grateful is the lowest degree of Reason to us wheresoever we find it that we can no more deny it or occasionally refuse our selves the use of it then the greatest since its being so does not unreason it or render it no Reason in it self though confessedly a less degree of Reason nor is it possible that the meanest Appearance of Reason can withstand the greatest since Reason alwayes acknowledgeth and owneth her self in what Degree soever she meets It is not Stature that makes a Man nor Magnitude a Tree or Stone but the Nature and Property of each And truly we are well contented with our weak Reason as he is pleased to call it we know it to be God's Light Grace and Spirit of Truth that since we gave our Minds intirely to be governed and exercised by it We have found that Mortification of Sin and Corruption that Renewing of Heavenly Divine Life that holy Courage and Patience and it has brought us to so good an Vnderstanding of the Mysteries of God's Eternal Kingdom and Assurance as we are faithful to the same of Everlasting Blessedness that 't is beyond the power of the ratling of these Leaves of Charge and Reproach to scare us from our Standing or beget the least Question in us concerning the certainty of this Pure Unchangeable Way of God in which we walk but is invisible to his vulterous Eye who so disdainfully writes against it I had some hopes he had done with Personal Contest at least against the Body but I find him still in his Reflections For whilst you look upon your selves as led by an infallible Spirit though it be indeed nothing but the Fancy of G. Fox or some other of your Teachers you must needs reject the clearest Light that God hath given to Men 〈◊〉 Angels when it opposes your Sentments Though he could scarce say any thing of us more disingenious and scurrilous rendring us such deluded Sots and very Iddeots as to captivate our own Understandings if he can think we had ever any to the Dreams and Fancies of a few illiterate men under an Apprehension of being led not by them but an Infalible Spirit Yet since in this one Expression lies wrapt up if not his great undervalue of an Infallible Spirit at least his Disbelief of any such thing as the Guide of men and his unworthy Reflection upon us in crediting any such Doctrine I am more then ordinarily engag'd to state and vindicate that one most necessary Doctrine viz. Whether God's holy and Infallible Spirit be the proper Rule of Faith Judge of Controversies and Guide of a Christian Life or any other thing this I reckon as the main Hing on which all turns and I now make it my Post by which in God's Strength I am resolved to stand firm in its Defence and that by Scripture and Reason hoping whatever uncharitable Thoughts he entertains of us that he is not so devoid of all sense of either as that they may not be used with advantage to him under his present Ignorance and Presumption 'T is true this deserves an intire Discourse of it self as that which above all other Subjects disputed on in the whole World deserves mans most weighty Consideration and if the Lord make way it may be by some or other more distinctly and at large hanâ—llâ—d another time in a perticular Tract however I shall state and briefly defend the Question I hope to present satisfaction The Question Stated Whether God's Holy and Unerring Spirit for I am so Charitable as to think he believes God's Spirit to be so is or should be the proper Judge of Truth Rule of Faith and Guide of Life among men especially under the Administration of the Blessed Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ or not I affirm it and proceed to prove it both by Scripture and Reason First Gen. 6. 3. And the Lord said My Spirit shall not alwayes strive with man for that he also is Flesh yet his dayes shall be an Hundred and Twenty Years c. If God's Unerring Spirit has been wont to strive with men either to convince them of and convert them from the Evil of their Thoughts words and Deeds or else to provoke them yet more fully to do the Will of God so as to press on from one degree of Glory to another then Men have had an Unerring Spirit to be their Teacher and Judge and Rule and Guide of that Truth concerning that Faith and in that most holy Way which leads to Eternal Life But the Scripture proves the first Proposition That God's Spirit has frequently strove with men and for the Ends before-mentioned and consequently they have not been without an Holy Vnerring Spirit to Teach Judge Regulate and Guide them Secondly Neh. 9. 19 20. Yet thou in thy manifold Mercies forsookest them not in the Wilderness the Pillar of the Cloud departed not from them by Day to lead them in the Way neither the Pillar of Fire by Night to shew them Light and the Way wherein they should go Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them c. If under the Dispensation of the Law God gave his good Spirit to instruct his People which is to say that it should teach them rule them and guide them in whatever was necessary for them to know or do otherwise God's Spirit would have been lame and defective in his holy Instruction which far be it from any sober man to affirm then will it follow that much more should the same Eternal Spirit be poured out under the glorious Dispensation of the Gospel But all that acknowledge the Divine Authority of the Scriptures must confess to God's Goodness to his People in the outward Wilderness in the free Gift of his Eternal Spirit therefore the Eternal Spirit was and is the Teacher Judge Rule and Guide of his People now besides that state was but figurative of the Mystical Travel of the true Church in the dayes of the Gospel and how is God so propitious now as then if he be not as a Pillar of Cloud by Day and of Fire by Night I mean Spiritually and Invisibly so to illuminate his People concerning the way he would have them to walk in Thirdly Job 32. 8. Prov. 2. 6. But there is a Spirit in man and the Inspiration of the Almighty giveth them Vnderstanding For the Lord giveth Wisdom out of his Mouth cometh Knowledge and Vnderstanding If the Spirit in man be not of man as the foregoing words shew and therefore is that divine Spirit by and from which comes the Inspiration of the Almighty and if the Understanding he mostly intended be of Divine and Eternal Matters as the whole Subject treated on in the preceeding and following Chapters as well as that in which the words are manifests then is it not from the strength of mans Reason Memory or utmost Creaturely Ability that his Knowledge of Religious and Heavenly Things comes but from the Revelation and Discovery of the
