1 Part. Proved.As to the first, though it be granted by most, yet because it is more in Words than Deeds (the more full discussing of which will occur in the next Proposition concerning Justification) I shall prove it in few Words. And first from the Words of Christ to Nicodemus, John iii. 3. Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a Man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. The New Birth (or Regeneration) cometh not by the outward Knowledge of Christ.Now this Birth cometh not by the outward Preaching of the Gospel, or Knowledge of Christ, or historical Faith in him; seeing many have that, and firmly believe it, who are never thus renewed. The Apostle Paul also goes so far, while he commends the Necessity and Excellency of this new Creation, as in a certain Respect to lay aside the outward Knowledge of Christ, or the Knowledge of him after the Flesh, in these Words, 2 Cor. v. 16, 17. Wherefore henceforth know we no Man after the Flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the Flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any Man be in Christ, he is a new Creature, old Things are passed away, behold all Things are become new. Whence it manifestly appears, that he makes the Knowledge of Christ after the Flesh but as it were the Rudiments which young Children learn, which after they are become better Scholars, are of less Use to them; because they have and possess the very Substance of those first Precepts in their Minds. As all Comparisons halt in some Part, so shall I not affirm this to hold in every Respect; yet so far will this hold, that as those that go no farther than the Rudiments are never to be accounted learned, and as they grow beyond these Things, so they have less Use of them, even so such as go no farther than the outward Knowledge of Christ shall never inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. But such as come to know this new Birth, to be in Christ indeed, to be a new Creature, to have Old Things passed away, and all Things become new, may safely say with the Apostle, Though we have known Christ after the Flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. But by the Work of Light and Grace in the Heart.Now this new Creature proceeds from the Work of this Light and Grace in the Heart: It is that Word which we speak of, that is sharp and piercing, that implanted Word, able to save the Soul, by which this Birth is begotten; and therefore Christ has purchased unto us this holy Seed, that thereby this Birth might be brought forth in us, which is therefore also called the Manifestation of the Spirit, given to every one to profit withal; for it is written, that by one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body. And the Apostle Peter also ascribeth this Birth to the Seed and Word of God, which we have so much declared of, saying, 1 Pet. i. 23. Being born again, not of corruptible Seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. Though then this Seed be small in its Appearance, so that Christ compares it to a Grain of Mustard-seed, which is the least of all Seeds, Matth. xiii. 31, 32. and that it be hid in the earthly Part of Man’s Heart; yet therein is Life and Salvation towards the Sons of Men wrapped up, which comes to be revealed as they give Way to it. The Kingdom of God is in the Seed, in the Hearts of all Men.And in this Seed in the Hearts of all Men is the Kingdom of God, as in Capacity to be produced, or rather exhibited, according as it receives Depth, is nourished, and not choked: Hence Christ saith, that The Kingdom of God was in the very Pharisees, Luke xvii. 20, 21. who did oppose and resist him, and were justly accounted as Serpents, and a Generation of Vipers. Now the Kingdom of God could be no otherwise in them than in a Seed, even as the Thirty-fold and the Hundred-fold is wrapt up in a small Seed, lying in a barren Ground, which springs not forth because it wants Nourishment: And as the whole Body of a great Tree is wrapped up potentially in the Seed of the Tree, and so is brought forth in due Season; and as the Capacity of a Man or Woman is not only in a Child, but even in the very Embryo, even so the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, yea, Jesus Christ himself, Christ within, who is the Hope of Glory, and becometh Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption, is in every Man’s and Woman’s Heart, in that little incorruptible Seed, ready to be brought forth, as it is cherished and received in the Love of it. For there can be no Men worse than those rebellious and unbelieving Pharisees were; and yet this Kingdom was thus within them, and they were directed to look for it there: So it is neither lo here, nor lo there, in this or the other Observation, that this is known, but as this Seed of God in the Heart is minded and entertained. And certainly hence it is, even because this Light, Seed, and Grace that appears in the Heart of Man is so little regarded, and so much overlooked, that so few know Christ brought forth in them. Calvinists, Papists, Arminians and Socinians Errors denying the Light to be saving.The one Sort, to wit, the Calvinists, they look upon Grace as an irresistible Power, and therefore neglect and despise this eternal Seed of the Kingdom in their Hearts, as a low, insufficient, useless Thing as to their Salvation. On the other Hand, the Papists, Arminians, and Socinians, they go about to set up their natural Power and Will with one Consent, denying that this little Seed, this small Appearance of the Light, is that supernatural saving Grace of God given to every Man to save him. And so upon them is verified that Saying of the Lord Jesus Christ, This is the Condemnation of the World, that Light is come into the World, but Men love Darkness rather than Light; the Reason is added, Because their Deeds are evil. All confess they feel this; but they will not have it to be of that Virtue. Some will have it to be Reason; some a natural Conscience; some, certain Reliques of God’s Image, that remained in Adam. So that Christ, as he met with Opposition from all Kinds of Professors in his outward Appearance, doth now also in his inward. The Meanness of Christ’s Appearance in the Flesh.It was the Meanness of his outward Man that made many despise him, saying, Is not this the Son of the Carpenter? Are not his Brethren and Sisters among us? Is not this a Galilean? And came there ever a Prophet out of Galilee? And such-like Reasonings. For they expected an outward Deliverer, who as a Prince should