  Concerning the Universal Redemption by Christ, and also the Saving and Spiritual Light, wherewith every Man is enlightened. PROPOSITION V. PROPOSITION VI. According to which Principle, or Hypothesis, all the Objections against the Universality of Christ’s Death are easily solved; neither is it needful to recur to the Ministry of Angels, and those other Miraculous Means which they say God useth to manifest the Doctrine and History of Christ’s Passion unto such, who, living in Parts of the World where the outward Preaching of the Gospel is unknown, have well improved the first and common Absolute Reprobation, that horrible and blasphemous Doctrine, described.Hitherto we have considered Man’s fallen, lost, corrupted, and degenerated Condition. Now it is fit to enquire, How and by what Means he may come to be freed out of this miserable and depraved Condition, which in these two Propositions is declared and demonstrated; which I thought meet to place together because of their Affinity, the one being as it were an Explanation of the other. As for that Doctrine which these Propositions chiefly strike at, to wit, absolute Reprobation, according to which some are not afraid to assert, “That God, by an Eternal and Immutable Decree, hath Predestinated to Eternal Damnation the far greater Part of Mankind, not considered as made, much less as fallen, without any Respect to their Disobedience or Sin, but only for the demonstrating of the Glory of his Justice; and that for the bringing this about, he hath appointed these miserable Souls necessarily to walk in their wicked Ways, that so his Justice may lay hold on them: And that God doth therefore not only suffer them to be liable to this Misery in many Parts of the World, by with-holding from them the Preaching of the Gospel and the Knowledge of Christ, but even in those Places where the Gospel is preached, and Salvation by Christ is offered; whom though he publickly invite them, yet he justly condemns for Disobedience, albeit he hath with-held from them all Grace by which they could have laid hold of the Gospel, viz. Because he hath, by a secret Will unknown to all Men, ordained I say, as to this horrible and blasphemous Doctrine, our Cause is common with many others, who have both wisely and learnedly, according to Scripture, Reason, and Antiquity, refuted it. Seeing then that so much is said already and so well against this Doctrine, that little can be superadded, except what hath been said already, I shall be short in this Respect; yet, because it lies so in Opposition to my Way, I cannot let it altogether pass. §. I.This Doctrine a Novelty.First, We may safely call this Doctrine a Novelty, seeing in the first four hundred Years after Christ there is no Mention made of it: For as it is contrary to the Scriptures Testimony, and to the Tenor of the Gospel, so all the ancient Writers, Teachers, and Doctors of the Church pass it over with a profound Silence. The Rise of it.The first Foundations of it were laid in the later Writings of Augustine, who, in his Heat against Pelagius, let fall some Expressions which some have unhappily gleaned up, to the establishing of this Error; thereby contradicting the Truth, and sufficiently gainsaying many others, and many more and frequent Expressions of the same Augustine. Afterwards was this Doctrine fomented by Dominicus a Friar, and the Monks of his Order; and at last unhappily taken up by John Calvin (otherwise a Man in divers Respects to be commended) to the great staining of his Reputation, and Defamation both of the Protestant and Christian Religion; which though it received the Decrees of the Synod of Dort for its Confirmation, hath since lost Ground, and begins to be exploded by most Men of Learning and Piety in all Protestant Churches. However, we should not oppugn it for the Silence of the Ancients, Paucity of its Assertors, or for the Learnedness of its Opposers, if we did observe it to have any real Bottom in the Writings or Sayings of Christ and the Apostles, and that it were not highly injurious to God himself, to Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer, and to the Power, Vir§. II.Highly injurious to God, in making him the Author of Sin.First, It is highly injurious to God, because it makes him the Author of Sin, which of all Things is most contrary to his Nature. I confess the Assertors of this Principle deny this Consequence; but that is but a mere Illusion, seeing it so naturally follows from this Doctrine, and is equally ridiculous, as if a Man should pertinaciously deny that one and two make three. For if God has decreed that the reprobated Ones shall perish, without all Respect to their evil Deeds, but only of his own Pleasure, and if he hath also decreed long before they were in Being, or in a Capacity to do Good or Evil, that they should walk in those wicked Ways, by which, as by a secondary Means, they are led to that End, who, I pray, is the first Author and Cause thereof but God, who so willed and decreed? This is as natural a Consequence as can be: And therefore, although many of the Preachers of this Doctrine have sought out various, strange, strained and intricate Distinctions to defend their Opinion, and avoid this horrid Consequence; yet some, and that of the most eminent of them, have been so plain in the Matter, as they have put it beyond all Doubt; of which I shall instance a few among many Passages.If these Sayings do not plainly and evidently import, that God is the Author of Sin, we must not then seek these Men’s Opinions from their Words, but some Way else. It seems as if they had assumed to themselves that monstrous and twofold Will they feigned of God; one by which they declare their Minds openly, and another more secret and hidden, which is quite contrary to the other. Nor doth it at all help them to say, That Man sins willingly, since that Willingness, Proclivity, and Propensity to Evil is, according to their Judgment, so necessarily imposed upon him, that he cannot but be willing, because God hath willed and decreed him to be so. Which shift is just as if I should take a Child uncapable to resist me, and throw it down from a great Precipice; the Weight of the Child’s Body indeed makes it go readily down, and the Violence of the Fall upon some Rock or Stone beats out its Brains and kills it. Now then, I pray, though the Body of the Child goes willingly down (for I suppose it as to its Mind uncapable of any Will) and the Weight of its Body, and not any immediate Stroke of my Hand, who perhaps am at a great Distance, makes it die, whether is the Child or I the proper Cause of its Death? Let any Man of Reason judge, if God’s Part be, with them, as great, yea, more immediate, in the Sins of Men, as by the Testimonies above brought doth appear, whether doth not this make him not only the Author of Sin, but more unjust than the unjustest of Men? §. III.2. It makes God delight in the Death of a Sinner.Secondly, This Doctrine is injurious to God, because it makes him delight in the Death of Sinners; yea, and to will many to die in their Sins, contrary to these Scriptures, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 1 Tim. ii. 3.§. IV.3. It renders Christ’s Mediation Ineffectual.Thirdly, It is highly injurious to Christ our Mediator, and to the Efficacy and Excellency of his Gospel; for it renders his Mediation ineffectual, as if he had not by his Sufferings throughly broken down the middle Wall, nor yet removed the Wrath of God, or purchased the Love of God towards all Mankind, if it was afore-decreed that it should be of no Service to the far greater Part of Mankind. It is to no Purpose to allege, that the Death of Christ was of Efficacy enough to have saved all Mankind, if in effect its Virtue be not so far extended as to put all Mankind into a Capacity of Salvation.4. It makes the Gospel a Mock.Fourthly, It makes the Preaching of the Gospel a mere Mock and Illusion, if many of these, to whom it is preached, be by any irrevocable Decree excluded from being benefited by it; it wholly makes useless the Preaching of Faith and Repentance, and the whole Tenor of the Gospel-promises and Threatenings, as being all relative to a former Decree and Means before appointed to such; which, because they cannot fail, Man needs do nothing but wait for that irresistible Juncture, which will come, though it be but at the last Hour of his Life, if he be in the Decree of Election; and be his Diligence and Waiting what it can, he shall never attain it, if he belong to the Decree of Reprobation. 5. It makes the Coming of Christ an Act of Wrath.Fifthly, It makes the Coming of Christ, and his Propitiatory Sacrifice, which the Scripture affirms to have been the Fruit of God’s Love to the World, and transacted for the Sins and Salvation of all Men, to have been rather a Testimony of God’s Wrath to the World, and one of the greatest Judgments, and severest Acts of God’s Indignation towards Mankind, it being §. V.6. It renders Mankind in a worse Condition than the Devils—Sixthly, This Doctrine is highly injurious to Mankind; for it renders them in a far worse Condition than the Devils in Hell. For these were sometime in a Capacity to have stood, and do suffer only for their own Guilt; whereas many Millions of Men are for ever tormented, according to them, for Adam’s Sin, which they neither knew of, nor ever were accessary to; it renders them worse than the Beasts of the Field, of whom the Master requires no more than they are able to perform; and if they be killed, Death to them is the End of Sorrow; whereas Man is for ever tormented for not doing that which he never was able to do. —Than the Israelites under Pharaoh.It puts him into a far worse Condition than Pharaoh put the Israelites; for though he with-held Straw from them, yet by much Labour and Pains they could have gotten it: But from Men they make God to with-hold all Means of Salvation, so that they can by no Means attain it; Tantalus’s Condition.yea, they place Mankind in that Condition which the Poets feign of Tantalus, who, oppressed with Thirst, stands in Water up to the Chin, yet can by no Means reach it with his Tongue; and being tormented with Hunger, hath Fruits hanging at his very Lips, yet so as he can never lay hold on them with his Teeth; and these Things are so near him, not to nourish him, but to torment him. So do these Men: They make the outward Creation of the Works of Providence, the Smiting of Conscience, sufficient to convince the Heathens of Sin, and so to condemn and judge them: But not at all to help them to Salvation. They make the Preaching of the Gospel, the Offer of Salvation byHaving thus briefly removed this false Doctrine which stood in my Way, because they that are desirous may see it both learnedly and piously