things of God which all Natural Understanding can never fathom because they are Spiritually to be discerned Fifteenth 1 Cor. 6. 19. What Know ye not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own The Apostle treating of the great nearness that every Believer stands in to the Lord and that Blessed Union which the Dispensation of the Gospel brings to by the putting away the Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and the Answer of a good Conscience before God in winding up this subject he thus smartly and as if his Query were enough to clear up all that he had to say to them as to their Duty and his Exhortation What know ye not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you From whence I draw this Argument If Believers be the Temple in which the Holy Ghost dwells as evidently speaks the Scripture then are they not left without an Infalible Spirit as Judge Rule and Guide to repair to but it is apparent to sence that the holy Ghost is by the Apostle affirmed to inhabit or take up his abode in believers therefore they must needs be attended with an iufallible Spirit and for what if not the End before-mentioned Sixteenth 1 Cor. 12 13. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be Bond or Free and have been all made to drink into one Spirit By which Divine Sence of the Apostle we cannot but allow that if they were both baptized by one Spirit into one Body and made to drink into the same Spirit that the Saints were not without an Infallible Spirit since such Baptizing and Drinking do emphatically imply the whole Work of the Spirit in their Regeneration and their daily Union with and intimate Enjoyment of it the whole course of their lives And certainly If by that Eternal Spirit they were baptized ito that one Body Christ It was as impossible for them as Members thereof to live without the Life Vertue and Spirit of Christ Jesus their Head as for any natural Body to live without the same Life Blood Heat and Motion which belongs to its Head And how this man can be esteemed a good Christian who would render Christ Jesus the Head of a Fallible Body by divesting Christians of an Infallible Spirit I leave to Persons of better Judgment more Honesty and greater Moderation then himself to judge Seventeenth 2 Cor. 3. 18. But we all with open Face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. This whole Chapter is an admirable account of the Super-Excellency of the Gospel Administration of Life to that of the Law how far it did transcend it as to all spiritual Knowledge Priviledge and Enjoyment which I desire the Reader seriously to read as well as to consider what is offered from the Verse cited If a Christian's Change into God's Image from Glory to Glory be the Work of the Eternal Spirit in men it follows necessarily That Christians can no more be without the Discoveries Leadings and Orderings of God's Spirit then they can be his Children without his Image since whatever they think say or do in reference to Religion should bear a near Relation to that resemblance of God which above all things they ought to act correspondently with but we see how very expresly and profoundly the Apostle describes the exceeding Blessedness of the New Covenant namely A being changed into the Image of God from Glory to Glory not by our own Notions or Comprehensions from the strength of our natural Reason or any Book without us but by the Spirit of the Lord operating in us therefore God's Children are not without an infallible Spirit unless he should deny God's Spirit to be such which methinks I cannot believe him to do Gal. 3. 3. Are ye so foolish having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect in the Flesh If Christians are both to begin and end in the Spirit or if a Christian throughout the whole course of his Life from the first step or measure to the fulness and perfection of his stature is to be informed regulated and guided by the infallible Spirit of God as the Apostle's Reproof of the Galatians for their declining to be ordered thereby evidently proves then Christians ought to begin and end in the Strength Knowledge Wisdom and Guidance of an Infallible Spirit aud consequently that Doctrine which denies such an Unerring Spirit to be the Judge Rule and Guide of Christians is Antichristian Gal. 4. 6. Because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts If God sends forth his Spirit into the Hearts of his Children then are they not without an Infallible Spirit but the express Letter of the Scripture affirms it and consequently our Adversary's Reflection upon us for making it part of our Belief is unsound and condemnable Gal. 5. 16 18. This I say then Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the Lust of the Flesh They that walk by the Spirit must first have it and next be led by it but the Apostle exhorted the Church so to walk therefore the Church had and Christians have the Spirit and should walk in or by it that is according to the Motions Leadings and Rule of â—it Eph. 1. 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him If the Heavenly Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of God be through the Spirit then as without Revelation there is no Knowledge of God so without the Spirit there is no divine Wisdom and Revelation And if the Church was attended with that Wisdom and Revelation then with that Spirit from whence they came and consequently Christ's Church is not without that Eternal Vnerring Spirit as saith the Apostle in the 5th Chapter Be not Drunk with Wine wherein is Excess but be filled with the Spirit which signifies the Apostles mind to be quite another thing from the Judgment of our Adversary who thinks All men ought to be empty of it esteeming such as are filled therewith as the Jews did Paul Drunk with New Wine 1 Thes 15 19. Quench not the Spirit If those could not quench the Spirit who had it not then those to whom he gave that Caution had the Spirit consequently the Primitive Churches were not without an Vnerring Spirit because they were not without the Spirit of God which is Unerring 1 John 2. 27. But the Anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things and is Truth and is no Lye and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him If the Judge of Truth
They were Brethren as being of the same Blood and Fathers as Elders of the Tribes under that particular Constitution Besides both his own and if Married his Wifes Fathers and Grand-Fathers might be then living and either of the Council or concurring with it In short We therefore refuse the style of Master and are very cautious of being in the least lavish in Titles of Worldly Honour because We with Lamentation behold through the Illumination of God's blessed Light the Spoil Cruelty and manifold Evils that Proud Flattering Honour-seeking and Honour-giving Spirit has made amongst the Sons of men who to compass unjust Dominion hath sacrific'd the Blood Wealth and Peace of Nations to its ambitious aims and esteem'd it no small accession to the Magnificâ—nce of its exploits that almost in all Ages she hath led the Rights Properties and Persons too of Millions as Captives in Triumph after her and through the Gulf of Rapine and Blood laneâ—t into the vast Ocean of unlimited Power What Impiety is there in the World that may not in some sence be resolved into that of Pride or Covetousness after Honour as its proper Center Mens over-value of themselves and their Displeasure against such as have not the like thoughts of them beget Revenge which taking its opportunity breaks forth into Blood and Murder O! let men learn to dread the Living God and fear all their dayes before him and that will sweep the mind of these vain thoughts and bring it from such exalted conceits and its insatiable Thirst after Honour and will establish it in the Humility and Lovely Plainness of a Meek and Quiet Spirit which is of great Price in the Sight of the Almighty God which because the World is not adorned with but doth both seek and give wordly Honour and Personal Respect whilst