deliver them with great Ease from their Enemies, and not such a Messiah as should be crucified shamefully, and as it were lead them into many Sorrows, Troubles, and Afflictions. So the Meanness of this Appearance makes the crafty Jesuits, the pretended rational Socinians, and the learned Arminians, overlook it; desiring rather something that they might exercise their Subtilty, Reason, and Learning about, and use the Liberty of their own Wills. And the secure Calvinists, they would have a Christ to save them without any Trouble; to destroy all their Enemies for them without them, and nothing or little within, and in the mean While to be at Ease to live in their Sins secure. The Nature of the Light.Whence, when all is well examined, the Cause is plain; it is Because their Deeds are Evil, that with one Consent they reject this Light: For it checks the wisest of them all, and the learnedest of them all; in Secret it reproves them; neither can all their Logick silence it, nor can the securest among them stop its Voice from crying, and reproving them within, for all their Confidence in the outward Knowledge of Christ, or of what he hath suffered outwardly for them. For, as hath been often said, In a Day it strives with all, wrestles with all; and it is the unmortified Nature, the first Nature, the old Adam, yet alive in the wisest, in the learnedest, in the most zealous for the outward Knowledge of Christ, that denies this, that despises it, that shuts it out, to their own Condemnation. They come all under this Description, Every one that doeth evil hateth the Light, neither cometh to the Light, lest his Deeds should be reproved, John iii. 20. So that it may be said, now, and we can say from a true and certain Experience, as it was of old, Psalm cxviii. 22. Mat. xxi. 42. Mark xii. 10. Luke xx. 17. Acts iv. 11. The Stone which the Builders of all Kinds have rejected, the same is become unto us the Head of the Corner. Glory to God for ever! who hath chosen us as First-fruits to himself in this Day, wherein he is arisen to plead with the Nations; and therefore hath sent us forth to preach this everlasting Gospel unto all, Christ nigh to all, the Light in all, the Seed sown in the Hearts of all, that Men may come and apply their Minds to it. And we rejoice that we have been made to lay down our Wisdom and Learning (such of us as have had some of it) and our carnal Reasoning, to learn of Jesus; and sit down at the Feet of Jesus in our Hearts, and hear him, who there makes all Things manifest, and reproves all Things by his Light, Ephes. v. 13. For many are wise and learned in the Notion, in the Letter of the Scripture, The Wise and Learned in the Notion, Crucifiers of Christ.as the Pharisees were, and can speak much of Christ, and plead strongly against Infidels, Turks, and Jews, and it may be also against some Heresies, who, in the mean Time, are crucifying Christ in the small Appearance of his Seed in their Hearts. Oh! better were it to be stripped and naked of all, to account it as Dross and Dung, and become a Fool for Christ’s Sake, thus knowing him to teach thee in thy Heart, so as thou mayest witness him raised there, feel the Virtue of his Cross there, and say with the Apostle, I glory in nothing, save in the Cross of Christ, whereby I am crucified to the World, and the World unto me. This is better than to write thousands of Commentaries, and to preach many Sermons. And it is thus to preach Christ, and direct People to his pure Light in the Heart, that God hath raised us up, and for which the wise Men of this World account us Fools; None are saved by the Knowledge of the History, but by the Operation of the Light of Christ in the Mystery.because by the Operation of this Cross of Christ in our Hearts, we have denied our own Wisdom and Wills in many Things, and have forsaken the vain Worships, Fashions, and Customs of this World. For these divers Centuries the World hath been full of a dry, fruitless, and barren Knowledge of Christ, feeding upon the Husk, and neglecting the Kernel; following after the Shadow, but Strangers to the Substance. Hence the Devil matters not how much of that Knowledge abounds, provided he can but possess the Heart, and rule in the Will, crucify the Appearance of Christ there, and so keep the Seed of the Kingdom from taking Root. Contentions about outward Observations and Lo here’s.For he has led them abroad, lo here, and lo there, and has made them wrestle in a false Zeal so much one against another, contending for this outward Observation, and for the other outward Observation, seeking Christ in this and the other external Thing, as in Bread and Wine; contending one with another how he is there, while some will have him to be present therein this Way, and some the other Way; and some in Scriptures, in Books, in Societies, and Pilgrimages, and Merits. But some, confiding in an external barren Faith, think all is well, if they do but firmly believe that he died for their Sins past, present, and to come; while in the mean Time Christ lies crucified and slain, and is daily resisted and gainsayed in his Appearance in their Hearts. The Call of God to blinded Christendom.Thus, from a Sense of this Blindness and Ignorance that is come over Christendom, it is that we are led and moved of the Lord so constantly and frequently to call all, invite all, intreat all, to turn to the Light in them, to mind the Light in them, to believe in Christ, as he is in them: And that in the Name, Power, and Authority of the Lord, not in School-arguments and Distinctions (for which many of the wise Men of this World account us Fools and Mad-men) we do charge and command them to lay aside their Wisdom, to come down out of that proud, airy, Brain-knowledge, and to stop that Mouth, how eloquent soever to the worldly Ear it may appear, and to be silent, and sit down as in the Dust, and to mind the Light of Christ in their own Consciences; which, if minded, they would find as a sharp two-edged Sword in their Hearts, and as a Fire and a Hammer, that would knock against and burn up all that carnal, gathered, natural Stuff, and make the stoutest of them all tremble, and become Quakers indeed: Which those that come not to feel now, and kiss not the Son while the Day lasteth, but harden their Hearts, will feel to be a certain Truth when it is too late. To conclude, as saith the Apostle, All ought to examine themselves, whether they be in the Faith indeed; and try their ownselves: For except Jesus Christ be in them, they are certainly Reprobates, 2 Cor. xiii. 5.
