CHAP. II.] SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION PROVED FROM SCRIPTURE. 127
And there are two ends designed in this undertaking: —
First, That which the evangelist Luke proposed in his writing the Gospel unto Theophilus, — namely, " That he might know the cer- tainty of the things wherein he had been instructed/' Luke i. 4. When we have been instructed in the truth of the gospel, and do give our assent thereunto, yet it is needful that we should examine the grounds and reasons of what we do believe thereon, that we may have a certainty or full assurance of them. This, therefore, we shall direct, — namely, how a man may come to an undeceiving per- suasion and full assurance that the things wherein he hath been in- structed, and which he knows, are true and according to the mind of God, so as that he may thereon be " no more tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."
Secondly, We design to inquire what conduct unto this end a man that takes care of his salvation, and who is convinced that he must give an account of himself unto God, ought in this matter, as to the right understanding of the mind and will of God in the Scripture, to betake himself unto. And as I shall show that there is no safety in depending on enthusiasms, or immediate pretended infallible inspi- rations, nor on the pretended infallibility of any church, so the Holy Spirit of God, enlightening our minds in the exercise of our own reason or understanding, and in use of the means appointed of God unto that end, is the only safe guide to bring us unto the full assurance of the mind and will of God as revealed in the Scripture.
Wherefore, the whole foundation of this work lies in these two things: —
1. That there is such an especial work of the Holy Spirit on our minds, enabling them to understand the Scriptures in a right man- ner, or to know the mind of God in them ;
2. In showing what is the especial nature of this work, what are the effects of it upon our minds, and how it differs from all enthusi- astical inspirations, and what is the true exercise of our minds in compliance therewith. And these things we shall first inquire into.
CHAPTER II.
The general assertion confirmed with testimonies of the Scripture — Ps. cxix. 18 opened at large — Objections answered — 2 Cor. iii. 13-18, Isa. xxv. 7, ex- plained— Luke xxiv. 44, 45, opened — Eph. i. 17-19 explained and pleaded in confirmation of the truth — Hos. xiv. 9.
The whole of our assertion is comprised in the prayer of the psalmist, Ps. cxix. 18, irntap nfe&M rwatn ^T^_,— " Open thou
128 CAUSES, WAYS, AND MEANS, ETC. [BOOK VI., PART II.
mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." The same request, for the substance of it, is repeated sundry times in the same psalm, verses 33, 34, etc. Thus he prayed. That it may be esteemed our duty to pray in like manner is the substance of what we plead for. What we pray for from God, that we have not in and of ourselves, as the ancient church constantly pleaded against the Pelagians; and what we pray for according to the mind of God, that we do receive. Wherefore, our discerning, our understand- ing, of the wonderful things of the law, is not of ourselves; it is that which is given us, that which we receive from God.
But that the force of our argument from this testimony may be the more evident, the words or terms of it must be explained, that we may see whether they be equivalent unto, or of the same signifi- cation with, those laid down in our assertion: —
1. That which is the object of the understanding prayed for, that in the knowledge whereof the psalmist would be illuminated, is rnifl. The word signifies instruction; and being referred unto God, it is his teaching or instruction of us by the revelation of himself, — the same which we intend by the Scripture. When the books of the Old Testament were completed, they were, for distinction's sake, distributed into rnta, D^nna, and W3|, or, the "Law/' the " Psalms," and the " Prophets," Luke xxiv. 44. Under that dis- tribution Torah signifies the five books of Moses. But whereas these books of Moses were, as it were, the foundation of all future revelations under the Old Testament, which were given in the ex- plication thereof, all the writings of it are usually called " the Law," Isa viii. 20. By the law, therefore, in this place, the psalmist under- stands all the books that were then given unto the church by reve- lation for the rule of its faith and obedience. And that by the law, in the psalms, the written law is intended, is evident from the first of them, wherein he is declared blessed who " meditateth therein day and night," Ps. i. 2 ; which hath respect unto the command of read- ing and meditating on the books thereof in that manner, Josh. i. 8. That, therefore, which is intended by this word is the entire revela- tion of the will of God, given unto the church for the rule of its faith and obedience, — that is, the holy Scripture.