Son revealeth him;_ and seeing _the Revelation of the Son is_ in
_and_ by _the Spirit;_ therefore the Testimony of the Spirit is
that alone by which the true Knowledge of God hath been, is, and
can be only revealed: Who as, by the Moving of his own Spirit,
he disposed the_ Chaos _of this World into that wonderful Order
in which it was in the Beginning, and created Man a Living Soul,
to Rule and Govern it; so by the Revelation of the same Spirit
he hath manifested himself all along unto the Sons of Men, both
Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles: Which Revelations of God by
the Spirit, whether by outward Voices and Appearances, Dreams,
or inward objective Manifestations in the Heart, were of old the
formal Object of their Faith, and remain yet so to be; since _the
Object of the Saints’ Faith is the same in all Ages, tho’ held
forth under divers Administrations._ Moreover, these Divine Inward
Revelations, which we make absolutely necessary for the building
up of true Faith, neither do, nor can ever, contradict the outward
Testimony of the Scriptures, or right and sound Reason; yet from
hence it will not follow, that these Divine Revelations are to
be subjected to the Test, either of the outward Testimony of the
Scriptures, or of the Natural Reason of Man, as to a more noble
or certain Rule and Touchstone; for this Divine Revelation, and
Inward Illumination, is that which is evident and clear of itself;
forcing, by its own Evidence and Clearness, the well-disposed
Understanding to assent, irresistibly moving the same thereunto,
even as the common Principles of natural Truths do move and incline
the Mind to a natural Assent: As,_ That the Whole is greater than
its Part; That two Contradictories can neither be both true, nor
both false.
[29] Mat. 11. 27.
§. I. [Sidenote: _Revelation by Apostate Christians rejected._]
It is very probable, that many carnal and natural Christians will
oppose this Proposition; who, being wholly unacquainted with the
Movings and Actings of God’s Spirit upon their Hearts, judge the same
nothing necessary; and some are apt to flout at it as ridiculous:
Yea, to that Height are the Generality of Christians apostatized and
degenerated, that though there be not any Thing more plainly Asserted,
more seriously Recommended, or more certainly Attested to, in all
the Writings of the holy Scriptures; yet nothing is less minded, and
more rejected, by all Sorts of Christians, than _Immediate and Divine
Revelation_; insomuch, that once to lay Claim to it, is Matter of
Reproach. Whereas of old, none were ever judged Christians, but such
as _had the Spirit of Christ_, Rom. viii. 9. But now many do boldly
call themselves _Christians_, who make no Difficulty of confessing
they are without it, and laugh at such as say they have it. Of old
they were accounted _the Sons of God, who were led by the Spirit of
God_, ibid. verse 14. But now many aver themselves Sons of God, who
know nothing of this Leader; and he that affirms himself so led, is, by
the pretended Orthodox of this Age, presently proclaimed an Heretick.
The Reason hereof is very manifest, _viz._ Because many in these Days,
under the Name of _Christians_, do experimentally find, that they are
not actuated, nor led, by God’s Spirit; yea, many great _Doctors_,
_Divines_, _Teachers_ and _Bishops_ of Christianity, (commonly so
called) have wholly shut their Ears from hearing, and their Eyes from
seeing, this _Inward Guide_, and so are become Strangers unto it;
whence they are, by their own Experience, brought to this Strait,
either to confess that they are as yet ignorant of God, and have only
the Shadow of _Knowledge_, and not the true _Knowledge_ of him, or that
this _Knowledge_ is acquired without Immediate Revelation.
[Sidenote: _Knowledge Spiritual and Literal distinguished._] For the
better understanding then of this Proposition, we do distinguish
betwixt the certain Knowledge of God, and the uncertain; betwixt the
spiritual Knowledge, and the literal; the saving Heart-Knowledge, and
soaring, airy Head-Knowledge. The last, we confess, may be divers Ways
obtained; but the first, by no other Way than the inward immediate
Manifestation and Revelation of God’s Spirit, shining in and upon the
Heart, inlightning and opening the Understanding.
