Chapter VI
An objection propounded, If unregenerate men know nothing of spiritual things,
how is it then that the Scripture speaks of their knowing them, and sinning
against the light of them? The answer to it, That they know nothing as
they ought to know it. That it is but a false knowledge. That it may be
said, That seeing they do not see ; and understanding, they do not understand;
they are yet ignorant, in comparison of that clear knowledge which the re
generate have.
I intend further to proceed in clearing and explaining the blindness and
ignorance which is in the mind of unregenerate men, and will shew what kind of knowledge of spiritual things it is, which a natural understanding wants, that I may prove wherein the true sanctification of the soul consists. And this I intend to do by framing an answer to an objection which is ready to stick in men s minds, and is commonly brought, and so is obvious, and
lies in our way. And the answering it will be a second way and course of
demonstrating this truth.
Obj. The objection is this : Have all the workers of iniquity no know
ledge ? as the Psalmist says, Ps. xiv. 4, Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge ? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord. And are they ignorant not only of those things revealed, which
are contained in the law, but also of the truth of things revealed in the
gospel ? How is it then that the apostle speaks of those who sin wilfully after they have received the knowledge of the truth ? Heb. x. 26, 27, For
if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and : fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. Which there is meant of the gospel revealing the blood of Christ, and the
fruits and benefits of it, as appears by their sin against it : ver. 29, Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the cove
nant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace ? Doth not Peter also speak of those who have known the way of righteousness, who yet turn from that holy commandment ?
2 Peter ii. 20-22, For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the
beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy com mandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again ; and the sow
that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Are there not those who pro fess they know God as much as those who are sanctified, and yet deny him in works ? Titus i. 16, They profess that they know God ; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work
reprobate. They profess all the truths, ways, practices, that godly men do, and yet have their minds defiled, and are called unbelievers. Are we blind
also ? say the Pharisees with wonderment : John ix. 40, 41, And some of
the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also ? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin : but now ye say, We see : therefore your sin remaineth. They thought they were able to see into the highest or deepest mysteries as far
CHAP. VI.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 155
as any other men. Yea, doth not Paul make a supposition of a separation between understanding all mysteries, and having all knowledge, and yet
wanting grace, and having no charity ? And doth not experience evince
thus much ? 2 Cor. xiii. 1-3, This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. I
told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present the second time ; and
being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all
others, that, if I come again, I will not spare
: since ye seek a proof of
Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in
you. ; Ans. The answer unto this objection will farther clear and evidence this
great truth of which we are discoursing, viz. the inability of an unregenerate man s understanding to apprehend spiritual things.
1. Therefore in the general, let us but consider, as a foundation of what
follows, that the Scripture acknowledged indeed as much as hath been ob
jected, and yet withal tells us, that seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear ; speaking of understanding these mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, which are the spiritual things that we speak of: Mat. xiii. 18-16,
: because they seeing, see not ; and
Therefore speak I to them in parables
hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is ful
filled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and
shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For
this people s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed ; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see : and your ears, for they hear. In which words our Saviour makes both these, viz. seeing spiritual things, and yet an utter blindness as to the
true discerning of them, to be consistent in the same persons, and to stand
very well together. We have to the same purpose another Scripture in
Isa. xiii. 18-20, Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Who
is blind, but my servant ? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent ? who is
blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord s servant ? Seeing many
things, but thou observest not ; opening the ears, but he heareth not. Who
is so blind as my servant ? says God, and he who is perfect, having all
knowledge at his finger s ends, and so is able and ready to express it unto
others, and can by outward instruction be an instrument to open their ears
to hear what he himself hears not ? And seeing many things, says God, yet thou observest them not, i. e. thou indeed seest them not to any good pur
pose. So that none are more blind than they who have the most knowledge. But you will say, This is a riddle ; how can these things be ? Why, truly, in no way can these things be reconciled, unless it be acknowledged that
there is a knowledge of spiritual things which unregenerate men may, and do attain to, and yet that there is a knowledge of the same things, which, without a change of their minds, they can never acquire
: which knowledge, because they want, therefore they are said to be blind. As it is said of the
Samaritans, that they feared God, and yet it is spoken of the same men, that
* So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the
they feared not the Lord : 2 Kings xvii. 32-34,
Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners :
they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their
ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commandeth
156 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK III.
the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. Now what is the reason, that what is in appearance contradictory, is thus asserted of them, but be cause that fear of God, which was truly so, was utterly wanting in them ; and that fear indeed which they ought to have had, they were absolutely destitute of? So also it is as to the knowledge of spiritual things, which in some sort an unregenerate man may have, and yet know nothing of them, as they ought to be known by him, to a saving purpose and effect.