perhaps such entertain deadly Hatred against each other and resolve one anothers Ruin for outward Ends we are constrained by the Meek and Lowly Spirit of Christ Jesus our Lord to testifie against the World's Vain Honours and to hold forth an Example to them what they must all expect to come to before they can receive that Honour which is from God And this is that Honest Reason why We of this Age do with Elihu say We know not how to give flattering Titles for in so doing our Maker would soon take us away Thus much in Answer to his Cavills whose Emptiness might have been enough to sound out their own indesert of any but for the sake of the Honest-Hearted I have said some thing enough for the place and occasion If any desire further Satisfaction they may please to peruse a Book entituled No Cross No Crown and the Serious Apology for the Principles and Practices of the People called Quakers pag. 139 140 141 142. which with several others sufficiently vindicate both our Principle and Practice in this particular as also others of the same Nature and tendency His fourth Fling at us is about Womens Sâ—aking in the Church in which point he would seem to Triumph not a little over G. F. Let your Women keep Silence in the Churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak bnt they are commanded to be under Obedience as also saith the Law And if they will learn any thing let them ask their Husbands at home for it is a shame for Women to speak in the Church 1 Cor. 14. 34 35. Here if the Apostle sayes he doth not command Silence to Women by Sex in those cases wherein he allows men by Sex to speak I understand nothing that is written But G. F. pag. 380. sayes Now the Woman here hath an Husband to ask and not usurp Authority over the Man but Christ in the Male as in the Female who redeems from under the Law and makes free from the Law that man may speak c. Now if we may take Liberty to expound the Scripture thus it will be a Nose of wax that may be turned which way we please Besides it seems to be built upon a misreading of Husband for Husbands because Christ who is but One is made the Husbands that must be asked at home So one of your Authors saith But what Husbands have Widdows to learn of but Christ And was not Christ the Husband of Philip's four Daughters and may not they that learn of their Husbands speak then But before I go any further it may be observed how very slight his return is to G. F's Sense of the place and especially that though he quotes another Friends Query on the matter he never offers to give it any Answer and I am really perswaded he was confounded by it However why is it so abusive of the Scripture to say that which the Scripture saith it self Are not the Spirits of Believers properly the Lambs Bride as being the â—â—ue Church to which he is a Bridegroom and â—f which he is the Head Methinks he must never have read or at least have forgot what he read in the Scriptures of Truth who denies this If so then why is it Improper or Abusive as he calls it to say that when Mens Spirits of themselves especially in the unlearned State speak it is that Woman which is forbidden to speak of her self since the Context saith that though they may all speak one by one yet it is if any thing be revealed to them which because that cannot be without Christ reveal it whom the Father hath ordained to be his eternal Word by which to declare to man the invisible things of his Kingdom it follows that it is Christ the Bridegroom and Husband of his People who by his Power speaks through his People to the Edification of his Body And as the Woman is the Weaker Vessel so is Man in comparison of Christ and therefore may not unfitly be accounted a Woman from his comparative imbecillity So that as Christ Presides or Governs in the Assemblies of his People it may be rather said the Man thâ—â— is the Bridegroom and Husband of his People speaks in them and by them then they themselves who without him are but as the Strength of a Woman and it being her place to yield to the Soveraignity of her Lord and Husband to whom is ordained the Rule she ought to receive the Law from his mouth who is the everlasting High-Priest and Prophet of his People But now suppose I should yield it to him that the Apostle chiefly intended the Words in a Literal Sense and not so mystically as we have already discours'd will it therefore be untrue mystically by no means it is frequent to find both a mystical and literal Sense in the same passage as when the Evangelist alludes to Isaiah's Prophecy Chap. 5. 3. proving it to be fulfilled by Christ's bodily Cures which is true in that Sense yet hath one more inward and mystical But to be short I utterly deny from the Literal Text that Women are prohibited to preach singly as Women or of that Sex
Purposes afore-mentioned is the very Badge Condition and Mark of the New and Last Covenant 3. It seems to be the means under the Gospel by which God causes his Children to keep his Statutes c. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them To conclude to speak strictly If in the dayes of the second Covenant which began from Christ's visible Appearance God put his Spirit within his People as saith the Apostle to the Hebrews and that it was thereby he did and doth cause them to walk in his Statutes and keep his Judgments then God's Children are not without an Infallible Teacher and Leader in the Things that appertain to their Eternal Salvation But we plainly see and read from the very Letter of the Scriptures that God gives his Spirit or Light within to Judge Lead and Guide and consequently the opposit Doctrine is both false and very pernicious I might further argue thus That if God's Unerring Spirit only enables men to walk in his Statutes and keep his Judgments to do them then since all are required to walk therein none are exempted from a sufficient measure of that Vnerring Spirit in order to it Much might be argued hereon but this shall suffice Ninthly Joel 2. 28 29. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall Prophesie your Old Men shall dream Dreams your Young Men shall see Visions And also upon the Servants and upon the Hand-maids in those dayes will I pour out my Spirit That this is generally believed and frequently quoted as a Proof of Gospel-Times is well known to most who are inquisitive after Matters of Religion and how hard it bears upon the Anti-spiritual Opinion of our cavelling Adversary though very evident yet we shall further proceed to shew 1. Here is God's Royal Engagement to effuse or pour forth of his blessed Spirit in the dayes of the New Covenant 2. Here is on whom it is to be poured forth exprest in two words ALL FLESH in more words Young and Old Men and Women Masters Mistresses and Servants Mark the Universality of God's Mercy and Grace Now from hence I argue If God's Unerring Spirit be to be poured out on all under the New Covenant and that this is the time thereof then has God poured out of his Vnerring Spirit as aforesaid that the Spirit is to be poured out under the Administration of the Gospel the Text proves that this is the Time he himself confesses pag. 1 12 13 45. therefore the Conclusion is undeniable viz. That God has poured forth of his Holy and Unerring Spirit Again If the Spirit of God is that without which none can obtain Prophesie and Vision and that Prophesie and Vision are Christian-Church Gifts then since the Church of Christ is not to be without Prophesies and Vision to the End of the World it follows she cannot be without an infallible Spirit to the end of the World Or thus If without having the Spirit none can have Prophesie and Vision and that Prophesie and Vision are both to be and to continue in Christ's Church universally then it will naturally follow that she cannot be without that Vnerring Spirit and that such as are cannot in that state be Members of the true Church then consequently Hereticks as concerning the true Faith Tenthly Hag. 2. 