§. II. Having then proposed to myself, in these Propositions, to affirm
those Things which relate to the true and effectual Knowledge, which
brings Life Eternal with it; therefore I have truly affirmed, that this
Knowledge is no otherways attained, and that none have any true Ground
to believe they have attained it, who have it not by this Revelation of
God’s Spirit.
The Certainty of which Truth is such, that it hath been acknowledged
by some of the most refined and famous of all Sorts of Professors
of Christianity in all Ages; who being truly upright-hearted, and
earnest Seekers of the Lord, (however stated under the Disadvantages
and epidemical Errors of their several Sects or Ages) the true Seed in
them hath been answered by God’s Love, who hath had Regard to the Good,
and hath had of his Elect Ones among all, who finding a Distaste and
Disgust in all other outward Means, even in the very Principles and
Precepts more particularly relative to their own Forms and Societies,
have at last concluded, with _One Voice_, That there was no true
Knowledge of God, but that which is revealed inwardly by his own
Spirit. Whereof take these following Testimonies of the Ancients.
[Sidenote: _Aug._] 1. [30]“_It is the Inward Master (_saith_ Augustine)
that Teacheth, it is Christ that Teacheth, it is Inspiration that
Teacheth: Where this Inspiration and Unction is wanting, it is in vain
that Words from without are beaten in._” And thereafter: “_For he that
created us, and redeemed us, and called us, by Faith, and dwelleth in
us by his Spirit, unless he speaketh unto us Inwardly, it is needless
for us to cry out._”
[30] _Aug. _ex Tract. Ep._ Joh. 3._
[Sidenote: _Clem. Alex._] 2. [31]“_There is a Difference (_saith_
Clemens Alexandrinus) betwixt that which any one saith of the Truth,
and that which the Truth itself, interpreting itself, saith. A
Conjecture of Truth differeth from the Truth itself; a Similitude of
a Thing differeth from the Thing itself; it is one Thing that is
acquired by Exercise and Discipline; and another Thing, which by Power
and Faith._” Lastly, the same _Clemens_ saith, [32]“_Truth is neither
hard to be arrived at, nor is it impossible to apprehend it; for it is
most Nigh unto us, even in our Houses, as the most wise_ Moses _hath
insinuated._”
[31] _Clem. Alex._ I. 1. Strom.
[32] Pædag.
[Sidenote: _Tertullian._] 3. [33]“_How is it (_saith_ Tertullian) that
since the Devil always worketh, and stirreth up the Mind to Iniquity,
that the Work of God should either cease, or desist to act? Since for
this End the Lord did send the Comforter, that because human Weakness
could not at once bear all Things, Knowledge might be by little and
little directed, formed, and brought to Perfection, by the Holy Spirit,
that Vicar of the Lord._ I have many Things yet (_saith he_) to speak
unto you, but ye cannot as yet bear them; but when that Spirit of Truth
shall come, he shall lead you into all Truth, and shall teach you these
Things that are to come. _But of this his Work we have spoken above.
What is then the Administration of the Comforter, but that Discipline
be directed, and the Scriptures revealed?_” &c.
[33] _Tertullianus_ Lib. de veland. Virginibus, cap. 1.
[Sidenote: _Jerome_] 4. [34]“_The Law (_saith_ Jerome) is Spiritual,
and there is need of a Revelation to understand it._” And in his
Epistle 150. to _Hedibia_, Quest. 11. he saith, “_The whole Epistle to
the _Romans_ needs an Interpretation; it being involved in so great
Obscurities, that for the understanding thereof we need the Help of the
Holy Spirit, who through the Apostle dictated it._”
[34] _Jerome_ Ep. Paulin. 103.
[Sidenote: _Athanasius._] 5. [35]“_So great Things (_saith_ Athanasius)
doth our Saviour daily: He draws unto Piety, persuades unto Virtue,
teaches Immortality, excites to the Desire of Heavenly Things, reveals
the Knowledge of the Father, inspires Power against Death, and shews
himself unto every one._”
[35] _Athanasius_ de Incarn. Verbi Dei.
