Son and in order hereunto I decree that they shall be holy Now it is not at all probable that he should so soon forget that he had solemnly made eternal Election to consist onely in God's purpose to regenerate all that were his in a peculiar manner c. i. e. now that his designe begins to be opened all those that were absolutely elected to Glory Onely it was not fit to put these plain words into the definion for then every ordinary Reader would have discovered there was another Decree of Election antecedent to that which the Doctor had defined and perhaps might be so uncivil as to expect a proof of the supposition But instead of these plain words it was more prudently done to put in those who are his in an especial manner which are somewhat obscure words and those whom he designes to bring to blessedness which express but half his meaning For he supposes the designe he speaks of to be absolute This care being taken that which he takes upon him to confirm briefly as he saith is this viz. That if we are not personally holy we have no interest in that Decree of God whereby any persons are designed unto Glory which is a great truth but by the way most false according to his principles for while a person who is absolutely elected remains unholy as he doth till he is regenerated he hath as full an interest in the purpose of God to bring him to Glory as he can have after he is regenerated since nothing can be more plain than that he who is elected upon no consideration of holiness cannot have the less interest in that Election for not being holy But this I see that our Author 's unhappy way of expressing himself sometimes makes him hit upon a better saying than he intended That which he meant to say as is plain from his definition is this that all who are elected to Glory shall be made holy which while he is proving he does very carefully drop in a word now and then as if he were proving absolute election to eternal Life and this for a very good reason viz. that he might by convenient degrees slip into that notion of Election against his turn came to prove it to be a motive unto holiness But such unintelligible work he has made by mingling these things together in his third Sect. where his designe is to prove that the Elect shall be made holy that any one may see how his thoughts were puddled while he was contriving to come off in this business and he comes off very fairly for thus he winds up that Section The Councils of God therefore concerning us i. e. his electing us to eternal Life do not depend upon our Holiness which is as much as to say that the Decree of Election to eternal Life is not conditional but absolute but upon our holiness our future happiness depends in the Councils of God which is saying quite backward that the Decree of Election is not absolute but conditional For to say that our future happiness depends upon our holiness in the Councils of God is in plain English to say that it is one of the Councils concerning us that our happiness should depend on our holiness which cannot truely be said if it depends upon an absolute Decree Therefore the Decree of Election to eternal Life is conditional for if it were absolute then according to that Decree a man may be saved without any holiness at all which the Doctor denies and thus he comes off with contradicting himself within the compass of three Lines as you cannot but see unless you are so taken with the chiming of his words that you are not at leisure to examine the sence From all this it may I think be presumed without any uncharitableness that the Doctor did not write with an intention to satisfie his Reader and what other end he proposed to himself I leave it to his own Conscience For his evasions when he is to prove the chief matter in question and his obscurities when it is inconvenient to speak plainly cannot without an incredible reproach to his Parts and Abilities be looked on otherwise than as studied Artifices to serve his Cause withal Especially if you consider how seasonably he contradicts himself when his designe requires it and of this I will give him one instance more out of his present discourse and then leave his Friends to judge of his honesty as they please In answer to that Objection against his Opinion that indeed it rendred holiness unnecessary among other things he thought good to say That as for a mans own personal election he cannot believe it nor is obliged to believe it any otherwise but as God reveals it by its effects i. e. in plain terms no man can or ought to believe that he is one of the Elect till he believes and obeys the Gospel for that he means by the effects of Election Now supposing this did something to satisfie the former Objection yet the Doctor saw well enough that it would raise another viz. that if this be true then no man's personal Election can be a motive to him to become an holy person because he cannot believe it till he is so already The Doctor does not indeed propound this Objection but he forestals it as you will see presently what reason he had so to do by a down-right contradiction to what he had immediately said before for he goes on thus No man ought no man can justly question his own Election DOVBT of it or disbelieve it until he be in such a condition as wherein it is impossible that the effects of Election should ever be wrought in him if such a condition there be in this world Now this is very strange cannot a man believe his Election till he sees it in the effects and yet cannot he justly doubt of it before those effects are wrought in him Is he not obliged to believe it till then and is it yet true that he ought not to disbelieve it till 't is impossible those effects should be wrought and yet perhaps there is no such condition in this world I hope our Author will not say that this is one of those Mysteries which we cannot understand without his New Light but rather confess against himself what he has taken upon him to accuse S. P. of viz. that these are the words of one who seems not much to Consider what he says so as that it may serve his present turn For he does not use to contradict himself for nothing and the reason is plain why it was necessary here In the next Page he was to shew that personal Election was a motive to Holiness in point of Gratitude Now that the Motive might be fit to be used upon every body it was necessary to say that no body had cause to doubt of his Election which part of the Contradiction look'd forward to encounter a second Objection as the
