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A N
ILLUSTRATION
O F
THE DOCTRINES
O F
THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION,
WITH RESPECT TO
FAITH AND PRACTICE,
UPON THE PLAN OF
Clje MtxxiW^ @l)ortcr Catecfiifm.
COMPREHENDING
j4 Complete Body oj' Divinity.
BY THE LATE REV. AND^ARNED
Mr THOMAS BOSTON,
MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT ETTRICK,
AUTHOR OF THE FOURFOLD STATE, A VIEW OF THE COVENANTS, iJc.
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IN |
THREE VOLUMES. |
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VOLUME I. |
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HOLD fAbT THE FORM OF SOUND WORDS 2 TIM. i. |
13- |
..^IB
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY SCHAW AND PILLANS, FOR TriE REVEREND JOSEPH JOHNSTON^
D R U M M 0 N D STREET,
1796.
CONTENTS
OF THE
FIRST VOLUME.
preface Page 3
Of Mans chief end and happiriefs 5
'The divine authority of the fcrit>tures 15
^he utility of the fcriptures as a ruU 35
^he fcope of the fcriptw^es 40 The fcriptures the book of the Lord, and the diligent
fiudy and fear ch thereof reco?n?nended 56 Of God 'ind his perfections 79 Of the unity of God 138 Of the Holy Trtnity 151 Of the decrees 0/ God 158 Of the work of creation 178 Of the creation of man. 189 Of the providence oj God 1 99 The wife ohfervation of providences^ illuflrated and en- forced ' 208 Of the covenant of works 247 Of the all of our fir;f parents ^ 262 Of fin m gene* a' 277 Of the fir f /v.. n part'cular 389 Of our jail m Adam 296 Of the finfulnefs of mail's natural flate 303 Of the T^ifery of 7na?i\<! natural jiate . 319 Of election to ever.ajitng life 328 Of the c-*vsnant of grace 342 Of Chrfi the only Redeemer of God's eleB 410 Of Lhrit^s incarnatro?i ^16 Of Chnfi^s c^uCes m general 44 Z Oj ChrifVi prophetical office 412
THE
THE EDITOR'S PREFACE.
THE numerous and valuable writings of the learned and pious Mr Boston have long ago fpread his fame, and fe- cured his praife in ail the Churches, as a firft-rate writer ta Divine fubjects. Any effort of mine, therefore, to brighten the chara<aer of this great man, would be an attempt to add luftre to the meridian fun. His natural talents were great. He had a lively fancy, under the influence of the Holy Spirit ; a Warm, folid, and penetrating judgment — Thefe were elevated and improved by a liberal Education. He was a great Phi- lofopher, and an able Divine ; he had an extenfive knowledge of feveraJ languages, and wrote them with a degree of accura- cy beyond moll men. He was early converted ; and gave himfelf to the lludy of the facred Scriptures from his youth. Though he profited above many in literature and fcience^ thefe, hov/ever, were made fubfervient to the noblell of all fcience — the knowledge of the Bible, and the fublime dodrines of the Gofpel. He was a zealous friend of Truth, an eminent preacher, and an able miniiler of the New Teftament. Thefe, adorned with deep humility and uncommon modefly, render- ed him a burning and a fhining light in his day.
The great Boston, whofe name will be dear to good men, wherever the Chrillian religion obtains, was Author of many valuable Works ; and of none more valuable than this, called his Bodj of Divinity — It is fo called, becaufe all the leading do6trines of the Chrlftian fcheme are arranged and treated ia a diftind and nervous ftyle. Though the fmall bounds iti which fo much is comprifed, obliged the author to be concife on each head ; yet thofe fublime dodrines exhi];|ited in our Catechifm, have been iUuftrated and explained in a manner fuperior to any attempt of the kind before or fince his time.
This great work was begun, in a courfe of bermons to nia congregation at Ettrick, 30th Oaober 1709 ; and not finilhed till June 1720. The many incidents which intervened, divert- ed him from purfuing this noble plan ; particularly the Re- bellion which broke out in 17 15 ; and his call to the charge of Clofeburn, which was ftrenuoufly oppofed by himfelf and his flock. But thefe ftorms being gone, he finiflied this ufeful and learned Work, to the no fmail comfort of the Church, and improvement of the careful ftudent m Diviaity.
A. The.
4 '^he Editor^ s Preface.
The fublime Truths treated of in thefe volumes are difcufTecf^ not only in a do6lrinal and learned ftyle, but in an eafy and pradical way, that he who runs may read. The great duty of Love to God, and Charity to man ; and, in a word, the whole fyftem of moral duties contained in the wotd of God, are ex- plained, and their obligation enforced with an energy peculiar to himfelf. This renders his writings invulnerable — elevates him above the falfe imputation of Antinomianifm, or the fcourge of the Arminian's tongue.
The chief defign in oifering this Edition to the Public is, that this Work, fo valuable in itfelf, and of fuch importance to the Chriftian caufe, may be more extenfively read and .known. The high price hy which it came into public view informer Editions, in a great meafure locked it up from the ufe of the lower order of Chriftians. But this being remo- ved, as far as the advanced price of paper will admit, it is to be hoped that the Book will meet with that encouragen>ent it fo juftly merits. The times loudly call for books of this kind, to ftem that torrent of Antichriftian herefies, and almoft .amiverfal pradical Atheifm, which threaten the utter ruin of the Chriftian fcheme. Amid thofe fublime dodrines, exhibited in this Divine fyftem, none are illuftrated more clearly, or with greater energy, than thofe relative to the Deity of Chrift; the Deity of the Holy Ghoft, and his Omnipotent agency in his application of the Redeemer's atonement to the heart. Thefe, candid Reader, thefe are the do6lrines, and thefe are the books, the Editor deems peculiarly neceflary. He humbly hopes, therefore, for the patronage of the generous Public ; and that thofe w^ho love the truth as it is in Jefus, will reckon it their duty to encourage this Edition of a Work, in which the capital articles of our holy Religion are exhibited to the world, and proved on no other evidence than the Wordof God,and w:ith HO other view than the falvation of men.
AN
AN ILLUSTPvATION
OF THE
DOCTRINES
o r
THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
OF MAN'S CHIEF END AND HAPPINESS.
I Cor. X. 31. — Whether therefore ye eat or driTLh, or whatfo- cuer ye do, do all to the glory of God,
Pfalm Ixxiii. 24. 25. — V/hom have I in heaven but thee ^ and there is none upon earth that I dejire hefides thee. My fiff^* and my heart faileth : hut God is the Jtrength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
KNOWLEDGE is a necelTary foundation of faith and holinefs ; and where ignorance reigns in the mind, there is confufion in the heart and life. We have the word of truth in our hands, and many methodical fjftems of divine truths, amongft which the Shorter Catechlfm, compofed by the Reverend AlTemblj of Divines at Weftminiler, in pur- fuance of the folemn league and covenant, as a part of the then intended uniformity between the three nations, is de- fervedly reckoned the chief. This I ibail endeavour to ex- plain with all poffible brevity and perfpicuity, that ye may have a view of thofe divine truths, with the reafons of them. And this I have thought it the more neceflary to do, in order that your minds may be eftablifhed in the truth, as our time is like to be a time of trial, wherein ye may be expofed to ma- ny fnares, and fo be in danger of apoftafy.
In the firfl of the texts which I have read, ye have,
1. The chief end of human aftions, the glory of God : that is the fcope of which all we think, or fpeak, or do, fhould tend ^ this is the fioint or common centre in which all fliould meet.
2. The extent of it. It is not only fome of our a6lions, but all of them, of what kind foever, that mull be dire^leci to this end. This, then, is man's chief duty.
In the fecond text we have,
1. The Pfalmift's chief defire, and what he points at as hia 'only true happineli ; that is, the enjoyment of God. He takes God for and inftead of all, that in him alone his foul may reil.
2, The reafon of this is taken from, (i.) The creature's ^mptinsfs, both in body and fpirit, ver. ^y (a.) From God's
fuln^s
6 0/ Man's Chief End.
fulnefs and fafficlency : and this Is amplified by the eternity of it, mj portion for ever.
From both texts the following dodrine natively follows. DbcT. " Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy
" him for ever."
In handling this dodrine, I fhallfpeak, 1. to the glorifying of God, which is one part of man's chief end.
II. To the enjoyment of God for ever, wherein man's chief liappinefs confifts, and which he is to feek as his chief good.
I. I {hall fpeak to the glorifying of God, which is one part of man's chief end. And here I fliall ftiew,
1. The nature of glorifying God.
2. In what refpefts God's glory is man's chief end.
3. The extent of this glorifying God.
4. The reafon of it.
Firji, I ihall Ihew the nature of glorifying God. To glo- rify, is either to make glorious, or to declare to be glorious. God glorifies, /. e. makes angels or men glorious ; but man cannot make God glorious, for he is not capable of any addi- tional glory, being in bimfelf infinitely glorious. Job xxxv. 7. Hence it is plain, that God gets no advantage to him- felf by the befl works of men, the profit of our holinefs re- dounding entirely to ourfelves, Afts xvii. 25. Pfal. xvi. 2.
God is glorified, then, only declaratively ; he is glorified whai his glory is declared. This is done two ways. Objedtively, by the creatures inanimate and irrational. Thus the heavens declare the glory of God, Pfal. xix, i. This the creatures do, while they afford matter of praifetoGod, as a violin is fit tomakemu- fic, though there mull b& a hand to play on it ere it can folmd. Man declares his glory alfo actively. And this he ought to do,
I. By his heart, i Cor. vi. 20. Glorify God in yoiir fpirit. Honouring God with the lips, not with the heart, is but a very lame and unacceptable performance. Heought to be glorified by our underftanding, taking him up in the glory which the fcrip- ture reveals him in, thinking highlyof him, and efteeming him above all other perfons or things, Pfal. Ixxiii. 25. So they that know him not, can never glorify him : and they that efteem any perfon or thing more than, or as much as him, diihonour him. We glorify him by our wills, chufing him as our portion and chief good, as he really is in himfelf ; by our affedions lo- ving him, and rejoicing and delighting in him above all other. 2.Byhislips,Pfal.l.23.**WhofoofFerethpraifeglorifiethme." Therefore man's tongue is calledhis glory,Pfal.xyi.9. not only becaufe it ferves him for fpeech, which exalts him above the brutes, but becaufe it is given him as a proper inftrument for fpeak.ingforththegloryofGod. Sothatit muft needsbeaftrange . , . perverting.
Of Man's Chief End, 7
perverting of the tongue, to fet it againft the heavens, and let it loofe to the difhonour of God, and fetter it as to his glory.
3. By his life, Mat. V.I 6. "Let your light fo iliine before men, that they may fee your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." A holy life is a life of light; it is a fhining light, to let a blind world fee the glory of God- Sin darkens the glory of God, draws a veil over it. David's fin made the enemies of the Lord to blafpheme. The ftudy of holinefs fays, God is holy ; mourning for every flip fays, God is fpotlefs ; walking- holily in all manner of converfation, within and without, &c. fays, God is omnifcient andomniprefent, 8cc\ As when men find a well-ordered family, that tells what a man the mailer of it is.
Secondly, I proceed to fiiewinwhat refpe6l:s God's glory is man's chief end.
Firji, It is man's end.
I. It is the end which God aimed at when he made man, Pror. xvi.4. *' The Lord hath made all things for himfelf. Rom. xi. 36. ** For of him, and through him, and to him are all things." Every rational agent propofes to himfelf an end in working, and the mofi; perfe6t the highefi: end. Now God is the moil perfect Being, andhis glory the nobleft end. God is not actively glorified by all men, and therefore he furely did not defign it ; but hede- fignedto have glory from them, either by them or on them ; and fo it will be. Happy they who glorify him by their actings, that they may not glorify him by their eternal fufFerings,
a. It is the end of man as God's work. Man was made fit for glorifying God, Eccl. vii. 29. " God made man upright ;" as a well-tuned inftrument,or as a houfe conveniently built, though never inhabited. The very fabric of a tnan's body, whereby he looks upward, while the beafis look down, is a palpable evi- dence of this.
3. It is that which man fhould aim at, the mark to which he Ihould dired all he does, 1 Cor. x. 31. the text. This is what we fliould continually have in our eye, the grand de- fign we fiaould be carrying on in the v<;orld : Pfal. xvi. 8. " I have fet the Lord always before me," fays David.
Secondly, It is man's chief end, that- which God chiefly aimed at, the chief end of man as God's work, and that Which man ftiould chiefly aim at. God made man for other ends, as to govern, ufe, and difpcfe of other creatures in the earth, fea, and air, wifely, foberly, and mercifully. Gen. i. 26. Man was fittted for thefe ends, and a man may propofe them lawfully to himfelf, feeing God has fet them before him 5 but ft ill thefe are but fubordinate ends to his glory. '
There are fome ends which men propofe to themfelves, which are fimply unlawful; as to fatisfy their revenge, their luft,
tlieif
8 Of Man's Chief End.
their covetoufnefs, &.c. Thefe are not capable of fubordinatioK to the glorj of God, who hate? robbery for b-iir/t-olFering, But there are other ends, which are indeed in thenifelves law- ful, yef become iinful, if they be not fet in their due place^ that is, fubordinate to the glory of God. Now, God's glory is made our chief end, when thefe thrte things concur.
1. When whatever end we have in our ad:ions, the glory of God is ftill one of our ends in afting. We may eat and drink for the nourifhment of our bodies ; but this muft not juftle out our refpeft to the glory of God. If the nourifh- ment of our bodies be the only end of our eating and drink- ing, it is (inful, and out of the due order,
2. It mild not only be our end, but it muft be our main and principal end, that which we chiefly defign. When God's glory is our chief t.\\^y all other ends that we propofe to our- felves will be downweighed by this ; all other iheafs muft bov^ to that ilieaf : as a diligent fervaLt deligns to pleafe both the mafter and his fteward, but chiefly the mafter. But when, on the contrary, a man cats and drinks (for inftance) more for the nouriftiment of his body than for God's glory, it is plain, that God's glory is not the chief end of the man in that a6lion. Hence w^s read, 2 Tim. iii. 4. of fome that arc ** lovers of pleafure more than lovers of God."
3. When it is the ultimate end, the laft end, the top and pcrfe£lion of what v/e defign, beyond which we have no more view, and to which all other ends are made fubfervient, and as means to that end. Thus we Ihould eat that our bo- dies may be refreflied ; we fnould delire that our bodies may be refrrlhed, that we may be the more capable to ferve and glo- rifv God i A our ftations. Thus we are obliged to feck our own falvation, that God may be gloriiied ; and not to feek God's glory only that we may be faved ; for that is to maks- the glory of God a ftepping flone to our own fafety.
thirdly, 1 come now to ftieiv the e>;tent of this duty. Refped to the glory of God is as fait that muft be fcrved up with every diib. The great work of our life is to glorify Jiim ; it is the end of our firft and of our fecond creation, If. xliii. 21. " This people have 1 formed for myfelf ; they ftiall ihew forth my praife." V/e muft be for God, Hof. iii. 3. and live to him. This muft be the end.
1. Of our natural actions, i Cor. x. 31. eating, fleeping, walking, Slc. we are under a law as to thefe things. We may not eat and dvink as we pleafe, more than pray as w^c /pleafe, Zech. vii. 6. All thefe things muft be done in iub- ferviency to the glory of God. Thefe things muft be done that we Qiay live, and living may glorify God -, and v;hen
we
0/ Man's Chief Emi. 9
we can do it without them in heaven, then none of thefe things {hall be done.
1. Of our civil actions, working our v*^ork, buyina; and felling, &c. Eph. vi. 7. Prov. xxi. 4. Jt was one ot the fins of the old world, that they were eating ; the word Is proper- ly ufed of beads eating their food ; they had no higher ^nd, in it than beads ; and marrying, a thing in itf elf lawful, but they had no eye to God in it.
3. Of our moral and religious aflions, Zech. vii. 5. We mud pray, hear, &c. for God's glory.
This is fuch a neceflary ingredient in our aftions, that none of them are truly good and acceptable to God without it, Zech. vii. 5. Do what we will, it cannot be fervice to God, if we do not make him our end ; no more than a fer- vant's working to himfelf is fervice to his raader. God will never be the rewarder of a work, whereof he is not the end ; for if a man ftiould build houfes to all the country, if he build not one to me, I owe him nothing. Alas ! to what purpofe ferves a generation of good works all killed by a depraved end?
Though it is a duty frequently to have a formal and exprefs intention of the glory of God in our aftings, yet to have it in every action is impollible : neither are we bound to it ; for then, for that very intention we fliould be obliged to have another, another for that, and another for that, in infinitum. But we diould always habitually and interpretatively defigri the glory of God. And that is done when, (i.) The courfe of our lives is dire61ed to the glory of God, Pfal. 1. ult. (2.) When we walk according to the rule of God's word, taking heed that wo. fwerve not in any thing from it. And, (3.) When God's will is the reafon as well as the rule of our actions ; when we believe a truth, becaufe God has faid it ; and do a duty, becaufe God has commanded it. If we do not fo, God lofes his glory, and we lofe our labour.
Fourthly^ The reafon of the point is, becaufe he is the firll principle, therefore he mud be the lad end. Ke is the firfi: and the lad, the Alpha, and therefore the Omega. God is the fountain of our being ; and therefore feemg we are of him, we fliould he. to him, Rom. xi. ult. forecited. Man is a mere relative being ; God is oui Greater, Preferver, and Benefaflor. )ur being is but a borrowed being from him, as the rays or beams of the fun are borrowed from tW fun :
B th?erefore
id 0/ Man's Chief End.
fherefore I AM is God's name. Whatever perfedion #e' have is from him ; hence he is called " the only wife, non^ good but one, that is God :"^ he gives us the continuance of all thefe things, and it is on his cofl that we live. As when the waters come from the fea unto the earth, and go back again unto it by brooks and rivers ; fo all we receive and enjoy comes from God, and ought to go back again to him, by being ufed for his glory. Wherefore to make ourfelves our chief end, is to make ourfelves a god to ourfelves ; for a creature to be a centre to itfelf, and that God fhould be a means to that end, is to blafpheme, John viii. 50.
II. I fhall fpeak to the enjoyment of God for ever, where- in man's chief happinefs conlifts, and which he is to feek as his chief good. Here I Ihall fliew,
1. The nature of this enjoyment.
2. The order of it.
3^. That it is man's chief end in point of happinefs.
First, I £hall (hew the nature of this enjoyment. There is a twofold enjoyment of God, imperfect and perfect.
Firjlj There is an imperfed: enjoyment of God in this life; which confifts in two things.
1. In union with him, or a fpecial faving intereft in him, whereby God is their God by covenant. By this union Chrifl and believers are fo joined, that they are one fpirit, one myllical body. The whole man, foul and body, is united to him, and, through the Mediator, unto God. This is the foundation of all faving enjoyment of God.
2. In communion with God, which is a participation of the benefits of that faving relation, whereof the foul makes returns to the Lord in the exercife of its graces, particularly of faith and love. This is had in the duties of religion, prayer, meditation, &:c. in which the Lord privileges his people with manifeftations of his grace, favour, and love, be- itows on them the influences of his Spirit, gives them many- tokens of his kindnefs, and fills them with joy and peace in believing.
Secondly, There is a perfeft enjoyment of God in heaven, ■when this world is no m.ore. This confifts in,
I. An intimate prefence with him in glory, Pfal. xvi. 11. " In his prefence is fulnefs of joy, and at his right hand there are pleafures for evermore." God himfelf ftiall be with them, and they ihaU ever be with the Lord, enjoying his glo-
rious'
Of Man's Chief End. IX
•rious prefeRce, brought near to his throne, and ftanding be» fore him, where he fiews his inconceivable glory.
2. In ieeing him as he is, i John iii. 2. They fhall have a full, a fatisfying, and never-ending fight of God, and of all his glorious perfections and excellencies, and they ihall. be raviilied with the view thereof for ever.
3. In a perfed union with him. Rev. xxi. 3. He will be their God. They w^ere united to God in Chrift here by the Spirit and faith, and made partakers of a divine nature, but then only in part ; but in heaven they fhall perfeclly partake of it. There fliall be a mod clofe and intimate union between God and them : God fhall be in them, and they in God, in the way of a glorious and mofl perfed union, never to be diflblved.