[Sidenote: _Gregory_] 6. [36]_Gregory_ the Great, upon these Words
[_He shall teach you all Things_] saith, “_That unless the same Spirit
is present in the Heart of the Hearer, in vain is the Discourse of
the Doctor. Let no Man then ascribe unto the Man that teacheth, what
he understands from the Mouth of him that speaketh; for unless he
that teacheth be within, the Tongue of the Doctor, that is without,
laboureth in vain._”
[36] _Greg._ Mag. Hom. 30. upon the Gospel.
[Sidenote: _Cyrillus Alexandrinus_] 7. [37]_Cyrillus Alexandrinus_
plainly affirmeth, “_That Men know that_ Jesus is the Lord by the Holy
Ghost, _no otherwise than they who taste Honey know that it is sweet,
even by its proper Quality_.”
[37] _Cyril. Alex._ in _Thesauro_, lib. 13. c. 3.
[Sidenote: _Bernard._] 8. [38]“_Therefore (_saith_ Bernard) we daily
exhort you, Brethren, that ye walk the Ways of the Heart, and that
your Souls be always in your Hands, that ye may hear what the Lord
saith in you._” And again, upon these Words of the Apostle [_Let him
that glorieth, glory in the Lord_] “_With which Threefold Vice _(saith
he)_ all Sorts of Religious Men are less or more dangerously affected,
because they do not so diligently attend, with the Ears of the Heart,
to what the Spirit of Truth (which flatters none) inwardly speaks._”
[38] _Bernard _in_ Psal. 84._
This was the very Basis, and main Foundation, upon which the Primitive
Reformers built.
[Sidenote: _Luther._] [39]_Luther_, in his Book to the Nobility of
_Germany_, saith, “_This is certain, That no Man can make himself a
Teacher of the holy Scriptures, but the Holy Spirit alone._” And upon
the _Magnificat_ he saith, “_No Man can rightly know God, or understand
the Word of God, unless he immediately receive it from the Holy Spirit;
neither can any one receive it from the Holy Spirit, except he find
it by Experience in himself; and in this Experience the Holy Ghost
teacheth, as in his proper School; out of which School nothing is
taught but mere Talk._”
[39] _Luther._ Tom. 5. p. 76.
[Sidenote: _Phil. Melancthon_] _Philip Melancthon_, in his Annotations
upon _John_ vi. “_Those who hear only an outward and bodily Voice, hear
the Creature; but _God is a Spirit_, and is neither discerned, nor
known, nor heard, but by the Spirit;_ [Sidenote: _By the Spirit alone
God is known._] _and therefore to hear the Voice of God, to see God,
is to know and hear the Spirit. By the Spirit alone God is known and
perceived._”
Which also the more Serious to this Day do acknowledge, even all such
who satisfy themselves not with the Superficies of Religion, and
use it not as a Cover or Art. Yea, all those who apply themselves
effectually to Christianity, and are not satisfied until they have
found its effectual Work upon their Hearts, redeeming them from Sin,
do feel that no Knowledge effectually prevails to the producing of
this, but that which proceeds from the warm Influence of God’s Spirit
upon the Heart, and from the comfortable Shining of his Light upon
their Understanding. [Sidenote: _Dr. _Smith_ of _Cambridge_, concerning
Book-Divinity._] And therefore to this Purpose a modern Author, _viz._
Dr. _Smith_ of _Cambridge_, in his Select Discourses, saith well; “_To
seek our Divinity merely in Books and Writings, is to seek the Living
among the Dead. We do but in vain many Times seek God in these, where
his Truth is too often not so much Enshrined as Entombed._ Intra te
quære Deum, _Seek God within thine own Soul: He is best discerned
_[Greek: noera epaphê: νοερα επαφη]_ (as _Plotinus_ phrased it) by an
Intellectual Touch of him. We must_ see with our Eyes, and hear with
our Ears, and our Hands must handle the Word of Life (_to express it in
St. _John_’s Words_) [Greek: hoti tês psychês aisthêsis: ὁτι της ψυχης
αισθησις], _&c. The Soul itself hath its Sense, as well as the Body._
And therefore, _David_, when he would teach us to know what the Divine
Goodness is, calls not for Speculation, but Sensation: _Taste, and see
how good the Lord is_. That is not the best and truest Knowledge of
God, which is wrought out by the Labour and Sweat of the Brain, but
that which is kindled within us, by an heavenly Warmth in our Hearts.
