the Gospel unto the World although the Generality of Mankind had greatly sinned against the Light of Nature and had rejected all those supernatural Revelations that at any time had been made unto them yet had they not sinned against the Gospel it self nor the Grace thereof It pleased God therefore to wink at and pass over that Time of their Ignorance so as that his Justice should not be provoked by any of their former sins to with-hold the Efficacy of his divine Power in the Administration of the Gospel from them whereby he called them to Repentance But now after that the Gospel hath been sufficiently tendred unto all Nations and hath either as unto its Profession or as unto its Power with the Obedience that it requires been rejected by the most of them things are quite otherwise stated It is from the Righteous Judgment of God revenging the sins of the World against the Gospel it self that so many Nations are deprived of it and so many left obstinate in its Refusal Wherefore the present state of things doth no way weaken or prejudice the Evidence given unto the Scripture by that mighty Power of God which accompanied the Administration of it in the World For what hath since fallen out there are secret Reasons of Sovereign Wisdom and open Causes in Divine Justice whereunto it is to be assigned These things I have briefly called over and not as though they were all of this kind that may be pleaded but only to give some Instance of those external Arguments whereby the divine Authority of the Scripture may be confirmed Now these Arguments are such as are able of themselves to beget in the Minds of Men sober humble intelligent and unprejudiced a firm Opinion Judgment and Perswasion that the Scripture doth proceed from God Where Persons are prepossessed with invincible Prejudices contracted by a Course of Education wherein they have imbibed Principles opposite and contrary thereunto and have increased and fortified them by some fixed and hereditary Enmity against all those whom they know to own the Divinity of the Scripture as it is with Mahometans aud some of the Indians these Arguments it may be will not prevail immediately to work nor effect their Assent It is so with respect unto them also who out of Love unto and Delight in those ways of Vice Sin and Wickedness which are absolutely and severely condemned in the Scripture without the least hope of a Dispensation unto them that continue under the Power of them who will not take these Arguments into due Consideration Such Persons may talk and discourse of them but they never weigh them seriously according as the Importance of the Cause doth require For if men will examine them as they ought it must be with a sedate Judgment that their eternal Condition depends upon a right Determination of this Enquiry But for those who can scarce get Liberty from the Service and Power of their Lusts seriously
of Man but of God It will be said this Testimony is private in the Minds only of them on whom this VVork is wrought And therefore do I press it no further but he that believeth hath the Witness in himself 1 John 5. 10. Let it be granted that all who are really converted unto God by the Power of the VVord have that infallible Evidence and Testimony of its Divine Original Authority and Power in their own Souls and Consciences that they thereon believe it with Faith Divine and Supernatural in Conjunction with the other Evidences before mentioned as Parts of the same Divine Testimony and it is all I aim at herein But yet although this Testimony be privately received for in it self it is not so but common unto all Believers yet is it ministerially pleadable in the Church as a Principal Motive unto Believing A Declaration of the Divine Power which some have found by Experience in the VVord is an Ordinance of God to convince others and to bring them unto the Faith Yea of all the external Arguments that are or may be pleaded to justify the Divine Authority of the Scripture there is none more prevalent nor cogent than this of its mighty Efficacy in all Ages on the Souls of Men to change convert and renew them into the Image and Likeness of God which hath been Visible and Manifest Moreover there are yet other particular Effects of the Divine Power of the Word on the Minds and Consciences of Men belonging unto this general Work either preceding or following of it which are clearly sensible and enlarge the Evidence As 1. The Work of Conviction of Sin on those who expected it not who desired it not and who would avoid it if by any means possible they could The VVorld is filled with Instances of this Nature whilst Men have been full of love to their Sins at Peace in them enjoying Benefit and Advantage by them the VVord coming upon them in its Power hath awed disquieted and terrified them taken away their Peace destroyed