An expository comment, doctrinal, controversial, and practical upon the whole first chapter to the…An expository comment, doctrinal, controversal, and practical upon the whole first chapter to the…

Therefore to obtain this knowledge, there is required an Internal sense and feeling of the fit frame of our heart, whereby we perceive that we are such who do believe, and do love God, who do repent of our sins upon firm and pure grounds. For unless there be this inward discerning of what is in us, how is it possible to arrive at any certainty? Now it is this that the Popish adversaries do most batter, supposing it to be the weakest part in the Wall. It is true (say they) we believe the Scripture that speaketh generally, Whosoever believeth and repenteth, shall have his sins pardoned: But when you come to the Assumption: But I believe, I repent, here you are subject to many mistakes, here you may be deceived. And certainly all hypocrites are deluded in this respect; They make false applications to themselves; through self-love they deceive themselves, thinking they have good hearts, when they have them not. But this doth not infer, that the truly godly are therefore deceived; no more then because an Heretic hath great confidence that he is in the truth, yet is deceived, it followeth that therefore the orthodox man is also in an error. Because men in a dream are deluded, doth it follow that men cannot tell, when they be indeed awake? We must know then, That as we have a certain knowledge, by the bodily senses, we are certain we hear, we see: So the soul in her immaterial operations, hath a sense and feeling of them; We feel, we know, we understand, we love, we delight. These internal motions of the soul are perceived, as well as the things of sense; and to say, we may be deceived here, and no truth can be discovered, is to turn all knowledge into Scepticism, and to hold Nihil scitur; yea that that also is not known, That nothing is known. And besides, it is directly against Scripture, No man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man, 1 Cor. 2. 11.

Therefore to obtain this knowledge, there is required an Internal sense and feeling of the fit frame of our heart, whereby we perceive that we are such who do believe, and do love God, who do repent of our sinnes upon firme and pure grounds. For unlesse there be this inward discerning of what is in us, how is it possible to arrive at any certainty? Now it is this that the Popish adversaries do most batter, supposing it to be the weakest part in the Wall. It is true (say they) we believe the Scripture that speaketh generally, Whosoever believeth and repenteth, shall have his sins pardoned: But when you come to the Assumption: But I believe, I repent, here you are subject to many mistakes, here you may be deceived. And certainly all hypocrites are deluded in this respect; They make false applications to themselves; through self-love they deceive themselves, thinking they have good hearts, when they have them not. But this doth not inferre, that the truly godly are therefore deceived; no more then because an Heretick hath great confidence that he is in the truth, yet is deceived, it followeth that therefore the orthodox man is also in an errour. Because men in a dream are deluded, doth it follow that men cannot tell, when they be indeed awake? We must know then, That as we have a certain knowledge, by the bodily senses, we are certain we hear, we see: So the soul in her immaterial operations, hath a sense and feeling of them; We feel, we know, we understand, we love, we delight. These internal motions of the soule are perceived, as well as the things of sense; and to say, we may be decived here, and no truth can be discovered, is to turn all knowledge into Scepticisme, and to hold Nihil scitur; yea that that also is not knowne, That nothing is knowne. And besides, it is directly against Scripture, No man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man,