_And again_: There is a Knowing of the _Truth, as it is in Jesus_, as
it is in a _Christ-like Nature_; as it is in that sweet, mild, humble,
and loving Spirit of Jesus, which spreads itself, like a _Morning Sun_,
upon the Souls of good Men, full of Light and Life. It profits little
to know Christ himself after the Flesh; but he gives his Spirit to good
Men, _that searcheth the deep things of God_. _And again_: It is but a
thin airy Knowledge, that is got by mere Speculation, which is ushered
in by Syllogisms and Demonstrations; but that which springs forth from
true Goodness, is [Greek: theioteron ti pasês hypodeixeôs: θειοτερον τι
πασης ὑποδειξεως] (as _Origen_ speaketh) _It brings such a Divine Light
into the Soul, as is more clear and convincing than any Demonstration_.”
§. III. [Sidenote: Apostasy and a false Knowledge introduced.] That
this certain and undoubted Method of the true Knowledge of God hath
been brought out of use, hath been none of the least Devices of the
Devil, to secure Mankind to his Kingdom. For after the Light and Glory
of the Christian Religion had prevailed over a great Part of the
World, and dispelled the thick Mists of the Heathenish Doctrine of the
Plurality of Gods, he that knew there was no Probability of deluding
the World any longer that Way, did then puff Man up with a false
Knowledge of the true God; setting him on work to seek God the wrong
Way, and persuading him to be content with such a Knowledge as was of
his own acquiring, and not of God’s teaching. And this Device hath
proved the more successful, because accommodated to the natural and
corrupt Spirit and Temper of Man, who above all Things affects to exalt
himself; in which Exaltation, as God is greatly dishonoured, so therein
the Devil hath his End; who is not anxious how much God is acknowledged
in Words, provided himself be but always served; he matters not how
great and high Speculations the Natural Man entertains of God, so
long as he serves his own Lusts and Passions, and is obedient to his
evil Suggestions and Temptations. [Sidenote: _Christianity is become
an Art, acquired by human Science and Industry._] Thus _Christianity_
is become as it were an Art, acquired by human Science and Industry;
like any other Art or Science; and Men have not only assumed the Name
of _Christians_, but even have procured themselves to be esteemed
as _Masters of Christianity_, by certain Artificial Tricks, though
altogether Strangers to the Spirit and Life of Jesus. But if we make a
right Definition of a _Christian_, according to the Scripture, That _he
is one who hath the Spirit and is led by it_, how many _Christians_,
yea, and of these great _Masters_ and _Doctors of Christianity_, so
accounted, shall we justly divest of that Noble Title?
[Sidenote: _By Revelation is the true Knowledge of God._] If
those therefore who have all the other Means of Knowledge, and
are sufficiently Learned therein, whether it be the Letter of the
Scripture, the Traditions of Churches, or the Works of Creation and
Providence, whence they are able to deduce strong and undeniable
Arguments (which may be true in themselves) are not yet to be esteemed
_Christians_, according to the certain and infallible Definition
above-mentioned; and if the inward and immediate Revelation of God’s
Spirit in the Heart, in such as have been altogether ignorant of some,
and but very little skilled in others, of these Means of attaining
Knowledge, hath brought them to Salvation; then it will necessarily
and evidently follow, that Inward and Immediate Revelation is the only
sure and certain Way to attain the true and saving Knowledge of God.
But the first is true: Therefore the last.
