Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A33207
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A discourse concerning the operations of the Holy Spirit together with a confutation of some part of Dr. Owen's book upon that subject.
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Clagett, William, 1646-1688.; Owen, John, 1616-1683. Two discourses concerning the Holy Spirit and his work.
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1678
(1678)
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Wing C4379; ESTC R14565
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218,333
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348
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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
unquainted withal And by this he shews that the practice of despising his opinions concerning Grace has not been taken up of late Now I will not say how old the practice has been of making every quarrel a man is concerned in equal to the Cause of those godly men whose sufferings are mentioned in the Scripture but 't is well enough known that 't is at least as old as that Faction which our Author hath espoused and whether this be not one branch of a proud inclination let sober men judge It has been often observed of these men how dear They and their Opinions are to themselves and the Doctor has here given you a good ordinary instance of it For if he had not been bewitch'd with self-conceit he had never made this absurd parallel for what had Abel or Isaac to do with his Cause If he had onely called us the seed of Cain and Ishmael without saying why who would have thought the reason had been our questioning whether men are snatch'd into a state of Grace by an irresistible power And yet this is his great quarrel against us concerning the manner of Conversion which here he pretends to explain I know he does more than insinuate and that more than once that we disown the very assistances of the Holy Spirit as I shall convince you in a fitter place but this you are to look upon as an effect of his rage which makes him foam out Calumnies against us without any discretion for he knows well enough that his Adversaries are not guilty of it as I shall shew you too from his own words and then I shall desire him to consider whether the Father of Lyes be not the Representative of such shameless Writers as he is an example of As to what he saith that such a work of God upon men as he contends for is exposed to derision if upon that account he compares his Adversaries to scoffing Ishmael I think he does them great wrong For let him if he can name any of his opinion in this matter who has debated the point with any appearance of Modesty and Sobriety and was answered with the least shew of Contempt But as for those of whom Dr. Owen is one that instead of answering the Arguments of their Adversaries complain that they are laughed at and do themselves fall upon them with the foulest reproaches as upon the Enemies of Christ it may be sometimes good to take down their haughty spirits and to render their arrogance contemptible lest others be encouraged to hope that any Cause may be carried by vapouring In my opinion it is a difficult undertaking to define in particular what is the manner and measure of the Holy Spirit 's Operations because I think the Scriptures have not particularly acquainted us what it is Let others who have better considered the thing enjoy the liberty of thinking otherwise and for my own part I shall with all thankfulness submit to further instruction But as for Dr. Owen I hope to make it appear that the Scriptures do not favour his determination of the Question which I shall the rather endeavour because I conceive this opinion that the Spirit worketh upon our mindes in an irresistible manner especially as he hath advanced it to be of dangerous consequence to the Souls of men In the mean time I shall lay down some Propositions the truth of which will I think be easily granted by all sober Christians from whence we may in general conclude what is the manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operations and the measure of their power not that I think even this were needful if our Author and those of his way had not fallen into a dangerous Mistake by venturing too far For that which has been already said seems to me to afford a sufficient foundation of Godliness and Comfort if all be not subverted again by their opinion of the Manner wherein we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit Now I think it will appear that those general Propositions wherein they agree with us concerning the Manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operations on our mindes are inconsistent with their particular definition of it And the first of them is this That 1. Faith and Repentance or Conversion to God together with Perseverance in Holiness are truely and properly the effects of God's Word revealed to us in the Doctrines of the Gospel Wherefore such is the manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operation in producing these Qualifications in our mindes that it hinders them not from being the Genuine effects of the Revelation of the Gospel but they ought still to be ascribed to that force and efficacy of those divine Truths which are contained in it whereby the Gospel is in it self a fit and proper means of working the Grace of God in the mindâ— of men Now it is very plain that the proper and natural power of the Gospel to produce these effects consists in the evidence of its Truth in the authority and excellency of its Laws and in the weightiness of its Promises and Threatnings and other motives to obedience Wherefore if Conversion be the proper effect of God's Word it follows that the Holy Spirit does 1. Onely co-operate to the producing of that effect and 2. In that manner as it may truely be affirmed to be an effect of those considerations which are propounded to us in the Gospel The truth of the Supposition is manifest from divers places of Scripture As for Faith St. Paul plainly tells us it comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Rom. 10.17 Thus upon the conversion of many Unbelievers it is said that the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed Acts 19.20 i. e. the testimonies which God gave to the truth of the Gospel convinced many that were in all appearance most likely to oppose it Hence St. Paul tells the Corinthians that in Christ Jesus he had begotten them through the Gospel i. e. by the preaching of the Gospel he had first brought them over to the faith of Christ. Furthermore our obedience is by St. Peter ascribed to the power of God's Word where he saith that we have great and precious promises given to us that by These we might be partakers of the divine Nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust 2 Pet. 1.4 To the same purpose the Word of God is said to work effectually in those that believed 1 Thess. 2.13 i. e. by the force of those promises mentioned by St. Peter and other weighty considerations moving to holiness Finally our Regeneration is expresly ascribed to the Word of God for we are said to be born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever 1 Pet. 1.23 and our Spiritual improvement is attributed not long after to the same cause As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 Thus the increase of