rejected on pretence that the Author is but a natural man which concludes the Introduction p. 53. Of the Book PART 1. CHAP. 1. What significations of the Word Spirit are needful to be noted p. 56. The difference made by Dr. Owen between giving of the Spirit and giving his Graces p. 58. And what more he understands by putting on the Spirit p. 59. The subject of the discourse stated p. 61. That Dr. Owen confounds the promise of the Spirit made to the Apostles and the first Disciples onely with that which is made to Christians in all ages p. 64. And argues inconsequently from the former in favour of his own mistakes concerning the latter p. 65. That by this way of arguing he sometimes also concludes that which is true from premises that do not infer it p. 67. His designe in all this p. 68. And the disservice that is done the Truth by it p. 70. CHAP. 2. For the producing of what effects the Holy Spirit is promised to men which is the first matter of enquiry p. 72. may be discerned in great part from Luke 11.13 p. 73. To which end the scope of our Saviour's discourse there is considered p. 74. And it is from thence proved that they are onely needful purposes for which the Holy Spirit is there promised p. 76. What effects are needful p. 77. What are necessary p. 79. What are profitable p. 81. How we are to pray for needful Graces of the latter sort p. 83. Several Consectaries useful to our proceeding in the following enquiries gained from the fore-mentioned Text p. 88. An exception to this Chapter from the necessity of Regeneration p. 94. CHAP. 3. The Doctor 's loose way of talking concerning Regeneration p. 96. But at last he concludes the word is to be understood in its proper sence p. 99. That it is absurd so to understand it p. 100. That it cannot be so understood without contradicting the Scriptures p. 101. His argument that the Scripture has no metaphorical expressions of the work of the Spirit p. 106. His manner of charging his Adversaries with turning all Scripture-expressions of spiritual things into Metaphors p. 110. His scornful hints concerning Christian Virtues p. 112. That Regeneration is a metaphorical expression proved from what he saith himself where he denies it p. 113. How Dr. Owen and the Papists do alike abuse the Scriptures p. 115. What we are to understand by the state of Regeneration p. 117. The notion proved p. 119. The Doctor represents his Adversaries notion of Regeneration falsly p. 123. And that knowingly p. 125. The distinction between Grace and moral Virtue considered 126. That the Doctor rejects the true notion of Regeneration in terms that do notoriously contradict the Scriptures p. 128. That he contradicts them also by that reason which he gives for rejecting it p. 130. The charge of Pelagianism justly retorted upon Dr. Owen p. 133. Regeneration considered as an Effect p. 136. Several reasons why the state of a true Disciple of Christ is exprest by the Metaphors of Regeneration the New Creature c. p. 139. Why the expression of Regeneration is more used than the rest p. 143. The scope of our Saviour's discourse to Nicodemus shewn p. 145. A Paraphrase of that part of it which concerns Regeneration p. 149. The reddition of our Saviour's similitude of the Wind explained p. 150. A probable sence of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned by our Saviour to Nicodemus p. 155. The Doctor 's Objection against the true notion of Regeneration grounded upon the rebuke given to Nicodemus answered p. 157. CHAP. 4. That Faith is an effect of a divine Operation p. 161. In what sence it is affirmed so to be p. 162. The preparation required for Faith p. 165. That all those Christian vertues which flow from Faith are also the Graces of the Holy Spirit p. 169. That our improvement in those virtues is so likewise p. 173. What is meant by God's dwelling in men p. 175. What was signified by his dwelling in the Ark p. 176. which is applied to the state of the Christian Church p. 178. That God is said to dwell onely in good men p. 181. That their progress in Christian vertue and perseverance is from the Holy Spirit p. 185. Some Consectaries from the foregoing discourse p. 186. CHAP. 5. Gifts pretended to be from the Spirit p. 189. Immediate revelation of the true sence of Scripture not promised in St. Luke p. 191. Either to the spiritual Guides or their people p. 193. Nor absolute assurance of our particular Election p. 195. Dr. Owen's way of proving such assurance profitable p. 197. What the Author understands by the full assurance of Hope mentioned Heb. 6.11 p. 199. The reason why some will not admit of comfort without assurance p. 204. Neither is it there promised that the Spirit will dictate extemporary Prayers p. 205. That in the better sort of these Prayers there is a form of matter and usually of method and that all the variety commonly lies in shifting of Words and Phrases p. 209. That these three pretended gifts are promised no where in the Scripture p. 211. What is meant by sealing to the day of Redemption p. 214. And by the witness of the Spirit p. 216. And by praying with the Spirit p. 218. And by the Spirit 's helping our infirmities p. 219. CHAP. 6. The Holy Spirit given to whom p. 233. The difference between common and special Grace p. 234. Special Grace promised upon conditions p. 237. And not to be expected but by those that perform them p. 239. Dr. Owen's mystical talk concerning the object of sanctifying Grace p. 240. That he makes no qualification on our part requisite beforehand for Regeneration p. 243. And that according to him all praying for it is unprofitable p. 244. That he shuffles off the task of proving his main principle by pretending falsly that he had proved it before p. 246. The folly of trusting to a supposed absolute Decree p. 247. The Doctor 's insincerity in changing his notion of Election to shift off the difficulty of proving his own opinion concerning it p. 250. That he makes nothing to contradict himself as his cause requires it p. 258. What that common Grace is which is given to all p. 261. The notion proved p. 262. Why the promise of common Grace is not expresly made to all p. 266. That it is not properly part of the New Covenant p. 267. That the promises of special Grace are made to all under possible conditions p. 268. CHAP. 7. Difficult to define the manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operations particularly p. 270. Dr. Owen peremptory and fierce in this point p. 271. His definition of it of dangerous consequence p. 274. Faith and Repentance are in that manner caused by the holy Spirit that they are still properly the effects of God's Word p. 274. That according to Dr. Owen's principles they are not the effects
