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._ [Sidenote: _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_. [Sidenote: _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. [Sidenote: _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. [Sidenote: 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. [Sidenote: _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. [Sidenote:
_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, [Sidenote: _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; [Sidenote: _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.
[Sidenote: _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. [Sidenote: _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. [Sidenote: 2 Part.] [Sidenote: _Proved._] [Sidenote: _That
many by the Light may be saved, that have not the outward Knowledge of
Christ._] _Secondly_, That which remains now to be proved, is, _That by
the Operation of this Light and Seed, some have been, and may yet be
saved, to whom the Gospel is not outwardly preached, nor the History
of Christ outwardly known_. To make this the easier, we have already
shewn how that Christ hath died for all Men; and consequently these
are enlightened by Christ, and have a Measure of saving Light and
Grace; yea, that the Gospel, though not in any outward Dispensation,
is preached to them, and in them: So that thereby they are stated in a
Possibility of Salvation. From which I may thus argue:
[Sidenote: 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_. [Sidenote: _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_.
[Sidenote: _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:
[Sidenote: 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.
[Sidenote: _Even the _Heathens_ may be saved by the Light._] From all
which it naturally follows, that all Men, even the _Heathens_, may be
saved: For _Christ_ was given as a _Light to enlighten the Gentiles_,
_Isa._ xlix. 6. Now, to say that though they might have been saved, yet
none were, is to judge too uncharitably. I see not what Reason can be
alleged for it; yea, though it were granted, which never can be, that
none of the _Heathens_ were saved; it will not from thence follow, That
they could not have been saved; or that none now in their Condition can
be saved. For, _A non esse ad non posse non datur sequela_, _i. e._
That Consequence is false, that concludes a Thing cannot be, because it
is not.
[Sidenote: Obj.] But if it be objected, which is the great Objection,
_That there is no Name under Heaven, by which Salvation is known, but
by the Name_ JESUS:
_Therefore they (not knowing this) cannot be saved._
[Sidenote: _Answ._] I answer; Though they know it not outwardly, yet
if they know it inwardly, by feeling the Virtues and Power of it, the
Name JESUS indeed, which signifies a _Saviour_, to free them from Sin
and Iniquity in their Hearts, they are saved by it: [Sidenote: _The
literal Knowledge of Christ is not saving; but the real experimental._]
I confess there is no other Name to be saved by: But Salvation lieth
not in the literal, but in the experimental Knowledge; albeit those
that have the literal Knowledge are not saved by it, without this real
experimental Knowledge: Yet those that have the real Knowledge may be
saved without the external; as by the Arguments hereafter brought will
more appear. For if the outward distinct Knowledge of him, by whose
Means I receive Benefit, were necessary for me before I could reap any
Fruit of it; then, by the Rule of _Contraries_, it would follow, that I
could receive no Hurt, without I had also the distinct Knowledge of him
that occasioned it; whereas Experience proves the Contrary. How many
are injured by _Adam_’s Fall, that know nothing of there ever being
such a Man in the World, or of his eating the forbidden Fruit? Why
may they not then be saved by the Gift and Grace of _Christ_ in them,
making them righteous and holy, though they know not distinctly how
that was purchased unto them by the Death and Sufferings of _Jesus_
that was crucified at _Jerusalem_; especially seeing God hath made that
Knowledge simply impossible to them? As many Men are killed by Poison
infused into their Meat, though they neither know what the Poison was,
nor who infused it; so also on the other Hand, how many are cured of
their Diseases by good Remedies, who know not how the Medicine is
prepared, what the Ingredients are, nor oftentimes who made it? The
like may also hold in spiritual Things, as we shall hereafter prove.
§. XXVI. [Sidenote: _The outward Knowledge not essential to Salvation:
Instance in Infants and deaf Persons._] _First_, If there were such
an absolute Necessity for this outward Knowledge, that it were even
of the Essentials of Salvation, then none could be saved without it;
whereas our Adversaries deny not, but readily confess, that many
Infants and deaf Persons are saved without it: So that here they break
that general Rule, and make Salvation possible without it. Neither can
they allege, that it is because such are free from Sin; seeing they
also affirm, that all Infants, because of _Adam_’s Sin, deserve eternal
Condemnation, as being really guilty in the Sight of God; and of deaf
People, it is not to be doubted, and Experience shews us, that they are
subject to many common Iniquities, as well as other Men.
[Sidenote: Obj. 1.] If it be said, _That these Children are the
Children of believing Parents_:
[Sidenote: _Answ._] What then? They will not say that they transmit
Grace to their Children. Do they not affirm, That the Children of
believing Parents are guilty of original Sin, and deserve Death as well
as others? How prove they that that makes up the Loss of all explicit
Knowledge?
[Sidenote: Obj. 2.] If they say, _Deaf People may be made sensible of
the Gospel by Signs_:
[Sidenote: _Answ._] All the Signs cannot give them any explicit
Knowledge of the History of the Death, Sufferings, and Resurrection of
Christ. For what Signs can inform a deaf Man, _That the Son of God took
on him Man’s Nature, was born of a Virgin, and suffered under_ Pontius
Pilate?
[Sidenote: Obj. 3.] And if they should further allege, _That they
are within the Bosom of the visible Church, and Partakers of the
Sacraments_:
[Sidenote: _Answ._] All that gives no Certainty of Salvation; for, as
the _Protestants_ confess, they confer not Grace _ex opere operato_.
And will they not acknowledge, that many are in the Bosom of the
Church, who are visibly no Members of it? But if this Charity be
extended towards such who are where the Gospel is preached, so that
they may be judged capable of Salvation, because they are under a
simple Impossibility of distinctly knowing the Means of Salvation;
what Reason can be alleged why the like Charity may not be had to
such, as though they can hear, yet are under a simple Impossibility of
hearing, because it is not spoken unto them? [Sidenote: _A _Chinese_ or
_Indian_ excusable for not knowing the History of the Death of Christ_,
&c.] Is not a Man in _China_, or in _India_, as much to be excused
for not knowing a Thing which he never heard of, as a deaf Man here,
who cannot hear? For as the deaf Man is not to be blamed, because God
hath been pleased to suffer him to lie under this Infirmity; so is the
_Chinese_ or the _Indian_ as excusable, because God hath with-held from
him the Opportunity of hearing. He that cannot hear a Thing, as being
necessarily absent, and he that cannot hear it, as being naturally
deaf, are to be placed in the same Category.