06. Chapter VI.

Chapter VI. The nature of divine revelations Their self-evidencing power considered, particularly that of the Scriptures as the word of God.

It may be objected that, If the Scripture thus evidences itself to be the word of God — as the sun manifests itself by light, and fire by heat; or as the first principles of reason are evident in themselves without further proof or testimony — then upon the Scripture being proposed to them as the word of God, and on its own bare assertion of it, all men would necessarily and on that evidence alone, assent to this and believe it. But this is not so: all experience lies against it. Nor is there any pleadable ground of reason that it is so, or that it ought to be so. In answer to this objection I will do these two things:

1. I will show what it is (what power, what faculty in the minds of men) to which this revelation is proposed, and by which we assent to its truth. The mistakes on which this objection proceeds will thus be revealed.

2. I will mention some of those things by which the Holy Ghost testifies and gives evidence to the Scripture in and by itself, such that our faith may be immediately resolved into the veracity of God alone.

1. In the first place, we may consider that there are three ways by which we assent to anything that is proposed to us as true, and receive it as such:

(1.) By inbred127 principles of natural light, and the first rational actings of our minds. This reason, corresponds to instinct in irrational creatures. Hence God complains that his people neglected and sinned against their own natural light and the first dictates of reason, because brute creatures would not forsake the instinctual conduct of their natures, Isa 1.3.128 In general, the mind is necessarily determined to assent to the proper objects of these principles; it cannot do otherwise. It can only assent to the prime dictates of the light of nature; indeed, those dictates are nothing but its assent. This assent is its first apprehension of the things which the light of nature embraces, without either express reasonings or further consideration. Thus the mind embraces in itself the general notions of moral good and evil, with the difference between them, however practically it may fail to comply with what they guide it to.129 And it assents to many principles of reason, such as "the whole is greater than the part," without allowing any debate about them.

(2.) By rational consideration of things externally proposed to us. In this, the mind exercises its discursive faculty,130 gathering one thing out of another, and concluding one thing from another; and on this, it is able to assent to what is proposed to it in various degrees of certainty, according to the nature and degree of the evidence that it proceeds upon. Hence it has a certain knowledge of some things. And of others, it has an opinion or persuasion that prevails against objections to the contrary, which may be true or false — which it knows and whose force it understands.

(3.) By faith. This respects that power of our minds by which we are able to assent to anything as true, which we have no first principles concerning, no inbred notions about, nor can we from more known principles, make any certain rational conclusions concerning them. This is our assent upon testimony, on which we believe many things which no sense, inbred principles, nor reasonings of our own, could either give us an acquaintance with, or an assurance of. And this assent not only has various degrees, but it also has diverse kinds, according to the testimony which it arises from and rests upon: human if it is human, and divine if it is divine.

According to these distinct faculties and powers of our souls, God is pleased to reveal or make himself known to us — his mind or will — in three ways. For he has implanted no power in our minds whose principal use and exercise does not respect him and living to him, which is the end of them all. Neglecting their improvement to this end, is the highest aggravation of sin. It is an aggravation of sin when men use the creations of God other than he has appointed, or in not using them to his glory — such as when they take his corn, wine, and oil, and spend them on their lusts, Hosea 2:8. It is a higher aggravation when, in sinning, men abuse and dishonor their own bodies. For these are the principal external workmanship of God, being made for eternity; and their preservation for his glory is committed to us in a special manner. The apostle declares this is the particular aggravation of the sin of fornication, and uncleanness of any kind, 1Cor 6.18-19.131 But the height of impiety consists in the abuse of the faculties and powers of the soul, with which we are endowed purposely and immediately for glorifying God. From this proceed unbelief, profaneness, blasphemy, atheism, and similar pollutions of the spirit or mind. And these are sins of the highest provocation; for the powers and faculties of our minds are given to us only to enable us to live to God. Diverting their principal exercise to other ends is an act of enmity against him, and an affront to him.

(1.) He makes himself known to us by the innate principles of our nature, to which he has communicated (as a power of apprehending) an indelible sense of his being, his authority, and his will, so far as our natural dependence on him and moral subjection to him require. For there are two things in this natural light and these first dictates of reason: first, a power of conceiving, discerning, and assenting; and secondly, a power of judging and determining based on the things so discerned and assented to. By the one, God makes known his being and essential properties; and by the other, he makes known his sovereign authority over all. As to the first, the apostle affirms in Romans 1:19, "that which may be known of God" (his essence, being, and subsistence; and his natural, necessary, and essential properties) "is manifest in them." That is, it has a self-evidencing power, acting itself in the minds of all men endowed with natural light and reason. And as to the second, his sovereign authority, he evidences it in and by the consciences of men — which are the judgments they make, and cannot help but make, about themselves and their actions with respect to the authority and judgment of God, Rom 2.14-15.132 Thus the mind assents to the principles of God’s being and authority, prior to any actual exercise of the discursive faculty of reason, or other testimony whatsoever.