two whole Sections he discourses concerning the impotency of Man to perform the Commands of God and makes it equivalent to an inability of receiving Spiritual things and quotes Rom. 7.8 The carnal minde is not subject to the Law of God as if it were a parallel place to the Text in hand For my part I cannot tye these incoherent things together if the Doctor can let him He had told us in plain terms that moral Duties to be observed towards God our selves and other men were not the things here peculiarly intended and that is right but the Mysteries depending on more Soveraign Supernatural Revelation and that wholly And in this notion I shall understand him for I cannot understand him in both together 3. He explains receiving of these things by receiving them spiritually and sometimes by receiving them as they are in themselves and by other Phrases that are equivalent according to him But what means he by Spiritually he tells you the Natural man may so receive them as to assent to their truth but that which he cannot do is to assent to them under an apprehension of their conformity to the Wisdom and Holiness of God nor can he discern their suitableness unto the great ends for which they are proposed as the means of accomplishing So that this it is to discern them spiritually and as they are in themselves He likewise tells us the proper meaning of receiveth not is he cannot know them and that impotency is double 1. A Natural impotency that of the Vnderstanding in respect whereof he is absolutely unable so to do without an especial renovation by an irresistible work of the Holy Ghost and this impotency he says is absolutely and naturally insuperable And 2. A moral Impotency that of the Will and Affections The short of it is he neither will nor can if he would know them spiritually so that his meaning of these words The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God is this That a man in whose minde an Eternal Light is not created by the Almighty Power of God although the Doctrines of the Gospel be proposed to him with that evidence that he assents to the truth of them yet he neither can nor will understand them to be agreeable to the Wisdom and Holiness of God and suitable to the ends of the Gospel the Glory of God and the Salvation of Man 4. This clause they are foolishness unto him he hath perplexed with various interpretations After giving several accounts on which a thing may be esteemed foolishness he tells us for one or other or all of these reasons are spiritual things foolishness to the natural man which is as much as to say there is some reason why they are so though he cannot directly tell us what it is If any of his Reasons will serve let us take one for instance That is looked on as foolish which contains means and ends disproportionate Now he had told us spiritual things are foolishness in the nature of the things themselves with respect unto the minde I think he means thus that such is the nature of them that a natural man must needs look upon them to be a means unsuitable and disproportionate to the ends of God's Glory and Man's good and then his interpretation runs thus The Natural man is one who for want of the irresistible Light cannot discern the suitableness of the Gospel to those ends because he cannot discern it is suitable to them But it may be his Instances will make his minde more plain One is that of the Philosophers of old to whom the Gospel was foolishness now says he if spiritual things had been suited to the reasons of natural men then those who had most improved their mindes would more readily have received them than others By which I perceive he understands by these things being foolishness to the natural man their unsuitableness to their mindes who had most improved them or were wisest and knew most But that which is somewhat stranger is his telling of us that things of any worth in nature and morality are soonest embraced by such persons But here things fell out quite otherwise they were the Wise the Rational that made the longest opposition to spiritual things i. e. if the Doctor 's instance be pertinent that such is the nature of those things that it could not be otherwise so that the unsuitableness of spiritual things to our mindes doth at last consist in this that the more wise and knowing a man is the more unapt he is to receive them But then his other instance of those to whom the Gospel is as he says foolishness viz. That of his present Adversaries is to a quite contrary purpose for he chargeth them with profound Ignorance and Confidence which cannot be sufficiently admired or despised and certainly then their mindes are not very much improved Now I think he says concerning these that they look upon the spiritual things of the Gospel as foolish and unsuited to the rational principles of their mindes So that all the light we have gained by the Doctor 's instances to discern his meaning of this clause is that the spiritual things of the Gospel are in themselves unsuitable to the mindes of those who have the best improved reasons and they are look'd upon to be unsuitable to the rational principles of their mindes whose Ignorance and Confidence can never be sufficiently despised And here I desire the Doctor to make my peace with the Reader for carrying him along with me to grope after his meaning in such a tedious Labyrinth as he hath contrived to lose us in But I do not ask the Doctor 's pardon if I have miss'd of his meaning at last since if he please he may write more perspicuously if he cannot his Friends would do well to finde out a more natural employment for him 5. Because they are spiritually discerned he explains thus because they are discerned by a spiritual light What light is that he tells you the light it self whereby alone spiritual things can be spiritually discerned is created in us by an Almighty act of the Power of God Now from the examination of his Notions concerning the several Phrases his sense of the whole seems to be this That a man in whose minde a spiritual Light is not created by the Almighty act of the power of God neither can nor will understand the revealed Doctrines of the Gospel to be agreeable to the attributes of God and fit to procure man's Salvation because such is the nature of those Doctrines that he cannot but look upon them to be disagreeable to the one and unfit for the other or because they are unsuitable or are looked upon as unsuitable to the rational Principles of the Minde and 't is utterly impossible he should discern that agreeableness and fitness without that new light created in his minde because such is the manner whereby