4. In an immediate, full, free, and comfortable communion with him, infinitely fuperior to all the communion they ever had with him in this w^orld, and which no mortal can fuitably defcribe.
5. Laftly, In full joy and fatisfadion refulting from thefe things for ever, Matth.xxv. 21, The prefcnce and enjoyment of God and the Lamb, fliall fatisfy them with pleafures for evermore. They fhall fwim for ever in an ocean of joy, and every objed they fee fhall fill them with the moll ecflatic joy, which fhall be ever frefli and new to them, through all the ages of eternity*.
Secondly, Let us confider the order of this enjoyment.
1. It is a part of man's chief end, and, in conjunction with glorifying of God, makes it up. And thefe two are put to- gether, becaufe no man can glorify God, but he that takes God for his chief good and fupreme happinefs.
2. Glorifying of God is put before the enjoying of him, becaufe the way of duty is tlie way to the enjoyment of God. Holinefs on earth mufl neceiTarily go before felicity in hea- ven, Heb. xii. 14. There is an infeparable connexion betwaxt the two, as between the end and the means ; fo that no per- fon who does not glorify God here, fhall ever enjoy bim here- after. The connexion is inftituted by God himfelf, fo that the oce can never be attained without the other. Let no perfon, then, who has no regard for the glory and honour of God in this world, dream that he fliall be crowned wath glory, honour, immortality, and eternal life, in the heavenly 2/ianfions. No j the pure in heart, and they who glorify
B 2 God
^ The reader may fee a more full account of the happinefs of the flints in heaven, in the author's book, Fourfold Stale, ftate 4. head 5,
12 Of Man's Chief End.
God now, fliall alone fee God, to their infinite joy in hea- -ven.
Thirdly, I fliall lliew, that the enjoyment of God is man's chief ^;"'^^ "^ poiiit of happinefs, the thing that he Ihould chiefly feek. l^br this end,
I. Conild::': ivh^c man is. He is, Cr.) A creature that defires happiuefs, and cannot but defire it. The deiire of happinefs is Vv'oven into his nature, and cannot be eradicated. It is as natuial for him to defire it as it is to breathe. (2.) He is not felf-fufKcient : he is confcious to himfelf that he wants many things, and therefore he is ever feeking fome- thing without himfeif in order to be happy. ('3.) Nothing but an infinite good can fully fatisfy the defires of an im- mortal foul ; becaufe, whatever good he finds in the creature, he can flill defire more, and will continue to defire it; and where it is not to be found, there his happinefs is marred. So that man's happraefs is neither to be found in himfelf, nor in any creature, or created good.
2. Conlider what God is.
ift, God is the chief good. Some perfons, as angels, &c. and fome things, as grace, glory, &:c. are good ; but God is the chief Rood, for he is the fountain-good, and the wa- ter tliat is good is always beil in the fountain. All other goodiiefs is but fccoi^d-hand goodnefs, derived and dependent ; but God is origiftal, underived, and independent goodnefs, the caufe and fource of whatever is good in heaven and earth. Now, where the more goodnefs is, there the more it is to be fought. And therefore, feeing God is the chief good, the enjoyment of him is the chief end which man lliould aim at in feeking.
%dly, God is all good, (i.) There is nothing in him but what IS good ; he is entirely without imperfection. (2.) All that is good is in him ; fo that the foul, finding him cora- menfurate to its defircs, needs nothing befides him ; and therefore fliouid not, and cannot, fully reft in '^.Viy per- fon or thing but God, wlio alone is able to fatisfy ail its defires, and afford it that happinefs which it earneftl}'- pants after.
I fliall conclude with a few inferences.
I. O how does reigning fin pervert the fpirit of man, turning it quite away from its chief end ! Kovv many are there who make themfelves their chief end I They are con- jured within the circle of felf, and out of it they cannot
move
Of Man's Chief End. 13
move. Like beafts, they grovel on the ground, feeking them- felves, and ading for themfelves only or chiefly, purfuing the enjoyment of earthly things ; but look not to God, Phil, iii. 19. Their own advantage is the chief motive and aim they have in their natural, civil, and religious anions, ei- ther their own pleafure, profit, or honour and glory. And they never think of, never propofe the glory and ho- nour of the infinite Majefly of heaven in any thing they do.
2. This may fill the bed with fhame and bluliiing. O hoiv much is God dllhonoured by our hearts, lips, and lives 1 O what felf-feeking mixes itfelf with our beft adions ! How eagerly do we purfue created things, and how faintly the enjoyment of God ! How abfurd is fuch condud ! and how diihonourable to a holy God ! It is a faying upon the matter, that God is not the chief good, that he is not a fuitable por- tion for the foul, and ^hat the creature is better than God. How fliould we be afhamed of ourfelves on this account, and labour earneflly to make God the chief and ultimate end of all our adions, and the enjoyment of him our chief Jiappinefs !
3. Behold the excellency of man above other creatures on earth ! He is made for a noble end, to glorify and enjoy God, while other creatures were made for him. How fad is it, that men fliould thus forget their dignity, and turn flaves to thofe creatures which were made to ferve them I And how deplorable and lamentable is it, that men, in place of m.aking God their ultimate end, and placing their chief happinefs in him, fliould make their belly, their lufts and idols, their God, and place their chief felicity in the gratifica- tion of fenfual and brutifli pleafures ; as the drunkard does in his bottle, the unclean perfon in his whore, the mifer in his wealth, and the ambitious man in titles of honour. Alas i our hearts by nature are fet on the earth that we tread upon, and our defires reach up to thofe things which we iliould make flepping-flones of. Let us earneflly implore divine grace, to cure this diforder of our hearts, and give them a bias to more excellent things, and the enjoyment cf that which v/ill furvive the grave, and not periih w4th the w-recks of time, and the diflblution of the world.
4. The foul of man is immortal, feeing to enjoy God for ever is its ultimate and fupreme happinefs. God is immor- tal, and fo muft the foul be too, which can never be fatisfied but in this never-dying being. The body too muft rife
aorain.
X4- Of Man* s Chief End.
again, feeing God is the God and portion of the whole maa* Now, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Can that thinking and immaterial fubllance, which eagerly delires happlnefs, and can find it no where but in the immortal God, perilh with the body, and all its thoughts and defires be ex- tinguilhed in the grave ? No ; Its chief happlnefs will fubfift for ever, and fo will the foul too. And both foul and body, which were united to God here, ihall continue to be united to him for ever, after the refurredion. Let us then feek to be united to God here, that we may be happy with and in him for ever.
5. When God and the creature come in competition, we mull renounce the creature, and cleave to God only, Luke xiv. ^'^, God is the chief good, and to glorify and adhere to him at all times, and in all cafes, and amidft all trials, is our great duty, a duty abfolutely required of us. If we are re- duced to that dilemma, that we mull either give up with the creature, or any worldly goods or pofTeffions, or even life it- felf, or give up with and deny God and his caufe, we mult give up with and abandon the former, and not prefer them to the glory of God, which we ought always to ftudy as our main end, and account our chief happlnefs and joy.
6. Here is a rule to try do6lrines by, and alfo practices. Whatever dod:rine tends to glorify God, and promote his ho- nour in the world, is certainly from God, and is to be em- braced. And whatever praftices have that fame tendency, they are good, and deferve to be imitated. Whereas any dodrine that tends to diflionour God, to rob him of his glory, and fet the crown upon the creature's head, to depreciate the free grace of God, exalt the power of nature and of free-will, in oppolltion to the efficacious and irreliftible grace of God, as the do6lrines of the Pelagians, Paplfts, Armlnians, and others do, is not from God. Neither is any dodrine or opi- nion that robs the Son of God of his effential dignity, fupre- macy, independency, and equality with the Father, to be re- ceived, becaufe it is not of God, who will have all men to ho- nour the Son even as they honour the Father.
Laftly, Let this then be your main and chief work, to glo- rify God, and to feek to enjoy him. And hence fee the abfolute need of Chrifl, and faith in him ; for there is no glorifying of the Father without the Son, i John II. 23. and no enjoying of God but through him. No facrlfice is or can be accepted, unlefs offered upon this altar ; and there Is no coming into the chamber of prefence^ but as introduced by Chrill.
THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURES.
2 Tim. iii. i6. — All fcripture is ghen hy infpiration of God, and is profitable for do£irine,for reproof for correBion^for inJiruBion in righteoufnefs.
THE next head which falls to be touched is the holj fcripture, the rule which God hath given to dired us how we may glorify and cojoy him- We are poor blind creatures, that know not our way, neither how we fhould glorify God, nor how we may come to the enjoyment of him. Therefore God hath given us the revelation of his mind in that great point. The connexion betwixt this and the preceding queflion is abundantly obvious ; the one points out the end for which we were made, the other the rule to direct us how to attain to that end. And in this text we have two things.
1. The divine authority of the fcrjptures aflerted. All fcripture is given by infpiration of God. The word fcrip^ ture fignifies writing in general ; but here it is appropriated to the holy fcripture. It principally here aims at the fcrip- tures of the Old Teftament, which were written by men of a prophetic fpirit : but feeing the New Teftament was writ- ten by fuch as were endowed with the fame Spirit for wri- ting, upon that reafon, what is applied to the Old belongs alfo to the New Teftament. It is faid to be of divine in- fpiration, becaufe the writers were infpired by the Spirit, who guided their hearts and pens ; he dictated, and they wrote ; fo that it is his word, and not theirs ; and that is extended to the whole fcriptures.
2. The ufe and end of the fcriptures : It is profitable for doBriney &.c. If ye defire to know the truths of religion, or what to believe, the icvii^tuvQ is profitable for doBrine, teach- ing us what we are to believe concerning God, Chrift, and ourfelves, and the great things that concern falvation. If ye want to refute the contrary errors, it is profitable for re* proof to convince us of the nature and importance of divine
truth
1 6 ^he Divine Authority
truth, and point out what errors we are to avoid. If ye de- fire to amend your life and praclice, calling off finful prac- tices, it is profitable for correBion, that is, for reformation of manners. If ye want to know what is duty, and what is fin, it is necelTary, for iiiflruBion in righteouf- nefs ; fliewing us how to lead a holy and righteous life before God, and inftrufting us in the true righteoufnefs, which is the foundation of our accefs to God, and acceptance with him, the righteoufnefs of Chrifl. And what more is necefiary for falvation, for faith and obedience, for the whole of falvation ?
Two dodlrines offer themfelves from the words, viz.
DocT. I. " The fcriptures of the Old and New TeHament
** are the word of God." DocT. II. " The fcriptures are the rule to dired us how
" we may glorify and enjoy God."
I Ihall profecute each dodrine in order*
DocT. I. '* The fcriptures of the Old and New Tellament ** are the word of God."
Here I fliall fhew,
I. What is meant by the Old and New Teflament.
II. What are the fcriptures of the Old and New Tefta- ment.
III. The neceffity of the fcriptures.
IV. That the fcriptures of the Old and New Tellament are the word of God.
V. Deduce fome inferences.
T. I fhall fhew what is meant by the Old and New Tella- ment. It is the covenant of grace which is called a teflament^ and it is properly a tellamentary covenant, without any pro- per conditions a§ to us, Heb. viii. lo. " This is the covenant that I will make with the houfe of Ifrael after thcfe days, faith the Lord j I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts : and I will be to them a God, and they Ihall be to me a people." Chrill is the tellator ; he made the tellament, and confirmed it with his death. The Spirit of Chrill drew the tellament, di6lating it to the holy penmen. This tellament of Chrifl's is one and the I fame
tf the Scriptures', I "f
fame as to fubftance, though fometimes more clearly revealed than at other times. The Old Teftament is the more ob- fcure draught of Ch rill's will, and the New Teftament is the more clear one. Thus they only differ in circumftances^ while the fubftantials of both are one and the fame ; one Mediator and Teftator, one legacy or promife of remifTion of fin and eternal life, and one faith as the way of obtain- ing it *.
II. I proceed to fhew what are the fcriptiires of the Old and New Teftament. The fcriptures of the Old Teftament are thofe which begin with Genefis, and end with Malachi ; and the fcriptures of the New Teftament are thofe which- begin wu^h Matthew, and end with the Revelation. And it is worthy of our fpecial remark, how the Old Tefta- ment and the New, like the cherubims in the moft holy place, ftretch forth their wings touching one another; the Old Tefta- ment ending with the prophecy of fending Chrift .and John the Baptift, Mai. iv. and the New beginning with the hiftory of the coming of thefe two.
The books of the Old Teftament were divided by the He- brews into three, the Law, the Prophets, and Ketubim, writ- ten books. The law contains the Uve books of Mofes. The Prophets are twofold, former and latter. The former are the hiftorical books of the Old Teftament, as Jofhiia, Judges^ Ruth, I and 2 Samuel, i and 2 Kings ; and they were fo called, becaufe they told things already done. The latter related things before they were done ; and are of two forts ; the greater, which are three, Ifaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel 5 the lefler twelve, viz. Hofea, Joel, &:c. The written books were called fo, becaufe they were written by fuch as had the gift of the Holy Spirit, as the Hebrews fpeak, but not of prophecy. And of that fort are Job, Pfalms, Proverbs, Ecclefiaftes, Canticles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Efther, and Daniel. The Hebrews afcribe this divifion of Ihem to Ezra ; and it feems our Lord Jefus Chrift acknowledged the fame, while he tells his difciples, Luke xxiVi, 44; of the writings of Mofes, the Prophets^ and the Pfalms.
The books of the New Teftament are divided into three forts, Hiftories, the Four Gofpels, the A6ts of the Apoftles^ the Epiftles, and the Revelation, which is prophetic*
Vol. L C The
* See more on this fubje^ in the author's Vleiu of the Covenant of •Gracey head 4. title, Cbri/i the Tejiator of the Covenant
1 8 Tbe Lhinc Authority
The books of both the Teftamcnts were written by dliFer- ent authors. As to the Old Teflamenr, Mofes wrote the Pentateuch ; only fome verfes in the end of Deuteronomy, where Mofes's death is recorded, could not be written by him, but are faid to have been written by Jofhua ; who alfo wrote the book that bears his name ; or, ac- cording to the opinion of fome, it was written by Eleazar, Aaron's fon. Samuel is fuppofed to have written the book of Judges, and, it would appear, the laft part of the book of Jofhua, containing the account of the death of Jofhua and Eleazar : Some think that the judges did write every one the hiftory of their own time ; and that Samuel at laft did put them all into one volume. The book of Ruth alfo was written by him, as the Hebrews tell. He wrote alfo the firll book bearing his name, to the 25th chapter, where his death is narrated. The reft of the chapters of that book, and the whole of the fecond book, are faid to have been written by David. The books of the Kings are fuppofed to be written by David and Solomon, and other prophets that lived in thefe times ; fo that each of them did write what was done in his own time. Job is fuppofed to have written the book that bears his name. David wrote the Pfalms, but not all : fuch as are not his have the author's name prefixed ; as Afaph, Heman, &:c. ; and they were all by Ezra collected into one volume. Ezra is faid to have v^rritten the books of Chro- nicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah j P^lordecai, that of Efther ; and Solomon, the Proverbs, Ecclefiaftes, and Canticles. Ifaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets, wrote every one their own prophecies, containing a ihortfum of their fermons.
As for the books of the New Teftament, without contro- verfy the evangelifts wrote the Gofpels, according as their names are prefixed to them. Luke wrote the Ads of the Apoftles ; and the remaining books, the Epiftles and the Re- velation, were written by thofe whofe names they bear. Only, as to the epiftle to the Hebrews, there has been fome doubt, fome afcribing it to Luke, fome to Barnabas, others to Apollos, and others to Clemens : but many learned men have given good reafons to prove it to be written by the ' apoftle Paul.
But the principal author is the Holy Spirit, whence the fcripture is called the Word of God. The penmen were but the inftruments in the hand of God in writing the fame. It was the Spirit that dilated them., that infpired the writers, and guided them. But the infpiration was not the fame in all points to all the penmen ; for fome things were before
utterly
of the Scriptures. 19
utterly unknov/n to the writer, as the hiftory of the creation of the world to Mofes ; the predidion of future events in re- fpedt of the prophets ; which therefore the Spirit did imme- diately reveal to them : Other things were known to the wri- ters before, as the hiftory of Chrift to the four evangellfts, Sec; in refoedt of thefe there needed no new revelation, but a divine irradiation of the mind of the writer, giving him a divine certainty of thofe things which he wrote. By this fnfpi ration all of them were infallibly guided, fo as they Vv^ere put beyond all poffibiiity of erring. And this infpiration was extended not only to the things themfelves exprelTed, but to the words wherein they were exprefied, though agreeable to the natural iijlQ and manner of each writer, 2 Pet. i. 11. Pfal. xlv. I. Upon this account the fcripture is attributed to the Holy Spirit, without making any mention of the pen- men, Heb. X. 15.
^lejl. But -what opinion are Vv-eto form of the bocks call- ed Apocrypha, and why are they fo called ?
Anf. Thefe books, which are found placed in fome Bibles betvv'ixt Malachi and Matthew, are called Apocrypha, w^hich is a Greek word, fignifying hidden or ahfcorided. The rea- fons of this name are given thus, (i.) Becaufe they were not acknowledged by the church to be of divine infpiration. (2.) Becaufe the names of the authors were hid. (3.) Be- caufe they contain fome things unknown to Mofes, the pro- phets, and apoftles. C4.) Becaufe, for the fcrefaid reafons, they were judged unworthy to be publicly read in the churcli. Concerning thefe books, -we believe that they are not of di- vine infpiration, and therefore no part of the canon of fcrip- ture ; that is, they are not to be admitted as any part of the rule of faith and manners : and therefore they are of no au- thority in the church of God for the determining of contio- verfies in religion ; and fo, though they may be of ufe as other human writings, yet they are no otherv/ife to be made ufe of nor approved. The reafons are,
1. They were not acknowledged by the church of the Jews for canonical ; to v/hom the Apoftle tells us, P.om. iii. 2. ** the oracles of God" under the Old Teftament difpenfation " were committed." They even forbade their children to read them till they came to mature age.
2. They were not v/ritten in the Hebrew tongue, but in the Greek ; and the authors of them were pofterior to Ma- lachi, who was the laft of the prophets, according to the fay- ing of the Hebrews, that the Holy Ghoft went iip from Ifrael
C 2 after
30 T!he Divine Authority
after the death of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. And I Mac. iv. 46. plainly lliews, that there was no prophet a- mong them, to fhew them what they fhould do with the Hones of the polluted altar. And it may clearly appear to any unbiaffed perfon, how the interpofing of thefe books be- twixt Malachi and Matthew does cut oiF the beautiful con- neftion betwixt the end of the Old and the beginning of the New Teftament, and how Malachi's prophecy is deligned of God to clofe up the fcriptures of the Old Teftament, in that he prophefies moll diftin£tly of the coming of Chrift, and John the Baptift his forerunner, with the accompliftiment of which Matthew begins his gofpel, as I obferved before.
3. The primitive church for the firft four centuries recei- ved not thefe books ; and when they came to be read, the reader flood but in an inferior place, they being then read as profitable books, though not of divine authority.
4. They are no where cited by Chrift and his apoftles. Yea, they are not obfcurely reje<5led by him, while he divides the fcriptures into Mofes, the Prophets, and the Pfalms, Luke xxiv. 44. And whereas the Apoftle tells us, that " prophecy came not of old by the will of man, but that holy men fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft," 2 Pet. i. 21. the authors of thefe books pretend to no fuch thing. The author of Ecclefiafticus in the prologue intreats the reader to pardon them, {yvz. him and his grandfather), wherein they may feem to come liiort of fome words which they have laboured to in- terpret. Such an apology is there, 2 Mac. xv. 38. " If F ^* have done well, it is that which I delired ; but if flenderly *' and meanly, it is that which I coul^ attain unto.*' 2 Mac. ii. 23. the author tells us, he will eftay to abridge in one vo- lume the five books of Jafon of Gyrene. Ver 26. he tells how he Ipth taken on him the painful labour of abridging j that it was a matter of fweat and watching to him : And ver. 27. " But for the pleafuring of many," fays he, " we will ** undertake this great pains." And more of this ftufFhas he there ; which plainly fpeaks forth nothing elfe than human learning and pains, which men delire to have much accounted of amongft. others.
