Little Flocks Guarded Against Grievous Wolves, Letter · Argument 1
The First Argument.
A Person that pretends, An Assurance from the Spirit of God, for a thing that is a Direct LYE in matter of Fact, is one from whom all that are concerned for their Souls, are to Turn away.
But such a person is George Keith.
All men will and should beware, how they deal with a convicted Lyar; honest men usually can as little endure the sight of a person that makes no Bones of a Lye in matter of Fact, as Erasmus professes in his Collequies. But when a man that comes with a LYE shall Father that Brat of the Devil (for such is every Lye!) upon the Holy Spirit of God, that sacred Spirit of Truth; surely the Impiety is risen to a monstrous Elevation. And now I think, that George Keith is chargeable with no less a wickedness. He has not only forfeited all Reputation for Inspiration, as much, as the Quaker, that a while since pretended, That he came with a Message from the Lord, unto a person who was it seems then out of the Way by being out of the Town; but he has Ly'd like Ananias himself. I do not mean, in his Account of Ralph Jones and his Cows at Barnstable, which is affirmed to be a Lye: but I mean in his Printed Letter to the Ministers of Boston. In that Letter he says, He is well assured by the Spirit of God, That the Doctrine, which we preach to the people is False; and says he, The particular Things I charge on you are these,—The last of them is, That the Scriptures ought to be believed only for their own outward Evidence, and Testimony, and not for the inward Evidence and Testimony of the Holy Spirit in mens Hearts. Now this is a Doctrine directly contrary to what we have preach'd a thousand times over. For, tho we do say, That the extraordinary ways by which God Revealed Himself to his People, before & for the writing of all the Scripture, are so Ceased, that we have no warrant now to look for them, yet we grant, that all Believers do still enjoy the special Illuminations and Assistences of Gods Holy Spirit; and we hold that without a special Influence of the Holy Spirit in the Hearts of men, the Scriptures cannot be duly and aright Believed. But that which makes the LYE of this Keith more inexcusably impudent and notorious is this. In that Letter he says, That he has diligently examined our Confession of Faith, and thereby Learnt what we Preach. Now [to see how he wanted the Memory so necessary for such persons] in that Confession, there is one whole Article, to assert this Doctrine, That the Heavenliness of the matter [of the Holy Scriptures] the Efficacy of the Doctrine, the Majesty of the Style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole, the full Discovery it makes of the only way of mans Salvation, the many other Incomparable Excellencies, and the Entire Perfections thereof, are Arguments whereby it doth abundantly Evidence it self to be the Word of God; yet notwithstanding, Our full Perswasion and Assurance of the Infallible Truth and Divine Authority thereof, is from the INWARD WORK of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our Hearts. If this do not prove Keith a LYAR of the first magnitude, there never was yet a Lyar from the Beginning. And you shall now hear how Impenitent he is in his Lying. I did in print Admonish him of this Lye, because it was in Print he vented it; but he does in Print Reply upon me, Thy Affirmation is False; and adds another Lye to it; by saying, That we deny the inward Revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Hearts of the Saints. And lest here should not be Lye enough, he further says, Dr. Owen denies that the Scripture derives its Evidence from the Inward Revelation of the Holy Spirit in Mens Hearts. Whereas Dr. OWEN in the Book to which, I suppose, he refers, expresly says, That the Scripture be Received as the Word of God, there is required a twofold Efficacy of the Spirit; The First respects the Subjects or the mind of man, that assents to the Authority of the Scripture. And then the Doctor spends more than four whole Pages, to tell us, That the Spirit of God communicates a Spiritual Light unto men, and with his work of Illumination takes off the perverse Disposition in their minds, and Effectually perswades them to receive the Truth; and therewithal gives them a Spiritual Sense or Tast thereof in themselves in order hereunto. Thus palpably does Keith you see cover l, e with lye, and yet it Rains through after all. I durst refer it unto any sober Quaker in the world, whether Keith be not now Convicted of gross Lying in matter of Fact: I do here, in auditu quam plurimorum, charge him as an Egregious lyar; and let him lay his Action against me when he please.
Wherefore when Keith comes among you, you must consider him as an Impenitent Lyar, who ha's yet blasphemously Entituled, the Blessed Spirit of our God, unto his LYE. But will you then hear such a man as a Preacher of the Truth? or must you not reasonably suspect all his pretended Inspiration; I say, Beware the Geese when such creatures Preach! The society to which he belongs, if he belong to any, are so far, No Christians, if they don't endeavour to bring him unto open repentance for such crimes as these.