§. XXV.
Arg.To whom the Gospel, the Power of God unto Salvation, is manifest, they may be saved, whatever outward Knowledge they want:
But this Gospel is preached in every Creature; in which is certainly comprehended many that have not the outward Knowledge:
Therefore of those many may be saved.
But to those Arguments, by which it hath been proved, That all Men have a Measure of saving Grace, I shall add one, and that very observable, not yet mentioned, viz. that excellent Saying of the Apostle Paul to Titus, Chap. ii. Ver. 11. The Grace of God, that brings Salvation, hath appeared to all Men; teaching us, That denying Ungodliness and worldly Lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present World: Than which there can be nothing more clear, it comprehending both the Parts of the Controversy. First, It testifies that it is no natural Principle or Light, but saith plainly, It brings Salvation. Secondly, It says not, that it hath appeared to a few, but unto all Men. The saving Grace of God teacheth the whole Duty of Man.The Fruit of it declares also how efficacious it is, seeing it comprehends the whole Duty of Man: It both teacheth us, first, to forsake Evil, to deny Ungodliness and worldly Lusts; and then it teacheth us our whole Duty. First, to live Soberly; that comprehends Temperance, Chastity, Meekness, and those Things that relate unto a Man’s self. Secondly, Righteously; that comprehends Equity, Justice, and Honesty, and those Things which relate to our Neighbours. And lastly, Godly; which comprehends Piety, Faithfulness, and Devotion, which are the Duties relating to God. So then there is nothing required of Man, or is needful to Man, which this Grace teacheth not. Yet I have heard a public Preacher (one of those that are accounted zealous Men) to evade the Strength of this Text, deny this Grace to be saving, and say, It was only intended of common Favours and Graces, such as is the Heat of the Fire, and outward Light of the Sun. Such is the Darkness and Ignorance of those that oppose the Truth; whereas the Text saith expresly, that it is saving. The Absurdities of our Adversaries Comment upon the Word All, denying Grace to be saving. Tit. 2. 11.Others, that cannot deny but it is saving, alledge, This [All] comprehends not every Individual, but only all Kinds: But is a bare Negation sufficient to overturn the Strength of a positive Assertion? If the Scriptures may be so abused, what so absurd, as may not be pleaded for from them? Or what so manifest, as may not be denied? But we have no Reason to be staggered by their denying, so long as our Faith is found in express Terms of Scripture; they may as well seek to persuade us, that we do not intend that which we affirm (though we know the Contrary) as make us believe, that when the Apostle speaks forth our Doctrine in plain Words, yet he intends theirs, which is quite the Contrary. And indeed, can there be any Thing more absurd, than to say, where the Word is plainly [All] Few is only intended? For they will not have [All] taken here for the greater Number. Indeed, as the Case may be sometimes, by a Figure [All] may be taken, of two Numbers, for the greater Number; but let them shew us, if they can, either in Scripture, or profane or ecclesiastical Writings, that any Man that wrote Sense did ever use the Word [All] to express, of two Numbers, the lesser. Whereas they affirm, that the far lesser Number have received saving Grace; and yet will they have the Apostle, by [All] to have signified so. Though this might suffice, yet, to put it further beyond all Question, I shall instance another Saying of the same Apostle, that we may use him as his own Commentator, Rom. v. 18. Therefore as by the Offence of One, Judgment come upon all Men to Condemnation, even so by the Righteousness of One, the Free-gift came upon all Men unto Justification of Life. Here no Man of Reason, except he will be obstinately ignorant, will deny, but this similitive Particle [As] makes the [All] which goes before, and comes after, to be of one and the same Extent; or else let them shew one Example, either in Scripture, or elsewhere, among Men that speak proper Language, where it is otherwise. We must then either affirm that this Loss, which leads to Condemnation, hath not come upon all; or say, that this free Gift is come upon all by Christ. Whence I thus argue:
Arg.If all Men have received a Loss from Adam, which leads to Condemnation; then all Men have received a Gift from Christ, which leads to Justification:
But the first is true: Therefore also the last.