Lajily, They neither agree with themfelves iK)r the holy fcriptures, as may plainly appear to thofe that will conlider them diligently, i Mac. vi. 16. compared with ver. 4. it is faid, that Anticchus died at Babylon. Yet 2 Mac. i. 13. 14. 15. 16. it is faid, that when he was come into Perfia, he was flain in ^he temple pf Nar^ea, whom he pretended that
he.
cjthe Scriptures^ 2t
he would marry, and would receive money in name of dowry, by her priefls. Yea, 2 Mac. ix. 28. he is faid to have died in a ft range country in the mountains. The book of Tobit is ftuffed w4th abfurd ftories ; it makes the angel Raphael to tell a lie, and to teach Tobit's fon a devilifh art, to drive away the devil with the heart and liver of a filh ; and when the evil fpirit fmelled the fmeil, he fled into the utmoft parts of Egypt, &.C. The author of the hiftory of the Maccabees commends Ralis for felf-murder, and prayer for the dead, 2 Mac. xii. 44. 45. Thefe things plainly fhew, that thefe books are not from the Spirit of God.
All this Ihews the darknefs of Popery that receives thefe books as canonical, and the dregs remaining in the church of England, who, though they do not receive them for canonical, yet mix the reading of portions of them in their churches with the fcriptures, while in the mean time, feveral portions of the holy fcripture are paffed over, and not read publicly in their fervice. And whilft we blame the church of Eng- land for reading in her fervice-books thiat are not canonical, impartiality obliges us to fay, that far too fmall a portion of the books that are canonical is read in the public fervice of our own church. This is equally culpable.
And as there is none of thefe to be admitted into the canon, fo neither can we gratify the Papifts with yielding, that there are any books of the fcripture loft, left we refled on the pro- vidence of God, that to a miracle has preferved thefe books •to this day, and has infured the prefervation of far Icfs parts than whole books, Matth. v. 18.
III. I proceed to fliew the neceflity of the fcriptures.
I. There was a necelTity of the revelation of the do£trIne of the fcriptures. For though the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do fo far manifeft the good- nefs, wifdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcufable, Rom. i. 20. and ii. 14. 15. yet they are not fufficient to fhew us either how we fhould glorify, or how we may enjoy God, and fo are not fufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, that is neceftary to falvation. For (i.) There is no falvation out of Chrift, Ads iv. 12. i Cor. iii. 11. there is no falvation through him but by faith, Markxvi. 16, John iii- 16. and xvii. 3. and there can be no faith nor know- ledge of Chrift but by revelation, Rom. x. 14 17. (2.)
They who have only nature's light, and fo do not enjoy di- vine revelation, are without God, and have no hope, Eph. ii.
12
22 ^e Bimne Authority
12.; and therefore there was a neceffity for preaching the gofpel, I Cor. i. 21. (3.) Whatever knowledge men may- attain to of God by nature, yet faving illumination and con- verfion can only be got by the revealed will of God written in his word. See Pfal. xix. throughout.
2. There is a neceility of the fcriptures, or written word, though the Papifts, whofe kingdom is fupported by darknefs, deny it. It is true, God did teach his church a long time before Mofes without the written word ; but then the fame dodlrine that we have in the fcriptures, the patriarchs had by extraordinary revelation often repeated ; and their long lives gave them opportunity to keep what was fo revealed uncorrupted, and fo to hand it down to others. But now both thefe are gone, and therefore the written word is neceflary, (i.) For preferving the do6trine from corruption in fuch times of apoftafy, 2 Pet. iii. i. (2.) For the better propa- gating of the truth, Matth. xxviii. 19. The apoflles could not with their voice teach all nations, but by their writings they could. (3.) If the written word were wanting, the church has nothing to look to but uncertain traditions ; but the written word is a fure touchftone of doctrines. If. viii. 20. a light in a dark place, 2 Pet. i. 19. both which are mofl neceflary.
3. There is a neceflity of it not only for beginners, but for thofe who are more perfedl. The fcripture is written for all indifferently, Col. iii. 16. Even the moft perfecl will find enough there, and more than they are able for :. '* Open thou mine eyes," fays David, " that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law," Pfal. cxix. 18. It is but the blindnefs of enthuliafls to pretend, that it is only for the weaker, and that the more perfect mull follow the Spirit : for if that Spirit teach any thing contrary to the written word, it is a fpirit of darknefs. If. viii. 20.; yea, if it teach another do6lrine, an anathema is pronounced againfl it, Gal. i. 8.
Thus it plainly appears, that nothing fhort of fcripture- revelation is fufficient to falvation, and that in an objedive way ; that is, that it is a fufficient rule to lead men to falva- tion. But fomething elfe is requilite to make this rule cf- fedual for that end. No fl^ill or wifdom 01 men reprefenting them in the cleared point of view, nor all the power of tlie moft elaborate and perfuafive reafonings, can produce this eifed. Tliis work is the province of the Spirit of God, which he accomplifhes by an internal illumination of the
mind.
of the Scriptures, 23
mind, giving blinded linners a faving difcovery of divine truths ; by powerfully fubduing man's obftinate will, and enabling it cheerfully and readily to obey the will of God and. the authority of Chrift ; and by working upon our affeftions, exciting in us ardent deiires after God and Chrift, and a high eiteem of divine truth, and removing the prejudices in our minds againft it, and opening our hearts to receive the word, and comply with the defign thereof.
IV. I fhall next fhew that the fcriptures of the Old and New Teftament are the word of God. Chrift is God's per- fonpl Word, but the fcriptures are his written word, Hof. i. 2.
The fcriptures appear to be the word of God, if we con- fid er,
1. The antiquity of fome parts of them, which are more ancient than any human writings, and give us fuch art hiftory as none but God himfelf could do, viz. the creation of the world J for how could men tell what w^as done before man had a being ?
2. The prefervation of it to this day, notwithftanding the malice of devils and wicked men againft it. If it had not been of God, it could not have continued till now, confider- ing the attempts that have been made to deftroy it.
3. The candour and fmcerity of the penmen of thefe facred writings, who honeftly declare what they delivered was re- ceived from God, plainly tell their own faults as well as thofe of others, and every way write as men over-ruled by the Spirit of God.
4. The exaft performance of fcripture-prophecies. Ifaiah prophefied that Cyrus ftiould deliver the Jews from the Ba-» bylonifti captivity, not only before that captivity took place, but more than a hundred years before that prince was born. Jeremiah, a little before that captivity, foretold it lliould laft feventy years, and that was the precife duration of it. How remarkably have all the prophecies relating to the fall of the Babyloniih, Perfian, Grecian, and Roman monarchies been fulfilled ! And what an exad accompliftiment has there been of the feveral prophecies relating to the birth and death of Chrift, and the fpreading of his kingdom in the world I The fcriptue contains many other prophecies which time has ftiewn exa6tly performed, and many that are yet to be ful- filled.
5. The blood of m.any martyrs hath confirmed the divinity
of
24 The Dhtne Authority
of this book, while they joyfully laid down their lives for the truth of it ; in which it is evident they were carried up above what human power could do.
6. The fcriptures have been confirmed by incontrovertible miracles. All miracles are wrought by God himfelf ; and it is inconfiftent with his holy nature to work miracles for con- firming of a lie or a cheat. Many miracles were wrought by Mofes, by Chrift, and by his apoftles. If then thefe miracles were done by them, the dodrine they taught was true. Now, we have all rational grounds to fuppofe, that thefe miraeles were really wrought. It is certain, that the general confent of thofe who have heard of them goes that way. Now, if it be fuppofed a cheat that fuch things were done, then that cheat took place either among thofe who were faid to have feen them, and were witnefies to them, or elfe among thofe who lived after that generation which is faid to have feen them was dead and gone. But neither of thefe two can be faid here. Not the fir ft, for two reafons. (i.) Becaufe thefe miracles were fuch things as mens outward fenfes (their eyes and ears) could be judges of. (2.) They are faid to be done, not in a corner, but in the face of the world. Therefore it was impof- fible that that generation could be impofed upon. If a man fliould fay, that yefterday he divided the river Tweed in pre- fence of us all, and brought us all through on dry land, it would be impoffible for him to make us believe it, for we faw no fuch thing, nor waded fo through that river. Or if he Ihould fay, that he came to the church-yard, and raifed a dead man in our prefence, whom we now fee among us, he could never caufe us believe it, nor cheat us into a perfuafion of the fame. Neither could any in after generations invent fuch a ftory, and impofe the cheat upon others, (i.) Becaufe there are fome things done in memory of thefe miracles. (2.) Such obfervances did commence from the time that fuch things were done, as circumcifion, the paflbver, baptifm, and the Lord's fup- per. If then the forger would impofe it on others, he muft: make them believe, that thefe obfervances have been conftant- ly in ufe fince that time, which, if they were not* CQuld not be believed, becaufe it contradicts the fenfes : for it would be impoffible to make a nation believe that they were all circum- cifed or baptifed, when there was no fuch thing ; and efpecial- ly ;hat fuch things were done to them in memory of fuch a thing as they never heard of.
7. The fcriptures muft either be from God, or the creature. They cannot be from the creature ; for if fo, they ihuft be
3 from
of the Scriptures, a {
ftom angels or men. Neither of thefe can be faid. Not the firft ; for then they fhould eltlier be from good angels or evil angels. From good angels they cannot be, in regard, they fay, they are the word of God, and this would be a moft grofs cheat : which cannot be attributed to good angels ; for angels impofing fuch a cheat on the world could no more be looked on as good, but as evil. With what fhadow of reafon caa it be imagined, that good angels, remaining fo, ihould abufe the name of God, as to fpeak in his name what he never faid ? Evil angels it cannot be either, in regard the fcripture doth natively tend to overturn the devil's kingdom ; it pro- nounces their doom, difcovers their malicious defigns, brings men out of their fervice, and from doing what is plealing to them. The fame way may we reafon concerning good or bad men their being the principal authors of the fcrip- tures. And you know what torment the fcripture affigns to liars. It remains then that the fcripture is of divine infpi- ration.
Befides, fuch things are found in the fcriptures them- felves, as do plainly demonftrate they are the word of God. As,
I. The heavenlinefs of the matter of the fcripture, ftiews it to be of a divine origin. Therefore they are called the holy fcriptures, Rom. i. 2. See Pfal. xii. 6. Nothing car- nal or earthly is delivered therein, but all is what becomes thofe who live above the world, and fhall fhine in glory. I take this heavenlinefs of the matter to refped two things. (i.) The fublime mylleries therein revealed, which nature ever fo much elevated could never attain to the difcovery of. Such is the doctrine of the Trinity, the incarnation of the Son of God, and the fpiritual union betwixt Chrift and be- lievers. The light of nature improved by the learned to the utmoft advantage, could not teach thefe things ; yet a few fiftiermen plainly delivered them. (2.) The moft exad holi-« nefs of its precepts, commanding all holinefs, and forbidding all impurity of heart and life under the pain of damnation ; and that fo univerfally, as all the writings of philofophers have come far Ihort of. Here we are taught to love our ene- mies, to be truly and thoroughly humble and felf-denied ; and this urged by fuch arguments as may be moft eftedual for in.? citing men to the practice of thefe duties. Sure this could .neither be the work of men, being fo oppolite to corrupt na- ture, nor of devilS; being fo oppolite to their kingdom and
Vol. I. -D intereft^
26- "^he Dimne Authority
intereft, but of that God who is holy, and loveth righteouf- nefs.
2. The efficacy of the doftrine, in its convincing and fearching the confcience, Heb. iv. 12.; converting the foul from its moft beloved lufts, even when nothing can be expell- ed from the world foe fuch a change but the crofs, Pfal. xix, 7. ; rejoicing the heart under the dcepefl dift'refles, ver. 8. This efficacy lies not in the bare words, letters, or fyllables, which have no other power than to fignify the things ; but it is the ordinary means which the Spirit makes ufe of for*" thefe ends, without v/hich it will be but a dead letter.
3. The majefty and fublimity of the ftyle, an elevated and. grand didion which runs through many palTages of the fcrip- tures, particularly in the books of Mofes, fome parts of the Pfalms, in the book of Job, and the writings of the prophets. Theve are in feveral palTages of the Old Teftam.ent fuch a loftinefs of ftyle, fo grand an alTemblage of bold images and reprefentations, fuch a colledtion of noble and majeftic fen- timents, and fo much magnificence and pomp of language^ as cannot be found in any human writings whatever. There is fomething fo truly majeftic and fublime, fo grand and mag- niiicent in the ftyle of the facred writings, as has forced hea- then philofophers to acknowledge it, and felecl paffages there- from as inftances of the true fublime ; as does Longinus with regard to the words of God, Let there be^ and fome other paflages. At the fame time let it be obferved, that there is- iiothing afte6led, no flights of falfe eloquence, no exertions of a luxuriant genius, no laboured ftrokes of a warm imagina- tion, no forced images, no diftorted metaphors, no quaint allulions, or unnatural comparifons, which are frequently found in the moft admired productions of ancient and mo- dern writers ; but the utmoft plainnefs and perfpicuity, a noble limplicity, and an elegant familiarity, level to the ca- pacity of the illiterate, reign throughout the facred volume. So that its ftyle muft engage the attention and regard of the learned philofopher and poet, and delight the milearned pea- sant. ^ Thus God is frequently brought in fpeaking to and "by the prophets, and his majefty fet forth in a majeltic ftyle,, as If. Ivii. 15. " Thus faith the high and lofty One, that in- habiteth eternity, whofe name is holy,^^' &:c. There is no af- fedation of words there, being below the majefty of the di- vine law : none are fpared, but the fcripture fpcaks as freely and plainly to the great as to the fmall,. to the rich as to the poor,
4^
of the Scriptures, a*^
4. The confent of all the parts of fcripture ; though writ- ten by feveral hands, and at different times, yet all of them fo agreeing in their precepts, narratives of matters of fadl, Bnd defigns, that there is no irreconcileable difference to be found amongft them. But here the Socinians call us to con- fider this point at more length:; for they fay that tbere is fome repugnancy in the fcriptures in fome things of little or no moment, and that not a feeming but real repugnancy. But we believe that in nothing does one holy v/riter differ from another in the fcriptures, but that fuch things as feem to be repugnant do in themfelves mod exadtly agree. This prin- ciple I iliall eudeavour to prove.
(t.) There are no things in the Scriptures of little or no moment ; and if fo, the writers could not err in them. That there are no fuch things in it, the fcripture plainly teaches, as in the text, All fcripture is given hy infpiration of God, Xind is profitable y &:c. Rom. xv. 4. " Whatfoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning ; that we, through patience and comfort of the fcrijDtures, might have hope." The Tews faid, that there was not one point in fcrip- ture but mountains of myfteries hang on it. See Matth. v. 18. It argues a profane fpirit to talk of the fcriptures at that rate. The people of God know that many a time they have read over a fcripture in which they couldfee little or nothing, but afterwards they have feen a great deal in it when the Spirit hath been commentator : and though in fome things we never fee any weighty thing, muft we therefore -conclude that there is none there ?
.;,; if 2.) The holy pemnen were, in all that they wrote, a£led . and guided by the Spirit of God, or wrote all by infpiration of the Holy Ghoft, as fays the text, and 2 Pet. i. 20. 21. If all fcripture was given by infpiration, if no fcripture be of private interpretation, nor came by the will of man, but holy men fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft, how can there be any error in any paiTage of fcripture .^ If the fcrip- tures be the word of God, tliey muft be altogether pure, Pfal. xi. 7. '
(3.) Thofe things in which there is fome repugnancy be- twixt the penmen of the fcriptures, are either a pait of the canonical fcripture, or not. If they be, then [i.] All fcrip- i:ure is not given by infpiration of God. [2,] The fcrip- tures are holy fcriptures, Rom. i. 2.; but errors, whether in greater or lefTer things, are unholy, and cannot be a part of the holy fcriptures. If they be no part of the holy fcrip-
D 2 tureso
2^ 'The Divine Authority
tures, why do they charge the holy fcriptures with errors thertin ?
V 4.) If it be fo that there is fuch repugnancy in the fcrip- tures, then they cannot found certain and divine faith ; for a fallible teftimony can ground only a fallible belief. And how fhall we know when they are right, and when they are wrong ? One fays that he is guided by the Spirit, and tells us fuch a thing ; another fays the fame, and tells us the contrary : Whom fhall we believe ? If you fay it muft be determined by the greater number of the holy penmen, it is well known, that amongft thofe who are fallible, one may be righter than many. But this is plainly to lean to human teftimony ; for one fpeaking by the Spirit is as much to be believed as ten thoufand. So that this truly diflblves the authority of the whole fcriptures.
In Ihort, we refufe that there are any real inconfiftenciesr or contradi6tions in the holy oracles of God. Whatever feeming inconfiftencies or repugnancies there may be, they may be ealily reconciled, and have been actually reconciled to fatisfy every fober perfon, by many learned divines, whofe writings may be confulted on this head.
5. The fcope of the whole fcriptures, which is to give all g cry to God. The delign of them is to exalt none but the ji.fi lite majefty of Heaven, to humble all mankind, and empty them of themfelves, that God's grace may be all, and men themftlves nothing, but entirely dependent on the mercy of God through Jefus Chrift.
6. The full difcovery it makes of the way of man's fal- Tation. Who could ever have told of the Son of God his dying for the fins of the eledt, and have made a difcovery of the way of falvation by faith, which the fcripture hath plain- ly fet down ?
7. The entire perfection of the fcripture 5 that is, the whole counfel of God concerning all things necelTary for his own glory, man's falvation, faith and life, is either exprefsly fet down in fcripture, or by good and necelTary confequence may be deduced from fcripture.
There are two ways how matters of faith and life are fet down in the fcriptures. The one is when the thing is fet down exprefsly in fo many words ; as the unlawfuliiefs of murder, when it is faid, " Thou fhalt not kill ;" the ordi- na* ce of baptifm, as in that, ** Go and teach all nations, bap- tifing them," &.c. The other is by good and necelTary con- fecj^uence, which is when the thing itl^elf is not found in the
(criptures
of the Scriptures, 29
fcriptures in fo many words, but doth evidently (in itfelf) and neceflarily flow from the exprefs words of fcripture, as the baptifing of infants is by good and necelTary confequence drawn from that, " Go ye, and baptize all nations."
Here I fhall firfl prove, that, befides what is to be fou'id in exprefs words in the fcriptures, good and neceifary confe- quences deduced therefrom are alfo to be admitted, as truly binding as what is declared in exprefs words there, whether in fundamentals or in fuch things as are built on the founda- tion. If one can prove any thing by good and neceffary con- fequence from the fcripture, it is all one, as to the binding power on mens confciences, as if it were exprefsly fet down in fo many words.
(i.^ Good and neceffary confequences are fuch as the word is defigned for. What is deduced from them, fo is indeed the fenfe and meaning of the words ; and if you have the words without the meaning of them, or without the full meaning of them, in fo far ye come ihort of the true intent of the words. If I bid a man draw near the fire, do I not defire him to warm himfelf, though I fpeak not one word of his warming himfelf ? Were not the fcriptures written for that end, that " we through patience and comfort of them might have hope ?'* Rom. xv. 4. But this cannot be obtained with- out the ufe of confequences. Are they not profitable for doctrine, — " that the man of God may be perfe61:, thoroughly furnifhed unto all good v/orks ?" 2 Tim. iii. 16. But can this be bad without the ufe of confequences ?
2. The great fundamental article, that Jefus of Nazareth is the Meffiah, before the New Teftament was v/ritten, could not be proved to the Jews by exprefs fcripture tellimony, but by good and necelTary confequence ; yet Chrift tells them that there could be no falvation for them without the belief of this. " If ye believe not that I am he (the Mef- fiah)," fays he, " ye fhall die in your fins." John viii. 24.