(2.) He reveals himself to our reason in its exercise, by proposing such things to its consideration from which it cannot help but conclude with an assent to the truth of what God intends to reveal to us that way. He does this by the works of creation and providence, which present themselves unavoidably to reason in its exercise, to instruct us in the nature, being, and properties of God. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handywork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard," Psalms 19:1-3. Yet they do not thus declare, evidence, and reveal the glory of God to the first principles and notions of natural light, without the actual exercise of reason. They only do so "when we consider his heavens, the work of his fingers, the moon and the stars, which he has ordained," as the psalmist puts it in Psalms 8:3. A rational consideration of them — of their greatness, order, beauty, and use — is required for that testimony and evidence which God gives in and by them, of himself, of his glorious being and power. To this purpose, the apostle discourses at large concerning the works of creation, Rom 1.20-21,133 and also of the works of providence, Acts 14.15-17, 17.24-28,134 and the rational use we are to make of them, verse 29. So God calls men to exercise their reason about these things, reproaching them with stupidity and brutishness where they are lacking in this, Isa 46.5-8, 44.18-20.135

(3.) God reveals himself to our faith, or to that power of our souls by which we are able to assent to the truth of what is proposed to us upon testimony. And he does this by his word, or the Scriptures, proposed to us in the manner and way expressed before.

He does not reveal himself by his word to the principles of natural light, nor to reason in its exercise. Yet these principles, and reason itself, along with all the faculties of our minds, are consequentially affected with that revelation; and they are drawn forth into their proper exercise by it. But in the gospel, the "righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith," Romans 1:17 — it is not, in the first place, revealed to natural light, sense, or reason. And it is faith that is "the evidence of things not seen," as revealed in the word, Hebrews 11:1. "Thus says the Lord" is the only ground and reason of our assent to this kind of revelation; and that assent is the assent of faith, because it is resolved into testimony alone.

Concerning these several ways of communicating or revealing the knowledge of God, it must always be observed that there is a perfect consonancy in the things revealed by them all. If anything pretends from the one what is absolutely contradictory to the other, or pretends that our senses are the means of them, then it is not to be received. The foundation of the whole, as of all the actings of our souls, is in the inbred principles of natural light, or the first necessary dictates of our intellectual, rational nature. So far as it extends, this is a rule for our apprehension in all that follows. Therefore, in the exercise of reason, if any pretend to conclude anything concerning the nature, being, or will of God, that is directly contradictory to those principles and dictates, then it is not a divine revelation to our reason, but a paralogism 136 from the defect of reason in its exercise. This is what the apostle charges and vehemently urges against the heathen philosophers: their inbred notions of the being and eternal power of God. These were so manifest in them, that they could not help but own them. They set their rational, discursive faculty to work on this, in the consideration of God and his being. But they were so vain and foolish as to draw conclusions directly contrary to the first principles of natural light, and the unavoidable notions which they had of the eternal being of God, Rom 1.21-25.137 And many, upon their pretended rational consideration of the promiscuous 138 event of things in the world, have foolishly concluded that all things had a fortuitous139 beginning, and have fortuitous events, or from a concatenation of antecedent causes, they are fatally 140 necessary. They are not disposed by an infinitely wise, unerring, holy providence. This is also directly contradictory to the first principles and notions of natural light. Thus it openly proclaims that it is not an effect of the due exercise of reason, but a mere delusion. So if any pretend to revelations by faith which are contradictory to the first principles of natural light, or to reason that is properly exercised about its proper objects, then it is a delusion. On this ground, the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation is justly rejected. For it is proposed as a revelation by faith which is expressly contradictory to our sense and reason, in their proper exercise about their proper objects. And a supposition about the possibility of any such thing, would make the ways by which God reveals and makes himself known, to cross and interfere one with another. This would leave us no certainty in anything, divine or human.

Though these means of divine revelation harmonize and perfectly agree with one another, yet they are not objectively equal, nor equally extensive; nor are they co-ordinate, but subordinate to one another. Therefore, there are many things that are discernible by the exercise of reason which do not appear to the first principles of natural light. Thus the sober philosophers of old attained to many true and great conceptions of God and the excellencies of his nature, above what those arrived at who either did not, or could not, cultivate and improve the principles of natural light in the same manner as the philosophers. It is therefore folly to pretend that the things which are thus made known by God, are not infallibly true and certain, because they are not obvious to the first conceptions of natural light, without the due exercise of reason (provided they are not contradictory to it). There are many things revealed to faith that are above and beyond the comprehension of reason, in the best and utmost of its most proper exercise. Such are all the principal mysteries of Christian religion. It is the height of folly to reject them, as some do, just because they are not discernible and comprehensible by reason, seeing that they are not contradictory to it. Therefore, these ways of God’s revelation of himself, are not equally extensive or commensurate. But they are so subordinate to one another, that what is lacking in one, is supposed by the other, in order to accomplish the whole and entire end of divine revelation; the truth of God is the same in them all.