there is no possibility of our entering into the c. if we are unrighteous As for the deliverance from misery Are not those Doctrines discernibly suited to that end that are suited to deliver us from sin And are not all these things so plain that 't is impossible for a man who hath an improved minde and considers them as an understanding man may not to discern them much more if he hath considered the Propositions themselves so as to assent to the truth of them What Agreeableness and Suitableness is it which this Doctor means Is he able to explain it by such like instances as I have used If he be he shall see that we are able to discern it if he be not he cants like a Quaker and pretends to know things which he is not able to make sense of when he comes to speak them But may a Natural man understand and assent to the truth of the propositions of the Gospel Yes saith the Doctor he may For instance he may assent unto this That Jesus Christ was crucified But now it is another Proposition of the Gospel that to preach Christ crucified is to Speak the Wisdom of God vers 7. It is also another that The preaching of the cross to them that are saved is the power of God Chap. 1. vers 18. Now if he may understand and assent to these Propositions he may believe the conformity of the Doctrine concerning Christ crucified to the Divine Attributes and its efficacy to bring men to Repentance and Salvation which the Doctor saies he cannot and thereby revokes his concession That the Doctrines of the Gospel are Propositions whose sense and importance any rational man may understand and assent to their truth and so be said to receive them Again if the Doctor will take my word for it I assure him that I do assent unto the Doctrines of the Gospel Vnder an apprehension of their conformity to the Wisdom and Holiness of God and of their suitableness to the great ends for which they are proposed as the means of accomplishing If a natural man can do this then the Doctor is something mistaken to say that he cannot if he cannot then I am no natural man according to his own Principles and may I hope pretend to argue with him about Spiritual things 3. He saith That Spiritual things being foolishness unto the natural man is a reason why he cannot receive them taken from the nature of the things themselves with respect unto the minde Now the nature of the things themselves is perpetually the same but the Mindes of men may apprehend them otherwise than they are in their own nature as when they apprehend them to be foolishness which is the reason why they do not receive them and this reason is not at all taken from the nature of the things themselves but from the Mindes mistaking the nature of these things as he in effect confesseth when he saith that in themselves they are the Wisdom of God But that which he means as we may see by his instance of the Philosophers of old is this That the more wise and knowing any man is the more unready he is to embrace the Mysteries of the Gospel He saith expresly Any thing in Nature and Morality of any worth is embraced soonest by them that are wisest and know most but here things fell out quite otherwise Well suppose they did yet the reason why the Philosophers rejected the Gospel was not because they were wise and knowing men but because they would not admit of Revelation as such nor yield that to be divinely revealed which was above the reach of mere natural reason and this was their great Pride and Folly So the Pharisees rejected our Saviour not because they were Learned and Knowing men but because their Lusts and Interests prejudiced them against his Doctrine as he frequently told them So that neither those nor these opposed the Gospel because it was unsuitable to the rational principles of their mindes as the Doctor would have us believe but because it was unsuitable to their unreasonable prejudices and interests which sure were none of those Principles The Writings of Justin Martyr Clemens Alexandrinus and divers others may satisfie us that the Gospel was early received by Learned Men and Philosophers what wise men they are that reject it we may learn from the Doctor The principal Mysteries of the Gospel saith he are by many looked upon and rejected as foolish because false and untrue though indeed they have no reason to think them false but because they suppose them foolish Now are not these excellent Philosophers that reject a Doctrine as foolish because 't is false and then have no other reason to think it false but because they suppose it foolish Is not their rejecting the Gospel an admirable instance whereby to demonstrate that the Doctrines thereof are foolishness in the nature of the things themselves with respect unto the minds of them that are wisest and know most If that which the Doctor here saies be true then if it be necessary for a man to be a Christian 't is a very dangerous thing for him to improve his minde by the exercise of his reason since foolish and credulous persons are the most likely to give any entertainment to it which was the very charge of Celsus and Julian against Christianity and if they could have made good this charge they and the Doctor here had done very well to expose it to scorn and contempt as they and he have done by representing it to be such a Religion as the more a man exercises his reason about it the further he is from believing it For this is that which the Doctor means by saying that the Mysteries of the Gospel are foolishness in the nature of the things themselves with respect unto the minde viz. that they are in their own nature such things that the more wise and knowing a man is the more likely he is to despise and scorn them which whether it be not Blasphemy I now leave the Reader to judge Here I cannot but remember what the Doctor premised in his Preface to the Readers concerning the reasonableness of Christian Religion It is not saith he that I know of denied by any that Christian Religion is highly reasonable I suppose he means by any Christian. But now as he addes presently the Question is not what it is in it self but what it is with relation to our Reason and then he tells us largely 't is reasonable to Reason enlightned but foolishness i. e. unreasonable to the natural man whose Reason is unenlightned by the irresistible work Say you so Doctor How comes it then about That it is not denied by any that Christian Religion is highly reasonable Can they not deny it to be highly reasonable and yet must they necessarily esteem it foolish and unreasonable He saith also 'T is in vain to dispute with any about the reasonableness of