(3.) Our Lord Jefus Chrift himfelf, while he would prove the fundamental article of the refurredlion againfl the Sad- ducees, does not feek after a text that faid in exprefs words, that the dead fhall rife again, but proves it by good confe- quence, yet no lefs firmly than if he had produced an exprefs text for it, Pvlatth. xxii. 32. And it is no lefs evident, that the apoftles follow him in this method ; as in treating of the refurre(!lion of Chrift, Ads ii. 25. of the refurreiEtion of all mankind, i. Cor. xv. and of the juftification of a finner be- fore God, in the epiftles to the Romans and Galatians.
(4-)
JO '^^e Dwzne Authority
(4.) Such as rejed all arguing from fcripture by confe- quences, muft either confefs that by no fcripture this way is condemned, or elfe they muft adduce fome exprefs fcripture- text forbidding it. The laft they can never do. If they faj the firft, then it is approved ; otherwife the fcripture is no perfeft rule of faith and praftice, which we Ihall immediately ihew to be falfe. If they fay that the fcripture leaves it indif- ferent, then I alk, how dare they condemn it ?
(5.) Refufing to admit good and neceffary confequences from fcripture, overturns all religion, both law and gofpel, faith and practice. For how Ihall it be proved, that John or James are obliged to obey the law, and believe the gofpel but by confequence ? w^here will they find an exprefs text for thefe ? Only the law fpeaks to all, the gofpel to every hearer of it, and confequently they oblige thee and me.
This way, then, of any doctrine its being fet down in the fcripture being admitted, we are to prove next.
That the fcriptures are a perfe£l rule of faith and manners ; or that the whole counfel of God concerning all things ne- ceffary for his own glory, man*s falvation, faith and life, is ei- ther exprefsly fet down therein, &.c,
1. God hath exprefsly forbidden to add any thing unto his word; therefore it needs no addition, and fo is perfeft, Deut. iv. 2. " Ye ihall not add unto the word that I command you." Conlider what ye fpeak of; even of flatutes and judgments ; ftatutes, ceremonies, and rites of worfhip : even to thefe he will have nothing added. So we have all additions prohibited, Prov. xxx^ 6- ; and that under a fevere penalty. Rev. xxii. i8.
2. " The law of the Lord is perfe61," as is exprefsly affert- ed, Pfal. xix. 8. There it is faid of it, (i.) it converts the foul; (2.^ makes wife the fimple ; (3.) rejoiceth the heart ; and (4.) enlightens the eyes. The apoftle plainly afferts the perfedion of it, while he tells us, 2 Tim. iii. 15. that it is ** able to make a man wife unto falvation." How can it be fo, unlefs it teach all things neceffary to falvation ? It is pro-
Jitahle for doBrine, for reproof 6?-c. What can be defired more ? And that ye may be fure there is nothing wanting in it, he tells you, it is given for that purpofe, " that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furniftied unto all good works." So Chriil faith, " They have Mofes and the pro- phets, let them hear them," Luke xxvi. 29.; clearly import- ing, tliat in them is contained what is fnfficient to falvation.
3. Conlider the cud for which t^ie fcriptures were written,
evcA
of the Scripture f, ^1
even *' that believing men may have life," John xx. 31. ; that ** through patience and comfort of the fcriptures they might have hope," Rom. xv. 4. If any thing necelTary to falvation were not in them, how would they anfwer the end for which they were written ?
4. The Lord Jefus taught his difciples all that he had heard of the Father, viz. necelTary to their falvation, John xv. 15. He commiffions them to teach all others, even to the end of the world, what he commanded them, Matth. xxviii. 20. But this they could not do 'ui'ua voce ; therefore they did it in their writings. And whofo conliders how exadt the apoftles were in teaching things of lefler moment, as what day the collec- tion for the poor fhould be made, &,c. cannot think they would negled any thing neceffary to falvation, unlefs they could not through ignorance or forgetfulnefs ; neither of which can be imputed to them in their writings, being led by the Spirit of God infallibly.
5. The nature of the fcriptures teaches us their perfeftion. For if they be not perfe6l, they cannot be a rule j for a rule muft always be commenfurable to the thing to be regulated. They are Ch rift's teftament, to v/hich nothing is to be added^ being confirmed.
I fhall now deduce feme inferences from this fubjefl.
1. The holy penmen of the fcriptures had a command from God to write, and did not write only occafionally without a command. For that infpiration was an internal command, v/hereby the Spirit moved them to write, 2 Pet. i. 21.
2. The penmen of the fcriptures were infallible in their writing, fo that they were not miftaken in any thing, even of the leaft moment : far lefs is there any real contradiftion among them, being all guided by the fame Spirit, who in- fpired the very words, and kept them from all error, 2 Ytt. i. 20. 21.
3. The authority of the fcripture in itfelf, that is, the power it hath to bind the confcience, does not depend on the church, but wholly on God, the author of it. For,
(i) The church is built upon the fcriptures, Eph. ii. 10. " Upon the foundation of the prophets and apoftles." This foundation is not perfonal ; " for other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, even Jefus Chrift :" bur it is doctrinal, the doctrine of the prophets and apoftles. Now, it is clear, that the fuperftruciure depends on the foundation, p.ot the foundation- on it.
3^ 'ihe Dimne Authcrity
(2.) If the authority of the fcriptures depended on th^ church, then we behoved firft of all to believe the authority of the church without the fcriptures, and our faith fhould be built upon human teftimony, which is fallible ; but we believe the church for the fcriptures, and no otherwife. If, viii. 2C. ; and human teftimony cannot found divine faith.
(3.) "Whence can any prove that the church is to be be- lieved but from the fcripture? and then to fay, that the fcrip- tures muft be believed for the church's teftimony, is a circle unworthy of men of fenfe.
(4.) Either the church had reafon to receive the fcriptures or not. If they had no reafon to receive them, they have as little reafon to impofe them on others. If they had, what was it, bat that it was truth, and worthy to be received? There- fore their teftimony does not make it truth, or worthy to be believed and obeyed.
C3.) The fcripture is God's own word, 2 Tim. iii. i6. How blafphemous is it then to deny faith imto God in the fcrip- tures, while he fpeaks tousinthem,unlefs the teftimony of men give authority to his word ? This is as much as to fay, that God hath his authority from the church, and that he ought not to be believed or obeyed, unlefs the church commanded it ; which is moft blafphemous. Of this blafphemy is the church of Rome guilty, who roundly aflert that the authority of the fcripture depends on the church. I fliall only add, that this is the high way to keep Chriftians oft" from convin- cing of Turks, Pagans, and Jews, as to the New Teftament, while we tell them that the authority of the fcripture, where- in our religion is laid down, depends on the church, and that the fcriptures are true, becanfe the church fays it.
4. The authority of the fcripture as to us is not from the church,: but from itfelf ; that is, the reafon why we receive the fcripture as the word of God, is not becanfe the church fays it is fo, but becanfe it evidences itfelf to be fo. For as God's works do themfelves tell their Maker, fo his word de- clares the Speaker ; fo that a fpiritual difcerner muft needs fay Oil the reading of it, though none ftiould recommend it. It is the voice of God, not of men. Can we difcern an un- learned man's letter from that of a learned man ? and doth not God's word bear a divine chara£ler ? It is a light, a lamp, &:c. the nature of which is to difcover itfelf. Thus .there is objedive evidence enough in the fcripture ; though indeed the fubjedive evideuce cannot be h^d but by the Spi- rit of God J fo that to him bearing witnefs by and with the I word.
of thd Scriptures^ j^
word, we owe the full afTarance that it is God's word, 2 Cor. ii. TO. 14. And this is the reafon why great fcholars may- be lefs perfcaded of this truth, than the mofl unlearned pea- fants ; becaufe, though the fun difcovers itfelf fufEciently, yet blind men cannot fee it.
Now, that the inward illumination of the Spirit of God is necelTary for the faving uoderllanding of fucii things as are revealed in the word, I lliall prove by the following ar- guments.
1. The fcripture makes this inward illumination of the Spirit of God necelTary for underilanding of the fcriptures, while it afcribes the fame wholly unto the Spirit, Matth. xvi. 17. " Flefh and blood hath not revealed it [Chrifl's being the Son of the living God] unto thee, but my father which is in heaven ;" i Cor. ii. 10. 11.12. " God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit fearcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, fave the Spirit of man which is in him ? even fo the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the fpirit of the worlds but the fpirit which is of God ; that we miglit know the things that are freely given to us of God." If the Spirit of God take the fame unto himfelf as his own proper work^ how can any arrogate it to themfelves, as if by the power of nature they were able for it ?
2. There is an utter inability in man by nature to know favingly the things of God. They are above his capacity while he remains in his natural flate, and nothing can a6t beyond the fphere of its activity. This is plain from i Cor, ii. 14. where not only the a£l of receiving them is denied to natural men, but the very power of difcerning them ; and the reafon is given, " becaufe they are fpiritually difcerned," and he wants the organ of difcerning fpiritually. And this dif- cerning is appropriated to the fpiritual man, ver. 15. Had not the Ifraelites in the wildernefs very great external helps to gain the knowledge of the things of God, Deut. xxix. ? but all was ineffedual. What was the want then ? See ver. 4. " The Lord hath not given you (fays Mofes to them) an heart to perceive, and eyes to fee, and ears to hear."
3. If it were not the fpiritual illumination that gave this faving underilanding of the things of God, then the great- ell adepts in human literature would have moil of the faving knowledge of fuch things as are revealed in the word. This plainly follows; "But that it is not fo, the fcripture teilifies.
Vol. I. E I Cor,
24 ^ke Divine Authority
1 Cor. i. 20. 26. 27. 28. " Where is the wife ? where is the fcribe ? where is the difputer of this world ? hath not God made foolirn the wifdom of this world ? For je fee your call- ing, brethren, how that not many v/ife men after the flefh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chofen the foolifh things of the worlds to confound the wife ; and God hath chofen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty ; and bafe things of the world, and things which are defpifed, hath God chofen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are." Many tim.es it is {^^xi to be quite otherwife. And what makes the difference ? See Matth. xi. 25. "I thank thee, O Father,. Lord of heaven and earth (fays Chrifl), becaufe thou hail hid thefe things from the v/ife and prudent, and haft re- vealed them unto babes." Even as he hath put this treafure in earthen veiTels, to the end the praife might be of God, that it may be feen it is not the a6i of the preacher, but the pov/er of the Spirit, that gives true underftanding.
4. Men without the faving illumination of the Spirit are fo far from attaining fufficient knowledge of the things re- vealed in the word of God, that they judge them foolilh, T Cor. ii. 14. The doclrine concerning Chrill crucified was to the Jews, who had the law and the prophets, a ilumbling- block, and to the Greeks, who excelled in human learning, foolifhnefs, i Cor. i. 23. ; yea, no lefs thaa madnefs, A6ts xxvi. 24. Nay, even the godly themfelves, when without the aftual influence of the Spirit, are not far from reckoning as they do who are in nature ; as in the cafe of the apoltles, looking on the account brought them of the refurredion of their Lord as an idle tale, and not believing it, A61:s xxiv. ii. The dc£lrine of Chrift's refurre£lion feemed to the difciples as idle tales ; how much more fo to men utterly deftitute of the Spirit, who many times are befides judicially blinded?
2 Cor. iv. 4.
5. The Lord promifes his Spirit, to the end men may be taught to know the truths of God favingly, Ezek. xxxvi. 26. John xiv. 16. 17. and xvi, 12. 13. Has he promifcdhis Spirit in vain ? or are we fufficiently furnillied already ? If fo, why does he promife his Spirit ?
6. The prayers of the faints for this illumination prove the necefiity of it, Pfal. cxix. 18. Eph. i. 17. 18. Col. i. 9. And they pray fo, becaufe they feel the need of it : the ex- perience of the Spirit is that againfl which there, is no dif- puting,
7-
I^he Scriptures a Rule, ^S
7. Let U5 coiifider that pafTage, John vi. 45. ** And they fhdl be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and learned of the Father, conieth unto me." It is plain that by coming unto Chriit is meant faving faith in him. Now, in order to this there is a promife, that they fhall all, viz. all the eled, for faith is the faving faith of God's elecr, be taught of God, viz. by the Spirit, not merely by external revelation, becaufe whofoever thus hears comes unto Chriil : but it is certain that all come not to Chrift that hear, and learn of the Father by external revelation only. From ail which it is evident, that unto the fufHcient underflanding of the things revealed in the fcrioture the teaching of the Spirit is neceffary ; and that all who attain to the faving knowledge of theiQ things do believe.
What then remains upon this head, but that we diligently read th-e holy fcriptures, as being the word of God, and tlie rule which he hath given to dired: us both as to faith and pravlice ; and that we fervently pray to God, that he may give us his Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds in the faving knowledge of the v/ord, v^ithout which we will remain in the dark, and the word will be but a dead letter to us ? Lord open our eyes, that we may underlland thy vvord.
THE UTILITY OF THE SCRIPTUR.ES AS A RULE.
I proceed to the conlideration of another Do<5trine.
DoCT. " The fcriptures are the rule to direct us how we " may glorify and enjoy God."
Here I fliall only give the properties of this rule.
I. It is a perfpicuous or clear rule. For though all things in fcripture are not alike plain in themfelves, nor alike clear unto all ; yet thofe things which are neceffary to be known, believed, and obferved for falvation, are fo clearly propound- ed and opened in fome place of fcripture or other, that not E a only
$6 Ithc Scripfmes a Rule,
only the learned, but the unlearned, in a dne ufe of the ordi* narj means, may attain unto afuflicient underilanding of them,
(i.) With refped to all things necelTary to falvation, whe- ther for faith or pradice, it cannot be denied, but there are portions of the fcripture very obfcure, whicli poilibly are not rightly interpreted even to this day; but in fuch things as are necelTary to falvation, they are clear. And in this refpe6l it hath been faid, that the fcriptures are a depth v/herein a lamb may wade, and an elephant may fwim.
(2,) Though fome things, the faith of which is neceflary to falvation, be high and incomprehenfible myfteries, fuch as the dodrine of the Trinity, of the incarnation of the Son of God, &.C. yet the way of propounding them is clear.
(3.) It may be that what is truly necelTary unto falvation may be very obfcurely laid down in fome place of fcripture ; yet in fome other place we fhall find the fame thing clearly propounded :
(4.) And that fo as not only the learned, but even the un- learned, may attain to a fufncient underilanding of them ; which you muft carefully remember is meant here of belie- ving perfons, who have the inward illumination of the Spi- rit, removing their own natural darknefs : for if ye lliall ur»- derfland it of unbelievers, it contradidts what we have laid down above, relating to the neceffity of fpi ritual illumination. And fo the fenfe is, that not only may the learned, but even the unlearned Chriftian, attain to a fufHcient underilanding of the word ;
(5.) Providing they make due ufe of the ordinary m.eans appointed of God for the uudetllanding of them; read- ing attentively and devoutly, v^ith prayer and meditation on them, See.
This perfpicuity of the fcriptures I fliall prove by the fol- lowing arguments.
[i.] The fcripture plainly teaches its own perfpicuity and clearnefs in this fenfe. It is called a lamp and a light, Pfal. cxix. 105. The very *^ entrance of it (is faid to) give light and underilanding to the fimple," ver. 130. See Prov. vi. 23. The apofile, 2 Pet. i. 19. calls the holy fcriptures a light, and particularly the word of prophecy, or the prophetic word, which of all the reft feems molt dark, yet this he calls alight, and a fhining light, Jhining in a dark place ; fhewing thereby, that where it comes and ihines, though the place be of itfelf dark, yet it difpels the darknefs.
[2.] Such is the way God hath delivered his word; that
its
'^he Scriptures a Rule, ^-j
its commands are not remote from the underllanding ; the meaneti believer hath no reafon to complain of the difficulty of it in the things neceffary to falvation, Deut. xxx. ii. &:c. ** For this command which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off: It is not in heaven, that thou ihouldfc fay. Who fliall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it ? Neither is it be- yond the fea, that thou fhouldfl fay. Who fhall go over the fea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it ? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayft do it."
[3.] If all things neceffary to falvation be underftood by all fincere Chriilians, and this by virtue of the Spirit dwelling in every believer, then the fcriptures are clear in all things neceiTary to falvation to the meaneft believer. But the for- mer is true : i Cor. ii, 15. " He that is fpiritual judgeth all things ; i John ii. 20. 27. " Ye have an unftion from the holy One, and ye know all things. The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you ; but the fame anointing teacheth you of all things." Coniider to whom John is there fpeaking, not only to learned men and great divines, but to all believers, even to little children ; to all that have the Spirit, which is common to all ; " for if any man have not the Spirit of Chrift, he is none of his."
[4.] The things that are neccffiiry to falvation are hid only to unbelievers, in whom the god of this world hath blinded their eyes ; as for others, God himfelf hath taught them, 2 Cor. iv. 4. 6.
[5.] God hath promlfed to v/rite his lav/ in his people's hearts, and that he himfelf will teach them to know himfelf, Jer.xxxi. '^^, 34. ; therefore the fcripture muft needs be per- fpicuous and clear in things neccffary to falvation ; for that which is written in our hearts cannot be but clear unto us ; and that which God himfelf teachetii us cannot be obfcure, for who teacheth like God ?
[6.] If the fcriptures be not clear in themfelves to all be- lievers, but that all its perfpicuity depends on the interpreta- tion of the church, then our faith is to be ultimately refoived into the tellimony of man ; but that cannot be, for human teftimoriy is not infallible and authentic, and therefore cannot found divine faitli and an infallible perfuafion. The reafoii of the confequence is clear. Hearers are obliged, if they will iiot pin their faith on mens flecves^ to compare the interpre- tations
58 "l^he Scriptures a Rule.
tations given bj men, with the fcriptures themfcives ; which 35 utterly imprafticable, unlefs the fcriptures be clear in themfcives in fuch things as are neceffary to falvation,
[7.] The perfpicuity of the fcripture appears, if ye cond- der their author, who is God himfelf, the Father of lights 4 and the end for which he gave the fcriptures unto the church, viz. that they might be a rule of faith and life. Of his power to fpeak plairdy, who can doubt ? and the end for which they are given may fufficiently fatisfy as to his will to fpeak fo : for how can they be a rule to us, if v/rapt up fo as we can- jiot underftand them without the church's interpretation, in thofe things that are neceffary to falvation ?
2. It is a perfed rule. There is nothing neceffary to be believed or done, but what is to be found there. It is a perfedt rule for us to walk by in the way to heaven and glo- ry. What can be more delired than that in the text, It is profitable for doSirine, for reproof for correBion, for in- ftru6iion i?i righteoufnefs ? " The law of the Lord is perfe£t,"
Pfal. xix. 7. The fcriptures were written that men might have life, John xx. 31. and comfort and hope in all conditions, Rom. XV. 4. But 1 infilled on this more fully in the prece- ding doctrine.
3. It is the only rule. Everydodrine taught any manner of way in religion muff be brought to this rule, and if it agree not with it, muff be rejeded, If. viii. 20. Hereby traditions muff be tried, Matth. xv. 3.; and fpirits or revelations, i John iv. I. ; and nothing muff be added to it, Prov. xxx. 6. Rev. xxii. 18. I fhall fhut up with a few inferences.
Inf, I. The opinions of fathers, decrees of councils, a£ls of affemblies, covenants, and miniflers fermons, are not the rule of faith to us ; nor can any of them bind us but in fo far as they are agreeable to the word of God, by which all of therai muff be judged and examined, If. viii. 20.
3. Tranflations of the fcriptures into the vulgar languages are moft neceffary and profitable. How otherwife ffiould the unlearned read them, if tliey were not tranAated ? It was by the means of thefe tranflations that Romifh Babel was brought down at the Reformation, as by the divifion of tongues the building of old Babel w£^s hindered. And that makes the Papifts fuch enemies to tranflations of the fcriptures. We have reafon to blefs God for human learning, by which thefe tranflations are made, feeing the prophets and apoftles wrote in languages which but fev/ underfland.
3. This may give us a juft abhorrence of Popery, which al-
moft
The Scriptures a Rzile, 39
moft in every point on this head calls dull on the fcrlptures. The Papilts deny the necellitj of tranilations ; will not allow the people the free reading of the Bible ; cry out on it for its obfcurity ; accufe it of imperfe6licn ; and add their tra- ditions to it, that it may not be the only rule. And thus they blafpheme both God and his word, and expofe them- felves to that direful threatening, Rev. xxii. 18.