Now as this Argument doth very strongly conclude for this Way of
Knowledge, and against such as deny it; so in this Respect it is the
more to be regarded, as the Propositions, from which it is deduced, are
so clear, that our very Adversaries cannot deny them. For as to the
first, it is acknowledged, that many Learned Men may be, and have been,
damned. And as to the second, who will deny but many illiterate Men may
be, and are, saved? [Sidenote: Abel, Seth, Noah, _&c. instanced_.] Nor
dare any affirm, that none come to the Knowledge of God and Salvation
by the inward Revelation of the Spirit, without these other outward
Means; unless they be also so bold as to exclude _Abel_, _Seth_,
_Noah_, _Abraham_, _Job_, and all the holy Patriarchs from true
Knowledge and Salvation.
§. IV. I would however not be understood as if hereby I excluded
those other Means of Knowledge from any Use or Service to Man; it is
far from me so to judge, as concerning the _Scriptures_, in the next
Proposition, will more plainly appear. The Question is not, what may be
profitable or helpful, but what is absolutely necessary. Many Things
may contribute to further a Work, which yet are not the main Thing that
makes the Work go on.
The Sum then of what is said amounts to this, That where the true
Inward Knowledge of God is, through the Revelation of his Spirit, there
is all; neither is there an absolute Necessity of any other. But where
the best, highest, and most profound Knowledge is, without this there
is nothing, as to the obtaining the great End of Salvation. This Truth
is very effectually confirmed by the first Part of the Proposition
itself, which in few Words comprehendeth divers unquestionable
Arguments, which I shall in brief subsume.
[Sidenote: I.] First, _That there is no Knowledge of the Father but by
the Son_.
[Sidenote: II.] Secondly, _That there is no Knowledge of the Son, but
by the Spirit_.
[Sidenote: III.] Thirdly, _That by the Spirit God hath always revealed
himself to his Children_.
[Sidenote: IV.] Fourthly, _That these Revelations were the formal
Object of the Saints’ Faith_.
[Sidenote: V.] And Lastly, _That the same continueth to be the Object
of the Saints’ Faith to this Day_.
Of each of these I shall speak a little particularly, and then proceed
to the latter Part.
§. V. [Sidenote: _Assert. _I._ Proved._] As to the first, viz. _That
there is no Knowledge of the Father but by the Son_, it will easily
be proved, being founded upon the plain Words of Scripture, and
is therefore a fit _Medium_ from whence to deduce the rest of our
Assertions.
For the infinite and most wise God, who is the _Foundation_, _Root_
and _Spring_ of all _Operation_, hath wrought all Things by his
Eternal Word and Son. [40]_This is that WORD that was in the Beginning
with God, and was God, by whom all Things were made, and without
whom was not any Thing made that was made_, [41]This is that _Jesus
Christ, by whom God created all Things, by whom, and for whom, all
Things were created, that are in Heaven and in Earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities,
or Powers_, Col. i. 16. Who therefore is called, _The first-born of
every Creature_, Col. i. 15. As then that infinite and incomprehensible
Fountain of Life and Motion operateth in the Creatures by his own
Eternal Word and Power; so no Creature has Access again unto him but in
and by the Son, according to his own express Words, _No Man knoweth the
Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him_, Mat. xi.
27. Luke x. 22. And again, he himself saith, _I am the Way, the Truth,
and the Life: No Man cometh unto the Father but by me_, John xiv. 6.
[40] John 1. 1, 2, 3.
[41] Eph. 3. 9.
Hence he is fitly called, _The Mediator betwixt God and Man_: For
having been with God from all Eternity, being himself God, and also in
Time partaking of the Nature of Man; through him is the Goodness and
Love of God conveyed to Mankind, and by him again Man receiveth and
partaketh of these Mercies.
Hence is easily deduced the Proof of this first Assertion, thus:
If no Man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will
reveal him; then there is no Knowledge of the Father but by the Son.
But no Man knoweth the Father but the Son.
Therefore, there is no Knowledge of the Father but by the Son.
The first Part of the Antecedent are the plain Words of Scripture: The
Consequence thereof is undeniable; except one would say, that he hath
the Knowledge of the Father, while yet he knows him not; which were an
absurd Repugnance.