(1.) The revelation which God makes of himself in the first way (by the inbred principles of natural light), sufficiently and infallibly evidences itself to be from him. It does so in, to, and by those principles themselves. This revelation of God is infallible; and the assent to it is infallible; and the infallible evidence it gives of itself makes it so. We do not now dispute what a few atheistic sceptics pretend to, whose folly has been sufficiently detected by others. All the sobriety that is in the world consents in this: that the light of the knowledge of God, in and by the inbred principles of our minds and consciences, sufficiently, uncontrollably, and infallibly manifests itself to be from Him. And the mind neither is nor can it possibly be imposed on in its apprehensions of that nature. If the first dictates of reason concerning God do not evidence themselves to be from God, then they are neither of any use nor force; for they are not capable of being confirmed by external arguments. What is written about them is to show their force and evidence, not to give them any. Therefore, this first way of God’s revelation of himself to us is infallible, and it infallibly evidences itself in our minds, according to the capacity of our natures.

(2.) God reveals himself by the works of creation and providence to our reason in its exercise, or to the faculties of our souls as discursive, rationally concluding one thing from another. This revelation sufficiently (and indeed, infallibly) evidences and demonstrates itself to be from Him; so that it is impossible for us to be deceived in this. It does not do so to the inbred principles of natural light, unless they are engaged in a rational exercise about the means of the revelation that is made. That is, we must rationally consider the works of God, both of creation and providence, or we cannot learn by them what God intends to reveal of himself. And in our doing so, we cannot be deceived; for "the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead," Romans 1:20. They are clearly seen, and therefore they may be perfectly understood as to what they teach about God, without any possibility of mistake. Men will receive the revelation intended, in the way intended. That is, they will certainly conclude that what God teaches by his works of creation and providence — namely, his eternal power and Godhead, with its essential properties, infinite wisdom, goodness, righteousness, and the like — is certainly and infallibly so, believing it accordingly. And wherever they do not, it is not from any defect in the revelation, or its self-evidencing efficacy, but only from the depraved, vicious habits of their minds, their enmity against God, and their dislike of him. And so the apostle says that those who rejected or did not approve the revelation of God, did it "because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge," Romans 1:28. For this reason, God severely revenged their natural unbelief, as expressed there.141

What I principally emphasize from this, is that the revelation which God makes of himself, by the works of creation and providence, does not evince itself to the first principles of natural light, in such a way that an assent should be given to it without the actual exercise of reason, or without the discursive faculty of our minds about them; but it is to these that it infallibly evidences itself. So the Scripture may have, and does have, a self-evidencing efficacy, even though this does not appear to the light of first natural principles, nor even to bare reason in its exercise; for —

(3.) God reveals himself to our faith by the Scripture, or his word, which he has magnified above all his name, Psalms 138:2. That is, he has implanted in it more characteristics of himself and his properties than in any other way by which he reveals or makes himself known to us. And we confess that this revelation of God, by his word, is not sufficient nor suited to evidence itself to the light of nature, or the first principles of our understanding, such that by virtue of the bare proposal that it is from God, we should immediately assent to it, as men assent to self-evident natural principles, like the part is less than the whole. Nor does it evidence itself to our reason in its mere natural exercise, such that by virtue of this we can demonstratively conclude that it is from God, and that what is declared in it is certainly and infallibly true. It has, indeed, such external evidences accompanying it as to make a great impression on reason itself. But the power of our souls, to which it is proposed, is such that we can give an assent to the truth of something on the testimony of the proposer, even though we have no other evidence of it. And this is the principal and most noble faculty and power of our nature. There is an instinct in brute creatures that has some resemblance to our inbred natural principles. And they will act that instinct, improved by experience, into a great likeness of reason in its exercise, although it is not so. But as to the power or faculty of giving an assent to things upon witness or testimony, there is nothing in the nature of irrational creatures that has the least shadow or likeness of it. If our souls lacked but this one faculty of assenting to truth upon testimony, all that remains would not be sufficient to conduct us through the affairs of this natural life. Therefore, this being the most noble faculty of our minds, it is that to which the highest way of divine revelation is proposed.