refuted by many others, I come to the Matter of our Proposition, which is, That God out of his infinite Love, who delighteth not in the Death of a Sinner, but that all should live and be saved, hath sent his only begotten Son into the World, that whosoever believeth in him might be saved; which also is again affirmed in the sixth Proposition, in these Words, Christ tasted Death for every Man.Christ then tasted Death for every Man, of all Kinds. Such is the Evidence of this Truth, delivered almost wholly in the express Words of Scripture, that it will not need much Probation. Also, because our Assertion herein is common with many others, who have both earnestly and soundly, according to the Scripture, pleaded for this universal Redemption, I shall be the more brief in it, that I may come to that which may seem more singularly and peculiarly ours. §. VI.Christ’s Redemption universal, contrary to the Doctrine of Absolute Reprobation.This Doctrine of universal Redemption, or Christ’s dying for all Men, is of itself so evident from the Scripture-Testimony, that there is scarce found any other Article of the Christian Faith so frequently, so plainly, and so positively asserted. It is that which maketh the preaching of Christ to be truly termed the Gospel, or an Annunciation of glad Tidings to all. Thus the Angel declared the Birth and Coming of Christ to the Shepherds to be, Luke ii. 10. Behold, I bring you good Tidings of great Joy, which shall be to all People: He saith not, to a few. Now if this coming of Christ had not brought a Possibility of Salvation to all, it should rather have been accounted bad Tidings of great Sorrow to most People; neither should the Angel have had Reason to have sung, Peace on Earth, and good Will towards Men, if the§. VII.Moreover, if we regard the Testimony of the Scripture in this Matter, where there is not one Scripture, that I know of, which affirmeth, Christ not to die for all, there are divers that positively and expresly assert, He did; To pray for all; for Christ died for all—as 1 Tim. ii. 1, 3, 4, 6. I exhort therefore, that first of all, Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions, and giving of Thanks, be made for all Men, &c. For this is good and acceptable in the Sight of God our Saviour, who will have all Men to be saved, and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth; who gave himself a Ransom for all, to be testified in due Time. Except we will have the Apostle here to assert quite another Thing than he intended, there can be nothing more plain to confirm what we have asserted. And this Scripture doth well answer to that Manner of arguing which we have hitherto used: For, first, the Apostle here recommends them to pray for all Men; and to obviate such an Objection, as if he had said with our Adversaries, Christ prayed not for the World, neither willeth he us to pray for all; because he willeth not that all should be saved, but hath ordained many to be damned, that he might shew forth his Justice in them; he obviates, I say, such an Objection, telling them, that it is good and acceptable in the Sight of God, who will have all Men to be saved. —And will have all Men to be saved.I desire to know what can be more expresly afArg. 1.For whomsoever it is lawful to pray, to them Salvation is possible: But it is lawful to pray for every individual Man in the whole World: Therefore Salvation is possible unto them. I prove the Major Proposition thus; Arg. 2.No Man is bound to pray for that which is impossible to be attained: But every Man is bound and commanded to pray for all Men: Therefore it is not impossible to be obtained. I prove also this Proposition further, thus; Arg. 3.No Man is bound to pray, but in Faith: But he that prayeth for that, which he judges simply impossible to be obtained, cannot pray in Faith: Therefore, &c. Again, Arg. 4.That which God willeth is not impossible: But God willeth all Men to be saved: Therefore it is not impossible. And Lastly; Arg. 5.Those for whom our Saviour gave himself a Ransom, to such Salvation is possible: But our Saviour gave himself a Ransom for all: Therefore Salvation is possible. §. VIII.Proof 1.This is very positively affirmed, Heb. ii. 9. in these Words, But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the Angels, for the suffering of Death, crowned with Glory and Honour, that he by the Grace of God might taste Death for every Man. He that will but open his Eyes, may see this Truth here asserted: If he tasted Death for every Man, then certainly there is no Man for whom he did not taste Death; then there is no Man who may not be made a Sharer of the Benefit of it: For he came not to condemn the World, but that the World through him might be saved, John iii. 17. He came not to judge the World, but to save the World, John xii. 47. Our Adversaries false Doctrine of a great Part of Mankind being pre-ordained for Damnation, refuted.Whereas, according to the Doctrine of our Adversaries, he rather came to condemn the World, and judge it; and not that it might be saved by him, or to save it. For if he never came to bring Salvation to the greater Part of Mankind, but that his Coming, though it could never do them good, yet shall augment their Condemnation, from thence it necessarily follows, that he came not of Intention to save, but to judge and condemn the greater Part of the World, contrary to his own express Testimony; and as the Apostle Paul, in the Words above cited, doth assert affirmatively, That God willeth the Salvation of all, Proof 2.so doth the Apostle Peter assert negatively, That he willeth not the perishing of any, 2 Pet. iii. 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise, as some Men count Slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Repentance. And this is correspondent to that of the Prophet Ezekiel, xxxiii. 11. As I live, saith the Lord, I have no Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked, but that the Wicked turn from his Way and live. If it be safe to believe God, and trust in him, we must not think that he intends to cheat us by all these Expressions through his Servants, but that heProof 3.Thirdly, This Doctrine is abundantly confirmed by that of the Apostle, 1 John ii. 1, 2. And if any Man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And he is the Propitiation for our Sins; and not for ours only, but also for the Sins of the whole World. Adversaries comment on the Words the whole World. The Way which our Adversaries take to evite this Testimony, is most foolish and ridiculous: The [World] here, say they, is the World of Believers: For this Commentary we have nothing but their own Assertion, and so while it manifestly destroys the Text, may be justly rejected. For, First, let them shew me, if they can, in all the Scripture, where the [whole World] is taken for Believers only; I shall shew them where it is many Times taken for the quite Contrary; as, The World knows me not: The World receives me not, I am not of this World: Besides all these Scriptures, Psalm xvii. 14. Isai. xiii. 11. Mat. xviii. 7. John vii. 7. and viii. 26. and xii. 19. and xiv. 17. and xv. 18, 19. and xvii. 14. and xviii. 20. 1 Cor. i. 21. and ii. 12. and vi. 2. Gal. vi. 14. This might also be proved from many more Scripture-Testimonies, if it were at this Season needful. All the Fathers, so called, and Doctors of the Church, for the first four Centuries, preached this Doctrine; according to which they boldly held forth the Gospel of Christ, and Efficacy of his Death; The Heathens invited to Salvation; none predestinated to Damnation.inviting and intreating the Heathens to come and be Partakers of the Benefits of it, shewing them how there was a Door open for them all to be saved through Jesus Christ; not telling them that God had predestinated any of them to Damnation, or had made Salvation impossible to them, by with-holding Power and Grace, necessary to believe, from them. But of many of their Sayings, which might be alleged, I shall only instance a few. Proof 4. The Testimonies of the Doctors and Fathers of the first Church, that Christ died for all.Augustine on the xcvth Psalm saith, “The Blood of Christ is of so great Worth, that it is of no less Value than the whole World.” Prosper ad Gall. c. 9. “The Redeemer of the World gave his Blood for the World, and the World would not be Redeemed, because the Darkness did not receive the Light. He that saith, the Saviour was not crucified for the Redemption of the whole World, looks not to the Virtue of the Sacrament, but to the Part of Infidels; since the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is the Price of the whole World; from which Redemption they are Strangers, who either delighting in their Captivity would not be Redeemed, or after they were Redeemed returned to the same Servitude.” The same Prosper, in his Answer to Vincentius’s first Objection: “Seeing therefore because of one common Nature and Cause in Truth, undertaken by our Lord, all are rightly said to be Redeemed, and nevertheless all are not brought out of Captivity; the Property of Redemption without doubt belongeth to those from whom the Prince of this World is shut out, and now are not Vessels of the Devil, but Members of Christ; whole Death was so bestowed upon Mankind, that it belonged to the Redemption of such who were not to be regenerated. But so, that that which was done by the Example of one for all, might, by a singular My The Author de Vocat. Gentium, Lib. 11. Cap. 6. “There is no Cause to doubt but that our Lord Jesus Christ died for Sinners and wicked Men. And if there can be any found, who may be said not to be of this Number, Christ hath not died for all; he made himself a Redeemer for the whole World.” Chrysostom on John i. “If he enlightens every Man coming into the World, how comes it that so many Men remain without Light? For all do not so much as acknowledge Christ. How then doth he enlighten every Man? He illuminates indeed so far as in him is; but if any of their own accord, closing the Eyes of their Mind, will not direct their Eyes unto the Beams of this Light,The Cause they remain in Darkness. the Cause that they remain in Darkness is not from the Nature of the Light, but through their own Malignity, who willingly have rendered themselves unworthy of so great a Gift. But why believed they not? Because they would not: Christ did his Part.” The Arelatensian Synod, held about the Year 490, “Pronounced him accursed, who should say that Christ hath not died for all, or that he would not have all Men to be saved.” Ambr. on Psalm cxviii. Serm. 8. “The mystical Sun of Righteousness is arisen to all; he came to all; he suffered for all; and rose again for all: And therefore he suffered, that he might take away the Sin of the