Again, if the Son be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no Man
cometh unto the Father but by him; then there is no Knowledge of the
Father but by the Son.
But the first is true: Therefore the last.
The Antecedent are the very Scripture Words: The Consequence is very
evident: For how can any know a Thing, who useth not the Way, without
which it is not knowable? But it is already proved, that there is no
other Way but by the Son; so that whoso uses not that Way, cannot know
him, neither come unto him.
§. VI. [Sidenote: _Assert. _II._ Proved._] Having then laid down this
first Principle, I come to the second, viz. _That there is no Knowledge
of the Son but by the Spirit_; or, _That the Revelation of the Son of
God is by the Spirit_.
Where it is to be noted, that I always speak of the saving, certain and
necessary Knowledge of God; which that it cannot be acquired otherways
than by the Spirit, doth also appear from many clear Scriptures.
For Jesus Christ, in and by whom the Father is revealed, doth also
reveal himself to his Disciples and Friends in and by his Spirit: As
his Manifestation was outward, when he testified and witnessed for
the Truth in this World, and approved himself faithful throughout;
so being now withdrawn, as to the outward Man, he doth teach and
instruct Mankind inwardly, by his own Spirit; _He standeth at the
Door and knocketh, and whoso heareth his Voice and openeth, he comes
in_ to such, _Rev._ iii. 20. Of this Revelation of Christ in him,
_Paul_ speaketh, _Gal._ i. 16. in which he placeth the Excellency
of his Ministry, and the Certainty of his Calling. And the Promise
of Christ to his Disciples, _Lo, I am with you to the End of the
World_, confirmeth the same Thing; for this is an Inward and Spiritual
Presence, as all acknowledge: But what relates hereto will again occur.
[Sidenote: _Proof_ I.] I shall deduce the Proof of this Proposition
from two manifest Places of Scripture: The first is, 1 Cor. i. 11, 12.
_What Man knoweth the Things of a Man, save the Spirit of a Man which
is in him?_ [Sidenote: _The Things of God are known by the Spirit of
God._] _Even so the Things of God knoweth no Man, but the Spirit of
God. Now we have received not the Spirit of the World, but the Spirit
which is of God, that we might know the Things which are freely given
us of God._ The Apostle in the Verses before, speaking of the wonderful
Things which are prepared for the Saints, after he hath declared, that
the _Natural Man cannot reach them_, adds, that _They are revealed by
the Spirit of God_, Ver. 9, 10. giving this Reason, _For the Spirit
searcheth all things, even the deep Things of God_. And then he
bringeth in the Comparison, in the Verses above-mentioned, very apt,
and answerable to our Purpose and Doctrine, that _as the Things of a
Man are only known by the Spirit of Man; so the Things of God are only
known by the Spirit of God_: That is, that as nothing below the Spirit
of Man (as the Spirit of Brutes, or any other Creatures) can properly
reach unto, or comprehend the Things of a Man, as being of a nobler
and higher Nature; so neither can the Spirit of Man, or the Natural
Man, as the Apostle in the 14th Verse subsumes, receive nor discern the
Things of God, or the Things that are Spiritual, as being also of an
higher Nature; which the Apostle himself gives for the Reason, saying,
_Neither can he know them, because they are Spiritually discerned_. So
that the Apostle’s Words, being reduced to an Argument, do very well
prove the Matter under Debate, thus:
If that which appertaineth properly to Man, cannot be discerned by any
lower or baser Principle than the Spirit of Man; then cannot those
Things, that properly relate unto God and Christ, be known or discerned
by any lower or baser Thing than the Spirit of God and Christ.
But the first is true: Therefore also the second.
The whole Strength of the Argument is contained in the Apostle’s Words
before-mentioned; which therefore being granted, I shall proceed to
deduce a second Argument, thus:
That which is Spiritual can only be known and discerned by the Spirit
of God.
But the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and the true and saving Knowledge
of him, is Spiritual:
Therefore the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and the true and saving
Knowledge of him, can only be known and discerned by the Spirit of God.