5. According to the Word that I Covenanted with you when yee came out of Egypt so my Spirit remaineth among you fear not This place doth very emphatically prove my Assertion concerning the Judgship and Guidance of God's Spirit two things seem clear 1. That it was a part of God's Old Covenant to wit That his Spirit should remain amongst them 2. That the Spirit 's so remaining was to some eminent Service for said the Lord Fear not as much as to say don't faint in your Minds concerning the Work you have to do neither be ye filled with Doubts or Scruples who shall inform us who direct us or we want a Leader in this difficult matter some one to remove our Objections and Fears and to preside or be as Judge among us how to order and regulate us to the doing of the Service expected from us for thus saith the Lord My Spirit remains among you fear not He is sufficient for you He shall teach and counsel you repair to Him advise with him and you shall be supplied with all things necessary for you Don't rebel against my Good Spirit and you are safe it shall be well with you In short If it was a Condition of the Old Covenant That God should accompany his then Children with the Assistance and Presence of his good Spirit and accordingly he testified by his Prophet That his holy Spirit remained among them then much more reasonable it is to believe that the Presence of that Eternal Spirit should continually accompany his Children under the New and Last Testament The first part the Place proves the second is made good by the plain import of the following Prophetick verses where he saith I will shake all Nations and the Desire of all Nations shall come And I will fill this House with Glory and the Glory of this latter House shall be greater then of the former saith the Lord of Hosts How then can it possibly be That God's Evangelical House and Tabernacle should be a dry empty barren erronious man alwayes enquiring but never come to the infallible Knowledge of the only True God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent whom to know by the Revelation of the Eternal Spirit is Life Everlasting Nay who so great who so pernicious Enemies to the transcendent Glory of the latter House and Temple of God as the cavelling Anti-spiritual Men of our Age who are so angry with those that own a Conviction Faith and Worship grounded upon an Infallible Inspiration that their Rage leads them because they feel it not to the utter denying of any such things but I will assure them they shall yet grope in the dark till they come into the daily obedience of the Light and there rest contented to know only as they experience and not from a ravening comprehending Brain that would in its unregenerated state grasp at the clear Mysteries of the Kingdom into which fleshly Comprehensions and Notions can never enter but all must be as unlearned from their first Birth Education and traditional read Knowledge as he is unmanned that is again become a little Child before the Secrets of God's Work come to be made known therefore said our Lord Jesus Christ I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Prudent and revealed them unto Babes Eleaventhly John 3. 5. Jesus answered Verily verily I say unto thee Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God This most
weighty Scripture containing the very Work of Regeneration and sine qua non or that only certain Means Condition and Requisit without which there can be no obtaining of Eternal Life and Salvation requires our best notice and consideration in order to which I shall divide the place into these two Heads and briefly raise my Argument thereon 1. Christ's most positive exclusion of all from any Portion in God's Kingdom who were not born again in answer to Nicodemus his carnal Conceit of the impossibility of an old mans entring a second time into his Mothers Womb. 2. That the Birth which all such as would inhererit God's Kingdom should be Witnesses of was and is the Birth of Water and the Spirit upon which I thus proceed to argue If none can Inherit God's Holy Kingdom but those who are regenerated of Water and the Spirit then none can inherit God's Holy Kingdom but such as are cleansed by Water and taught led and guided by God's Holy Spirit The first none can deny that own the Scripture it being but a part of the very verse quoted the second I evidently prove thus If Water and Spirit be the only operative to Regeneration and Regeneration the alone Way to the Kingdom of God then can no man inherit God's Kingdom that is not regenerated neither can any man be regenerated that is not washed by the Water of Life begotten work't formed inspired and acted by that Eternal Spirit to Newness of Life That to be begotten is to be principally guided and acted by that by which any is so begotten I prove No man can live move sensate or act but from the original Heat Life Motion and Action of that which did beget him because the Nature of that which begets being conveyed to the begotten truly renders him begotten or else there were no such thing but every regenerate man is the Begotten of the Eternal Spirit so far as concerns his Renovation or Regeneration therefore every such regenerated man was and is led motion'd and acted by that Eternal Spirit which begot him and consequently the Saints which are the regenerated are not left destitute of an infallible Teacher Judge Rule and Guide amongst them In short We look upon being born of Water and the Spirit to be Our being cleansed from all filthiness and quickened informed ruled and guided by the most pure and perfect Dictates and Operations of God's Eternal Spirit And how a Regenerated man can be made or continue such without the daily Guidance of that Infallible Spirit and the Scriptures kept clear from the Reflection of Contradiction if not gross Error is a Riddle too hard for me to explain and a Task I may without Presumption say too great for our trifling Antagonist to perform Twelfthly John 14. 16 17 18 20. 16. 13. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you forever Even the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive because it seeth Him not neither knoweth Him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you at that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Again Howbeit when he the Spirit of Truth is come be will guide you into all Truth Upon these Divine Passages thus particularly exprest by the Holy Ghost I offer these short Arguments 1. If the Spirit of Truth or most infallible Spirit be God's Gift to his Servants in Gospel times to abide with them forever then are they accompanied with an infallible Spirit but we see the plain Text proves that God gives his Spirit of Truth to his Servants that they might be assisted in all their Wants and therefore they are not without such an infallible Spirit And our Adversary is more to blame to reflect upon the Guidance of an infallible Spirit which is so consonant with the express Letter of a multitude of Scripture Passages then we are because we credit G. F. upon Conviction And if he tells us That unless we believe what our Eyes see of Contradictions as he pretends by him collected out of G. F's Book that he will not believe whatever we shall say or affirm we may on much better Grounds conclude never to believe what he asserts and wholy to decline writing or speaking to him to use his own words if hereafter he will dare to continue in the belief of so Anti-scriptural and Anti-gospel an Apprehension as that there is no infallible Spirit to guide men in the Way of Salvation which is as express and evident from many naked Texts of Scripture as that God is Truth else never did any Writing more delude Mankind because none could be more particular and plain in the Promise and allowance of it But let God and his written Will be true and our Vnspiritual Adversary in his confest Fallible Judgment of us a very Lyar. 2. If the not seeing and knowing of the Spirit of Truth be the Reason rendred by our Lord Jesus why the World receives it not then may we most justly infer that they never saw it neither know it but are of the World who cannot receive it but write against it in reference to its greatest Office viz. Of being the Saints Teacher Leader and Comforter And indeed because the Spirit is not some visible elementary thing that may be seen by their outward Eyes and be comprehended by their dark confused and disputative Brains which is contrary to the Decree and Way of God's manifesting of his Will from the conviction of the least sin to the enjoyment of the highest Glory therefore they dis-regard it as contemptible and dis-believe it as incredible 3. If the Ground of the Saints Knowledge of that Infallible Spirit be the Spirit 's inhabiting them for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you then were they not without that Spirit and consequently they were attended with an infallible Guide within them 4. If the Lord Jesus would not leave them comfortless but though visibly with-drawn yet in a more Spiritual and Invisible manner would come to them again and that at that day they should know that He was in his Father they in Him and He in them Then were his Servants not destitute of an infallible Judge Leader and Guide because they had Him that was the Way Truth and Life to whom all Power and Judgment were committed 5. If both the Spirit of Truth was promised to come and when come to guide into all Truth that is to say that whateve they scrupled were ignorant in or ought to know and practicer with what they were oblieged to reject and testifie against should be by that Eternal Spirit discovered unto them then undoubtedly they were not without an infallible Spirit to Judge Regulate and Guide them in all that concerned Faith Worship and Conversation but the first Proposition is purely Scriptural and therefore the consequent not
Inspiration of the Almighty And if by such Divine Inspirings it be that the Will of God comes to be understood then certainly must God's unerring Spirit be the Judge of what is God's Will from what is not and the Rule how and in what we ought to believe unto Salvation and that Guide which infallibly leads in the Way that is most acceptable with the Lord. Nothing can be more Natural then these Consequences Fourthly Psal 139. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy Presence If God's Unerring Spirit be so nigh and the sense of it so certain it must either be to reprove for Evil done or to inform uphold lead and preserve in reference to all Good Now in which of the two sences it shall be taken the Presence of God's Eternal Spirit and his being the Saints Instructor Judge Rule and Guide are evidently deduceable from the words Fifthly Psal 143. 10. Teach me to do thy Will for thou art my God thy Spirit is good lead me into the Land of Vprightness The Question will be Whether it was David's intent and the scope of his desire that God should teach and lead him by his good Spirit or some other thing but methinks it is resolvable in the affirmative in two respects 1. In that David is so very frequent in his desire to the Lord for the Assistance Strength Teaching and Guidance of God's unerring Spirit otherwise declaring how that the Word was hid in his Heart and largly speaking of the Force of that Internal Law Word and Spirit of God which plentifully shews how much he was an Enthusiast and Quaker in the sense this man esteems us most hetrodox 2. The very words imply the thing we urge them for and can import no other sence viz. That God would please to teach him to do his Will and lead him into the Land of Vprightness by his good Spirit else what did that Claws do there the Unerring Spirit being that by which God vouchsafes to discover his Divine Knowledge and convey his most Spiritual Succor and Consolation to his People and consequently his Saints have ever known but do more especially under the Gospel injoy an infallible Judge Rule and Guide in and about Faith and Worship Sixthly Isa 30. 1. Wo to the Rebellious Children saith the Lord that take Counsel but not of me and that cover with a Covering but not of my Spirit that they may add sin to sin From whence I plainly argue thus If they are Rebellious against God and add sin to sin who take not Counsel of him and are not covered with his Holy Unerring Spirit that leads into all Truth Innocence Patience Faith Hope Charity and every good Word and Work Then 1. God's Children have an Immediate Councellor and need not another and are covered or encompast about by the infallible Spirit of God to all Soundness of Mind and Holiness of Life And 2. They must be Heinous Offenders and obstinately Rebellious and Adders of sin to sin with a witness that not only neglect or refuse to be so counsel'd and cover'd but dispute fervently against it as a meer Whimsie and Effect of an Ignorant Erronious spirit for besides that such deprive themselves and others of the unspeakable benefit that comes thereby they are most ingrateful to God and do certainly incur his fierce Wrath in their so wicked requital of him for his Heavenly Gift Seventhly Isa 59. 