World. But if any one believe not in Christ, he robs himself of this general Benefit,The Sun-Beams shut out, heat not. even as if one by closing the Windows should hold out the Sun-Beams. The Sun is not therefore not arisen to all, because such an one hath so robbed himself of its Heat: But the Sun keeps its Prerogative; it is such an one’s Imprudence that he shuts himself out from the common Benefit of the Light.” The same Man, in his 11th Book of Cain and Abel, Cap. 13. saith, “Therefore he brought unto all the Means of Health, that whosoever should perish, may ascribe to himself the Causes of his Death, who would not be cured when he had the Remedy by which he might have escaped.” §. IX.Seeing then that this Doctrine of the Universality of Christ’s Death is so certain and agreeable to the Scripture-Testimony, and to the Sense of the purest Antiquity, it may be wondered how so many, some whereof have been esteemed not only Learned, but also Pious, have been capable to fall into so gross and strange an Error. But the Cause of this doth evidently appear, in that the Way and Method by which the Virtue and Efficacy of his Death is communicated to all Men, hath not been rightly understood, or indeed hath been erroneously taught. Pelagian Errors.The Pelagians, ascribing all to Man’s Will and Nature, denied Man to have any Seed of Sin conveyed to him from Adam. And the Semi-Pelagians, making Grace as a Gift following upon Man’s Merit, or right improving of his Nature, according to the known Principle, Facienti quod in se est, Deus non denegat gratiam.Extremes fallen into by some, making God the Author of Sin.This gave Augustine, Prosper, and some others Occasion, labouring, in Opposition to these Opinions, to magnify the Grace of God, and paint out the Corruptions of Man’s Nature (as the Proverb is of those that seek to make straight a crooked Stick) to incline to the other Extreme. So also the Reformers, Luther and others, finding among other Errors the strange Expressions used by some of the Popish Scholasticks concerning Free-Will, and how much the Tendency of their Principles is to exalt Man’s Nature and lessen God’s Grace, having all those Sayings of Augustine and others for a Pattern, through the like Mistake run upon the same Extreme: Though afterwards the Lutherans, seeing how far Calvin and his Followers drove this Matter, (who, as a Man of subtle and profound judgment, foreseeing where it would land, resolved above-board to assert that God had decreed the Means as well as the End, and therefore had ordained Men to The Arminians, and other Assertors of universal Grace, use this as a chief Argument. That which every Man is bound to believe, is true: But every Man is bound to believe that Christ died for him: Therefore, &c. Remonstrants Opinion strengthens the precise Decree of Reprobation.Of this Argument the other Party deny the Assumption, saying; That they who never heard of Christ, are not obliged to believe in him; and seeing the Remonstrants (as they are commonly called) do generally themselves acknowledge, that without the outward Knowledge of Christ there is no Salvation, that gives the other Party yet a stronger Argument for their precise Decree of Reprobation. For, say they, seeing we all see really, and in effect, that God hath with-held from many Generations, and yet from Nations, that Knowledge which is absolutely needful to Salvation, and so hath rendered it simply impossible unto them; Why may he not as well with-hold the Grace necessary to make a saving Application of that Knowledge, where it is preached? For there is no Ground to say, That this were Injustice in God, or Partiality, more than his leaving those others in utter Ignorance; the one being but a with-holding Grace to apprehend the Object of Faith, the other a withdrawing the Object itself. For answer to this, they are forced to draw a Conclusion from their former Hypothesis of Christ’s dying for all, and §. X.It falls out then, that as Darkness, and the great Apostasy, came not upon the Christian World all at once, but by several Degrees, one Thing making way for another; until that thick and gross Veil came to be overspread, wherewith the Nations were so blindly covered, from the seventh and eighth, until the sixteenth Century; even as the Darkness of the Night comes not upon the outward Creation at once, but by Degrees, according as the Sun declines in each Horizon; so neither did that full and clear Light and Knowledge of the glorious Dispensation of the Gospel of Christ appear all at once; the Work of the first Witnesses being more to testify against and discover the Abuses of the Apostasy, than to establish the Truth in Purity. He that comes to build a new City, must first remove the old Rubbish, before he can see to lay a new Foundation; and he that comes to an House greatly polluted and full of Dirt, will first sweep away and remove the Filth, before he put up his own good and new Furniture. The dawning of the Day dispels the Darkness, and makes us see the Things that are most conspicuous: But the distinct discovering and discerning of Things, so as to make a certain and perfect Observation, is reserved for the arising of the Sun, and its shining in full Brightness. And we can, from a certain Experience, boldly affirm, that the not waiting for this, but building among, yea, and with, the Old Popish Rubbish, and setting up before a full Purgation, hath been to most Protestants the Foundation of many a Mistake, and an Occasion of unspeakable Hurt.The more full Discovery of the Gospel reserved to this our Age. Therefore the Lord God, who as he seeth meet doth communicate and make known to Man the more full, evident, and perfect Knowledge of his everlasting Truth, hath been pleased to reserve the more full Discovery of this Glorious and Evangelical Dispensation to this our Age; albeit divers Testimonies have thereunto been borne by some noted Men in several Ages, as shall hereafter appear. And for the greater Augmentation of the Glory of his Grace, that no Man might have whereof to boast, he hath raised up a few despicable and illiterate Men, and for the most Part Mechanicks, to be the Dispensers of it; by§. XI.Prop. I.First, That God, who out of his infinite Love sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the World, A day of Visitation to all.who tasted Death for every Man, hath given to every Man, whether Jew or Gentile, Turk or Scythian, Indian or Barbarian, of whatsoever Nation, Country, or Place, a certain Day or Time of Visitation; during which Day or Time it is possible for them to be saved, and to partake of the Fruit of Christ’s Death.Prop. II.A Measure of Light in all. Secondly, That for this End God hath communicated and given unto every Man a Measure of the Light of his own Son, a Measure of Grace, or a Measure of the Spirit, which the Scripture expresses by several Names, as sometimes of the Seed of the Kingdom, Mat. xiii. 18, 19. the Light that makes all Things manifest, Ephes. v. 13. the Word of God, Rom. x. 17. or Manifestation of the Spirit given to profit withal, 1 Cor. xii. 7. A Talent, Mat. xxv. 15. A little Leaven, Mat. xiii. 33. the Gospel preached in every Creature, Col. i. 23. Prop. III.Thirdly, That God, in and by this Light and Seed, invites, calls, exhorts, and strives with every Man, in order to save him; God’s Salvation wrought by the Light in all.which, as it is received and not resisted, works the Salvation of all, even of those who are ignorant of the Death and Sufferings of Christ, and of Adam’s Fall, both by bringing them to a Sense of their own Misery, and to be Sharers in the Sufferings of Christ inwardly, and by making them Partakers of his Resurrection, in becoming Holy, Pure, and Righteous, and recovered out of their Sins. By which also are saved they that have the Knowledge of Christ outwardly, in that it opens their Under Conseq. 1.First then, According to this Doctrine the Mercy of God is excellently well exhibited, in that none are necessarily shut out from Salvation; and his Justice is demonstrated, in that he condemns none but such to whom he really made offer of Salvation, affording them the Means sufficient thereunto. Conseq. 2.Secondly, This Doctrine, if well weighed, will be found to be the Foundation of Christianity, Salvation, and Assurance. Conseq. 3.Thirdly, It agrees and answers with the whole Tenor of the Gospel Promises and Threats, and with the Nature of the Ministry of Christ; according to which, the Gospel, Salvation, and Repentance are commanded to be preached to every Creature, without Respect of Nations, Kindred, Families or Tongues. Conseq. 4.Fourthly, It magnifies and commends the Merits and Death of Christ, in that it not only accounts them sufficient to save all, but declares them to be brought so nigh unto all, as thereby to be put into the nearest Capacity of Salvation. Conseq. 5.Fifthly, It exalts above all the Grace of God, to which it attributeth all Good, even the least and smallest Actions that are so; ascribing thereunto not only the first Beginnings and Motions of Good, but also the whole Conversion and Salvation of the Soul. Conseq. 6.Sixthly, It contradicts, overturns, and enervates the false Doctrine of the Pelagians, Semi-Pelagians, Socinians, and others, who exalt the Light of Nature, the Liberty of Man’s Will, in that it wholly excludes the natural Man from having any Place or Portion in his own Salvation, by any acting, moving, or working of his own, until he be first quickened, raised up, and actuated by God’s Spirit. Conseq. 7.Seventhly, As it makes the whole Salvation of Man solely and alone to depend upon God, so it makes his Condemnation wholly and in every Respect to be of himself, in that he refused and resisted somewhat that from God wrestled and strove in his Heart, and forces him to acknowledge God’s just judgment in rejecting and forsaking of him. Conseq. 8.Eighthly, It takes away all Ground of Despair, in that it gives every one Cause of Hope and certain Assurance that they may be saved; neither doth feed any in Security, in that none are certain how soon their Day may expire: And therefore it is a constant Incitement and Provocation, and lively Encouragement to every Man, to forsake Evil, and close with that which is Good. Conseq. 9.Ninthly, It wonderfully commends as well the Certainty of the Christian Religion among Infidels, as it manifests its own Verity to all, in that it is confirmed and established by the Experience of all Men; seeing there was never yet a Man found in any Place of the Earth, however barbarous and wild, but hath acknowledged that at some Time or other, less or more, he hath found somewhat in his Heart reproving him for some Things evil which he hath done, threatening a certain Horror if he continued in them, as also promising and communicating a certain Peace and Sweetness, as he has given Way to it, and not resisted it. Conseq. 