speaks of we agree that those Doctrines which were to be known by his Revelation are meant But this by the by it is however clear that our Saviour challengeth the Jews of unreasonable incredulity for disbelieving what was sufficiently testified and proved to them 2. Christ assigneth the true cause of their unbelief This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil vers 19. i. e. The truth of that Doctrine which I bring is so bright and clear that the cause why men believe it not is not because they want Reason and Argument to induce them thereunto or supposing that our Saviour means himself by Light it is so evident that I am the Son God that if you do not perceive it 't is not for want of means of Conviction but because your deeds are evil because my Doctrine is so contrary to your Lusts and Vices that you are not willing it shoud be true and so you do not attend to the evidence of its truth and therefore greater shall be your Condemnation Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth the truth that is sincerely disposed to do whatever is the will of God cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest is not unwilling to have his actions proved that they are wrought of God whether they be according to the Will of God or not I think it is thus sufficiently plain that the scope of our Saviour in this his discourse to Nicodemus is to shew the necessity of coming to him or believing in him i. e. of being his Disciple in order to everlasting Salvation and to convince those of unreasonable obstinacy and incredulity who would not be his Disciples It is therefore plain that supposing the true Disciple of Christ is to be understood by the Regenerate man then the beginning of our Saviour's discourse concerning the necessity of Regeneration is consonant to his plain designe which was to shew why we must be his Disciples and how inexcusable we are if we be not But that the connexion of the whole may be clearly seen I shall here subjoyn a Paraphrase of that part of it which concerns Regeneration proceeding upon our notion of it It is probable as Grotius observes that after Nicodemus had acknowledged our Saviour to be sent from God he asked him what Qualifications a man must have to see the Kingdom of God which in his preaching he had made so much mention of To which question our Saviour's answer was Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God as if he had said No man can enter into the Kingdom of God except he become my Disciple which you seem unwilling to be because you come secretly to me for fear of the Jews but I tell you it is not sufficient for you to acknowledge to me that I am a Teacher sent from God but withal you must become one of my Disciples and own your self so to be though you forfeit thereby the honour you have in the Jewish State for you must forsake all to follow me Nicodemus not understanding this to be our Saviour's meaning replies as if it was required that a man should be born again in the literal and proper sence How can a man be born when he is old as I am can he c. Jesus answered Verily I say unto thee Except a man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God q. d. It is not such a Birth that I mean but that of Water and the Spirit you must be born of Water you must by Baptism become a professed Disciple of mine whom you acknowledge to be a Teacher sent from God and this is not all you must be born of the Spirit too it is equally necessary that by the Operations of the Holy Spirit the promise whereof is part of my Doctrine you become obedient in Heart and Life to those Laws which I deliver which are so holy and divine that they are hated by them whose deeds are evil who will not be perswaded to leave their sins vers 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit That which is born in the literal sence as when an Infant is born of his Mother is discernible to your eyes and the change made thereby is evident to your grosser Senses it is not this change which I mean but I say you must be born of the Spirit and it is a spiritual change that I mean thereby viz. that of the Dispositions of mens Hearts and the manner of their Lives which change together with those Operations of the Spirit whereby it is produced are not discernible the same way in which the natural Birth is vers 7 8. Marvel not that I said unto thee Ye must be Born again The Wind bloweth where it lifteth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of Spirit By this it should seem that which was most troublesom to Nicodemus to understand was this viz. How a man could be born of the Spirit and that the difficulty which he stuck at in this matter was the Imperceptibleness of that Operation of the Spirit whereby this change was produced for how should a man know when he is born of the Spirit This being supposed our Saviour's answer to him removes the doubt for it shews 1. That the Operations of the Spirit though they are not perceptible to the Senses yet they may be otherways known to this purpose he useth a familiar similitude to explain himself by viz. that of the Wind which blowes hither and thither but is not discernible to the eye and though we see it not yet we are sure there is such a thing because we hear it Now as every Body is to be judged of by its proper Sense so is every thing to be judged of by its proper faculty and as we do not deny the existence of some Bodies because they are not evident to one sense if they are evident to another so we are not to deny the existence of some things because they are not evident to our Senses if they be evident to our Mindes as the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes may be 2. Our Saviour's answer shews that we may know an effect the immediate cause whereof we do not know and that by the same Similitude of the Wind the natural cause whereof the generality of men who are yet sure there is such a thing are ignorant of Now in like manner we may perceive or feel an effect in our mindes viz. that change which the Spirit makes there though we do not perceive and in that sence do not know the Operations of the Spirit themselves which are the causes