21. As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my Words which I have put in thy Mouth shall not depart out of thy Mouth nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed's Seed saith the Lord from henceforth and forever I think it is granted by all that own the Christian Religion that this remarkable place refers to Christ the true Seed and Heir of promise who bruiseth the Head of the Serpent in whom alone all Nations of them that believe come to obtain the Blessing But whether it will be allowed or another Interpretation allotted as that the Promise was to the Church to be sure here is enough to maintain our Position viz. That God in the dayes of the Gospel more particularly has given his good Spirit for an Instructer Judge Rule and Guide in all that concerns the Eternal Well-being of the Souls of Believers as I proceed to prove If that very same Eternal Holy and unerring Spirit which God poured out upon his only begotten Son be in a way of succession ordained to continue with and upon all the Faithful his Seed and Seed's Seed begotten unto a lively Hope by the raising of Christ Jesus from the dead and so become Members of his own Glorious Body then are not the Children of God destitute of his Vnerring Spirit not left to their own frail and fallible Judgments to determine of what is Right or Wrong what Men should believe and what not how they should walk and how not But so gratious is the Promise and so certain is the performance as we livingly witness against all the dry cavelling Letter-mâ—ngers in the World who Quarrel about the holy-mens words and are Strangers to the Convictions Judgments Tryals Tribulations Temptations and Travels they underwent in order to that knowledge they had and which frets their serpentine natures whose vulterous Eye would in its unregenerate state of Worldly Wisdom that knows not God fain without the Death of the Cross creep into the knowledge of the mystery of the Resurrection which state alone knows the things that are above at the Right-hand of God Therefore I conclude That God's Unerring Spirit under the Gospel does attend assist direct and finally establish his Children in the Way of Truth and that his so doing is but the Answer or Accomplishment of the most eminent Prophesies referring to the Transcendent Glory of the last Ages of the Church Eighthly Ezek. 36. 27. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them Behold a most pregnant Instance in the express Language of the Holy Ghost brought to the proof of our Assertion that with reverence we would say it scarcely could it have been more exactly and emphatically worded as I proceed to shew 1. That this Passage has a relation to the Times of Reformation or Coming of the Messiah and Dayes of the Gospel Covenant read the whole Chapter I know not that it was ever doubted or otherwise taken by any no not the very Rabbies themselves who from such places have observed the coming of a Messiah and Glorious times that would ensue 2. That if it be granted then the Vnerring Spirit of God was to be placed within the Hearts and Consciences of his People and consequently they could not be properly and truly under the new Covenant and be without it since the having of that Eternal Spirit for the Ends and
deniable by such as own the Divine Truths contained in those Writings Nor is the dint of this to be avoided by saying That these Promises were only to the Apostles and no body denies them to have had all this for if we are to walk as having them for our Examples we are to have the like Sufficiency and Guide Nor does Christ leave the matter there for in his most solemn Prayer to his Father he thus speaks Neither Pray I for these alone but for all them that shall believe on me through their word that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they all may be one in us which how it is possible for those who then believed and us of after Generations to be without being born of and baptized and drunk into the same one Eternal Spirit I know not to believe neither can any man that gives himself the use of his own Understanding Thirteenth Rom. 8. 1 9 14. There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit but you are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God 1. If to be brought and kept out of Condemnation men must walk according to the Leadings and Guidings of the Spirit of God and that it is a state unto which Christian men should come then are they not without God's Infallible Spirit to lead and direct them in what Way they ought to walk and consequently the contrary Opinion is perniciously false since such must needs live ever under Condemnation who are so far from walking after the Leadings of God's unerring Spirit that they deny men to have any such thing Again 2. If to have the Spirit of Christ dwelling that is ruling in us be to live no more after the Flesh and not to have that infallible Spirit of Christ ruling in us be to be none of Christ's then both Christian men should not be without Christ's Spirit dwelling in them and such as are without that Spirit are none of Christ's But we plainly see that the Apostle asserts That every man that walks not after the Flesh has that Spirit dwelling in him and is guided thereby and that such as have not the holy Spirit of Christ are none of Christ's therefore it follows That Christian men are led by an Infallible Spirit But 3. If as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God as saith the Apostle then both God's Children are led by an Infallible Spirit and such as are not we utterly deny to have any part or portion in Him notwithstanding their Praying Preaching Writing Reading and Disputing but the plain unaltered words of Scripture testifie that both God has given his good Spirit to lead men into that holy Life Nature and Conversation by which they truly become his Image and Children and that such and we may say only such are his own begotten Children and Heirs of Eternal Glory Fourteenth 1 Cor. 2. 10 11 12 14 15. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit teacheth all things yea the deep things of God For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him even so the Things of God know no man but the Spirit of God Now we have received not the spirit of this World but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the Things that are freely given to us of God But the Natural man receiveth not the Things of the Spirit of God for they are Foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discâ—â—ued But he that is Spiritual judgeth or discerneth all things yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man Methinks the bare recital of these pathetical Sayings of the holy Ghost on the matter in controversie might be sufficient Proof for the affirmative of the Question did not our Adversary under all his Pretences of honouring the Scriptures either implicitly deny them their just Authority or by false Glosses disguise and pervert them to his sinister Perswasions and so I proceed as before to offer my Arguments upon them 1. If the Blessed Things which God hath prepared for them that love him are not revealable but by his Spirit and were then thereby revealed as says the Scripture quoted and contex then since there were those at that time who loved God and that there be many now who love God it will Naturally follow That both than and now the Things that God has laid up for such both then were and now are revealed by His Eternal Spirit and consequently God's People are not without a familiar Communion with the Holy Spirit of God 2. If the spirit of a man or humane intelligent spirit be that by which man comes to an understanding of those things that strictly and properly concern him in an humane capacity and that the Spirit of God is that only by which man comes to know the Things of God because the Things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God then it is utterly Impossible for our Adversary himself or any else to obtain the Knowledge of the things of God or His Kingdom but by the pure unmixt Revelation of God's Eternal Spirit from all the Comprehensions Conceivings or Imaginations of mans utmost strength or science For as saith the Apostle