4. This may alfo give us a jull deteilation of Quakerifm, which fets up the light within men, which in very deed is nothing but a natural confcience, and the fpirit without the fcriptures, to be a rule to men. But their light is but dark- nefs, and their fpirit a fpiric of darknefs and d .-Iniion, if it agree not with the fcriptures. If. viii. 20. and moll be tried and examined by the fcriptures, i John iv. i. The Quakers are a dangerous fet of people that overturn the foundation of true religion.
5. This may likewife give us a juft abhorrence of the fu- perllition and ceremonies of the church of England, where- with they have corrupted the woriliip of God, rejecting the limplicity of gofpel-worfnip, and regulating their worlhip in many things not by the fcripture, but the dregs of Anti- chrill : Deut. iv. 2. " Ye lliall not add unto the word that I command you." What word? Statutes, ver. i. ceremonie::; and rites of worlhip. To baptize with water is Chrill's command : but who has added the fign of the crofs ? Chrill inltituted the facrament of the fupper : but who has added kneeling, to overturn the table-gefture, which we have from Chrill's own example ? The Lord's day is of divine inlli- tution : but whofe are the numerous holidays obferved in the church of England ? Matth. xv. 9. What is all this but an accufmg the fcripture of imperfection, as if God had not laid down a fufficient rule to teach us how we may glorify him ; as if they were alhamed of limple fcripture- worlhip, but they mull deck it up in the whorilh garments made by their own brains ? God has a fpecial zeal for his worlhip ; and it becomes us to' quicken our zeal for it, in a time when enemies are bringing in innovations in worlhip into this church, and fettingup their Dagon belide the ark. But though God Ihould, for our contempt of our pure worlhip, plague the land with this fuperllitious worlhip once more, yet as fure as Babylon Ihall fall, it fnall fall and flee before the glo- ry of the latter days.
6. Lajlly^ Be exhorted to lludy the holy fcriptures. Read them in your families, and read them in ferret, and cry for
the
4 o T^he Scope of the Scriptures »
the H0I7 Spirit, who di6lated them, to make you underlland them. Lock them not up in your chefls, and let them not lie dufty in your windows, as too many do to their fhame and difgrace, left the dull of them witnefs againfl: you. Prefer the Bible to all other books, as the book whereof God himfelf is the author. Prize and efteem it, as fhewing you the way to falvation, as a lamp to your feet, and a light to your paths.
THE SCOPE OF THE SCRIPTURES.
13. — Hold faji the for 711 of found words — in faith and love.
IN thcfe words there Is, (i.) The chara^ler of fcripture- do6lrine ; it is foiaid words ; found and pure in itfelf, and found in its effefts, being of a foul-healing virtue, Ezek. xlvii. 9. (2.) The fum oi it, faith, Ihewing what we are to believe ; and love, what we are to do, i John v. 3. John xiv. 15. This love has a particular relation to Chrift, all our obedience being to be offered unto God through him, as our faith fixes on God through him. This was what the apoftle preached. (3.) Our duty with refped to it ; to hold fajl the form of found words. This fignifies, [i.] To have a pat- tern of the do6lrine in our minds, to which all that minifters teach mufl be conformable. [2.] To hold it fall ; to cleave to, and keep hold of it, without flinching from it, whatever dangers or dilliculties may attend the doing fo. Both thefe fenfes are implied in the words.
The text affords the following dc^Lrinal propofiticn. DoCT, " The fcrlptures principally teach what man is to " believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of *' man."
2 As
T'^e Scope of the Scriptures, 4^
As to the matter of fcriptiire-do6lrme,
1. Some things are taught in the fcriptures lefs principal- ly ; that is, the main delign of the fcriptures is not to teach thefe things ; neither are thej taught for themfelves, but for the refpe(5l. they have to other things. Thus in the fcripture we may learn the knowledge of feveral natural things, as of the nature of fome trees, birds, beafts, &-c. of hulbandry, the cuftoms of feveral nations, efpecially of the Jews, &:c. But thefe and fuch like things are only taught in the fcrip- ture, as having fome refpedt to our faith and obedience. So the vine-tree is defcribed, Ezek. xv. to hold forth the ufe- lefTnefs of barren profeiTors, &c. However, whatfoever is taught in the fcriptures, feeing the fcripture is God's word, is all to be received by divine faithj though all fcripture- truths are not of equal importance.
2. THe fcripture teaches fome things chiefly. And thefe are faith and obedience. Thefe are the two parts of the doc- trine of the Bible. Whatfoever concerns religion, or the falvatlon of fouls, in the Old and Nev/ Teftament, may be reduced to one of thefe two heads : It is either an article of faich, or a point of obedience.
Here I fhall confider,
I. The nature of faith and obedience, and the connection betwixt the two.
n. The manner of the fcripture's teaching.
HI. The fenfe of fcripture.
IV. Shew that the Spirit of God fpeaking in the fcriptures is the fupreme judge of controverfies in religion.
I. Let us confider the nature of that faith and obedience which the fcripture teaches, with the connedion betwixt the two.
Firjif As to faith. Divine faith is a believing of what God has revealed, becaufe God has faid it, or revealed it. People may believe fcrlpture-truths, but not with a divine faith, unlefs they believe it on that very ground, the authori- t^of God fpeaking in his word. And this div^ine faith is the produ6l of the Spirit of God in the heart of a fmner, im- planting the habit or principle of faith there, and exciting it to a hearty reception and firm belief of whatever God reveals in his word. And the faith which the fcripture teaches, is what a man Is to believe concerning God. This may be re- duced to four heads-: Vv'"hat God is, the perfons iii the God-
VoL. I. F head.
4 a nc Scope of tie Scriptures,
head, the decrees of God relating to every thing that corner to pafs, and the execution of them in his works of creation and providence. Now, though the works of creation and provideir;? ihew that there is a God, yet that fundamental truth, that God is, and the do6lrines relating to the Trinity ofPerfons in the Unity of the Divine EfTence, God's afts anil purpofes, the creation of all things, the ftate of man at his creation, his fall, and his recovery by the mediation and fa- tisfatliop of ChriR, are only to be learned from the holy fcriptures. Hence we may infer,
1. That there can be no right knovv'ledge of God acquired in an ordinary way without the fcriptures, Matth. xxii. 29. " Ye do err (laid Chrifl to the Sadducees), not knowing the icripturesJ' As there mull be a dark night where the light is gene, fo thofe places of the earth mufl needs be dark, and without the faving knowledge of God, that want the fcrip- tures. Thus the Apoftle tells the Ephefians, that, before they were vihled with the light of the gofpel, they were " without Chrifc, being aliens from the commonwealth of Ifrael, and iirangers from the covenants of promife, having no hope, and without God in the world," Eph. ii. 12.
2. That where the fcriptures are not known, there can be no faving faith. For, fays the Apoflle, Rom. x. 14. 15. 17. *^ How Ihall they call on him in whom they have not be- lieved ? and how fhall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how ihall they hear without a preacher?, and how fliall they preach, except they be fent ? as it is written. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gofpel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things I So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
3. That there is n,othing we are bound to believe as a part of faith but what the fcripture teaches, be who they will that propofe it, and whatever they may pretend for their war- rant. " To the law and to the teftimony : if they fpeak not according to this word, it is becaufe there is no light in them," If. viii. 20. No man mull be our mafter in thefe things : "For one is our mafter, even Chrift," Matth. xxiii. 10. He is Lord of our faith, and we are .bound to believe whatever he has revealed in his word.
Secondly^ As to obedience, it is that duty which God re- quires of man. It is that duty and obedience which man owes to God, to his will and laws, in refpect of God's uni- verfal fupremacy and fovcreign authority over man ; antl X ■ whiclr
Tlje Scxjpe of the Scriptures, 43
which he fhould render to him out of love and gratitude. The fcriptures are the holy oracle from whence we are to learn our duty, Pfal. xix. 11. ** Bj tliem is thy fervant warned," fays David. The Bible is the light we are to take heed to, that we may know how to fleer our courfe, and or- der the feveral lleps of our life. " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path," fays the Pfaimifl, Pfal. cxix. 105. From hence we may infer,
1. That there can be no fufficient knov/ledge of the duty which we owe to God without the fcriptures. Thomgh the light of nature does in fome meafare iliew our duty to God, yet it is too dim to take up the will of God fufficiently in order to falvation.
2. That there can be no right obedience yielded to God •without them. Men that walk in the dark rauft needs (lumble ; and the v/orks that are wrought in the dark w^ill never abide the light ; for there is no working rightly by guefs in this matter. All proper obedience to God mufl be learned from the fcriptures.
3. That there is no point of duty that w^e are called to, but v/hat the fcripture teaches. If. viii. 10. forecited. Men rauft neither make duties to themfelves or others, but what God has made duty. The law of God is exceeding broad, and reaches the whole converfation of man, outward and inward, Pfal. xix. ; and man is bound to conform himfelf to it alone as the rule of his duty.
Thirdly, As to the connexion of thefe two, faith and obe- dience are joined together, becaufe there is no true faith but what is followed Vv'ith obedience, and no true obedience but what flows from faith. Faith is the loadftone of obe- dience, and obedience the touchftone of faith, as appears from Jam. \\. pajjim. They that want faith cannot be holy; and they that have true faith, their faith will work by love/ Hence we may fee,
I. That faith is the foundation of duty or obedience, and not obedience or duty the foundation of faith, Tit. iii. S. ; and that the things to be believed are placed before the things to be pradifed, in order to dillinguifn between the order of things in the covenant of grace and what they were under the covenant of works. Under the latter, doing, or perfedl: obedience to the lavr, was the foundation of the promifed privilege of life ; but under the former, the promife is to be believed, and the promifed life is to be freely received : and thereupon follows the believer's obedience to the law, out of
F 2 gratitude
44 '^^^ Scope of the Scriptures.
gratitude and love for [the mercj received. This appears from the order laid down by God himfelf in delivering the moral law from mount Sinai. He lays the foundation of faith, firfl of all, in thefe words, " I am the Lord thy God,'* &c. which is the fum and fubftance of the covenant of grace; and then follows the law of the ten commandments, which is as it were grafted upon this declaration of fovercign grace and love, Exod. xx. 2. — 18. And let it be remem- bered, that the Apoftle Paul calls gofpel -obedience the obedience of faith as fpringing from and founded upon faith. And if we examine the order of do6lrine laid down in all his epiftles, we fhall find, that he firft propounds the dodrine of faith, or what man is to believe, and up- on that foundation inculcates the duties that are to be pra6tifed.
2. That all works without faith are dead, and fo cannot pleafe God. For whatfoever is not of faith is fin ; and without or feparate from Chrift we can do nothing. Faith is the principle of all holy and acceptable obedience.
3. That thofe who inculcate moral duties without difco- vering the neceflity of regeneration, and union with Chrift, as the fource of all true obedience, are foolifh builders; they lay their foundation on the fand, and the fuperftrufture they raife will foon be overturned ; and they pervert the gofpel of Chrift. Such would do v/ell to confider what the Apoftle fays, Gal. i. 9. " If any man preach any other gofpel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accurfed."
II. I proceed now to confider the manner of the fcripture's teaching.
1. The fcripture teaches fome things exprefsly in fo many words ; as, " Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God," &c. Other things it teaches by
*good and neceflary confequence ; as, that infants are to be baptifed. Now, whatever can be proved by juft and neceflary confequence from facred writ, is all one, as to the binding power on mens confciences, as if it were taught there in fo many words, whether it be in points of faith or obe- dience.
2. The fcriptures teach but externally. It is the Spirit that teaches internally. The fcriptures externally reveal what we are to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man ; but the inward illumination of the Spirit of Qod is neceflary for the faving underftanding of fuch things
as
I" he Scope of the Scriptures, 45
as are revealed in the fcriptures, for feveral reafons which I mentioned in the former difcourfe, and fhall not now re- peat.
III. I come now to confider the fenfe of the fcripture.
I. The fenfe of the fcripture is but one, and not manifold. There m.ay be feveral parts of that one fenfe fubordinate one to another ; as feme prophecies have a refped: to the deliver- ance from Babylon, the fpiritual by Chrift, and the eternal in heaven ; and fome pafTages have one thing that is typical of another : yet thefe are but one full fenfe, only that may be of two forts ; one is limple, and another compound. Some fcriptures have only a fimple fenfe, containing a decla- ration of one thing only ; and that is either proper or figu- rative. A proper fenfe is that which arifes from the words taken properly, and the figurative from the words taken figu- jratively. Some bave a limple proper fenfe, as, " God is a Spirit, God created the heavens and the earth ;" which are to be underflood according to the propriety of the words. Some have a fimple figurative fenfe; as, '^ I am the true vine, and my Father is the hufbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away," &c. Thefe have but one fimple fenfe ; but then it is figurative, and is not to be un- derftood according to the proprietj^ of the words, as if Chrill were a tree, &c. Thus you fee what the fimple fenfe is. The compound or mixed fenfe is found wherein one thing is held forth as a type of the other ; and fo it confifts of two parts, the one refpeciing the type, the other the antitype ; which are not two fenfes, but two parts of that one and entire fenfe intended by the Holy Ghofl : e. g. Mofes lifted up the ferpent in the wildernefs, that thofe who v/«re ftung by the fiery fer- pents might look to it and be healed. The full fenfe of which is, " As Mofes lifted up the ferpent in the wildernefs, that, &:e. even fo mult the Son of man be lifted up : that whofoever believeth in him fhould not perifh, but have eternal life.'* Here is a literal and myllical fenfe, which make up one full fenfe betwixt th.em. Thofe fcriptures that have this com- pound fenfe, are fometimes fulfilled properly (or literally, as it is taken in oppofition to figuratively) in the type and an- titype both ; as Hof. xi. i. " I have called my fon out of E- gypt," which was literally true both of Ifrael and Chriil. Sometimes figuratively in the type, and properly in the an- titype ; as Pfal. Ixix. 21. "They gave me vinegar to drink." Sometimes properly in the type, and figuratively in the an- titype^ as Pfal. ii. ^. " Tliou fhalt break them with a rod of
iron.
4^ '^he Scope of the Scriptures,
iron. Compare 2 Sam. xii. 31. Sometimes figuratively in both, as PfaL xli. 9. *' Yea mine own familiar friend — hath lifted up his heel againil me ;" which is meant of Ahitophel and Judas. Now the fenfe of the fcripture muft be but one, and not manifold, that is, quite different and no wife fubor- dinate one to another, becaufe of the unity of truth, and be- caufe of the perfpicuity of the fcripture.
2. Where there is a queition about the true fenfe of fcrip- ture, it muft be found out what it is by fearching other places that fpeak more clearly, the fcripture itfelf being the infal- lible rule of interpreting of fcripture. Now that it is fo, ap- pears from the following arguments.
(i.) The Holy Spirit gives this as a rule, 2 Pet. i. 20. 21. After the apoille had called the Chriilians to take heed to the fcripture, he gives them this rule for underftanding it, " Knowing this iirft, that no prophecy of the*fcripture is of sny private interpretation, rn^ i^mg I'TnXvriar,^ of our own ex- pofition. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will cf man ; but holy men of i^od fpake us they were moved by the Holy Ghoft." As it came ; fo it is to be expounded : but it came not by the v.dll of man ; therefore we are not to reft on men for the fenfe of it, but holy men fpeaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft, and fo never erring j there- fore we are to look to the dictates of the fame Spirit in other places.
(2.) There are feveral approved examples of this, compa- ring one fcripture with another, to iind out the meaning of the Holy Ghoft ; as A6I3 xv. 15. " And to this agree the words of the prophet," &:c. The Bereans are commended for this. Ads xvii, i j. Yea, Chrift himfelf makes ufe of this to fiiew the true fenfe of the fcripture againft the devil, Matth. iv. 6. " Caft thyfelf down, (faid that wicked fpirit^ : for it is written, He ftiail give his aiigels charge concerning thee," Slc. Ver. 7. " It is written again, (fays Chrift), Thou fhalt not tempt the Lord thy God." And thus our Lord makes out the true fenfe of that fcripture, that it is to be un- derftood only with refped to them who do not caft them- felves on a tempting of God. Some more will occur concern- ing this point under the next head.
This then is the great, cliief, and infallible rule of inter- pretation of fcripture, to compare one paflage with another. Other things may be added as helps and means in order to the fmding out the true fenfe.
I. The knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek, in which
languages
'7'he Scope of the Scriptu-res, 47
languages the prophets and apoftles wrote, is an excellent mean to the right underilanding of the fcriptures. Thefe original tongues are the bell commentaries on fcripture ; and many times it is found fo by thofe that know them.
2. Diligently confider the fcope and defign of the Holy Ghoft in the portion of fcripture where ye find difficulty, the cohercHce and context, with all circumftances going before and following. Nullo eft ohjeEiio in lege quce non habet folu- tionem ifi latere, fays a rabbi, ^lis fcopus, hnpellens, fedes^ tempufque, locufque, et modus, hac feptem fcripturce attendito leBor,
3. Diftinguifli proper from improper words. The fcripture frequently ufes improper and figurative expreffions, which, if taken as the letters found, will found a very abfurd fenfe.
4. The commentaries of godly and learned writers are not to be neglected.
5. The reading alfo of profane hiftory is of notable ufe in the knowledge of the prophetical writings. And the know^- ledge of the Jewifti cuftoms brings great light to the fcrip- tures.
6. Laftly, Always take heed to the analogy of faith, and fee there be no deviating therefrom : for the Spirit of God fpeaking in the fcripture is always one and the fame ; and therefore we are never to think that one fcripture can be contrary to another,, or the known doftrine of the Bible and the form of found words : e, g. " This is my body which is broken for you ;" it cannot be fo underftood as if Chrift'3 body were locally prefent in the facrament ; becaufe we be- lieve, according to the conllant dodrine of fcripture, that Chrifl is afcended into heaven, and will come again at the lall day ; and till then the heavens muft contain him. So wq muft not take the words literally, when it is contrary to mo- defty, as when Ifaiah is bid go naked. If. xx. 2. ; or to piety, to cut ofi" the right hand, &c. More particularly,
I. Go to God for his fpirit to teach you, Pfal. cxix. 18. It is Chrift's work to give people to underftand the fcrip- tures. If you would know what Paul fays, pray for the fpi- rit by which he wrote.
2/Take heed of a carnal, earthly, and flefiily mind. When tlie heart is carnal, the mind is much blinded, and fo utterly unfit for fearching the fcriptures.
3. Endeavour to be exercifed unto godlinefs. An exercifed frame proves fometimes an excellent commentator.
4. Lqftly, Endeavour to pra£tife what you know.
IV4
48 IThe Scope of the Scripture u
IV. I proceed to fliew that the fpirit of God fpeaking iti fcripture is the fupreme judge by which all controverfies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils^ opinions of ancient writers, dodlrines of men, and private fpirits, are to be examined, and in whofe fentence we are to reft.
This is a very important point, and upon it depends the whole of religion. One man fays fo, another man fays other- wife: the queftion is. Who fhall be judge, and to whofe deter- mination are we to ftand and acquiefce in ? Four fundry ways do men go here.
Fir^, Enthufiafts fet up the private fpirit, and its revela- tions, without the Spirit, for the judge of controverfies. But whatever thefe may pretend, the fcripture is our only rule. For,
1. Whatever revelation or light men may pretend to, God binds them and us to the written word. If. viii. 20. *' If they fpeak not according to the fcriptures," it is not true light, but *• becaufe there is no light in them," that makes it fo : for going againft the word, they ftiew themfelves tO be aded with a fpirit of delufion, i John iv. 6.
2. The Apoftle Paul devotes them to a curfe, though they were angels, who preach any other gofpel than what he preach- ed, and the Galatians received from his hand. Gal. i. 8. 9. ; not only a gofpel contrary to it, but cmother, any thing diverfe from or befides it, though not contrary to it. And if it bet contrary, the Spirit is contrary to himfelf, for he is the au- thor of the fcriptures.