opened the Eyes of him that was born blinde the Pharisees would believe never the more that he was of God and yet all the pretence they could finde against him was because this cure was wrought on the Sabbath-day vers 16. For when they had strictly examined all circumstances of the Miracle and the healed person in conclusion talked such unanswerable reason against them Herein is a marvelous thing that ye know not whence he is c. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the Eyes of one that was born blinde If this man were not of God he could do nothing i. e. he could do no such works as these they were resolved to give him the hearing no longer but first bitterly reproached him and then cast him out Now our Saviour frequently told these men that their prejudice against him arose from their Lusts How saith he can ye believe who receive honour from one another and seek not the honour that cometh from God onely John 5.44 i. e. so long as your Hearts are set upon worldly greatness and the praise of men which if you can compass you care not in the mean while whether God approves of you or not it is no wonder that ye reject my Doctrine who came not to answer your ambitious and worldly expectations although I come with testimony from God and the works that I do bear witness of me vers 36. Thus the Apostle tells us That the God of this world blindeth the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4.4 where we have a plain reason given us by the Apostle why some believed not who had the light of the Gospel shining about them i. e. who had it preached to them with its proper evidence viz. because the God of this world had blinded their Mindes i. e. because they were blinded with the prejudices of prevailing Lust and Passion by which the Devil rules in the Children of disobedience Wherefore as Faith is necessary to that more perfect victory over our Lusts which includes the universal doing of God's Will So on the other hand our mindes must in some degree be disengaged from the power of our Lusts before we can heartily believe viz. so far as that we may be ready to yield to the truth how contrary sover it proves to our sensual and worldly affections and consequently that they shall not hinder our attention and consideration when the Word of God is offered to be made known to us Of this teachable disposition we have a remarkable instance in Acts 16.14 The Lord opened Lydia 's heart that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul where we may observe 1. That her being qualified to hear which is here expressed by the opening of her Heart is ascribed to a divine operation which prevented even her attention to what she heard 2. That the immediate effect of the Lords opening her Heart was not her believing but her attending to those things which were spoken of Paul i. e. she heard him diligently without prejudice and passion and was willing to embrace the truth This was the effect of God's Spirit and whoever is thus disposed will believe the Gospel when it is made known to him because it is indeed the Word of God This is that temper of minde which was all that our Saviour desired to finde among men in order to the convincing of them that he was the true Prophet If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Joh. 7.17 i. e. If a man be willing to do whatsoever shall appear to be the Will of God and so is not prejudiced against the truth by his Lusts such a one will easily be convinced that my Doctrine is of God And because this temper comes from the divine Spirit therefore he that is thus disposed is said to be of God For it is exactly to the same purpose what our Saviour saith John 8.47 He that is of God heareth God's Words ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God For this was the Answer he made to that Question of his own If I say the truth why do ye not believe me He gives the reason himself Because ye are not of God The meaning whereof is plain from vers 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil and the lusts of your Father ye will do he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth c. So that to be of the Devil is to be wedded to our Lusts and enraged against the truth that contradicts them And therefore the contrary state or temper to be of God is plainly to be ready to perform all duty and to believe all truth and whoever was thus disposed would hear God's Words and believe them vers 47. Thus after our Saviour had appealed to the Miracles which he wrought before his Enemies Joh. 10.25 he tells them But ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep Where by Sheep cannot be meant actual Disciples for then the sence were Ye believe not because ye believe not But such as were by a teachable spirit disposed to be so and would hear his voice for such as these would follow him assoon as he called them because he was the true Shepherd Now that this preparedness of minde to embrace the truth was an effect of the divine Spirit is clearly implied in vers 29. My Father who gave them me i. e. who hath thus disposed and qualified them to hear my voice is greater than all and none is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hands to defeat them of that eternal Life which Christ had promised v. 28. All these places being compared with John 6.37 give a clear light to the true interpretation thereof All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me i. e. will believe in me and become my Disciples and then to be given of the Father is the same thing with being resolved to do the Will of God Joh. 7.17 and being of God Joh. 8.47 and being Christ's Sheep Joh. 10.26 All which Phrases signifie that humility and teachableness of minde whereby men are prepared to believe the truth Onely the Fathers giving such persons to Christ is an expression noting that divine Grace whereby their mindes are thus disposed for which reason being brought to this temper is called vers 44. being drawn by the Father No man can come to me except the Father who hath sent me draw him i. e. unless the grace of God hath so far prevailed over his Affections as to indue him with an impartial love to the truth and his Heart be thereby opened to attend to God's Word And in this sence we may use those words of the Apostle spoken upon another occasion No man can say that Jesus is the Lord