10.Tenthly, It wonderfully sheweth the excellent Wisdom of God, by which he hath made the Means of Salvation so universal and comprehensive, that it is not needful to recur to those miraculous and strange Ways; seeing, according to this most true Doctrine, the Gospel reacheth all, of whatsoever Condition, Age, or Nation. Conseq. 11.Eleventhly, It is really and effectively, though not in so many Words, yet by Deeds, established and confirmed by all the Preachers, Promulgators, and Doctors of the Christian Religion that ever were, or now are, even by those that otherways in their Judgment oppose this Doctrine, in that they all, whatever they have been or are, or whatsoever People, Place, or Country they come to, do preach to the People, and to every Individual among them, that they may be saved; intreating and desiring Conseq. 12.Lastly, According to this Doctrine the former Argument used by the Arminians, and evited by the Calvinists, concerning every Man’s being bound to believe that Christ died for him, is, by altering the Assumption, rendered invincible; thus, That which every Man is bound to believe, is true: But every man is bound to believe that God is merciful unto him: Therefore, &c. This Assumption no Man can deny, seeing his Mercies are said to be over all his Works. And herein the Scripture every Way declares the Mercy of God to be, in that he invites and calls Sinners to Repentance, and hath opened a Way of Salvation for them: So that though those Men be not bound to believe the History of Christ’s Death and Passion who never came to know of it, yet they are bound to believe that God will be merciful to them, if they follow his Ways, and that he is merciful unto them, in that he reproves them for Evil, and encourages them to Good. Our Adversaries unmerciful Assertion of God.Neither ought any Man to believe that God is unmerciful to him, or that he hath from the Beginning, ordained him to come into the World that he might be left to his own evil Inclinations, and so do wickedly as a Means appointed by God to bring him to eternal Damnation; which, were it true, as our Adversaries affirm it to be of many Thousands, I see no Reason why a Man might not believe; for certainly a Man may believe the Truth. As it manifestly appears from the Thing itself, that these good and excellent Consequences follow from the Belief of this Doctrine, so §. XII.Quest. 1.The stating of the Question. First then, by this Day and Time of Visitation, which we say God gives unto all, during which they may be saved, we do not understand the whole Time of every Man’s Life; though to some it may be extended even to the very Hour of Death, as we see in the Example of the Thief converted upon the Cross: But such a Season at least as sufficiently exonerateth God of every Man’s Condemnation, which to some may be sooner, and to others later, according as the Lord in his Wisdom sees meet. That many may out-live the Day of God’s Visitation.So that many Men may out-live this Day, after which there may be no Possibility of Salvation to them, and God justly suffers them to be hardened, as a just Punishment of their Unbelief, and even raises them up as Instruments of Wrath, and makes them a Scourge one against another. Whence to Men in this Condition may be fitly applied those Scriptures which are abused to prove that God incites Men necessarily to sin: This is notably expressed by the Apostle, Rom. i. from Ver. 17. to the End, but especially Ver. 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their Knowledge, God gave them up to a Reprobate Mind, to do those Things which are not convenient. That many may out-live this Day of God’s gracious Visitation unto them, is shewn by the Example of Esau, Heb. xii. 16, 17. who sold his Birthright So he had it once, and was capable to have kept it; but afterwards when he would have inherited the Blessing, he was rejected. This appears also by Christ’s weeping over Jerusalem, Luke xix. 42. saying, If thou hadst known in this thy Day the Things that belong unto thy Peace; but now they are hid from thine Eyes. Which plainly imports a Time when they might have known them, which now was removed§. XIII.Quest. 2.Secondly, By this Seed, Grace, and Word of God, and Light wherewith, we say, every one is enlightened, and hath a Measure of it, which strives with him in order to save him, and which may, by the Stubbornness and Wickedness of Man’s Will, be quenched, bruised, wounded, pressed down, slain and crucified, we understand not the proper Essence and Nature of God precisely taken, which is not divisible into Parts and Measures, as being a most pure, simple Being, void of all Composition or Division, and therefore can neither be resisted, hurt, wounded, crucified, or slain by all the Efforts and Strength of Men; The Light what it is, and its Properties described.but we understand a spiritual, heavenly, and invisible Principle, in which God, as Father, Son, and Spirit, dwells; a Measure of which divine and glorious Life is in all Men, as a Seed,But by this, as we do not at all intend to equal ourselves to that Holy Man the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary, in whom all the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, That the Fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily, &c.so neither do we destroy the Reality of his present Existence, as some have falsely calumniated us. For though we affirm that Christ dwells in us, yet not immediately, but mediately as he is in that Seed which is in us; whereas he, to wit, the Eternal Word, which was with God, and was God, dwelt immediately in that Holy Man. He then is as the Head, and we as the Members; he the Vine, and we the Branches. Now as the Soul of Man dwells otherwise and in a far more immediate Manner in the Head and in the Heart than in the Hands or Legs, and as the Sap, Virtue, and Life of the Vine lodgeth far otherwise in the Stock and Root than in the Branches, so God dwelleth otherwise in the Man Jesus than in us. We also freely reject the Heresy of Apollinarius, who denied him to have any Soul, but said the Body was only actuated by the Godhead. As also the Error of Eutyches, who made the Manhood to be wholly swallowed up of the Godhead. Wherefore, as we believe he was a true and real Man, so we also believe that he continues so to be glorified in the Heavens in Soul and Body, by whom God shall judge the World, in the great and general Day of Judgment. §. XIV.Quest. 3.That the Light is a Spiritual Substance, which may be felt in the Soul and apprehended. Thirdly, We understand not this Seed, Light, or Grace to be an Accident, as most Men ignorantly do, but a real spiritual Substance, which the Soul of Man is capable to feel and apprehend, from which that real, spiritual, inward Birth in Believers arises, called the New Creature, the New Man in the Heart. This seems strange to Carnal-minded Men, because they are not acquainted with it; but we know it, and are sensible of it, by a true and certain Experience. Though it be hard for Man in his natural Wisdom to comprehend it until he come to feel it in himself, and if he should, holding it in the mere Notion it would avail him little, yet we are able to make it appear to be true, and that our Faith concerning it is not without a solid Ground: For it is in and by this inward and substantial Seed in ourNext, We know it to be a Substance, because it subsists in the Hearts of wicked Men, even while they are in their Wickedness, as shall be hereafter proved more at large. Now no Accident can be in a Subject without it give the Subject its own Denomination; as where Whiteness is in a Subject, there the Subject is called White. The Degrees of its Operation in the Soul of Man.So we distinguish betwixt Holiness, as it is an Accident, which denominates Man so, as the Seed receives a Place in him, and betwixt the holy substantial Seed, which many Times lies in Man’s Heart as a naked Grain in the stony Ground. So also as we may distinguish betwixt Health and Medicine; Health cannot be in a Body without the Body be called Healthful, because Health is an Accident; but Medicine may be in a Body that is most unhealthful, for that it is a Substance. And as when a Medicine begins to work, the Body may in some Respect be called Healthful, and in some Respect Unhealthful, so we acknowledge as this divine Medicine receives Place in Man’s Heart, it may denominate him in some Part Holy and Good, though there remain yet a corrupted unmortified Part, or some Part of the evil Humours unpurged out; for where two contrary Accidents are in one Subject, as Health and Sickness in a Body, the Subject receives its Denomination from the Accident which prevails most. So many Men are called Saints, good and holy Men, and that truly, when this holy Seed hath wrought in them in a good Measure, and hath somewhat leavened them into its Nature, though they may be yet liable to many Infirmities and Weaknesses, yea, and to some Iniquities; for as the Seed of Sin and Ground of Corruption, yea, and the Capacity of yielding thereunto, and sometimes actually falling, doth not denominate a good and holy Man impious; so neither doth the Seed of §. XV.Quest. 4.Fourthly, We do not hereby intend any ways to lessen or derogate from the Atonement and Sacrifice of Jesus Christ; but on the contrary do magnify and exalt it. For as we believe all those Things to have been certainly transacted which are recorded in the Holy Scriptures concerning the Birth, Life, Miracles, Sufferings, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ; so we do also believe that it is the Duty of every one to believe it to whom it pleases God to reveal the same, and to bring to them the Knowledge of it; yea, we believe it were damnable Unbelief not to believe it, when so declared; but to resist that holy Seed, which as minded would lead and incline every one to believe it as it is offered unto them, though it revealeth not in every one the outward and explicit Knowledge of it, nevertheless it always assenteth to it, ubi declaratur, where it is declared. Nevertheless as we firmly believe it was necessary that Christ should come, that by his Death and Sufferings he might offer up himself a Sacrifice to God for our Sins, who his own self bare our Sins in his own Body on the Tree; so we believe that the Remission of Sins which any partake of, is only in and by Virtue of that most satisfactory Sacrifice, and no otherwise. That Remission of Sins is only and alone by Christ.For it is by the Obedience of that One that the Free-gift is come upon all to Justification. For we affirm, that as all Men partake of the Fruit of Adam’s Fall, in that by Reason of that evil Seed, which through him is communicated unto them, they are prone and inclined unto Evil, though Thousands of Thousands be ignorant of Adam’s Fall, neither ever knew of the Eating of the Forbidden Fruit; so also many may come to feel the Influence of this Holy and Divine Seed and Light, and be turned from Evil to Good by it, though they knew nothing of Christ’s coming in the Flesh, through whose Obedience and Sufferings it is purchased unto them. And as we affirm it is absolutely needful that those do believe the History of Christ’s outward Appearance, whom it pleased God to bring to the Knowledge of it; so we do freely confess, that even that outward Knowledge is very comfortQuest. 