We have declared and proved before that our minds, in this special case, are to be prepared and assisted by the Holy Ghost to make our assent according to the mind of God, as required of us in a way of duty. On this supposition, the revelation which God makes of himself by his word, no less evidences itself to our minds in the exercise of faith — or it gives no less infallible evidence as a ground and reason why we should believe it — than his revelation of himself by the works of creation and providence manifests itself to our minds that it is from him, in the exercise of reason. Nor is this manifested with less assurance than what we assent to, in and by the dictates of natural light. And when God reveals himself — that is, his "eternal power and Godhead" — by "the things that are made," Romans 1:20 the works of creation, "the heavens declaring his glory, and the firmament showing his handiwork," Psalms 19:1 the reason of men is stirred up and exercised by this. And reason infallibly concludes from the evidence in that revelation, that there is a God, and that he is eternally powerful and wise — without any further arguments to prove that the revelation is true. So when God reveals himself to the minds of men by his word, thereby exciting and bringing out faith into exercise, or the power of the soul to assent to truth upon testimony, that revelation no less infallibly evidences itself to be divine or from God, without any external arguments to prove it is so.

If I say to a man that the sun has risen and shines on the earth, and he questions or denies it, and asks how I will prove it, it is a sufficient answer to say that it manifests itself in and by its own light. And if he adds that this is not proof to him, for he does not discern it, then suppose it is so. It is a satisfactory answer to tell him that he is blind; and if he is not blind, it serves no purpose to argue with someone who contradicts his own sense; for he leaves no rule by which what is said may be tried or judged. And if I tell a man that the "heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork," or that the "invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made," and he demands to know how I can prove it, it is a sufficient answer to say that these things, in and by themselves, manifest to the reason of every man, in its due and proper exercise, that there is an eternal, infinitely wise and powerful Being — one by whom they were caused, produced, and made, So that whoever knows how to use and exercise his reasoning faculty in considering them — their origin, order, nature, and use — must necessarily conclude that it is so. If he says that it is not apparent to him that the being of God is revealed by them, it is a sufficient reply to say he is phrenetic142 (in case he is indeed), and does not have the use of his reason; and if he is not, say that he argues in express contradiction to his own reason, as may be demonstrated. The heathen philosophers granted this.143 And if I declare to anyone that the Scripture is the word of God, a divine revelation, and that it evidences and manifests itself to be so, and he says that he has the use and exercise of his sense and reason as well as others, and yet it does not appear to him to be so, then as to the present inquiry, it is a sufficient reply — to secure the authority of the Scriptures (though other means may be used for his conviction) — to say that "all men do not have faith," by which alone the evidence of the divine authority of the Scripture is discoverable. It is in the light of faith alone that we can read those characteristics of its divine extract, which are impressed on it and communicated to it.

If it is not so, seeing that it is a divine revelation, and it is our duty to believe it as such, then it must be either because our faith is not fitted, suited, or able to receive such evidence — assuming God gives the same evidence to the revelation of himself by his word, that he gives by the light of nature and his works of providence — or else, God would not or could not give such evidence to his word that it might manifest itself as such. Neither of these can be affirmed without a sullied reflection on the wisdom and goodness of God.

It is evident from this, that our faith is capable of giving such an assent, because God works it in us and bestows it on us for this very end. And God requires us to infallibly believe what he proposes to us, at least when we have infallible evidence that it is from him. And as he appoints faith to this end, and approves of its exercise, so he both judges and condemns those who fail in it, 2 Chronicles 20:20; Isaiah 7:9; Mark 16.16.144 Yes, our faith is capable of giving an assent (though of another kind) that is firmer, and accompanied with more assurance, than any given by reason in the best of its conclusions. And the reason for this is because the power of the mind to give its assent upon testimony, which is its most noble faculty, is elevated and strengthened by the divine supernatural work of the Holy Ghost, described before. To say that God either could not or would not give such a power to the revelation of himself by his word, so as to evidence itself to be his word, is exceedingly prejudicial to his honor and glory, seeing that the everlasting welfare of the souls of men is incomparably more concerned in this than in the other ways mentioned. And what reason could be assigned to why he should implant less evidence of his divine authority on this soul than on those others, seeing that he designed far greater and more glorious ends in this, than in them? If anyone says, "The reason is because this kind of divine revelation is not capable of receiving such evidences," it must be either because there cannot be evident characteristics of divine authority, goodness, wisdom, power, implanted in it or mixed with it; or else the efficacy to manifest them cannot be communicated to it. It will be demonstrated in the last part of this discourse, that both these are otherwise. I will now enter upon this.

It has already been declared that it is the authority and veracity of God, revealed in and by the Scripture, that is the formal reason of our faith, or supernatural assent to it as the word of God.