extemporary praying and to pass for one that hath a double measure of the Spirit with them who are apt to ascribe all Heat and Eloquence in matters of Religion to a divine Principle I do not speak this to undervalue any man's abilities in this kinde but onely to shew that they may be set too high As for them that do so they may undeceive themselves by observing the very Prayers of those persons whose gifts this way are most remarkable for although these men are sometimes pleased to decry the use of Forms as not savouring of the Spirit yet it is plain enough that their own Prayers as spiritual as they look may be as purely Humane as the Prayers of a Book are by them judged to be For it is evident that they tie up themselves to those usual Topicks of Prayer and Heads of Devotion according to which Book-prayers as they call them are framed They usually begin with the Invocation of God by the acknowledgement of his Attributes and then they run through the common places of Confession Petition and Thanksgiving which are the subjects that furnish set Forms of Prayer They confess the same Sins they beg the same Graces they praise God for the same Blessings in all their Prayers Now this is that which I suppose none of them will deny and then I think they must confess that their Prayers as to the matter of them are as formal as those of the Liturgy But further as the matter of their Prayers is confined to certain Heads so for the most part they use the same expressions onely with this condition that they are laid in with such good store of them that they need not use them all at once but may keep some against another time And thus indeed they do not tie up themselves to a form of Words because they have as many Forms to use as may be made by the shifting and transposing of those Phrases which they have in stock and so many Forms they have more or fewer according as that stock increases more or less And thus as we pray out of our Books so do they out of their Memories and the difference between their way and ours for I speak now of those that do not use to talk idly and extravagantly in their extemporary Prayers is this that ours hath the advantage of Safety and theirs of Popularity and Ostentation But I am not able to divine what that is in Extemporary praying as that is distinguish'd from using a set Form which must needs be ascribed to the immediate suggestion of the Spirit The matter of such Prayers is certainly the most considerable and the knowledge of that we see may come another way which seem'd to be the minde too of the late Assembly who although they threw aside the Book of Common-prayers to make way for Extemporary Performances yet thought fit to give the Minister a Directory for the Matter without leaving him to be guided in that by the suggestion of the Holy Ghost which made some men think they might e'ne as well have prescribed a set Form unless they intended to leave the meaner office of supplying him with words to the Holy Spirit But the words and phrases as I have shewn you may come from a more familiar Principle And then there is nothing left but that shifting and changing of places with them which makes the great show of variety But this is so unworthy to be ascribed to a divine principle that I may conclude extemporary Prayers allowing them to be never so useful and profitable need not to be dictated by Inspiration and therefore no such Inspiration was promised by our Saviour when be promised the Gift of the Holy Spirit to all his Disciples Thus have I shewn that neither of these three things come under the promise in St. Luke 11.13 For they are not Gifts of that kinde which are there promised to them that ask the Spirit And I adde it may be strongly presumed that they are promised nowhere else since they do not fall under this general promise of the Spirit which comprehends all the rest But because there are some men so vehemently perswaded that the Holy Spirit is given for these purposes that they reckon it little better than Blasphemy to gainsay it I shall proceed to those places of Scripture upon which such mighty confidence is grounded to see whether they afford any reason for it SECT 4. And first as to those testimonies which are alledged out of the Bible in favour of interpreting or understanding Scripture by the immediate revelation of the Spirit I refer the Reader wholly to Dr. Hammond's Postscript concerning New Light and divine Illumination annexed to his Paraphrase c. upon the New Testament where they are all considered and shewn to infer no such thing as is desired to be concluded from them But if after all any man should say that he knows by the Light of the Spirit that Interpretation which Dr. Hammond hath given of those Texts to be nothing better than carnal Reasoning and come over with Dr. Owen's talk of the Natural Man and the impossibility of understanding the spiritual sence of gospel-Gospel-truths without the Almighty Illumination of the Spirit I confess it will prove a matter of as great difficulty to reply to such a pretender as it is to finde out a way to convince a Quaker For what success can any man promise himself by replying to a confident Enthusiast who perpetually appeals from the most evident reasons the plainest testimonies of Scripture and the most rational inferences from them to the testimony of the Spirit However this I will venture to say that if it were granted impossible to understand these Texts without that New Light which the Papists call an Infallible Spirit and Dr. Owen and his party an Almighty work of the Holy Ghost for in effect they are both the same thing then it must be granted withal that these Texts are impertinently produced to convince us who do not pretend to this Infallible Spirit that there are a sort of men upon whom God bestows that priviledge For that theirs is the true sence cannot be proved to us but by rational means i. e. either by arguing from the original words or the Context or parallel places or the like or else by some clear divine testimony proper to convince us that they in particular are inspired such as real and undoubted Miracles This latter way is pretended to onely by the Papists and though the frauds they have been deprehended in sufficiently shew those amongst them that have raised the noise of their Miracles to be Impostors yet it is to be acknowledged that they pretend to offer a rational means of Conviction that their Church interprets the Scripture by an infallible Spirit which the men I am at present speaking of do not offer in the least As for the former way of convincing us by rational evidence from the Text it self it is that which we are