5. How Christ is in all Men.But Fifthly, This brings us to another Question, to wit, Whether Christ be in all Men or no? Which sometimes hath been asked us, and Arguments brought against it; because indeed it is to be found in some of our Writings that Christ is in all Men; and we often are heard, in our publick Meetings and Declarations, to desire every Man to know and be acquainted with Christ in them, telling them that Christ is in them; it is fit therefore, for removing of all Mistakes, to say something in this Place concerning this Matter. We have said before, how that a divine, spiritual, and supernatural Light is in all Men; how that that divine supernatural Light or Seed is Vehiculum Dei; how that God and Christ dwelleth in it, and is never separated from it; also how that, as it is received and closed with in the Heart, Christ comes to be formed and brought forth: But we are far from ever having said, That Christ is thus formed in all Men, or in the Wicked: For that is a great Attainment, which the Apostle travailed that it might be brought forth in the Galatians. Neither is Christ in all Men by Way of Union, or indeed, to speak strictly, by Way of Inhabitation; because this Inhabitation, as it is generally taken, imports Union, or the Manner of Christ’s being in the Saints: As it is written, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, 2 Cor. vi. 16. But in regard, Christ is in all Men as in a Seed, yea, and that he never is nor can be separate from that holy pure Seed and Light which is in all Men; therefore may it be said in a larger Sense, that he is in all, §. XVI.Sixthly, It will manifestly appear by what is above said, that we understand not this Divine Principle to be any Part of Man’s Nature, nor yet to be any Reliques of any Good which Adam lost by his Fall, in that we make it a distinct separate Thing from Man’s Soul, and all the Faculties of it: Yet such is the Malice of our Adversaries, that they cease not sometimes to calumniate us, as if we preached up a natural Light, or the Light of Man’s natural Conscience. Next there are those that lean to the Doctrine of Socinus and Pelagius, who persuade themselves through Mistake, and out of no ill Design to injure us, as if this which we preach up were some natural Power and Faculty of the Soul, and that we only differ in the wording of it, and not in the Thing itself; whereas there can be no greater Difference than is betwixt us in that Matter: For we certainly know that this LightExample of a Papist.So if a Papist eat Flesh in Lent, or be not diligent enough in Adoration of Saints and Images, or if he should contemn Images, his Conscience would smite him for it, because his Judgment is already blinded Lastly, This Light, Seed, &c. appears to be no Power or natural Faculty of Man’s Mind; because a Man that is in his Health can, when he pleases, stir up, move, and exercise the Faculties of his Soul; he is absolute Master of them; and except there be some natural Cause or Impediment in the Way, he can use them at his Pleasure: But this Light and Seed of God in Man he cannot move and stir up when he pleaseth; but it moves, blows, and strives with Man, as the Lord seeth meet. The Waiting upon the Movings of the Light and Grace.For though there be a Possibility of Salvation to every Man during the Day of his Visitation, yet cannot a Man, at any Time when he pleaseth, or hath some Sense of his Misery, stir up that Light and Grace, so as to procure to himself Tenderness of Heart; but he must wait for it: Which comes upon all at certain Times and Seasons, wherein it works powerfully upon the Soul, mightily tenders it, and breaks it; at which Time, if Man resist it not, but closes with it, he comes to know Salvation by it. Even as the Lake of Bethesda did not cure all those that washed in it, but such only as washed first after the Angel had moved upon the Waters; so God moves in Love to Mankind, in this Seed in his Heart, at some singular Times, setting his Sins in Order before him, §. XVII.Quest. 7.And lastly, This leads me to speak concerning the Manner of this Seed or Light’s Operation in the Hearts of all Men, which will shew yet more manifestly how widely we differ from all those that exalt a natural Power or Light in Man; and how our Principle leads above all others to attribute our whole Salvation to the mere Power, Spirit, and Grace of God.To them then that ask us after this Manner, How do ye offer from the Pelagians and Arminians? For if two Men have equal sufficient Light and Grace, and the one be saved by it, and the other not; is it not because the one improves it, the other not? Is not then the Will of Man the Cause of the one’s Salvation beyond the other? The Light’s Operations in Order to Salvation.I say, to such we thus answer: That as the Grace and Light in all is sufficient to save all, and of its own Nature would save all; so it strives and wrestles with all in order to save them; he that resists its Striving, is the Cause of his own Condemnation; he that resists it not, it becomes his Salvation: So that in him that is saved, the working is of the Grace, and not of the Man; and it is a Passiveness rather than an Act; though afterwards, as Man is wrought upon, there is a Will raised in him, by which he comes to be a Co-worker with the Grace: For according to that of Augustine, He that made us without us, will not save us without us. So that The Example of a Diseased Man and the Physician.The first is, Of a Man heavily diseased; to whom I compare Man in his fallen and natural Condition. I suppose God, who is the great Physician, not only to give this Man Physick, after he hath used all the Industry he can for his own Health, by any Skill or Knowledge of his own; as those that say, If a Man improve his Reason or natural Faculties, God will superadd Grace; or, as others say, That he cometh and maketh Offer of a Remedy to this Man outwardly, leaving it to the Liberty of Man’s Will either to receive it or reject it. But He, even the Lord, this great Physician, cometh, and poureth the Remedy into his Mouth, and as it were layeth him in his Bed; so that if the sick Man be but passive, it will necessarily work the Effect: But if he be stubborn and untoward, and will needs rise up and go forth into the Cold, or eat such Fruits as are hurtful to him, while the Medicine should operate; then, though of its Nature it tendeth to cure him, yet it will prove destructive to him, because of those Obstructions which it meeteth with. Now as the Man that should thus undo himself would certainly The Example of Men lying stupified in a dark Pit, and their Deliverer.The second Example is, Of divers Men lying in a dark Pit together, where all their Senses are so stupified, that they are scarce sensible of their own Misery. To this I compare Man in his natural, corrupt, fallen Condition. I suppose not that any of these Men, wrestling to deliver themselves, do thereby stir up or engage one able to deliver them to give them his Help, saying within himself, I see one of these Men willing to be delivered, and doing what in him lies, therefore he deserves to be assisted; as say the Socinians, Pelagians, and Semi-Pelagians. Neither do I suppose that this Deliverer comes to the Top of the Pit, and puts down a Ladder, desiring them that will to come up; and so puts them upon using their own Strength and Will to come up; as do the Jesuits and Arminians: Yet, as they say, such are not delivered without the Grace; seeing the Grace is that Ladder by which they were delivered. But I suppose that the Deliverer comes at certain Times, and fully discovers and informs them of the great Misery and Hazard they are in, if they continue in that noisome and pestiferous Place; yea, forces them to a certain Sense of their Misery (for the wickedest Men at Times are made sensible of their Misery by God’s Visitation) and not only so, but lays Hold upon them, and gives them a Pull, in order to lift them out of their Misery; which if they resist not will save them; only they may resist it. This being applied as the former, doth the same Way illustrate the Matter. Neither is the Grace of God frustrated, though the Effect of it be divers, according to its Object, being the Ministration of Mercy and Love in those that reject it not, but receive it, John i. 12. but the Ministration of Wrath and Condemnation in those that do reject it, John iii. 19. A Simile of the Sun’s melting and hardening Power.even as the Sun, by one Act or Operation, melteth and softeneth the Wax, and hardeneth the Clay. The Nature of the Sun is to cherish the Creation, and therefore the Living are refreshed by it, and the Flowers Thus both the Mercy and Justice of God are established, and the Will and Strength of Man are brought down and rejected; his Condemnation is made to be of himself, and his Salvation only to de Object.The first is deduced from those Places of Scripture, wherein God seems precisely to have decreed and predestinated some to Salvation; and for that End, to have ordained certain Means, which fall not out to others; as in the Calling of Abraham, David, and others, and in the Conversion of Paul; for these being numbered among such to whom this Prevalency is given, the Objection is easily loosed. Predestination to Salvation, and Pre-ordination to Destruction, answered.The second is drawn from those Places, wherein God seems to have ordained some wicked Persons to Destruction; and therefore to have obdured their Hearts to force them unto great Sins, and to have raised them up, that he might shew in them his Power, who, if they be numbered amongst those Men whose Day of Visitation is passed over, that Objection is also solved; as will more evidently appear to any One that will make a particular Application of those Things, which I at this Time, for Brevity’s Sake, thought meet to pass over. §. XIX.Having thus clearly and evidently stated the Question, and opened our Mind and Judgment in this Matter, as divers Objections are hereby prevented, so will it make our Proof both the easier and the shorter.Prop. I.Proved. The first Thing to be proved is, That God hath given to every Man a Day or Time of Visitation, wherein it is possible for him to be saved. If we can prove that there is a Day and Time given, in which those might have been saved that actually perish, the Matter is done: For none deny but those that are saved have a Day of Visitation. Proof I.This then appears by the Regrets and Complaints which the Spirit of God throughout the whole Scriptures makes, even to those that did perish; Those that perish, had a Day of Mercy offered them.sharply reproving them, for that they did not accept of, nor close with God’s Visitation and Offer of Mercy to them. Thus the Lord expresses himself then first of all to Cain, Gen. iv. 6, 7. Instances. 