That you may see this more fulty in the general notion of it, consider what the Scripture says in this point, as it makes that knowledge which unregene rate men have to be no knowledge, in comparison of that which they want : Kom. iii. 10-12,
* As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one : There is none that understand eth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. The apostle there speaking of the general corruption of mankind, doth as truly say, there is none that
understandeth, as that there is none who seeketh after God, and as that
there is none who is righteous ; so as you may as well say, an unregenerate man is capable of true righteousness, as of a true understanding of spiritual
things. The apostle James answerably distinguisheth between a dead and
living faith : chap. ii. 17, 18, Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works : shew me
thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. An unactive faith is dead, and it is a working faith that is alive ; so there is a
knowledge, which, in comparison of working knowledge, that influenceth the heart and life of a man by its convincing clearness and evidence, is as a dead
eye compared to a living one, which is only equivocally called an eye, but
is not really and naturally so. The eye of an unregenerate mind is a dead
eye, which, though it may have the semblance of inward light in it, yet it
is really dull and dead; and it is only the living eye of an understanding
spiritually enlightened, which hath in it the light of life of which Christ
* Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world : he that folio weth me, shall not walk in darkness, but
speaks : John viii. 12,
shall have the light of life. And now, upon all these accounts, it is no wonder
if the dead knowledge of the unregenerate is reckoned as none, in comparison of the other living knowledge. This knowledge of the holy man is emphatically called so, as if the other was none at all ; this getting away deservedly the name : Prov. ix. 10, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom : and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. It is spoken there with an
: the knowledge of the holy is understanding, as if that of other men was to be reckoned as none. And, indeed, since all their knowledge doth not arrive to the right end, but they miss of that salvation and happi ness which the spiritually enlightened attain, it may be said to be nothing but
emphasis
blindness, wandering, and error. Thus God says of those who entered not
into his rest, that they err in their hearts, and have not known his ways
Ps. xcv. 10, 11, Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and
said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they have not known my ways
: Unto whom I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest. Well, but more particularly.
(1.) This first the Scripture tells us expressly, that though unregenerate men know never so much, yet they know nothing as they ought to know it :
1 Cor. viii. 13, Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And
if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he
ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. If
CHAP. VI.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 157
a man have all knowledge, and it makes him proud, he knows nothing as he
ought to know it. The reason why he is not humbled by his knowledge, is
because his knowledge is faulty, it is not such as it should be; for if it
were such it would humble his heart. Now, because there is wanting in
such a man the knowledge which ought to be, therefore the Scripture and God reckons it as if it were not at all.
(2.) The Scripture calls that which an unregenerate man hath, a false
knowledge, in comparison of that which he ought to have : 1 John ii. 3, 4,
* And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. He that saith, I know him, and keeps not his commandments, is a liar, i. e. if he says he knows God, and is not wrought into the obedience of what he knows, that man lies. Now, he could not be
challenged with a lie if his knowledge was true ; for therefore he lies, because he says he knows God, when in deed and in truth he doth not. Therefore James calls that faith which consists only in such a knowledge as this, a dead
faith : chap. ii. 17, Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
It is not therefore dead, because it works not, but therefore it works not, be cause it is dead. And why is it dead, but because the spirit, the life, the
animating form of knowledge is wanting ? As a dead eye is said to be an
eye, yet equivocally and improperly in comparison of a living eye ; so hath
this false dead knowledge that name given to it very improperly, for true
knowledge hath eternal life joined with it : John xvii. 3, And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent ; Ps. cxix. 144, The righteousness of thy testimonies
: give me understanding, and I shall live. Give me under
is everlasting
standing, says he, i.e. such as is in deed and in truth such, and I shall live. The true effects of knowledge are wanting therefore in that which unregenerate men have, and this is sufficient to argue it to be false. If one should bring you a stone, and tell you it is a loadstone, and yet it wants the essential
property of the true to draw iron after it, you would reject it as a counterfeit
one, not but that it is true stone, yet it is not a true loadstone. Or if one should bring a drug to you, and you find it works not, nor stirs in you when
you have taken it, you would say that it was not true and right. Thus in
knowledge, that is a true knowledge of things spiritual, which draws the heart
after it, and works in and upon that heart. And, therefore, so immediate
is the connection between true knowing and doing, that the one is put for the
other : Jer. xxii. 15, 16, Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar ? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him ? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him. Speaking of the obedience of good Josiah,
* He
relieved the oppressed, &c. Was not this, says God, to know me ? Thus he puts knowing for doing. And so there is a hearing and a learning which draws the heart to come unto Christ : John vi. 44, 45, No man can come
to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him : and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be
taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of
the Father, cometh unto me. Every one that hath heard and learned of the
Father, cometh unto me ; and this hearing and learning is the Father s draw
ing. Such is the effect of true spiritual knowledge, which the knowledge of the unregenerate wants, and therefore is defective in the essential property of true knowledge.
158 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK III.