their Hopes and made them as it were whether they would or no that is contrary to their Desires Inclinations and carnal Affections to conclude that if they comply not with what is proposed unto them in that Word which before they took no notice of nor had any regard unto they must be presently or eternally miserable Conscience is the Territory or Dominion of God in Man which he hath so reserved unto himself that no Human Power can possibly enter into it or dispose of it in any wise But in this VVork of Conviction of Sin the VVord of God the Scripture entreth into the Conscience of the Sinner takes possession of it disposeth it unto Peace or Trouble by its Laws or Rules and no otherwise VVhere it gives Disquietments all the VVorld cannot give it Peace and where it speaks Peace there is none can give it Trouble VVere not this the Word of God how should it come thus to speak in his Name and to act his Authority in the Consciences of Men as it doth when once it begins this VVork Conscience immediately owns a new Rule a new Law a new Government in order to the Judgment of God upon it and all its Actions And it is contrary to the Nature of Conscience to take this upon it self nor would it do so but that it sensibly finds God speaking and acting in it and by it see 1 Cor. 14. 25 26. An Invasion may be made on the outward Duties that Conscience disposeth unto but none can be so upon its internal Actings No Power under Heaven can cause Conscience to think act or judge otherwise than it doth by its immediate Respect unto God For it is the Minds self-judging with respect unto God and what is not so is no Act of Conscience VVherefore to force an Act of Conscience implies a Contradiction However it may be defiled bribed seared and at length utterly debauched admit of a Superiour Power a Power above or over it self under God it cannot I know Conscience may be prepossessed with Prejudices and by Education with the Insinuation of Traditions take on it self the Power of False Corrupt Superstitious Principles and Errors as Means of Conveying unto it a Sense of Divine Authority So is it with the Mâ—humetans and other false Worshippers in the World But the Power of those Divine Convictions whereof we treat is manifestly different from such prejudicate Opinions For where these are not imposed on Men by Artifices and Delusions easily discoverable they prepossess their Minds and Inclinations by Traditions antecedently unto any right Judgment they can make of themselves or other things and they are generally wrapt up and condited in their secular Interests The Convictions we treat of come from without upon the Minds of Men and that with a sensible Power prevailing over all their previous Thoughts and Inclinations Those first affect deceive and delude the notional Part of the Soul whereby Conscience is insensibly influenced and diverted into improper Respects and is deceived as to its judging of the Voice of God these immediately principle the Practical Understanding and self-judging Power of the Soul Wherefore such Opinions and Perswasions are gradually insinuated into the Mind and are admitted insensibly without Opposition or Reluctancy being never accompanied at their first Admission with any secular Disadvantage But these Divine Convictions by the Word befall Men some when they think of nothing less and desire nothing less some when they design other Things as the Pleasing of their Ears or the Entertainment of their Company and some that go on purpose to deride and scoff at what should be spoken unto them from it It might also be added unto the same purpose how confirmed some have been in their carnal Peace and Security by Love of Sin with innumerable inveterate Prejudices what Losses and Ruine to their outward Concernments many have fallen into by admitting of their Convictions what Force Diligence and Artifices have been used to defeat them what Contribution of Aid and Assistance hath there been from Satan unto this purpose and yet against all hath the Divine Power of the Word absolutely prevailed and accomplished its whole designed Effect See 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. Jerem. 23. 29. Zach. 1. 6. 2. It doth it by the Light that is in it and that Spiritual Illuminating Efficacy wherewith it is accompanied Hence it is called a Light shining in a dark Place 2 Pet. 1. 19. That Light whereby God shines into the Hearts and Minds of Men 2 Cor. 4. 4 6. Without the Scripture all the World is in Darkness Darkness covers the Earth and thick Darkness the People Isa 60. 2. It is the Kingdom of Satan filled with Darkness and Confusion Superstition Idolatry lying Vanities wherein Men know not at all what they do nor whither they go fill the whole World even as it is at this Day And the Minds of Men are naturally in Darkness there is a Blindness