2. It remains only that we inquire, in the second place, into the way and means by which they evidence themselves to us that the Scripture is thereby the word of God, so that we may undoubtedly and infallibly believe it is so. Now, because faith, as we have shown, is an assent upon testimony, and consequently divine faith is an assent upon divine testimony, there must be some testimony or witness in this case, on which faith rests. And this we say is the testimony of the Holy Ghost, the author of the Scriptures, given to them, in them, and by them. And this work or testimony of the Spirit may be reduced to two heads, which may be distinctly insisted on:

(1.) The impressions or characteristics which are subjectively left in and upon the Scripture by its author, the Holy Spirit — of all the divine excellencies or properties of the divine nature — are the first means evidencing the testimony of the Spirit on which our faith rests; or they give the first evidence of its divine origin and authority, upon which we believe it. The way by which we learn the eternal power and deity of God from the works of creation, is only by those marks, tokens, and impressions of his divine power, wisdom, and goodness, that are upon them. For it is from the consideration of their subsistence, greatness, order, and use, that reason necessarily concludes there is an infinite subsisting Being, from whose power and wisdom these things are the manifest effects. These are clearly seen and understood by the things that are made. We need no other arguments to prove that God made the world except itself. It carries in and upon it the infallible tokens of its origin. See to this purpose the blessed meditation of the psalmist in Psalms 104 throughout. Now, there are greater and more evident impressions of divine excellencies left on the written word from the infinite wisdom of its Author, than any that are communicated to the works of God, of whatever sort. Hence David, comparing the works and the word of God, as to their instructive efficacy in declaring God and his glory (even though he ascribes much to the works of creation), prefers the word incomparably before the works, Psalms 19.1-3, 7-9, 147.8-9, 19-20.145 And these more clearly manifest to our faith that the word is God’s, than the other tokens manifest to our reason that the works are His. As yet I do not know that this is denied by any, or that the contrary is asserted — namely, that God, as the immediate author of the Scripture, has left in the very word itself, evident tokens and impressions of his wisdom, prescience, omniscience, power, goodness, holiness, truth, and other divine, and infinite excellencies, which are sufficiently evidenced to the enlightened minds of believers. Some, I confess, speak suspiciously of this. But until they directly deny it, I not need confirm it further than I have long since done in another treatise.146 And I leave it to be considered whether, morally speaking, it is possible that God would immediately, from the eternal counsels of his will, reveal himself, his mind, and the thoughts and purposes of his heart, and yet not give with it or leave on it any "infallible token," evidencing that he is the author of that revelation. These things had been hidden in Him from eternity, on purpose, so that we would believe them and yield obedience to him, according to the declaration thus made of himself. Men who are not ashamed of their Christianity will not be ashamed to profess and seal that profession with their blood, and to rest their eternal concerns on that security which they have attained in this — namely, that there is that manifestation made of the glorious properties of God, in and by the Scripture as a divine revelation, which incomparably excels in evidence all that their reason receives from the works of creation, concerning his power. That on which we believe that the Scripture is the word of God, with divine and supernatural faith (if we believe it at all), is this: There is in itself that evidence of its divine origin — from the characteristics of divine excellencies left on it by its author, the Holy Ghost — which faith quietly rests in and is resolved into. This evidence is manifest to the lowliest and most unlearned, no less than it is to the wisest philosopher. And the truth is, if rational arguments and external motives were the sole ground for receiving the Scripture as the word of God, then it could only be that learned men and philosophers would always have been the most forward and ready to admit it, and most firmly to adhere to it and to the profession of it. Because all such arguments prevail on the minds of men as they are able to rightly discern their force and judge them, learned philosophers would have had an incomparable advantage above others. And so some of late have affirmed that it was the wise, rational, and learned men who at first most readily received the gospel! This is an assertion which nothing could give the least countenance to except gross ignorance of the Scripture itself, and of all the writings concerning the origin of Christianity, whether by Christians or heathens.147 From this the Scripture is so often compared to light, or it is called light, "a light shining in a dark place," which will evidence itself to all who are not blind, nor who wilfully shut their eyes, nor have their "eyes blinded by the god of this world, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them." 2 Corinthians 4:4 I have handled this consideration at large elsewhere.