3. We are commanded to *' try the fpirits," i John iv. i. Now, how rnuft they be tried but by a rule ; and what rule have we to try them by but the written word ? This was the rule which the Bereans made ufe of to try the fpirit of the apoftles, for which they are highly commended. It is that rule which Chrift fends the Pharifees to try his own do6lrine by, John v. 40. But by the fcriptures we cannot try the fpirits, unlefs we lay them to that rule, and obferve whether or no the fpirits fpeak as the fcriptures do j and then how can the neiv revelations be received ?
4. The fpirits revelations are either a complete or par- tial rule. If our complete rule, then the fcriptures are ufe- lefs, which is blafphemous, and contrary to all thofe com- mands that requires us to give attendance to reading, fearch- ing, &.C. of them. If they be a partial rule only, then they either teach according to the fcripture, or not. if according
2 tt>
^he Scope of the Scriptures, 49
to it, then It is no new revelation, but what the fcripture al- Teady affords us. If not, it is becaufe there is no light- in them, If. viii. 20.
There is one fcripture that we mud more narrowly inquir.^ into^ both becaufe it is abufed by the adverfaries in this point, and affords us an argument for our doctrine. The paffage is 2 Pet. i. 19. " We have alfo a more ^are word of prophecy, whereunto je do w^ell that ye take heed, as unto a light thac ihineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the dav-ftar arife in your hearts." Enthufiafts here, by the day-ffar ari- fing in the heart, underffand fome extraordinary revelrttion and light which God fets up in the foul, which when it is fet up, the perfon is to take heed to the written word no longer. But, (i.) Whither would thefe men drive us ? They tell us, that all men have a light within them, accor- ding to which they muff walk ; and this is the fpirit with- in us ; yet mult we ftill expert a new light to turn us off from the fcriptures ; (2.) The apoflle here prefers plain- ly the word of prophecy unto an imm.ediate voice from heaven, and that in the very fame thing w^herein thev both agree : how much more preferable is the fcripture to new revelations ? (^^.') This fuppofes, that the apollles and believers in thofe days had not this light; for they fay, " We have a more fure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed." This being fo, we envy not the Quakers their light, which the apoflles and thefe Chriilians were ilran- gers to.
Some by the day dawning and the day-flar arifing under-. ftand the more clear difpenfation v^'hich they fuppofe is to come in the latter days. Others underftand by it the light of God and Chrift in glory, till which time the fcriptures muff be made ufe of, but no longer. Others underftand this as fpoken to the believing Jews in reference to the prophets of the Old Tellame«nt, to which they did well to take heed, till their gx)fpel-light Ihould Ihlne more clear. Some fay, that the word until is not to be taken exclulively of the time foUow^ing that dawning of the day, and day-liar a riling ; and thereby underftand limply more clear light ariiing after fome darknefs, which the people of God may be in for a time ; till w^hich light ariiing they are to take heed to the fcriptures ; not that they are then to give over taking heed to them. Laying slide that which relates to a more clear difpenfatioa yet to come, becaufe it fuppofes that then the fcriptures mu*lt -be laid alide, \vhich is very contrary to the fcripture, for the
Vol. I. G Spirit
jQ '^he Scope of the Scvipiurcs.
Spirit lliall never in this life jullle out the word, but his office is. to teach, not new things unwritten, but whatever Chriil fpoke to his difciples : " He fliall bring all things to your remembrance, (fays he), whatfoever I have faid unto you," John xiv. 26.: Laying afide that, it is hard to determine which of the reft is indeed the true meaning of the apoftle. Only it feems to bid faireft for the apoille's fenfe, to fay, that he fpeaks of the more clear knovdedge of Chrift which the believers at that time were afterwards to have, till which time they did well to take heed to the prophetical word, as it is in the Greek ; that is, to the dodrine of the propliets who prophefied of Chrift ; not that they were then to lay by the ufe of the prophets, but that then they would be of lefs ufe to them than before, v»^hen they fiiould attain to a more clear gofpel-light ; as the candle is of lefs ufe when the day dawns than it was before, though it be ftill ufeful. And I think it abundantly plain, that the word of prophecy is not here to be underftood generally of the whole fcripturc^ as the other interpretations feem to take It, but particularly of the do61rine of the prophets concerning Chrift. and the gofpel, as appears from the phrafe, the prophetic word, and the iirft verfe of the fol- lowing chapter, where he fpeaks of falfe prophets that were among the people of the Jews. So by the day-ftar I under- fcand Chrift himfelf, who is called the morn'mg-Jlar, Rev. xxii. 16. It is true it is here (pwr^p/j^Afj but there «5*i^ o^5<v«$ : but, for ought I know, the firft of thefe is «55-.x| 'XiyofAi^ov -, and though the words be different, the fenfe is the fame, one thing gets but different names. And Chiift is called the day-ftar or mornlng-ftar, which we know ?^^ both one thing ; bccaufe, (i.) As the morning-ftar is the moft eminent among the ftars, and moft lucid, as appears by its ftiining when the ap- pearance of the fun makes t!ie reft diiappear j fo there is none like Chrift among the fons, Cant. ii. 3. (2.) As the day-ftar puts an end to the dark night, fo doth Chrilt's arifing in the foul put an end to the night of fpiritual dark- nefs. Never was the fight of the day-ftar fo refreftiful to the weary traveller in the night, as Chrift's appearance in and to the foul ; only the apoftle calls him here rather the day-ftar than the fun, becaufehe is fpeaking of his appearance in this Ufe, whereas the full knowledge of him is deferred till his fe- cond coming. So the day-dawning is eafily underftood. And this is expefted to arlfe not abfolutely, but comparatively in refpeft of degrees of fuller manifeftation, as he promifes to thofc that continue in his word, and are his difciples indeed,
that
T^he Scope cf the Scripture s» 5t
that they fliall knox\' the truth, viz. more fully, John viii, 31. 32. And that palTage, Hof. vi. 3. " Then Ihall we know^ if we follow on to know the Lord : his going forth is prepa- red as the morning," doth excellently ferve to fhew us this truth. So there he hath refped to this furtlier manifeftation of Chrift which they were afterwards to have : but they are not then to give over tlie prophetic word ; for, as was before, noticed, the word 2intil is not always exclulive of the follow- ing time, as Pfal. ex. i. 2 Sam. vi. ult.
Now, if the writings of the propliets be more fure than a voice from heaven, and Chriftians are commended for taking heed to the fame ; and when the day-flar arifeth in the heart, it fhews only the fame thing more clearly. What place is there left for new revelations againft or befides the fcrip- tures?
Secondly, The Papifts fet the church upon the tribunal : but what that church is, they do not agree among themfelve?, whether it be the pope, or a council, or both together. How- ever, they aifert that there is in the church a vifible and in- fallible judge of controverfies in religion. This we deny, and far more that the pope, or a council approved by him, is fuch a judge. For,
1. The fcripture makes no mention of any fuch judge, in any of the places where the officers of the church are reckon- ed up, as Rom. xii. 7. 8. i Cor. xii. 28. Eph. iv. 11. nor any where elfe. And though negative theology, as they fay, is not argumentative, yet that cannot have place here, unlefs we ^^i)rj the perfection of the fcripture, v/hich v/e have proved already. A poiitive inllitution is requiiite here.
2. Our faith muff not lean upon the teftimcny or authority 'of man, i Cor. vii. 23. " Be not the fervants of men," not bodily, but fpiritually ; 2 Cor. i. 24. " Not that we have dominion over your faith ;" where the apollle declines, in his own name, and in the name of his fellows, the being of fuch a judge. But our faith leans on the word of God, Eph. ii. 20. " And are built on the foundation of the prophets," &,c.
3. The cioilrine of the church fhould be examined by the fcriptures, A6u5 xvii. 11. " Thefe were more noble thanthofe in ihefTalonica, in that they received the word with all readi- nefs of mind, and fearched the fcriptures daily, whether thefe things v/ere fo." Now he whcfe fentence is to be examined by another, cannot be the fupreme judge of controverfies. See If. viii. 20. _" To t]ie law and to the teftimony : if they
G 2 fpeak
^2 T^he Scope of the Scriptures.
i'peak not according to this word, it is becaufe their is n& light in them."
4. Neither pope nor council, conjunctly nor feverally, have fuch properties as are requilite to conllitute a iupreme judge in controveriies of religion ; they have no infallibility, or tell imony thereof ; yea, they have many ways deceived and been deceived. We may appeal from them, as being bound to the fcriptures, as well as others. And the church, be what It w^ilJ, muit not be judge in its ov^'n caufe.
5. Lcijlly^ riere is a controverfy in religion. Who is the fu- preme judge of controverfy in religion ? Who muft decide this, or be fupreme judge here ? The church cannot, neither pope nor council fo decide it in their own favour. That were iibfurd. Wherefore the Papiils therafelves are obliged to make another judge ox this controverfy^ and if fo, why not of all ?
'^Thirdly, The Sociuians fet up reafon to be the fupreme iudge of coiiiroveriies in religion, to whofe determination we ought to ttand, and therein to acquiefce. There is no doubt but we have much ufe for reafon in matters of religion ; as, (i.) To perceive. and underftand the things revealed in the icripture, Matth. xiii. 31. (2.) To collate them one with ano- ther, A6ls xvii. II. (3.) To explain the fame, Neh. viii. 8. (4.) To argue from the fcriptures, Matth. xxii. ult, ("5.) Ta vindicate the truths from objections, Rom. ix. 19. 20. That it is not the judge nor the rule, that is, that reafon ought not to be admitted of itfelf, and according to its principles, to de- termine ciintroveifies of religion, is what we alTert. To ii- iuflrate this by an example, thefcripture fays, T'hcje three are one ; we fay we plainly perceive the fcripture fays f o ; and liierefore, tliough our reafon cannot comprehend, we will be- lieve it, becauie it is- plam the fcripture fays fo. They fay, they cannot believe that there are three perfons in the God- head, and not three gods, becaufe reafon is againil it ; and tlierefore finding the thing unagreeable to reafon, though it it were in ever fo plain words found in the fcripture, they will not believe (as they pretend) it means as the words found, but will fallen another meaning on the words, though never fo far fetched. And that it may not be thought that this is the fame way that the orthodox go too, in explaining fcriptures thiit are underllood figuratively, I Ihall give au example of that too. The fcripture fays, Chrilt is a vine, a door, the bread is his body, &.c. We know indeed that this is eontrary ta reafon if expounded literally ; but that is not the
priru'ir
The Scope of the Scriptures; ^»
prime reafon why we rejeft the literal r leaning, and on which we build our faith as to the true meaning, as the cafe is with the Socinians, but becaufe it agrees not with other fcriptures to underftand it fo ; which tellify that Chrifl is God and man. Now, that reafon is not the fupreme judge of con- troverfies in religion, is proved by the following argu« ments.
1. Reafon in an unregenerate man is blind in the matters of God, I Cor. ii. 14. " The natural man rt-ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for thej are foolifhnefs unto him: neither can he know them, becaufe they are fpiritually difcerned ; Eph. iv. 17. 18. Eph. v. 8. Except, This only refpeds reafon not illuflrated by divine revelation, Anf. By that illuftration of reafon by divine revelation, they underftand either fubje6tive or objective iiluftraticn. If they underftand it of fubjedive illuftration, they quit that article of their religion, v/herein they believe that the mind of man is capable of itfeif, without the illumination of the Spirit, to attain fufficien: knov/ledge of the mind of God re- vealed in the fcripture. If of objedive illuftration, by the mere revelation of thefe truths, then it is falfe that they af- fert : For the apoftle oppofes here the natural man to the fpiritual man ; and therefore by the natural man is under- ftood every unregenerate man, even that has thefe truths revealed to him ; for, fays the apoftle, " they are fooliftmefs unto hmi." Now, how can he judge them fooliftmefs if they be nut revealeu ? ,
2. Reafon is not infallible, and therefore cannot be admit- ted judge in matters concerning our fouls. Reafon may be deceived, Rom. iii. 4. and is not this to fliake the foun- dations of religion, and to pave a way to fcepticifm and atheifm ? Except. That is not to be feared v/here found reafon is admitted judge. But what talk they of found reafon ? The adverfaries themfelves will yield, that reafon is unfound in the molt part of men. We fay, that it is •not fully found in the vvorld ; for even the beft know but
in part ; darknefs remains in fome meafure on the minds of all men.
3. Reafon muft be fubjed to the fcripture, and fubmit it- feif to be judged by God fpeahing there, 2 Cor. x. 4. 5. " The weapons of our warfare are — mighty — to the pull- ing down of ftrong holds, cafting down imaginations, — and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Chrift." Matters of faith are above the fphere of reafon ;
and
^4 'The Scope oj the Scripture s.^
and therefore as fenfe is not admitted judge in thofe things that are above it, fo neither reafon in thofe things that are ubove it, I Tim. iii. i6.
4. If reafon were the fupreme judge of controverfies, then our faith fhould be built on ourfelves, and the great reafon whj we believe anj principle of religion w^oiild be, becaufe it appears fo and fo to us ; which is moil abfurd. The fcrip- ture teaches otherwife, i Theff. ii. 13. " Ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God." Moft plainly does our Lord teach this, John, v. 34. ** I receive not teftimony from men ;" chap. v. 39. ** Search the fcriptures."
Fourthly^ The orthodox aflert the fupreme judge of con- troverfies in religion to be the Holy Spirit fpeaking in the fcriptures. This is proved by the following arguments.
1 . In the Old and New Teftament, the Lord ftill fends us to this Judge. So that we may neither turn to the right haiKl nor left from what he there fpeaks, Deut. v. 32. Scxvii. II. " According to the fentence of the law which they fhall teach thee ;" If. viii. 20. "To the law and to the tefti- mony," &:c, ; Luke xvi. ^9. " They have Mofes and the prophets ; let them hear them ;" John v. 39. " Search the Icriptures." Some hereto refer that paffage, Matth. xix. 28. ** Verily I fay unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, v/hen the Son of man lliall fit in the throne of his glory, ye aifo fhall fit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes' of Ifrael." In this fenfe it mufl be meant of the doctrine they taught, as dictated to them by the Holy Ghofl.
2. It was the pra«aice of Chrifl and his apofllcs to appeal to the Spirit fpeaking in the fcriptures, Matth. iv. where Chrifl ftill anfwers Satan with that, " It is written." And fo v/hile difcourfing with the Sadducees about the refurrec- tion, Matth. xxii. 31. 32. So alfo in John, chap. y. & x. and Luke xxiv. 44. And fo did others, Afts xvii. 11. & xxvi. 22. 23. 2 Pet. i. 19. A6ts xv. 15. 16. A careful exa- mination of which pafTages I recommend to you for your eftabliihment in the truth.
3. To the Spirit of God fpeaking in the fcriptures, and to him only, agree thofe things that are requifite to conftitute one the fupreme Judge, (i.) We may certainly know that the fentence v/hich he pronounces is true, for he is infallible, being God. (2.) We cannot appeal from him, for he is one above whom there is none. (3.) He is no rcfpecT:er of per-
fons,
The Scope of the Scriptures, ^^
ions, nor -can be bialTed in favour of one in preference to ano- ther.
Having difculTed the doflrinal part of this fabje^L, I Ihall now conclude with two or three inferences.
Inf. I. People then ftiould diligentlj read and fludy the holy fcriptures, in order to their knowing what to believe and v/hat to do. As the fcripture is the only rule and teft of faith and obedience, let us accomplifh a diligent fearch into it, that we may underftand all matters to be believed and practifed in order to our falvation, and rejc6l every di6late and every precept, come from what quarter it will, if it be not taught us in the facied records. Vv"e are not to believe any thing to be an article of faith, or a duty that we are to per- form, unlefs it has the fandtion cf (he Spirit of God in the written word, and be enjoined us by that infallible Judge. Let it then be our daily care and principal iiudy to acquaint curfelves with the word of God, and drav/ from that in- fallible treafary all our knowledge as to faith and pra6llce.
2. How dangerous mull it be to maintain opinions and practices which are evinced to be contrary to tlie Vvord of God? How ha- zardous mult be tlie ftate of thofe who hold dcfirines contrary to and everlive of the fonndatlons of Chriiiianity ? Many fucl» dodiines arc taught and propagated in our day ; ^uch as the. tenets of Socinians and Arians, who degrade the Son of God to the rank of a mere cre?.ture, and deny his fupreme God- head and eiTeatial glory, and inipugn his fatisfaclion ; tlic Arminians, who overturn the dotlrine of original fiUj aiTert: free will, and ftickle for the reiiuibility of grace, and other things everlive of th.e do^lrine of the Bible ; and others who fet up creeds, confeiiions, ^nd covenants oi human manufac- ture, in the place of the infallible oracles of truth.
3. How worthy of reproof are they Vv'ho make no con- fcience of reading the fcriptures ? The}' feldom look intt» then), or at moll only on a fabbath-day, without giving atten- tion to what they read j and lO are grofsly ignorant cf the firlt principles of religion .
4. Religion, if it be of the right fort, will be praclical re- ligion. A blind obedience, or ignorant obedience, to fome of the duties of religion, is no better than bodily exercife, which proiiLeth little. Ail right obedience flows from a principle of faith in the heart. True faith will always be produftivc of, and accompanied Vv'ith good works. And it is in vain for men to fay t'^ey.havc religion, unlefs they abound in all the
fruits
5^ The Scriptures the Booh of the Lord,
fruits of righteoufnefs, which are by Jef us Chrift unto the pralfe and glory of God. Let us then flievv our faith by our works, in having a refpe^t unto all the commands of God, and doing v/hatfoever he has inj'oi'ned us in his word.
THE SCRIPTURES THE BOOK OF THE LORD, AND THE DILIGEI^T STUDY AND SEARCH THEREOF RECOri- MENDED AND URGED.
Ifaiah xxxiv. l6. — Seek ye out of the hook of the Lord, and read : no one of thefe fjjall fail, none fjall want her mate z for my mouth it hath commanded, and his fpirit it hath ga- thered them.
HAVING coniidered the divine authority of the holy fcrlptures, and their fcope, I come now to recommend unto you the diligent ftudy and fearch of thefe facred oracles, from the text now read.
In the former part of this chapter, there are mofl terrible threatenings denounced againft the enemies of God and his church, which receive not their full accomplifhment till the laft day, as appears from ver. 4. 10. In the text there is the confirmation of the v./hole. And therein we have,
I. An intimation that all fhall be accomplifhed according to the word. Wherein two things are to be obferved.
(i.) The ftudy of the word required. Where we may notice, (i.) The honourable epithet given to it, Yhe hook of the Lord. Thus the holy fcripture is called, as being of di- vine original and authority, God himfelf being the author of it. It is true, that in Ifaiah's days, even the canon of tlie Old Teflament was not completed, fome of the hiftorical books, and of the prophetical too, not being then written. But the body of the do6lrine of the word was comprifed in the law, or five books of Mofes ; and what was afterwards written, was but a building on that foundation, by enlarge- ?iient, explication, and application. And this prophecy look-
a ins:
'T/je Scriptures the Book of the Lord, 57
ing as far as the end of the world, the Spirit of God might here have an eye to the complete canon of the Old and New Teftament. [2.] The itiidy of it recommended, Seek out of it. The word iignides to inquire, fear ch, feek out ^ and im- ports diligence and earneftnefs in confuitiRg a thing to leam from it. And fo it is emphatically pointed, to denote a ve- •hemencj and intenfenefs of fpirit in the lludy. It does in a great meafiire anfwer that word, A6ls xvii. 11. — Searched the fcripturcs. We are not only to feek from it, but cut of it, or, as the Hebrew figniiies, from in it, or, as in the Greek, to it, and it^from it. [3.] The way to fludy, read it. Do not fatlsfy yourf elves to hear it, but read it with your own eyes. Fox the eye makes ordinarily deeper impreffioa than the ear.
(2.) The accompli fhment in the mod minute circumflance. [i.] Whereas the Lord had named a great many horrible creatures that fhould pclTefs the dwellings of his enemies, no7ie of them fh all fail, they ihall all be there. [2.] Whereas he had faid they foould have their mates, that fo their kinds might be continued there, nam cf them fnall =:t.\v;z5 their mate for that purpofe.