1. Cain.And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy Countenance fallen? If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted? If thou dost not well, Sin lieth at the Door. This was said to Cain before he slew his Brother Abel, when Arg.God’s Spirit strives in the Wicked. If God plead with the Wicked, from the Possibility of their being accepted; if God’s Spirit strive in them for a Season, in order to save them, who afterwards perish; if he wait to be gracious unto them; if he be Long-suffering towards them; and if this Long-suffering be Salvation to them while it endureth, during which Time God willeth them not to perish, but exhibiteth to them the Riches of his Goodness and Forbearance to lead them to Repentance; then there is a Day of Visitation wherein such might have been, or some such now may be saved, who have perished; and may perish, if they repent not: But the first is true: Therefore also the last. §. XX.Proof 2.Secondly, This appeareth from the Prophet Isaiah v. 4. The Vineyard planted brought forth wild Grapes.What could I have done more to my Vineyard? For in Ver. 2. he saith; He had fenced it, and gathered out the Stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest Vine: And yet (saith he) when I looked it should have brought forth Grapes, it brought forth wild Grapes. Wherefore he calleth the Inhabitants of Jerusalem, and Men of Judah, to judge betwixt him and his Vineyard, saying; What could I have done more to my Vineyard, than I have done in it? and yet (as is said) it brought forth wild Grapes: Which was applied to many in Israel, who refused God’s Mercy. The same Example is used by Christ, Matth. xxi. 33. Mark xii. 1. Luke xx. 9. where Jesus shews, how to some a Vineyard was planted, and all Things given necessary for them, to get them Fruit to pay or restore to their Master; and how the Master many Times waited to be merciful to them, in sending Servants after Servants, and passing by many Offences, before he determined to destroy and cast them out. First then, this cannot be understood of the Saints, or of such as repent and are saved; for it is said expresly, He will destroy them. Neither would the Parable any ways have answered the End for which it is alleged, if these Men had not been in a Capacity to have done Good; yea, such was their Capacity, that Christ saith in the Prophet, WhatProof 3.Lastly, That there is a Day of Visitation given to the Wicked, wherein they might have been saved, and which being expired, they are shut out from Salvation, Christ’s Lamentation over Jerusalem.appears evidently by Christ’s Lamentation over Jerusalem, expressed in three sundry Places, Matth. xxiii. 37. Luke xiii. 34. and xix. 41, 42. And when he was come near, he beheld the City, and wept over it, saying; If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy Day, the Things that belong to thy Peace; but now they are hid from thine Eyes! Than which nothing can be said more evident to prove our Doctrine. For, First, he insinuates that there was a Day wherein the Inhabitants of Jerusalem might have known those Things that belonged to their Peace. Secondly, That during that Day he was willing to have gathered them, even as an Hen gathereth her Chickens. A familiar Example, yet very significative in this Case; which shews that the Offer of Salvation made unto them was not in vain on his Part, but as really, and with as great Chearfulness and Willingness, as an Hen gathereth her Chickens. Such as is the Love and Care of the Hen toward her Brood, such is the Care of Christ to gather lost Men and Women, to redeem them out of their corrupt and degenerate State. Thirdly, That because they refused, the Things belonging to their Peace were hid from their Eyes. Why were they hid? Because ye would not suffer me to gather you; ye would not see those Things that were good for you, in the Season of God’s Love towards you; and therefore now, that Day being expired, ye cannot see them: And, for a farther judgment, God suffers you to be hardened in Unbelief. God hardens, when.So it is, after real Offers of Mercy and Salvation rejected, that Men’s Hearts are hardened, and not before. Thus that Saying is verified, From all which I thus argue: The obstinate Jews had a Day.If there was a Day wherein the obstinate Jews might have known the Things that belonged to their Peace, which, because they rejected it, was hid from their Eyes; if there was a Time wherein Christ would have gathered them, who, because they refused, could not be gathered; then such as might have been saved do actually perish, that slighted the Day of God’s Visitation towards them, wherein they might have been converted and saved. But the first is true: Therefore also the last. §. XXI.Prop. II.Proved. Secondly, That which comes in the second Place to be proved is, That whereby God offers to work this Salvation during the Day of every Man’s Visitation; and that is, That he hath given to every Man a Measure of saving, sufficient, and supernatural Light and Grace. This I shall do, by God’s Assistance, by some plain and clear Testimonies of the Scripture.Proof 1.First, From that of John i. 9. That was the true Light, which lighteth every Man that cometh into the World. The Light enlightening every Man, &c.—This Place doth so clearly favour us, that by some it is called the Quakers Text; for it doth evidently demonstrate our Assertion; so that it scarce needs either Consequence or Deduction, seeing itself is a Consequence of two Propositions Obs. 1.From whence I do in short observe, That this divine Apostle calls Christ the Light of Men, and giveth us this as one of the chief Properties, at least considerably and especially to be observed by us; seeing hereby, as he is the Light, and as we walk with him in that Light which he communicates to us, we come to have Fellowship and Communion with him; as the same Apostle saith elsewhere, 1 John i. 7. Secondly, That this Light shineth in Darkness, though the Darkness comprehend it not. —Not to a certain Number of Men, but every Man.Thirdly, That this true Light enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World. Where the Apostle, being directed by God’s Spirit, hath carefully avoided their Captiousness, that would have restricted this to any certain Number: Where every one is, there is none excluded. Next, should they be so obstinate, as sometimes they are, as to say that this [every Man] is only every one of the Elect; these Words following, every Man that cometh into the World, would obviate that Objection. So that it is plain there comes no Man into the World, whom Christ hath not enlightened in some Measure, and in whose dark Heart this Light doth not shine; though the Darkness comprehend it not, yet it shineth there; and the Nature thereof is to dispel the Darkness where Men shut not their Eyes upon it. The Light dispelling Darkness begets Faith.Now for what End this Light is given, is expressed, Ver. 7. where John is said to come for a Witness, to bear Witness to the Light, that all Men through it might believe; to wit, through the Light, [Greek: di autou: d? a?t??], which doth very well agree with [Greek: phÔtos: f?t??], as being the nearest Antecedent, though most Translators have (to make it suit with their own Doctrine) made it relate to John, as if all Men were to believe through John. For which, as there is nothing directly in the Text, so it is contrary to the very Strain of the Context. For, seeing Christ hath lighted every Man with this Light, Is it not that they may come to believe Obser. 2.Secondly, It cannot be any of the natural Gifts or Faculties of our Soul, whereby we are said here to be enlightened, because this Light is said to shine in the Darkness, and cannot be comprehended by it. The Darkness is Man’s natural State and Condition.Now this Darkness is no other but Man’s natural Condition and State; in which natural State he can easily comprehend, and doth comprehend, those Things that are peculiar and common to him as such. That Man in his natural Condition is called Darkness, see Eph. v. 8. For ye were sometimes Darkness, but now are ye Light in the Lord. And in other Places, as Acts xxvi. 18. Col. i. 3. 1 Thess. v. 5. where the Condition of Man in his natural State, is termed Darkness: Therefore, I say, this Light cannot be any natural Property or Obser. 3.Thirdly, It is sufficient and saving. Arg. 1.That which is given, That all Men through it may believe, must needs be saving and sufficient: That, by walking in which, Fellowship with the Saints and the Blood of Christ, Which cleanseth from all Sin, is possessed, must be sufficient: But such is the Light, 1 John i. 7. Therefore, &c. Moreover; Arg. 2.That which we are commanded to believe in, That we may become the Children of the Light, must be a supernatural, sufficient and saving Principle: But we are commanded to believe in this Light: Therefore, &c. The Proposition cannot be denied. The Assumption is Christ’s own Words, John xii. 36. While ye have the Light, believe in the Light, that ye may be the Children of the Light. Object.To this they object, That by [Light] here is understood Christ’s outward Person, in whom he would have them believe. Answ.That they ought to have believed in Christ, that is, that he was the Messiah that was to come, is not denied; Whether Christ’s outward Person was the Light?but how they evince that Christ intended that here, I see not: Nay, the Place itself shews the Contrary, by these Words, While ye have the Light; and by the Verse going before, Walk while ye have the Light, lest Darkness come upon you: Which Words import, That when that Light in which they were to believe was removed, then they should lose the Capacity or Season of believing. Now this could not be understood of Christ’s Person, else the Jews might have believed in him; and many did savingly believe in him, as all Christians do at this Day, when the Person, to wit, his bodily Presence, or outward Man, is far removed