the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 3. If the Knowledge of those things that are fecely given of God is only to be had from the Revelation of his holy Spirit then since in every Age from the most primitive Times it has behoved every Christian man to understand those Good and Heavenly Things it follows That it has behoved them and still does all to wait for the Knowledge and Injoyment of those Blessed Advantages which only are revealed by the Eternal Spirit And is not that Science infallible which the Spirit of this World ever was and will be a Stranger too under all its disguised Shews of Religious Worship with which it has deceitfully adorned it self in a way of Scorn of and Opposition to the most Spiritual Appearances of God making good the Apostle's saying For they are but Foolishness unto them To conclude 4. If the Spiritual Man or that Man in whom dwelleth the Spirit of God and who is led by it discerneth and judgeth all things and is not judged or cannot be seen or discerned he being in the Light and the natural man in the dark then is or should God's Holy Spirit be the right Judge Leader and Guide of all because it alone gives true Discerning sound Judgment and leads in the Path of Life Eternal for it searcheth the deep
that he was not antecedent to that work that he never enlightned the Fathers and holy men of old with a sufficient measure of that same Divine Light which without measure appeared in him and far greater then before to the Sons of men I appeal to any modest intelligent man if this be not Ingratitude nay Sacriledge in the highest degree Certainly therefore it can be no Injury to the Scripture if we say That He who enlightned the Patriarchs and Prophets of old hath in a more excellent manner and suitable to the Spirituality of his own Divine Nature revealed himself in this Gospel administration the which may aptly be compared to a well-built Temple which has been of old begun but left to these latter daies of Christ's more eminent manifestation to superstruct compleat adorn and sit for him the eternal Light of Life and Righteousness to be worshipped in so that there is a great Difference as Grotius in other words doth well observe between the Beginning of an administration and of the Author of it That might be the Beginning of those large Discoveries but not the Light that gave them and consequently notwithstanding John should have intended a Divine Creation yet it will not necessarily follow that the Light which is that Creator was not in beeing antecedently to that Divine Creation and so God both by pre-existence and omnipotency But I shall say no more of this I mean the transposition of the Participle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till our Adversary sayes more to the contrary if we may then think it worth our notice But it may be fit to observe that the man shows a waveâ—ing in his own Judgment which is not only manifest from his saying It may as well be referred to Light as Man but in a manâ—script to a Friend of ours he affirmed it to be unreasonable to refer coming to Man and not to the true Light All we can say is this that though it show him to be unsettled in his own thoughts yet he was willing to be a little more modest in print then in his manuscript For his Distinction between Lighteth and Enlightneth I confess my self troubled not at his great Skill but â—olly It shows he would say something if he could tell what and to use a familiar Proverb The poor man will be playing at small game rather then stand out Then let 's to the Word since he would be thought a Critick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we read in Greek in the Latin illuminat and should in the English enlightneth the defect is not in the Original nor Latin versions but our English only I perceive whether it be Original or Translation which makes most for him that is the Infallible Text till it happens to contradict him and then if in the Original the Word is foisted in or thus to be transposed or rendred if in any of the versions then it is not so in the Original it is lamely rendred and the like But this Callenge I make to the man that if he can find one version in three and three to one that 's odds which reâ—dres it different from what we understand by it I shall acknowledge him a Critick and our selves ignorant in words All the Greek Coppies and Latin Translations I ever saw or heard of import no other thing then Illumination or Enlightning All that I have hitherto mentioned so give it us quae illuminat omnem hominem c. That this is the constant use of the Word throughout both the Old and New Testament so called is evident It is said of Jonathan that after he had tasted a little of that honey into which he put his rod his eyes were enlightned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia illuminati sunt oculi mei See saith Jonathan I pray you how mine eyes have been enlightned The Chaldee version hath it illuxerunt oculi mei how my eyes shined The Syriack thus my eyes have received light The Arabick thus quomodo illustrata est acies mea how is my Eye-sight clear'd but the Septuagint expresseth it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 behold how my eyes have seen which in a mystical sense is the same now for that eternal Light or Word of Life is that Honey out of that true Rock and Milk that the Prophet exhorted the Jews to buy without money and without price And who taste of that in faith receive that blessed effect namely true illumination Thus Job To bring his Soul from the pit that is from darkness death and sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad lucendum in luce viventium to be enlightned with the light of the living The Chaldee has it after this manner that my Soul may shine by the Light of the Living The Syriack and Arabick that is may see the Light of Life Job 33. 30. and upon v. 28. which speaks to the same purpose sayes Vatablus De luce illa coeleâ—â—â— intelligit fruetur Dei conspectu Which is He means by that heavenâ—â— Light he shall enjoy the presence of God Likewise David most emphatically useth the same Verb and that to our purpose undeâ—â—â—bly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quoniam tu illuminabis lucernam meam Deus meuâ— illuminabit tenebrositatem meam For thou wilt light my Candle the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness The Chaldee has it thus because thou wilt enlighten the Candle of Israel which was put out in the captivity for thou art the Author of the Light of Israel The Lord my God will bring me out of Darkness into Light A notable addition at least explanation of the place yet this is in the Chaldee version The Syriack Aethiopick and Septuagiâ—t are the same the Arabick differs only in tenses thou dost enlighten for wilt enlighten and he hath enlightned my darkness for he will enlighten my darkness And if the spirit of man be the Candle of the Lord and that God only can light it then certainly since man's spirit is within him it is not more unsound nor any more violating of Scripture sence to say that God enlightens then that he lightens every man within by communicating of his own Light to man's Spirit which receiving it becomes lighted by it to all right Knowledge and good Works Further if David's darkness was within him in his Soul and understanding as certainly he meant it so when he spake of it then must that Light which was to shine there shine in David's Soul and understanding And what false Doctrine or English it is or perversion of Scripture to say that man is then enlightned let sober people judge It is thus exprest in the Greek Copies of the New Testament also and the Latin Versions of them witness the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. illuminatos oculos cordis vestri Beza has it in his Copy and version 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illuminatis oculis mentis vestrae The Syriack has it that the eyes of your