2. The confirmation or reafon of this accomplifhment ac- cording to the word. And it hath two parts, namely, that he -.has fpoke the one, and will effectuate the other.
(j.) Himfelf has fpoke the word : My mouth it hath com^ 7nanded. His truth is engaged for its accomplliliment. He has commanded, not thefe creatures, but the v/ord or book, as Pfal. cv. 8. — The word ho cr,::imanded: and God is faid to command his word, for that he gives it as a lavv giver, cf fupreme authority. And fo this anfwers to the firft part of the intimation.
(2.) He will efFeduate the thing in itccomplifhment of the word : His Spirit will gather tliefe creatures. So his power is engaged to make it forthcoming. There feems to be here a remafkable change of the perfons But I am miftaken if the mouth of the Lord be not one of the names of Chriil in the fcripture : Thus, If. l::ii. 2.^—** Thou ill lit be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord Ihall name." Jer. xxiii. i5. "They fpeak — not out of the mouth of the Lord.'* Compare John i. 18. '• No man hath feen God at any time : the only begotten Son, which is in the bofom of the Father, he hath declared him." Heb. i. i. 2. " God who at fundry times, and in divers manners, fpake in time paft unto the fa- thers by the prophets, hath in thefe lall days fpoken unto us
Vol. L H by
58 The Scriptures the Booh of the Lord,
by hi? Son." And fo the v/ords run very plainly and exaftly accoraing to tlie original, For my mouth he hath commanded, afid his Spirit it hath gathered them.
Two doclrines natively arife from the words, viz. DocT. I. " The hoij fcripture is the book of the Lord." DocT. II. " The fcripture is a book to be read, carefully
and diligently fearched, confulted, and fought into."
As it is the laft of thefe do6trines I mainly intend to dif- Courfe from, I fhall be very brief in the illuflration of the iirft : and though fome things to be fpoken upon it interfere with what has been already delivered, I hope it will tend to your cftabllihment in the truth, and the more endear the holy fcripture to you.
DocT. I. " The holy fcripture is the book of the Lord."
All I intend upon this head is to lliew,
I. la what refpeds the holy fcripture is the book of the Lord.
II. That it is fo.
III. Make a ihort improvement.
I. My firft province is to fhew in what refpeds the holy fcripture is the book of the Lord.
1. The Lord is the fubjed:-rnatter of that book, as the book of the wars of the Lord. It is the commendation of a book, that it treats of a noble fubjecl ; and this book treats of God, the great fcope of it being to fhew v.'hat God is, and w^hat his will is. Hence we are commanded to " hold fafl the form of- found words," 2 Tim. i. 13. If we wbuld know God, and our duty to him, we mull turn to this book and learn it.
2. The Lord is the author of it, 2 Tim. iii. 16. ** All fcripture is given by infplration of God." And wh^ was fit to make a book on that noble fubje6t but himfelf.^ John i. 18. forecited. It is the produfl of his own unerring Spirit, and fo his own book in a moil proper fenfe. It is for this reafon that it is called " the book of the Lord." It is true, feveral hands were employed in the v.^riting of it 5 but yet all and every part of it was from the Lord.
(i.) The motion to write was from the Lord, by a parti- cular impulfe on the fpirits of the holy penmen, which in- fluenced them to the work, and carried them on in it, 2 Pet.
i. 2i«
The Scriptures the Book of the Lord. ^^
1. 21. " Holy men of God fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft." Sometimes they had particular exprefe calls, but they had always this motion powerfully determining and inclining: them to the work.
(2.) The matter of their writing was from him. He laid it to their hands, 2 Tim. iii'. 16. " All fcripture is given by infpiration of God." Some things Vv^ere matters of pure re- velation, that could not be known otherwife ; fuch as things paft, whereof there was no manner of record, things to come,, things without the reach of mens knowledge, as the thoughts of others. Thefe things they had by immediate fuggeftion. Some things they might have by other records, their own judgment, or memory. In thefe the Spirit of the Lord infal- libly guided them what to chufe and refufe, flrcngthened their judgment and memories, fo that they .could not raiilake, John xvi. 13. " The Spirit of truth — will guide you Into all truth."
(3.) The very words they wrote were from him. The apoftles fpoke the very words of the Holy Gholt, and far more wrote fo, i. Cor. ii. 13. And therefore God is faid to fpeak by and in the holy penmen, 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. Luke i. 70. A6fs i. 16. He did not give them the matter to put in their own words, but put the words in their hearts too, but in a manner fuited to their native ftyle. And truly it is hard to conceive how the infpiration of the holy fcriptures could reach the end without it, feeing fo much depends on the fuitable exprefling of matter.
n. T proceed to fhew, that the holy fcripture is the book of the Lord. This is evident from many things, of which i fnall only obferve a few.
1. This book difcovers what no mortal could ever have done, and nowife could be had but by divine revelation, as the hiftory of the creation, what was done before man v/as on the earth, the fublime myileries of the Trinity, of the in- carnation of the Son of God, and the eternal counfels of God concerning m.an's falvation.
2. The p'erfecl holinefs of the doctrine. It commands all hollnefs, forbids all impurity in heart and life, under the pain of damnation : which fhews it could neither be the work of men, being fo far above their reach, and crofs to their cor- rupt nature ; nor of evil angels, being fo oppofite to latan's kingdom j nor of good ones, who couid never have put a cheat on the world,' making their own words pafs for God's.
Hi ^ 3. Th^
6o ^ke Scriptures the Book of {he Lord.
3. The efficacy of the do(ftrine in its fearching and convin"*- cing the confcience, Heb. iv. 11. ; converting fouls from' their moft beloved lufts, even when nothing can be expected from the world for fiich a change, Pfal. xix. 7. ^ rejoicing the heart under the deepell diftrefles, ver. 8. This is not from any virtue in the letters or fyllables, but from the Spirit, whofe inftrument it is.
4. The miracles whcrc^vith it has been confirmed. Thefe were wrought to confirm the doctrine, Matth. ix. 6. Thefe are God's feal, which he will never put to a lie.
5. Lajily, There is an inward fenfacion of this in the fpirits of thofe that have their fenfes exercifed.- For it is not to be doubtedy but as the works of God bear the marks of a divine hand, fo his word alfo does. And while there arefuchmani- fell diirerences betwixt one voice and another of men,, how can it be thought, but the voice of God has a peculiar fignature on it ? ]f that be not difcerned by others, it is by his owin. people that know bis voice.
I lliall now make a lliort improvement of this point. Use I. For information. It informs us, that,
1. The fcripture is the bell of books. They who heard Chriil, faid, " Never man fpake like this man ;" and they that fee the true glory of the fcriptures muft own, never did any w^rite like thefe writings. There we have the true pic- ture of the great Author, in fpotlefs holinefs ; there the re- velation of his mind with refpedl to our falvation. What- ever other books there be in the world relating to our falva- tion, they are but dina tapers lighted at this burning lamp.
2. They are enemies to God that are enemies to the fcrip- tures, whctlier in their principles, as Papifts and others, or in their pradices. For if men loved God, they would love his word, Pf\d. cxix. 9-7. And men, by their relifli of the. word, may know what cafe their fouls are in. For according a-s they rciifli the fcriptures, fo is it v/ith their fouls. If they have loft the guft of them, it is evident that either they have no grace, or that it is not in exercife.
3. Wo to thofe whom the Bible condemns; and thefe are all wicked men and hj^pocrites, whatever their ftations or pro- feffions be. But h;ippy they whom it approves and juftifies y and thefe are all the iiaefere feekers of God. Seek to be of the number of the latter, and then none of the woes denounced in God's word ihall fidl upon you.
Us¥:
The Study of the Scriptures enforced. 6 1
Use II. Of exhortation.
T. Let us highly prize this book for the fake of the Au- thor. The Ephelians thought that they had good ground to be zealous for the image of Diana, becaufe they fancied it fell down from Jupiter, A6ts xi:t. ^^. Your Bible is a book really come from God ; let us be afbamed we db not prize it more, by ufing it diligently to the ends for which it was given the church.
2. Let us believe it in all the parts thereof ; the commands, that we may ftudy to conform ourfelves to them ; the pro- mifes, that we may thereby be encouraged to a holy life ; and the threatenings, that we may be thereby deterred from fin. Alas ! though we own it to be the word of God, that we are no more moved with it than if it were the word of man, and fuch a man as we give little credit to. For com- pare the lives of the mod part with it they fay, it is but idle tales.
3. Let us fubmit our fouls to it, as to the oracles of the living God. He is the great Lawgiver, and in that book he fpeaks ; let us own his authority in his word, and fubmit to it as the rule of our faith and life, without difputing or op- pofing.
4. Lajily, Let us ftudy to be well acquainted with it, and make it our buiinefs to fearch the fcriptures. This bring? me to the main thing I intend.
DocT. II. " The fcripture is a book to be read, carefully " and diligently fearched, confulted, and fought into,"
If ye afk, by whom this is to be done ? it is by all into whofe hands, by the mercy of God, it comes. Some never had it, and fo they will not be condemned for flighting of it, Rom. ii. 12. Magiftrates are called to look to it, and be much converfant in it, Jofti. i. 8. " This book of the law Ihall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou flialt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayft obferve to do according to all that is written therein." Deut. xvii. 18. 19. " And it Ihall be, when he fitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he iliall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priefts the Levites. And it fnall be with him, and he fhall read therein all the days of his life ; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law, and thefe ftatues, to do them." Minifters are in a fpecial manner called to the ftudy of it, i Tim. iv. 13. " Give
attendance
62 ^hc Study of the Scriptures ejiforced.
attendance to reading." 2 Tim. iii. i6. 17. " All fciipture is given bj infpiration of God, and is profitable for do£lrine, for reproof, for corre6lion, for inllrudion in righteoufnefs." But not they only are fo commanded, but all others within the church, John v. 39. " Search the fcriptures." Dent. vi. 6. 7. ** Thefe words which I command thee this day, lliall be in thine heart. And thou ihalt teach them diligently unto thy chil- dren, and fhalt talk of them when thou fitteft in thine houfe, and when thou walked by the way, and v»^hen thou lieft down, and when thou rifefl up."
In difcourfing further from this point, I fhall,
I. Explain this feeking into the book of the Lord*
II. Give the reafons of the doctrine.
III. Make application.
I, T am to explain this feeking into the book of the Lord. And here I will Ihew,
1 . What is prefuppofed in this feeking.
2. Whai is the import of a ftudious inquiry into the fcrip- tures.
First, I am to Ihew what is prefuppofed in this feeking in- to the book of the Lord. It prefuppofes,
1 . That man has loft his way, and needs dire^lion to find it, Pfal. cxix. 176. " I have gone aft ray like a loft ftieep ; feek thy fervant." Miferable man is bemifted in a vain v/orld, which is a dark place, and has as much need of the fcriptures to direft him, as one has of a light in darknefs, 2 Pet. i. 19. What a miferable cafe is that part of the world in that want the Bible? They are vain in their imaginations, and grope in the dark, but cannot find the way of falvation. In no better cafe arc thofe to whom it has not come in power.
2. That man is in hazard of being led farther and farther wrong. This made the fpoufe fay, " Tell me, O thou whom my foul loveth, where thou feedeft, where thou makeft thy flock to reft at noon : for why ftiould I be as one that turneth afide by the flocks of thy companions ?" There is a fubtle de. vil, a Vv'icked world, corrupt lufts within one's own breaft, to lead him out of the right way, that we had need to give over, and take this guide. There are many falfe lights in the world, which, if followed, will lead the traveller into a mire, and leave him there.
3. That men are flow of heart to underftand the mind of God in his word. It will coft fearching diligently ere we
can
The Study of the Scriptures enforced. 6^
can take It up, John v. 39. Our ejes are dim to the things of God, our apprehenfions dull, and our judgment is weak. And therefore, becaufe the iron is blunt, we muft put to the nioreflrength. We loil the lliarpnefs of our fight in fpiritual things in Adam ; and our corrupt wills and carnal aifcjSlions, that favour not the things of God, do more blind oiir judge- ments : and therefore it is a labour to us to find out what is ne- celfaryfor our falvation.
4. That the book of the Lord has its difficulties, which are not to be ealily folved. Therefore the Pfalmift prays, ** Open thou mine eyes, t^iat I may fee wondrous things out of thy law," Pfal. cxix. 18. Philip aiked the eunuch, ** Un- derltandeft thou what thou readeft ? And he faid. How can I, except fome man fliould guide me ?" There are depths there wherein an elephant may- fwim, and will exercife the largeft capacities, with all the advantages they may be poiTefTed of. God in his holy providence has fo ordered it, to flain the pride of ail glory ; to make his word tlie liker himfelf, whom none can fearch out to perfection, and to fharpen the diligence of his people in their inquiries into it.
5. That yet we need highly to underftand it, othervv'ife we would not be bidden fearch into it. " Of the times and fea- fons (fays the apoftle), ye have no need that I vrrite unto you ;" and therefore he wrote not of them. There is a trea- fure in this field : we are called to dig for it ; for though it be hid, yet we muft have it, or we will pine away in our fpi- ritunl poverty.
6. Lafily, That vrc may gain from it by diligent inquiry. The holy humble heart will not be always fent empty away from thefe wells of falvation, when it plies itfelf to draiv. There are fhailow places in thefe waters of the fancluary, where lambs may wade.
Secondly, I proceed to fiicv.- v/hat is the import of a Hu- dlous inquiry into the fcriptures. This holds out tlie mat- ter and manner of the duty.
Firfl, As for the matter of the duty; it lies in three things.
I. We fiiould be capable to read the fcriptures diflinclly. Alas I How ihall they lludy the book of God that cannot fo much as read it? If. xxix. 12. It is fad to think that there are among Chriftians who call God their Father, and cannot read his tefi:ament ; who fay they would be at heaven, and yet cannot confuit the direcl ions for the way. And if their parents have neglected to teach them, they have not the grace to make up that, by their own indultry. Their cafe is little
better
64 '^he Study of the Scriptures" enforced,
•"better that cannot read it dlflindly ; for without that there can be little beneUt got by it, Neh. viii. 8.
2. We fhould acquaint ourfelves with the letter of the fcrip- twres, the hiflories, prophecies, precepts, &c. This Timo- thy is commended for, " that from a cliild he had known the holy fcripturesy" 2 Tim. iii. 15. That is the facred field where the treafure lies ; the blefled body, where the foul of the fcripture lodgeth ; the words wherein the mind of God towards iinners is held forth, Matth, xiii. 52.
3. We ought to labour to underftand the mind of God in them, and that favingly and fpirit»ally. Wifdom lies in the book of the Lord ; and fee what courfe we fhould take to get at it, Prov. ii. 4. 5. " If thou feekeft her as filver, and fearcheft for her as for hid treafures : then Ihalt thou un- derftand the fear of the Lord ; and find the knowledge of God." To read the fcriptures jufl for reading's fake, without labouring to underfland what ye read, is very unprofitable work. Nay, we fhould fearch narrowly till we find the fenfc and meaning of what we read, as one that digs deep, breaks the clods of earth, till he finds the gold ore.
Secondly, As to the manner of the duty ; it imports,
1. A high efleem of the treafure to be found in the book •of the Lord, Matth. xiii. 44. People will not be at the pains to feek into what they do not value. If men did not prize gold, they would not rip up the bowels of the earth for it. It is the undervaluing of the fcriptures that makes people fo little to fludy and fcek into them.
2. A defign of fpiritual profit by the fcripture. No wife man will be at pains but to gain thereby. And he that would aright fludy the holy fcriptures, muft defign his foul's advan- ttige thereby. We fliould come to the reading of the book of the Lord, as to a foul-feaft, Pfal. cxix. 13!. ; as to the gathering ■of fpoil after battle, Pfal. cxix. 162. Some read the fcrip- tures to furnifh their heads with notions of the things of religion, and their tongues with talk about tliem ; but read ye for holinefs to your hearts, and to rule your walk thereby. Some read them to fupport their errors, and fome for matter of jeft and drollery ; which are horrible work. But ** fearch ye the fcriptures : for in them ye will find eternal life ; and they are they that tefl;ify of Chrifi:," John v. 39.
3. A ferious application of ihe heart to the work; for it will not be a by-hand work, Pfal. i. 2. In the fcriptures God fpeaks to us, as in prayer we fpeak to God ; and when God ipeaks, we Jliould liflen. attentively. The angels pry into
2 fcripture-
^e Study of the Scriptures enforced, 65
fcnpture-mj'fleries, i Fet I. 12. So iliould we into the fcrip- tures, James i. 25.
4. Painfulnefs in the ftudj. Silver and gold are net to be gathered up by every lazy paiTenger from the furface ©f the earth, as ftones are, but muit with labour be digged out of the howels of it, Prov. ii. 4. forecited. This is the gate of heaven ; and there muft be driving to get in at it. It is not eafy to overcome a dark, carnal, hard heart, Vv'hich unfits us for the ftudy of the fcriptures. And indeed many get but little advantage by their reading it ; for dig they cannot, and beg they will not ; and therefore they ga empty from thefe wells of falvation.
5. Diligence and eonftancy, i Pet. i. 10. It is the hand of the diligent that maketh rich in all cafes, while droufinefs clothes a man with rags. See the -duty of a Chriftian wath refpedl to the word, Pfal. i. 2. *' His delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.'* He fuffers not his Bible to gather dufl.
Lafly, A thorough fearch. We ihculd go through every leaf of the book of the Lord, and endeavour to acquire the knowledge of the w^hoie fcriptures. For " all fcripture is given by infpiration of God, and is profitable for do61rine, for reproof, for correction, for inftruclicn in righteoufnelV, 2Tim. iii. 16. Some nev^r read all the Bible in their days, but pick out portions here and there only. Searchers do not fo, but k>ok into every corner. And Vv'e ihould Iaboi:r to know more p.nd more of what we have feme infigiu into : for this Bible, fays one, contains a puncheon that hitherto has nqt beeij pierced.
II. The next general head is, to give the reafons of the point, That the book of the Lord fhocld be read, carefully and diligently fearched, confulted, and fought into.
I. Becaufe the way of falvation is to be found only therein, John V. 39. forecited. This is the flar rifen in a dark world, to guide us where Chrlfl is. All the refearches of the wife men of the world, ^11 the inventions of inen, can never guide 41S to Immanuel's land, John i. 18. " No man has feen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bofom of the Father, he hath declared him." Here, and here only, the counfels of God touching man's falvation are difcovered. And fo, as falvation is the mioft necelTary thing, the ftudy of the fcriptures is the moft necelTary exercife. To flight it, is to judge ourfelves unworthy of eternal life.
Vol. L I ' 2. It
66 The Study of the Scriptures etiforced.
2. It is the only rule of our faith and lives, If. viii. 20. " To the law imd to the teftiir.ony : if they fpeak not according to this v/ord, it is becaufe there is no light in thenn." Eph. ii. 20. " Ye are built upon the foundation of the prophets and apollles, Jefus Chrifl himfelf being the chief corner- Itone." Rev. xxii. 18. 19. " I teftify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man iliall add unto thefe things, God ihall add unto him the plagues that are ivritten in this book : and if any man (liall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God Ihall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." The Bible is the pattern fhewn on the mount, to which our faith and lives mufl: be conformed, if we would pleafe God. The Lord fays to us, as Deut. xxviii. 14. " Thou flialt not, go afide from any of the v.'crds which I command thee this day, to the right hand or to the left." None can walk regularly unlefs they obferve the rule ; but how can one obferve it un- lefs he know it ? Matth. xxii. 29. God has given each of us our poll in the world ; the Bible is the book of our in- ftruftions ; and fhall we not ftudy it ? The lawyer lludies his law-books, the phylieian his medical books ; and fhali net a Chriilian ftudy the bock of the Lord ?
3. The Lord himfelf didated it, and gave it us for that very end, 2 Tim. iii. 16. 17. forecitcd. Rom. v. 4. " VvHiat- foever things were written aforetime were written for our learning." x'\nd has the Spirit of the Lord written it, and will nor we read it ? Has he given it us to be ftudied by us, and will we flight it ? This raulf be horrid contempt of God, and ingratiiiide to him with a witnefs. Whofe image and foperfcription is this on the fcriptures ? Is it not the Lord's? Thcii take it up and read.