(2.) The Spirit of God evidences the divine origin and authority of the Scripture by the power and authority which he exerts in it, and by it, over the minds and consciences of men, with its operation of divine effects on them. The apostle expressly affirms that this is the reason and cause of faith: 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, "If all prophesy, and one comes in who does not believe, or is unlearned, he is convinced by all, he is judged by all: and thus the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth." The acknowledgment and confession that God is in them, or among them, is a profession of faith in the word administered by them. Such persons assent to its divine authority, or believe it to be the word of God. And it is expressly declared on what evidence or ground of credibility they did so. It was not upon the force of any external arguments produced and pleaded to that purpose; it was not upon the testimony of this or that or any church whatsoever; nor was it upon a conviction of any miracles which they saw worked in its confirmation. Indeed, the ground of the faith and confession declared, is opposed to the efficacy and use of the miraculous gifts of tongues, verses 23, 24. Therefore, the only evidence on which they received the word, and acknowledged it to be of God, was that divine power and efficacy of which they found and felt the experience in themselves: "He is convinced by all, judged by all; and thus the secrets of his heart are made manifest." Upon this, he falls down before the word, acknowledging its divine authority, finding that it comes upon his conscience with an irresistible power of conviction and judgment on it. "He is convinced by all, judged by all;" he cannot help but grant that there is "a divine efficacy" in it or accompanying it. His mind is especially influenced by this, so that the "secrets of his heart are made manifest" by it. For all men must acknowledge that this is an effect of divine power, seeing that God alone is kardiognostes,148 the one who searches, knows, and judges the heart.149 If the woman of Samaria believed that Jesus was the Christ because he "told her all the things that she ever did," John 4:29, there is reason to believe that this word was from God, and it makes manifest even the secrets of our hearts. Although I conceive that "The word of God" in Heb 4.12,150 principally intends the living and eternal Word, yet the power and efficacy ascribed to him there, is what he exerts by the word of the gospel. And so that word also, in its place and use, "pierces even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner" — or, it passes a critical judgment on "the thoughts and intents of the heart;" it makes manifest the secrets of men’s hearts, as it is expressed here. By this, then, the Holy Ghost so evidences the divine authority of the word — namely, by that divine power which it has upon our souls and consciences — that we assuredly acquiesce that it is from God. So the Thessalonians are commended that they "did not receive the word as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectively works in those who believe," 1 Thessalonians 2:13. It distinguishes itself from the word of men, and it evidences itself to be the word of God indeed, by its effectual operation in those who believe. The one who has this testimony in himself, has a higher and firmer assurance of the truth than what can be attained by the force of external arguments, or by the credit of human testimony. This is why I say in general, that the Holy Spirit gives testimony to and evinces the divine authority of the word by its powerful operations and divine effects on the souls of those who believe — so that, although it is weakness and foolishness to others, yet, like Christ is to those who are called, it is the power and wisdom of God.151 And I must say, that even if a man is furnished with external arguments of all sorts concerning the divine origin and authority of the Scriptures — even if he considers such motives of credibility to be effectively persuasive, and he has the authority of any or all the churches in the world to confirm his persuasion — if he does not have any experience in himself of its divine power, authority, and efficacy, then he does not and cannot believe that it is the word of God in a due manner, not with divine and supernatural faith. But one who has this experience, has that testimony in himself which will never fail. This will be more apparent if we consider a few of those many instances in which the word exerts its power, or if we consider the effects which are produced by it. The principal divine effect of the word of God is in the conversion of the souls of sinners to God. We have declared at large elsewhere the greatness and glory of this work. And all those who are acquainted with it, as it is declared in the Scripture, and have any experience of it in their own hearts, constantly give it as an instance of the exceeding greatness of the power of God. It may be that those do not speak improperly, who prefer the work of the new creation before the work of the old (as some of the ancients did), for the express evidences of almighty power contained in it.

Now, the word is the only instrumental cause of this great and glorious effect, by which the divine power operates and expresses itself: for we are "born again," born of God, "not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever," 1 Peter 1:23; for "of his own will God birthed us with the word of truth," James 1:18. The word is the seed of the new creature in us, by which our whole nature, our soul and all its faculties, are changed and renewed into the image and likeness of God. And this new nature is kept and preserved by the same word, 1Pet 2.2,152 and the whole soul is carried on to the enjoyment of God. To believers it is "an ingrafted word, which is able to save their souls," James 1:21; the "word of God’s grace, which is able to build us up, and give us an inheritance among all those who are sanctified," Acts 20:32. And that is because it is the "power of God unto salvation for everyone that believes," Romans 1:16. All the power which God extends and exerts in the communication of that grace and mercy to believers, by which they are gradually carried on and prepared for salvation, he does by the word. In this the divine authority of the word is evidenced in a special manner, by the divine power and efficacy given to it by the Holy Ghost. The work which is effected by it — in the regeneration, conversion, and sanctification of the souls of believers — infallibly evidences to their consciences that it is not the word of man, but of God.

It will be said, "This testimony is private in the minds only of those on whom this work is wrought," and therefore I can press it no further than, "he that believes has the witness in himself," John 5:10. Let it be granted that all who are really converted to God by the power of the word, have that infallible evidence and testimony of its divine origin, authority, and power in their own souls and consciences. It is true only of those who believe it with divine and supernatural faith in conjunction with the other evidences mentioned before, as parts of the same divine testimony. And that is all I aim at in this.