the Light with which God hath enlightened Men were natural then could it inform men only in and about natural Affairs but we see that men do thereby in measure know and discern things that are Supernatural therefore this Light is not Natural but is Supernatural and consequently Saving 2. That it gives men some Knowledge of Divine Things I suppose all believe however I thus prove it God gave it for some End or no End for no End we cannot we dare not suppose if for some End then not in reference to Natural Things because they are knowable by the spirit of Man as such consequently it must be in and about things relating to Man's Duty to God and his Neighbour in which consists the Salvation of his own Soul if so then I prove it s sufficiently thus 3. Whatever God gives to any Man for any end is sufficient for that End for which he gives it him but God has given his Light unto men in order to their Duty to Him and their Neighbour in which consists the Salvation of their Souls and consequently that Light is sufficient to that End That what God gives to any End is sufficient to compass it I thus prove 4. God requires all Men strictly to serve and obey him and to work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling or else their End shall be Destruction but this the Almighty with Reverence I say it could not justly do unless the Light with which he enlightens men were sufficient and saving therefore unless our Adversary will impeach him of manifest Injustice or deny that he thus requires men to fear him and work out their own Salvation he must grant that not only God hath illuminated all men but that the Light wherewith he hath illuminated them to that great End is Saving and Supernatural Object I know the Objection that is on these Occasions frequently started viz. How cometh it then that all Men have not a clearer View of this Light whereof you speak But Men must have a care of concluding the Light ever the less Divine in it self because of that dim and imperfect sight their own infirmities cause them to have of it perhaps some are as incapable to behold the Light as it is as an Infant to make a true Prospect by the natural Day Others are grievously infested with Rumes Bloodsheds and many other Distempers whilst not a few either wilfully close their Eyes are blinded with Motes and Beams run into obscure Places or by their continued obstinacy in Wickedness come at last wholy to lose both the Light and their Capacity of seeing it Such are those on whom the Night comes in which none can work and this was impenitent Jerusalem's Case which is too too frequently and lamentably paralelled in our dayes Men must not think to see all at once and because their inquisitive impatient and wondring Mind is not answered by whole heaps of glittering Discoveries therefore in a brittle unsubject Nature sling off all regard to the Light of God and vainly think to compass Salvation in their own unwarrantable strivings Let men consider seriously their own dark state how song the Light hath shined there uncomprehended and since it has pleased the Eternal God to visit them with such a Ministry and Testimony as turns them unto that blessed unchangeable Light diligently to adhere to it and be humbly contented to practice what they know for to that only End and Purpose does God cause it to shine in their Hearts before they look after other Discoveries from that grasping ravenous comprehending spirit in man which would know the End before it practiseth the beginning which is cursed of God and is for eternal Judgment this lost Adam his Paradice and obstructs Thousand from entring into the Way of God at this very day Wherefore Blessed are they who knowing their own Weakness wait diligently upon the Lord for such daily Dawnings of his own saving Light as suit their own states as to their daily Temptation Preservation and Increase in the experimental Knowledge of the Way of God Such are not wise above what 's written in their Hearts by the Finger of God and speak and declare of God and his Unchangeable Way according as they have felt and handled I mean as He hath revealed Himself both in Judgment and in Mercy through the in-shining Light of his Son And this I publish to the whole World That I never knew God truly and heartily to be of purer Eyes then to behold Iniquity I was never conscientiously convinced of any Evil I never was brought into true Repentance I never experienced real Attonement I never had right Faith in Christ nor did I ever inwardly come to feel a cleansing from any sin and a being justified by his Blood by which to know him my Mediator Saviour and Redeemer but by the Reproofs of that Light wherewith Christ has enlightened me and by turning to it and walking in it with all Godly Fear and Subjection according to its blessed Discoveries and Requirings Wherefore I boldly call it A Sufficient Saving and Supernatural Light And according to the truth of this so let my Soul find Mercy with my God by Jesus Christ I shall sum up my Sence briefly thus All Mankind have been Benighted All Men have Degenerated In that state all are Ignorant In that state all are Corrupted And in that state all are damned And this Certainly God would have all men be saved But they can never be Saved Till they be Regenerated To be that they must be Washed To be Washed they must Believe And to Believe they must Repent And to Repent they must see why And to do this they must have Light And all this Certainly This Light must give true and right fight This Light must be sufficient Then this Light is infallible Then this Light must needs be Saving And all this is True This by their own Principle cannot be denyed as well as that it is true in it self I conclude therefore That all men of themselves want Light that God since he would have all be saved has given all Light that this Light must give a certain Discerning and that such as are guided by it are consequently certainly led In short The Light is both Universal Supernatural and Infallible That this is not our Judgment only I shall mention a few of many that assert it to be a Saving Light 1. Thus believed Origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is truly called the Light of Nations or the Gentiles by Isaiah I have given thee for a Light to lighten the Gentiles and for my Salvation to the uttermost parts of the Earth But truly our Saviour is the great Light of the intelligible World enlightening those in the most excellent parts of their Souls who are capable of Reason that the Mind may discern and perceive to it self those things that are most proper and worthy of mens pursuit after 2. Chrysostom positively declared his Judgment in