from them. The Light of Christ is not Christ’s outward Man or Person.So that this Light in which they were commanded to believe must be that inward spiritual Light that shines in their Hearts for a Season, even during the Day of Man’s Visitation; which, From whence it appears, that though many receive not the Light, as many comprehend it not, nevertheless this saving Light shines in all, that it may save them. Cyrillus Alexandrinus upon John Lib. 1. Chap. II.Concerning which also Cyrillus Alexandrinus saith well, and defends our Principle: “With great Diligence and Watchfulness,” saith he, “doth the Apostle John endeavour to anticipate and prevent the vain Thoughts of Men: For there is here a wonderful Method of sublime Things, and overturning of Objections. He had just now called the Son the true Light, by whom he affirmed, That every Man coming into the World was enlightened; yea, that he was in the World, and the World was made by him. One may then object, If the Word of God be the Light, and if this Light enlighten the Hearts of Men, and suggest unto Men Piety and the Understanding of Things; if he was always in the World, and was the Creator or Builder of the World, why was he so long unknown unto the World? It seems rather to follow because he was unknown to the World, therefore the World was not enlightened by him, nor he totally Light. Lest any should so object, he divinely infers [and the World knew him not.] The Sun enlightens: But Man through Negligence buries Illumination.Let not the World,” saith he, “accuse the Word of God, and his eternal Light, but its own Weakness; for the Sun enlightens, but the Creature rejects the Grace that is given unto it, and abuseth the Sharpness of Understanding granted it, by which it might have naturally known God; and, as a Prodigal, hath turned its Sight to the Creatures, neglecting to go forward, and through From which it appears Cyrillus believed, That a saving Illumination was given unto all. Grace no natural Gift.For as to what he speaks of Nature, he understands it not of the common Nature of Man by itself, but of that Nature which hath the Strength of Understanding divinely given §. XXII.Proof II.That this saving Light and Seed, or a Measure of it, is given to all, Christ tells us expresly in the Parable of the Sower, Mat. xiii. from Ver. 18. Mark iv. and Luke viii. 11. he saith, The Seed of the Kingdom is sown in several Sorts of Ground, without Distinction.That this Seed, sown in those several Sorts of Ground is the Word of the Kingdom, which the Apostle calls the Word of Faith, Rom. x. 8. James i. 21.[Greek: ho Logos emphytos: ? ????? ef?t??], the implanted ingrafted Word, which is able to save the Soul; the Words themselves declare that it is that which is saving in the Nature of it, for in the good Ground it fructified abundantly.Let us then observe, That this Seed of the Kingdom, this saving, supernatural, and sufficient Word, was really sown in the stony, thorny Ground, and by the Way-side, where it did not profit, but became useless as to these Grounds: It was, I say, the same Seed that was sown in the good Ground. It is then the Fear of Persecution and Deceitfulness of Riches, as Christ himself interpreteth the Parable, which hindereth this Seed to grow in the Hearts of many: Not but that in its own Nature it is sufficient, being the same with that which groweth up and prospereth in the Hearts of those who receive it. So that, though all are not saved by it, yet there is a Seed of Salvation planted and sown in the Hearts of all by God, which would grow up and redeem the Soul, if it were not choked and hindered. Concerning this Parable, Victor Antiochenus, on Mark iv. as he is cited by Vossius, in his Pelagian History, Book 7. saith, “That our Lord Christ hath liberally sown the divine Seed of the Word, and proposed it to all, without Respect of Persons; and as he that soweth distinguisheth not betwixt Ground and Ground, but simply calleth in the Seed without Distinction, so our Saviour hath offered the Food of the divine Word so far as was his Part, although he was not ignorant what would become of many. Lastly, §. XXIII.Pro. III.The Light is the Gospel, the Power of God, preached in every Creature under Heaven. Thirdly, This saving spiritual Light is the Gospel, which the Apostle saith expresly, is preached in every Creature under Heaven; even that very Gospel whereof Paul was made a Minister, Col. i. 23. For the Gospel is not a mere Declaration of good Things, being the Power of God unto Salvation to all those that believe, Rom. i. 16. Though the outward Declaration of the Gospel be taken sometimes for the Gospel; yet it is but figuratively, and by a Metonymy. For to speak properly, the Gospel is this inward Power and Life which preacheth glad Tidings in the Hearts of all Men, offering Salvation unto them, and seeking to redeem them from their Iniquities, and therefore it is said to be preached in every Creature under Heaven: Whereas there are many Thousands of Men and Women, to whom the outward Gospel was never preached. Therefore, the Apostle Paul, Romans i. where he saith, The Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation, adds, That therein is revealed the Righteousness of God from Faith to Faith; and also the Wrath of God against such as hold the Truth of God in Unrighteousness: For this Reason, saith he, Because that which mayClem. Alex.Clemens Alexandrinus saith, Lib. 2. Stromat. “The divine Word hath cried, calling all, knowing well those that will not obey; and yet, because it is in our Power either to obey or not to obey, that none may have a Pretext of Ignorance, it hath made a righteous Call, and requireth but that which is according to the Ability and Strength of every one.” The self-same, in his Warning to the Gentiles; “For as,” saith he, “that Heavenly Ambassador of the Lord, The Grace of God, that brings Salvation, hath appeared unto all, &c. This is, the new Song, Coming and Manifestation of the Word, which now shows itself in us, which was in the Beginning, and was first of all.” And again, “Hear therefore, ye that are afar off; hear, ye who are near; the Word is hid from none, the Light is common to all, and shineth to all. There is no Darkness in the Word; let us hasten to Salvation, to the new Birth, that we being many, may be gathered into the one alone Love.” The gathering unto the one and alone Love.Ibid. he saith, “That there is infused into all, but principally into those that are trained up in Doctrine, a certain divine Influence, [Greek: tis achorrhoia theia: t?? a??????a ?e?a].” And again, he speaks concerning the “innate Witness, worthy of Belief, which of itself doth plainly chuse that which is most honest.” And again he saith, “That it is not impossible to come unto the Truth, and lay Hold of it, seeing it is most near to us, in our own Houses, as the most wise Moses declareth, living in three Parts of us, viz. in our Hands, in our Mouths, and in our Hearts. This,” saith he, “is a most true Badge of the Truth, which is also fulfilled in three Things, namely, in Counsel, in Action, in Speaking.” And again he saith also J. Martyr.Justin Martyr, in his first Apology, saith, “That the Word which was and is, is in all; even that very same Word which, through the Prophets, foretold Things to come.” Auth. de Voc. Gent.The Writer of the Calling of the Gentiles saith, Lib. 1. Cap. 2. “We believe according to the same (viz. Scripture) and most religiously confess, that God was never wanting in Care to the Generality of Men; who, although he did lead, by particular Lessons, a People gathered to himself unto Godliness, yet he withdrew from no Nation of Men the Gifts of his own Goodness, that they might be convinced that they had received the Words of the Prophets, and legal Commands in Services and Testimonies of the first Principles.” Cap. 7. he saith, “That he believes that the Help of Grace hath been wholly withdrawn from no Man.” Lib. 2. Cap. 1. “Because, albeit Salvation is far from Sinners, yet there 1 Part.Our Theme then hath two Parts; First, That those that have the Gospel and Christ outwardly preached unto them, are not saved but by the Working of the Grace and Light in their Hearts. 2 Part.Secondly, That by the Working and Operation of this, many have been, and some may be saved, to whom the Gospel hath never been outwardly preached, and who are utterly ignorant of the outward History of Christ. 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 §. XXV.2 Part.Proved. 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: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 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. 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. 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. 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: 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 §. XXVI.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.Obj. 1.If it be said, That these Children are the Children of believing Parents: 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? Obj. 2.If they say, Deaf People may be made sensible of the Gospel by Signs: 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? Obj. 3.And if they should further allege, That they are within the Bosom of the visible Church, and Partakers of the Sacraments: 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? 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. Answ. 2.Secondly, This manifestly appears by that Saying of Peter, Acts x. 34. Of a Truth I perceive that God is no Respecter of Persons; but in every Nation, he that feareth him, and worketh Righteousness, is accepted of him. Peter was before liable to that Mistake that the rest of the Jews were in; judging that all were unclean, except themselves, and that no Man could be saved, except they were proselyted to their Religion, and circumcised. But God shewed Peter otherwise in a Vision, and taught him to call nothing common or unclean; God regarded the Prayers of Cornelius, a Stranger to the Law.and therefore, seeing that God regarded the Prayers of Cornelius, who was a Stranger to the Law, and to Jesus Christ as to the outward, yet Peter saw that God had accepted him; and he is said to fear God before he had this outward Knowledge: Therefore Peter concludes that every one in every Nation, without respect of Persons, that feareth God and worketh Righteousness, is accepted of him. So he makes the Fear of God and the working of Righteousness, and not an outward historical Arg.In every Nation he that feareth God, and worketh Righteousness, is accepted: But many of the Heathens feared God, and wrought Righteousness: Therefore they were accepted. The Minor is proved from the Example of Cornelius: But I shall further prove it thus; He that doth the Things contained in the Law, feareth God, and worketh Righteousness: But the Heathens did the Things contained in the Law: Therefore they feared God, and wrought Righteousness. Can there be any Thing more clear? For if to do the Things contained in the Law, be not to fear God, and work Righteousness, then what can be said to do so, seeing the Apostle calls the Law Spiritual, Holy, Just, and Good? But this appears manifestly by another Medium, taken out of the same Chapter, Ver. 13. So that nothing can be more clear: The Words are, The Doers of the Law shall be justified. From which I thus argue, without adding any Word of my own; Arg.The Doers of the Law shall be justified: But the Gentiles do the Things contained in the Law: The Gentiles justified doing the Law.All that know but a Conclusion, do easily see what follows from these express Words of the Apostle. And indeed, he through that whole Chapter labours, as if he were contending now with our Adversaries, to confirm this Doctrine, Ver. 9, 10, 11. Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth Evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no Respect of Persons with God. Where the Apostle clearly homologates, or confesses to the Sentence of Peter before-mentioned; and shews that Jew and Gentile, or as he himself explains in the following Verses, both they that have an outward Law and they that have none, when they do Good shall be justified. And to put us out of all Doubt, in the very following Verses he tells, That the Doers of the Law are justified; and that the Gentiles did the Law. So that except we think he spake not what he intended, we may safely conclude, that such Gentiles were justified, and did partake of that §. XXVII.So we see how that it is the inward Work, and not the outward History and Scripture, that gives the true Knowledge; The Heathens were sensible of the Loss received by Adam.and by this inward Light many of the Heathen Philosophers were sensible of the Loss received by Adam, though they knew not the outward History: Hence Plato asserted, That Man’s Soul was fallen into a dark Cave, where it only conversed with Shadows. Pythagoras saith, Man wandereth in this World as a Stranger, banished from the Presence of God. And Plotinus compareth Man’s Soul, fallen from God, to a Cinder, or dead Coal, out of which the Fire is extinguished. Heathen-Philosophers Divine Knowledge. Plato. Pythag. Plotin.Some of them said, That the Wings of the Soul were clipped or fallen off, so that it could not flee unto God. All which, and many more such Expressions, that might be gathered out of their Writings, shew, that they were not without a Sense of this Loss. Also they had a Knowledge and Discovery of Jesus Christ inwardly, as a Remedy in them, to deliver them from that evil Seed, and the evil Inclinations of their own Hearts, though not under that particular Denomination.Some called him an Holy Spirit, as Seneca, Epist. 41. who said, There is an holy Spirit in us, that treateth us as we treat him. Cicero calls it an Innate Light. Lactan. In Sect.Cicero calleth it an innate Light, in his Book De Republica, cited by Lactantius, 6 Instit. where he calls this Right Reason, given unto all, constant and eternal, calling unto Duty by commanding, and deterring from Deceit by forbidding. Adding, That it cannot be abrogated, neither can any be freed from it, neither by Senate or People; that it is one, eternal, and the same always to all Nations; so that there is not one at Rome, and another at Athens: Whoso obeys it not, must flee from himself, and in this is greatly tormented, although he should escape all other Punishments. Plotinus also calls him Light, saying, That as the Sun cannot be known but by its own Light, so God cannot be known but And much more of this Kind might be instanced, by which it appears they knew Christ; and by his working in them, were brought from Unrighteousness to Righteousness, and to love that Power by which they felt themselves redeemed; so that, as saith the Apostle, They shew the Work of the Law written in their Hearts, and did the Things contained in the Law; and therefore, as all Doers of the Law are, were no Doubt justified, and saved thus by the Power of Christ in them. And as this was the Judgment of the Apostle, so was it of the primitive Christians. Socrates a Christian, &c.Hence Justin Martyr stuck not to call Socrates a Christian, saying, That all such as lived according to the divine Word in them, which was in all Men, were Christians, such as Socrates and Heraclitus, and others among the Greeks, &c. That such as live with the Word, are Christians without Fear or Anxiety. Clem. Alex.Clemens Alexandrinus saith, Apol. 2. Strom. Lib. 1. That this Wisdom or Philosophy was necessary to the Gentiles, and was their School-master to lead them unto Christ, by which of old the Greeks were justified. Augustin. de Civ. Dei.Nor do I think, saith Augustine, in his Book of the City of God, Lib. 18. Cap. 47. that the Jews dare affirm that none belonged unto God but the Israelites. Lud. Vives.Upon which Place Ludovicus Vives saith, That thus the Gentiles, not having a Law, were a Law unto themselves; and the Light The Platonists saw the Word in the Beginning; which was Light.Augustine also testifies in his Confessions, Lib. 1. Cap. 9. That he had read in the Writings of the Platonists, though not in the very same Words, yet that which by many and multiplied Reasons did persuade, that in the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; this was in the Beginning with God, by which all Things were made, and without which nothing was made that was made: In him was Life, and the Life was the Light of Men: And the Light shined in the Darkness, and the Darkness did not comprehend it. And albeit the Soul gives Testimony concerning the Light, yet it is not the Light, but the Word of God; for God is the true Light, which enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World; and so repeats to Ver. 14. of John i. adding, These Things have I there read. Hai Eben Yokdan.Yea, there is a Book translated out of the Arabick, which gives an Account of one Hai Eben Yokdan; who living in an Island alone, without Converse of Man, attained to such a profound Knowledge of God, as to have immediate Converse with him, and to affirm, That the best and most certain Knowledge of God is not that which is attained by Premises premised, and Conclusions deduced; The Supreme Intellect enjoyed by the Mind of Men.but that which is enjoyed by Conjunction of the Mind of Man with the Supreme Intellect, after the Mind is purified from its Corruptions, and is separated from all bodily Images, and is gathered into a profound Stillness. §. XXVIII.Seeing then it is by this inward Gift, Grace, and Light, that both those that have the Gospel preached unto them, come to have Jesus brought forth in them, and to have the saving and sanctified Use of all outward Helps and Advantages; and also by this same Light that all may come to be saved; and that God calls, invites, and strives with all, in a Day, and saveth many, to whom he hath not seen meet to convey this outward Knowledge; The Day of the Lord proclaimed.therefore we, having the Experience of the inward and powerful Work of this Light in our Hearts, even Jesus revealed in us, cannot cease to proclaim the Day of the Lord that is arisen in it, crying out with the Woman of Samaria; Come and see one that hath told me all thatOf this Light therefore Augustine speaks in his Confessions, Lib. 11. Cap. 9. In this Beginning, O God! thou madest the Heavens and the Earth, in thy Word, in thy Son, in thy Virtue, in thy Wisdom, wonderfully saying, and wonderfully doing. Who shall comprehend it? Who shall declare it? Augustine trembled at the In-shinings of the Light unto him, and why?What is that which shineth in unto me, and smites my Heart without Hurt, at which I both tremble, and am inflamed? I tremble, in so far as I am unlike unto it; and I am inflamed in so far as I am like unto it: It is Wisdom, Wisdom which shineth in unto me, and dispelleth my Cloud, which had again covered me, after I was departed from it, with Darkness and the Heap of my Punishments. And again he saith, Lib. 10. Cap. 27. It is too late that I have loved thee, O thou Beautifulness, so ancient and so new! Late have I loved thee, and behold thou wast within, and I was without, and there was seeking thee! Thou didst call, thou didst cry, thou didst break my Deafness, thou glancedst, thou didst shine, thou chasedst away my Darkness. Buchanan testifying to the Light.Of this also our Countryman George Buchanan speaketh thus in his Book De Jure regni apud Scotos: Truly I understand no other Thing at present than that Light which is divinely infused into our Souls: For when God formed Man, he not only gave him Eyes to his Body, by which he might shun those Things that are hurtful to him, and follow those Things that are profitable; but also hath set before his Mind as it were a certain Light, by which he may discern Things that are vile from Things that are honest. Some call this Power Nature, others the Law of Nature; I truly judge it to be divine, and am persuaded that Nature and Wisdom never say different Things. Moreover God hath given us a Compend of the Law, which in few Words comprehends the Whole; to wit, that we should love him from our Hearts, and our Neighbours as ourselves. And of this Law all the Books of the holy Scriptures, which pertain to the forming of Manners, contain no other but an Explication. Jew and Gentile, Scythian and Barbarian, Partakers of the Salvation of Christ.This is that universal evangelical Principle, in and by which this Salvation of Christ is exhibited to all Men, both Jew and Gentile, Scythian and Barbarian, of whatsoever Country or Kindred he be: And therefore God hath raised up unto himself, in this our Age, faithful Witnesses and Evangelists to preach again his everlasting Gospel, and to direct all, as well the high Professors, who boast of the Law and the Scriptures, and the outward Knowledge of Christ, as the Infidels and Heathens that know not him that Way, that they may all come to mind the Light in them, and know Christ in them, the just one, [Greek: ton Dichaion: t?? ???a???], whom they have so long killed, and made merry over, and he hath not resisted, James v. 6. and give up their Sins, Iniquities, false Faith, Professions, and outside Righteousness, to be crucified by the Power of his Cross in them, so as they may know Christ within to be the Hope of Glory, and may come to walk in his Light and be saved, who is that true Light that enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World. |
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