Yet, even though this testimony is privately received (for in itself it is not private, but common to all believers), it is ministerially pleadable in the church as a principal motive for believing. A declaration of the divine power which some have found by experience in the word, is an ordinance of God to convince others and to bring them to the faith. Indeed, of all the external arguments that are or may be pleaded to justify the divine authority of the Scripture, there is none more prevalent nor cogent than this one: its mighty efficacy on the souls of men, in all ages, to change, convert, and renew them into the image and likeness of God, which has been visible and manifest.

Moreover, there are still other particular effects of the divine power of the word on the minds and consciences of men, belonging to this general work (either preceding or following it) which are clearly perceivable, and enlarge the evidence; such as —

(1.) The work of conviction of sin on those who did not expect it, who did not desire it, and who would avoid it if they could by any means possible. The world is filled with instances of this nature. While men are full of love for their sins, at peace in them, enjoying the benefit and advantage of them, the word comes upon them in its power. It has awed, disquieted, and terrified them, taken away their peace, destroyed their hopes, and made them conclude that if they do not comply with what is proposed to them in that word — which they took no notice of before, nor had any regard for — they must be miserable, presently or eternally. This is, as it were, whether they would have it or not — contrary to their desires, inclinations, and carnal affections.

Conscience is the territory or dominion of God in man, which he has so reserved to himself that no human power can possibly enter into it or dispose of it in any way. But in this work of conviction of sin, the word of God, the Scripture, enters into the conscience of the sinner, takes possession of it, and disposes it to peace or to trouble by its laws or rules, and not otherwise. Where it gives disquietude, all the world cannot give it peace; and where it speaks peace, none can give it trouble. If this were not the word of God, how would it thus come to speak in His name, and to act His authority in the consciences of men as it does? Once it begins this work, the conscience immediately possesses a new rule, a new law, a new government, in accord with the judgment of God upon it and all its actions. It is contrary to the nature of conscience to take this upon itself; nor would it do so unless it senses God speaking and acting in it and by it: see 1Cor 14.24-25.153 An invasion may be made on the outward duties that conscience disposes us to; but none can be made on its internal actings. No power under heaven can cause the conscience to think, act, or judge other than it does by its immediate respect to God. For conscience is the mind’s self-judging with respect to God; what does not repect Him, is not an act of conscience. Therefore, to force an act of conscience implies a contradiction. However far the conscience may be defiled, bribed, seared, and at length utterly debauched, it cannot admit a superior power, a power that is above or over itself, that is less than God himself.

I know conscience may be prepossessed with prejudices; and by education, with the insinuation of traditions, it may take on itself the power of false, corrupt, superstitious principles and errors, as a means to convey to itself a sense of “divine” authority. So is it with the Mohammedans and other false worshippers in the world. But the power of those divine convictions which we treat, is manifestly different from such prejudiced opinions. For where these are not imposed on men by artifices and easily discoverable delusions, they prepossess their minds and inclinations by traditions, prior to any right judgment they can make about themselves or other things. And they are generally wrapped up and preserved in their secular interests. The convictions we treat come upon the minds of men from without, and that is with a perceptible power prevailing over all their previous thoughts and inclinations. These convictions first affect, deceive, and delude the notional part of the soul, by which the conscience is imperceptibly influenced and diverted into improper respects, and deceived as to its judgment about the voice of God. They immediately principle154 the practical understanding and self-judging power of the soul. Therefore, such opinions and persuasions are gradually insinuated into the mind, and are insensibly admitted without opposition or reluctance, never being confronted at their first admission with any secular disadvantage. But these divine convictions by the word befall some men when they think of nothing less, and desire nothing less — some, when they design other things, such as pleasing their own ears or entertaining their company; and some purposely deride and scoff at what is spoken to them from it. It might also be added for the same purpose, how confirmed some have been in their carnal peace and security by the love of sin, with innumerable inveterate prejudices. By admitting such convictions, what losses and ruin to their outward concerns many have fallen into; what force, diligence, and artifices have been used to defeat them; and what aid and assistance there has been from Satan to this purpose. And yet against all this, the divine power of the word has absolutely prevailed and accomplished its whole designed effect.155