other part of it look'd backward to keep off the first And at this rate a Childe may confute all the Arguments in the world that are brought for or against any thing Having thus discovered our Author's fallacious way of proceeding upon this Head and his art in declining the proof of what he so boldly affirms concerning personal Election and the promise of regenerating Grace being made to his Elect it may not now be unnecessary to put the Reader in minde that I have not been wandring all this while from the designe of this Section which was to shew that we have no reason to expect God's special Grace such as that is whereby we are enabled to keep the Commandments of Christ if we be not on our parts qualified to receive it Now I do not see how this can be admitted for a certain truth on supposition that there are any absolute promises in the Scripture made to some particular men that God will regenerate them or that there are any certain persons whom without consideration of any qualities in them God decreed to save But if these are groundless suppositions themselves I understand not which way any man should think to obtain the special Grace of God but by performing the condition on which it is promised And then I say with Dr. Owen that Believers are the onely object of Sanctification and subject of Gospel-holiness not meaning by Believers as he doth holy persons though the word is and may be so used but those merely that are perswaded that Jesus is the Christ. I onely adde that these Believers must visibly own themselves the Disciples of Christ and they must use earnest Prayers for that divine Grace which will enable them to do the Will of God upon Earth as it is done in Heaven For both these conditions are supposed in that promise of the Holy Spirit made to the Disciples of Christ which is mentioned in Luke 11.13 Wherefore if Believers themselves do not perform these conditions they have no reason to expect that special Grace which is there promised Finally since the Spirit of God is promised to dwell in good men onely if the Disciples of Christ do not improve that Grace which they obtain by their Prayers to actual amendment and a sincere obedience of the Gospel it would be a vain presumption in them to think that God will communicate those fuller measures of Grace to them while they are thus unreformed which are signified by his dwelling in us SECT 3. Having thus shewn you who are the Objects of special Grace I proceed to a third conclusion which being proved nothing else seems necessary for the satisfying of this Question To whom the Holy Spirit is given Wherefore I adde 3. That common Grace or that which is not suspended upon the performance of any condition required in the Covenant is given to all those that live under the ministration of the Gospel My meaning is they are all prevented with that Grace which makes it possible for them to begin well i. e. to desire the knowledge of God's ways with a purpose of walking in them when they are known and then to be convinced that the Gospel is the Word of God by the use of those external means which God hath afforded them I do not say that every one of them hath this Grace always bestowed upon him for it is possible that some of those to whom the Word of God is spoken may put it away from themselves as the Jews did and be at length forsaken by the divine Grace and left under an obstinate and unteachable minde as they were Much less shall I venture to say how long the divine Spirit moves upon the Souls of men to make them teachable and willing to learn the truth before he gives them over For God hath reserved this matter to his own Soveraign pleasure and therefore we neither ought to set limits to his patience nor to presume upon the length of it But all I say is this That Grace of God which prevents our first good inclinations and desires and is necessary to make us capable of learning the Truth is given to as many as have the Gospel preached to them so that until by their obstinacy they have utterly forfeited the divine Grace and Blessing it is in their power to lay aside prejudice to attend to the Word of God and receive the knowledge of the truth Out of many Arguments which the Scripture affords to this purpose I shall chuse but one having already drawn out this Part into a greater length than I expected but that concluding strongly enough to spare me the labour of producing any more The Argument I mean is founded upon those passages in the New Testament wherein those to whom the Word of God is made known are threatned with eternal Damnation if they believe it not and with more grievous punishments than had been inflicted on them if the Gospel had never been preached to them Thus saith our Saviour to his Apostles Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Mark 16.15 16. If any man hear my words and believe not but rejecteth me the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day John 12.47 48. He that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the Name of the onely begotten Son of God John 3.18 Further the severity of that punishment which belongs to them who believe not is intimated plainly in the aggravation of their fault as our Saviour saith If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin they could not have been accused of this particular sin of not believing in me and that would have mitigated their other faults but now they have no cloak for their sin they are every way inexcusable and therefore the more punishable John 15.22 But it is fully express'd in Matth. 11.20 where we finde our Saviour upbraiding the Cities that rejected him and declaring it should be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon and Sodom at the day of judgement than for them vers 22 23. These testimonies of Scripture being premised I argue thus If all that preventing Grace which is necessary to believing be not sometime given to all that hear the Gospel then it would be always impossible for some that hear to believe and that without their fault But it is not always thus impossible for any therefore such Grace is sometime given to all The former Proposition is evident for as long as I want that which is necessary to the doing of any thing so long is that thing impossible to me and if it be not my fault that I want the former neither is the impossibility imputable to me as a fault Finally it is not my fault that I want it if I could never do any thing to procure it and 't is