(2.) The word does this by the light that is in it, and that spiritual illuminating efficacy which accompanies it. Hence it is called a "light shining in a dark place," 2 Peter 1:19; that light by which God "shines in the hearts" and minds of men, 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 4:6. Without the Scripture, all the world is in darkness: "Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people," Isaiah 60:2. It is the kingdom of Satan, filled with darkness and confusion. Superstition, idolatry, lying vanities — in which men do not know at all what they do, or where they go — these fill the whole world, even as it is at this day. And the minds of men are naturally in darkness. There is such a blindness upon them that they cannot see or discern spiritual things — not even when they are externally proposed to them, as I evinced at large elsewhere. And no man can give greater evidence that this is so, than the one who denies it. With respect to both these kinds of darkness, the Scripture is a light, and it is accompanied with a spiritual illuminating efficacy, thereby evidencing that it is a divine revelation. For what else but divine truth could recall the minds of men from all their wanderings into error, superstition, and other effects of darkness — things which they love more than truth? All things are filled with vanity, error, and confusion, with misapprehensions about God and ourselves, our duty and end, our misery and blessedness. But where the Scripture is communicated by the providence of God, it comes in as a light into a dark place, revealing all things clearly and steadily that concern either God or ourselves. It reveals our present or future condition, causing all the ghosts and false images of things which men had framed and fancied for themselves in the dark, to vanish and disappear. Digitus Dei! 156 — this is none other than the power of God. But principally it evinces its divine efficacy by that spiritual saving light which it conveys into and implants on the minds of believers. Hence, even though they do not know the ways and method of the Spirit’s operations by the word, there is none that has gained any experience by observing God’s dealings with them, who cannot say with the man to whom the Lord Jesus restored his sight, "One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." John 9:25 The apostle declares this power of the word as the instrument of the Spirit of God, for communicating saving light and knowledge to the minds of men, in 2Cor 3.18, 4.4, 6.157 By the efficacy of this power, he evidences that the Scripture is the word of God. Those who believe, find by it a glorious, supernatural light introduced into their minds, by which those who previously saw nothing in a distinct, affecting manner in spiritual things, now clearly discern the truth, glory, beauty, and excellence of heavenly mysteries, and have their minds transformed into their image and likeness. And there is no person who has the witness in himself of the kindling of this heavenly light in his mind by the word, who does not also have the evidence in himself of its divine origin.

(3.) In like manner, it evidences its divine authority by the awe which it puts on the minds of most of mankind to whom it is made known, so that they dare not absolutely reject it. There are multitudes to whom the word is declared, who hate all its precepts, despise all its promises, abhor all its threatenings — who like nothing, and approve of nothing, that the word declares or proposes — and yet they dare not absolutely refuse or reject it. They deal with it as they do with God himself (whom they also hate), according to the revelation which he has made of himself in his word. They wish he did not exist; sometimes they hope he does not. They would be glad to be free of his rule. Yet they dare not, cannot absolutely deny and disown him, because of that testimony of himself which he keeps alive in them, whether they will it or not. This is the frame of their hearts and minds towards the Scripture — for no other reason than it is the word of God, and manifests itself to be His. They hate it, wish it were not true, hope it is not true; but they are not by any means able to shake off a disquiet in the sense of its divine authority. It has fixed this testimony in the hearts of multitudes of its enemies, Psa 45.5.158

(4.) It evidences its divine power in administering strong consolations in the deepest and most unrelievable distresses. There are such distresses which many men fall into, in which all means and hopes of relief may be utterly removed and taken away. So it is when the miseries of men are not known to anyone who would so much as pity them or wish them relief. Or if they have been known, and there has been an eye to pity them, there has been no hand to help them. Such has been the condition of innumerable souls. As it is on other accounts, so it is in particular under the power of persecutors, when believers have been shut up in filthy and nasty dungeons, not to be brought out except unto death by the most exquisite tortures that the malice of hell could invent, or the bloody cruelty of man can inflict. Yet in these and like distresses, the word of God, by its divine power and efficacy, breaks through all interposing difficulties, all dark and discouraging circumstances, supporting, refreshing, and comforting such poor distressed sufferers. Indeed, under overwhelming calamities, it commonly fills them with "joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter 1:18 Though they are in bonds, the word of God is not bound; nor can all the power of hell, nor all the diligence or fury of men, keep the word from entering into prisons, dungeons, and flames, to administer strong consolations against all fears, pains, wants, dangers, deaths, or whatever else we may be exposed to in this mortal life.

Various other instances of like nature might be pleaded, in which the word gives evident demonstration to the minds and consciences of men, of its own divine power and authority. This is the second way by which the Holy Ghost, its author, gives testimony to its origin. But what we designed to declare is not merely the grounds and reasons for which we believe that the Scripture is the word of God. What was proposed for consideration is the whole work of the Holy Spirit in enabling us to believe it is so. And beyond what we have insisted on, there is yet a further particular work of his, by which he effectively ascertains our minds that the Scriptures are the word of God, and by which we are ultimately established in the faith of it. I cannot help but both admire and bewail that this would be denied by any who would be esteemed Christians.

Thus, if there is any necessity for this, I will take occasion in the second part of this discourse to further confirm this part of the truth thus far debated — namely, that God by his Holy Spirit secretly and effectively persuades and satisfies the minds and souls of believers in the divine truth and authority of the Scriptures. By this, he infallibly secures their faith against all objections and temptations whatsoever, so that they can safely and comfortably dispose 159 their souls in all their concerns, with respect to this life and to eternity, according to its undeceivable truth and guidance. But I will not further emphasize these things at present.