4. Vv^e rauft be judged by the fcriptures at the great day, John xii. 48. That is one of the books opened, Rev. xx. 12. This is the book of the Lord's lav^s and ordinances, bv which he will proceed in abfolving or condemning us. I own God v/ill go anotl^er way to v/ork with thofe who never had the Bible, R.om. -i. 12. But knov/ thou, that feeing it is in the country where thou liveft, though thou never readefl a letter of it, thou mult be judged by it. Is there not good reafon then for reading the fcriptures ?
III. I proceed now to the pradical improvement of this important fubjcd.
Use
ne Study of the Scriptures enforced. 67
tJsE I. Of information. It lets us fee,
I. The neceffity and advantage of tranflations of the Scriptures into the vulgar languages, as I have formerly fliewn.
2. The people not only may without any licence from the church-guides, but muft read the fcriptures, for God has commanded it. The Papifts here take av/ay the key of know- ledge ; for their kingdom rifeth and ilandeth by darknefs, and ignorance of the fcriptures.
3. The fcriptures, whatever didicultles be in them, yet are fo plain in things necelTary to falvation, that even the un- learned may reap advantage by reading of them.
Use II. Of exhortation. I exhort one and all of you to the fludy of the holy fcriptures, to feeh out of the hook of the Lordy and read. I will lay this before you in feveral branches, before I come to the motives.
I. Let fuch as cannot read, learn to read. Ye that have children, as ye tender their immortal fouls, caufe them learn to read the Bible. Remember therefore the vov^s taken upon you at their baptifm, and the duty laid on you by the Lord ■himfeli, Eph. vi. 4. " Fathers, bring up jonr children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 2 Tim. iii.15. Timo- thy from a child knew the holy fcriptures. Ye who got no learning when ye were young, labour to get it now. Alas ! fome parents, or others that have had fome when young v^'ith them, have been cruel to their fouls, as the oftrich to her young. They have learned them to work, but have been at no pains to learn them to read ; fo have fent them out into the world a prey to the devourer's teeth, vathout the ordinary means of the knowledge of God. Thus they are deflroyed with bloody ignorance.
But will ye pity your own fouls, though others did not that brought you up ? And do not enter yourfelves heirs to their fia, by being as negligent of yourfelves as they v/ere. Though perhaps they left you nothing to live upon, yet for ^ livelihood ye have done for yourfelves. And will you do nothing for your fouls ?
Think not it will escufe thee at the hand of God, that thou art a fervant ; for thy foul is in as great danger as thy mafter's, and ignorance of religion will dellroy it, If. xxvii. II. There are few but knov/ how to improve the fcarcitv of fervants to the railing of the fee ; but will you improve it by getting it in your condition to learn to read, and feek. cut fuch familic] where you may have that advantage, for
I 2 fome
6S The Study of the ScripiureJ enforced.
fome fiidi there are, like Abraham's, Gen. xviii. lo. Naj. rather than not do it, give over fervice for a time, ana learn.
Neither will it excnfe you that now you have a family ; for you have an. immortal foul ftill, which grofs ignorance of the mind of God in the fcriptures will ruin eternally, 1 Their, i. 8. And the more need you have to read the Scriptures, that you have a family, that you may know the Lord's mind yourfelf, and teach it your family. Such an excufe will no more fcreen you from everlalling deflruc- tion,. than covering yourfelf with leaves will fave you from the flames of a devouring fire.
Say not you are too old now to learn. It is never out of time to learn to do well for your eternal falvation. If your eyes can ferve you to learn, you ought to do it, whatever your age be. But if your fight be lo far gone, that you can- not though you v»'ere ever fo willing ; then tremble at the thoughts of the awful judgment of God that has taken away fight from you, that v/hen you had it would not ufe it for his glory, and the good of your own foul j and humble thy- felf, and apply to the blood of Chriil, for this thy negle6V,, left it prove ruining to thee for ever. And caufe others read to you, and beg the teaching of the Spirit, if fo be fuch an old carelefs flighter of falvation may find mercy.
2. Let fuch as can read procure Bibles. I dare fay one that has a love to the Bible (and that all who love the Lord hav'e) wnll make many fhifts ere they want one. But they nuift be lav/iul fliifts : for ftealing of Bibles, or keeping them up from the ovvnerr., is like a thief ftealing a rope to hang hiuifeif in. But fpiire it oft your bellies or your backs, and procure one i-ather than want.
3. Let fuch as hav£^ Bibles read them frequently, and ac- quaint themfelves with the book of the Lord. Read them in your families morning and evening ; and read them in fecret by yourfelves ; it fiiould be a piece of your duties in fecret. Make "Cw^ Bible your companion abroad and at home, in the houfe and in the field. It is lamentable to think how imacquainted with the Bible many are, and how little heart they have to it. Ballads and fong-books get the place of the Bible with many ; and many have no ufe for it but once in the week, on the fabbatji-day, as if it were more for a ihew with them than the iicceffity of their foals.
4. Lafllyy Not only read it, but fearch into it, and ftudy it, to know the mind of God therein,, and that ye may do it. Be
not
The Study of the Scriptures enforced. 69
not fuperficial in your reading of the fcriptures, but do it with application, painfulnefs, and diligence ; uiing all means to read it with underflanding ; breaking through the furface, that ye may come at the hid treafure therein. Reading as well as praying by rote is to little purpofe ; for a parcel of bare words will neither pleafe God, nor edify your own fouls.
I fhall now give fome motives to enforce this important duty of reading the fcriptures.
Mot, I. God requires it of us, he commands us to do it, John V. 39. " Search the fcriptures." The Jews had once the fcriptures committed to them ; but did God defign they fliould only have taem in the tempk ? nay, in their houfes alfo : Only laid up in the ark ? nay, he defigned another cheft for them, even their hearts, Deut. vi. 6. 7. formerly cited. Let the authority of God fway you, then, and as you have any regard to it, ftudy the fcriptures.
Mot. 2, Nay, the very being of the Bible among us is enough to move us to ftudy it, feeing it is that by which we muft ftand or fall for ever. The proclaiming of the law pu- blicly is fufficient to oblige the fubjefts ; and they cannot plead ignorance, though they get not every one a copy of it. Ignorantia juris excufat nemiiiem; for every one ought to know the rule of his duty. And finners wuU be condemned by it, if they conform not to it, whether they knew it or not, John iii. 19.
Mot. 3. It is an exercife very pleailng to God, fo that it be done in a right manner, namely, in faith. For thereby God fpeaks to us, and we hear and receive his words at his mouth ; and obedient ears are his delight.
1. The Spirit of God commends it. It was the commen- dation of the Bereans, Ads xvii. 11. of ApoUos, chap^ xviii. 24. of Timothy, 2 Tim. iii. 15. And why does the Spirit of God commend others for this, but to recommend the fcrip- tures to us ?
2. There is a particular bleffing annexed to this exercife, Rjev. i. 3. " BleiTed is he that readeth." And the children of God in all ages have fucked the fap of it, while they have had fweet fellowlhip with God in his word, and the influen- ces of the Spirit, to the quickening, enlightening, fructify- ing, and comforting their fouls.
Mot. 4. Confider v/hat a great privilege it is, that we have the fcriptures to read and ftudy, as at this day. If Chrift had not died for. our falvation, the world had never been
70 "The Study of the Scriptures enforced.
blefTeci Vv-ith this gloriovis light, but had been in darknefs herC;, as a pledge of eternal davknefs. Let us compare our cafe with that of others, and fee our privilege.
1. Look back to the cafe of the church in its firil age be- fore the ilood^ or the time of Mofes, while thej had not the written word. The will of God w^as revealed to fome of them bj viiions, voices, dreams, &.c. ; but we may fay, as 2 Pet. i. 19. " We have a more fure w^ord of prophecy." But that was not the lot of all, but of a few among them ; the reil behoved to learn by tradition. Now every one has alike accefs to the word of divine revelation.
2. Look to the cafe of the church under the Old Teftament. In David's time there was little more than the five books of Mofes Vv^rittcn ; yet how does that holy foul fwell in commen- dation of his little Bible, when little more than the ground- w^ork of this glorious ftru6lure was laid ! Pfal. cxix. per tot. Take that church at her befl in this refpedl, when the canon of the Old Teftament was completed, they faw not the light of the New. Now the whole canon of the fcripture is in our hands, this glorious image of God has got the finiihing ftroke ; no more is to be added thereto for ever. The New Tefta- ment cafts a light upon the types, fhadows, and dark pro- phecies of the Old. And fliall we not be feniible of our mer-
3. But look abroad inLO the Pagan world at this day, in comparifon of which all that know any part of the fcripturcs are but few, and the Bible is net heard of among them. That precious treafure is not opened to them to this day, and they can know no more of God but what they can learn from the dark glimmerings of nature's light. O may we not in fome fort fav, as Pfal. cxlvii. 19. 20. " He fheweth his word unto Jacob, his ftatutes and his judgments unto Ifrael. He hath not dealt fo with any nation : and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praife ye the Lord."
4. Lookback but a few years hence, when no Bibles were but fuch as were manufcript, namely, before the art of print- mg was found out, which was but a little before the reforma- tion from Popery. How rare behoved they then to be I and liow dear, ye may calily perceive. But now how common and eafy are they to be had ?
5. Look to the cafe of thofe that lived, or yet live, under Popilh tyranny, where it is a crime to have or read the Bible without a fpecial licence. What a ftruggle had our reform- ers in this church, ere thev could get allowance by the laws
of
'l^he Study of the Scriptures enforced. 71
of the laud to read the Bible in Englifli ? And how is the Bible kept out of the people^s hands to this d-iy in Popilli countries ? Whereas now je are preiled to read and iludy it. A New Teftament was very precious in thofe days of ropiHi perfecution, when one gave a cart-load of hay for a leaf of the Bible, But, alas ! as one fays of the French Pioceftants, When they burned us for reading of the fcriptures, w^e burn- ed in zeal to- be reading them ; now with our liberty is bred alio nedigcnce and difelLeem of God's word.
6. Lajily^ Coniider the many l:elps there are to underfland the fcriptures beyond what there were formerly. Many have run to and fro, and knowledge that way has been in- creafed, both by preaching and writing. And that ufeful exercife of lecturing, which our church has commanded to be of a large portion of icripture, is no fmall help. What will we be able to anfwer to the Lord, if this great privilege be flighted?
Mot. 5. Confider it has been the way of the people of God, to be much addidled to and converfant in the fcripture. So true is it that wifdom is jufiihed of her children. O take heed ye go forth by the footdeps of the flock, and ye will not find them in the way of flighting, but prifing of the w-ord of God. Coniider,
1. Ye (Iiall find the faints highly prifing the word, Pfal. xix. & cxix. what large commendations of tlie word are there I How fvvcet was it to Jeremiah! chap. ::v. 16. " Thy words were found, and I did cat them ; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." Peter, who heard the voice on the mount, yet prefers the fcriptures to voices from hea- •ven, 2 Pet. i. 19. Paul fpeaks higiily of it, 2 Tim. iii. 16. ** Ail fcripture is given by infpiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correclicn, for inflruilion in righteoufnefs." The martyrs highly prifed it, and ventured their lives for it. One call away at lea, and fwirnming for his life on araaft, having five pounds, which was all ius itock, in the one hand, and a Bible in the other, and being obliged to let go one of them, kept the Bible, and let the ^\v^ pounds go.
2. Ye fliall find them "much addicted to the ftudy of the word. It was David's companion and bofom oracle, Pfal. cxix. 97. Daniel at Babylon fearches the fcriptures of the prophets, Dan. ix. 2. So did the noble Eereans, A^poUos, ^»nd Timothy.
3. Yea, the fpirit cf God makes it the characlcr of a godly iiian, pfal. i. 2. ".His deligiit is in the law of the Lord "i and
ia
yi The Study of the Scriptures enforced.
in his law doth he meditate daj and night." O how rational is that ! The man that is born of God has a natural defire after the word, as the child after the mother's breaft, i Pet. ii. 2. The new nature tends to communion with God ; it is by the word the foul has communion with him, for thereby Ood fpeaks to us. And therefore it is a fad fign, that there are few true Chriftians, while there are fo few that diligently ply the word.
Mot. 6. Conlider the excellency of the fcriptures. There is a tranfcendent glory in them, which whofo difcern cannot mifa to hug and embrace them. To commend the Bible to you, I fliall fay thefe eight things of it.
1. It is the beft cf books. They may know much, ye think, that have many good books ; bi^t have ye the Bible, and ye have the beft book in the world. It is the book of the Lord, dictated by unerring infinite wifdom. There is no drofs here with the gold, no chaff with the corn. Every word of God is pure. There is nothing for our falvation to be had in other books, but what is learned from this. They are but the rivulets that run from this fountain, and all ftiine with light borrowed from hence. And it has a bleffing an- nexed to it, a glory and majefly in it, an efEcacy with it, that no other book has the like. Therefore Luther profeffed he would burn his books he had writ, rather than they ihould divert people from reading the fcriptures.
2. It is the greateil andmofl excellent of the works of God to be fecn in the world, Pfal. cxxxvili. 2. If the world beau- tified with fun, moon, and ftars, be as a precious ring, the Bible is the diamond in the ring. The fparkling ftars, Slid that glorious globe of light the fun, yet leave but a dark world, where there is no Bible. Were it put to the choice of the faints, either to quit the fun out of the firmament, or the Bible out of the world, they would chufe the former, but never the latter ; for that they cannot want till they go there where they fliall read all in the face of Jefus. For that muft needs bemoft excellent that has moft of God in It.
3. It is the oracles of God, Horn. ill. 2. This was the chief of the Jewiih privileges, without which their temple, al- tar, o^c. would have^been but dumb figns. The Pagan world did highly reverence and prife the devil's oracles : but we have God's oracles, while we have the fcriptures that m.anifcft to us the fecrets of heaven. And if we difcern aright who fpeaks in them, v.^e mull f'^y, The voice of God, and not of
2 maa.
The Study of the Scriptures enforced, 73
man. Here is what you may confult fafelj in all your doubts and darknefles ; here is what will lead you into all truth.
4. It is the laws of heaven, Pfal. xix, 7. The Lord and King of heaven is our great Lawgiver, and the laws are written in this book. It concerns us to ftudy it. Hence we mull prove our title to heaven, the blefled inheritance, or we will never obtain it. From hence the fentence of our juftification mull be drawn, elfe we are ftill in a Hate of wrath. Here is the rule we mull follow, that we may pleafe God here ; and from this book fhall the fentence of our abfolution or condemnation be drawn at the great day.
5. It is Chrift's tellament and latter- will, i Cor. xi. 25. Our Lord has died, and he has left us this Bible as his tella- ment ; and that makes his children have fuch an affeftion to it. Herein he has left them his legacy, not only moveables, but the eternal inheritance ; and his laft-will is novv^ confirm- ed, that fhall Hand for ever without alteration. So all the believer's hopes are in this Bible, and this is the fecurity hq has for all the privileges he can lay claim to. This is his charter for heaven, the difpofiticn by which he lays claim to the kingdom. And therefore, if ye have any intererf in the teftament, ye mufl needs not be {lighters of. it.
6. It is the fceptre of his kingdom, Pfal. c:::. 2. and it is a fceptre of righteoufnefs. It is by this v/ord he rules his church, and guides all his children in their way to the land that is far of. Wherever he hath a kingdom, he wields it ; and the nations fubjecting themfelves to him, receive it. And where he rules in one's heart, it has place there too. Col. iii. 16. It is a golden fceptre ©f peace, ftretched forth to rebels to win them by oifering them peace ; to fainting believers, to give them peace. And whofoever will not fubje6l themfelves to it, lliall be broken with his rod of iron.
7. It is the channel of influences, by which the communica- tions of grace are made, and the waters of tliC fanftuary flow into the foul. If. lix. ult. The apollle appeals for this to the experience of the Galatians, chap. iii. 2. " Received ye the Spirit by the law, or by the hearing of faith ?" Is the eled: foul regenerated ? the word is the incorruptible feed, whereof the new creature is formed, i Pet. i. 23. Is faith begotten
n the heart ? it is by the word, Pvom. x. 17. " Faith cometh
by hearing, and heating by the word of God." Is the new
^. K creature
74 The Study of the Scriptures ejiforced.
creature to be nourillied, ftrengthened, quickened, actuated, &c. ? Chrift is the fountain, faith the mouth of the foul, the word the pipes of conveyance, whereat faith mull fuck, as the child at the nipples.
8. Lajlly, It is the price of blood, even the blood of Chrilt, I Cor. xi. 25. Had not the perfonal Word become flefti, and therein died to purchafe redempton for us, we had never feen this written word among us. For it is the book of the cove- nant which is founded on the blood of the Mediator. It iy the grant and conveyance of the right to the favour of God, and all faving benefits to believers ; for which there could have been no place had not Chrift died. And they that flight it, will be found to tread under foot the blood of the cove- nant.
Mot. 7. Confider the ufefulnefs of the word. If we con-. fider the Author, we may be fure of the ufefulnefs of the work. The apoftle tells us, that it alone is fufiicient to make the man of God perfe6l, thoroughly furnifhed unto all good works, 2 Tim. iii. 16. 17. There is no cafe a foul can be in, but it is fuitable to their cafe, that delire to make iife of it. To commend it to you from its ufefulnefs, I will fay thefe eight things.
I. It is a treafure to the poor, and fuch are we all by na- ture, Rev. iii. 17. 2 Cor. iv. 7. Therefore the Lord bids us fearch the fcriptures, in aliuiion to thofe that fearch in mines for lilver and gold. If the poor foul fearch here, re^ ceiving the word by faith, he is made up. He ihall find there the difcharge of his debt, a new right and title to the mortQ-aged inheritance. This word of the Lord is a trea- fure,
(i.) For worth. People make not treafurcs of any but valuable things. There is nothing in the fcriptures but what is higliiy valuable. There are the eternal counfels of God touching our falvation ; life and immortality brought to light ; there are the purefl precepts, the moft awful threat- Cx^ings, and the moft precious promifes, 2 Pet. i. 4. &c.
(2,) For variety. In the fcriptures ftiines the manifold wiidoin of God. They that naufeate this book of the Lord, becaufe they find not new things in it after fome time peru- iing it, difcover their fenf^s not to be exercifed to difcern. For Ihould we come to it ever fo often, bringing frefti affections with us, we -would find frefli entertainment there ; as is evident by the glorious refrefhment fometimes found in a word, that has been often gone over before without any thing remark- able.
The Study of the Scriptures enforced, 75
able. And truly the faints iliall never exhaull it while here; but as new difcoveries are made in it in feveral ages, fo it will be to the end.
(3.) For abundance. There is in it not only for the pre- fent, but for the time to come, If. xlii. 23. There is abun- dance of light, inftru6lion, comfort, &.c. and what is needful for the faints travelling heavenward, Pfal. cxix. 162. And indeed it is the fpoil to be gathered by us. Our Lord having fought the battle againfl death and devils, here the fpoil lies to be gathered by us that remained at home when the fight was.
(4.^ Lajily, For clofenefs. This word contains the wifdom of God in a myltery. It is a hid book to moH of the world, and indeed a fealed book to thofe that remain in their natural blindnefs. Nor can we get into the treafure without the il- lumination of the fame Spirit which dictated it, i Cor. ii. 10. There is a path here which the vulture's eye hath not feen, which the carnal eye cannot take up, ver. 14. Therefore have we need to feek diligently, and pray, as Pfal. cxix. 18. ** Open thou mine eyes, that I may fee wondrous things out of thy law.''
2. It is life to the dead : " The words that I fpeak unto you (fays Chrift), they are fpirit, and they are life," John vi. 67,. We are naturally dead in (ins ; but the word is the means of fpiritual life. It is the ordinary means of conver- fion, Pfal.xix. 7. " The law of the Lord — converteth the foul;" and of regeneration, i Pet. i. 23. " Being born again of in- corruptible feed, by the word of God." By it the foul is perfuaded into the covenant, and brought to embrace Jefus Chrift. ]?or thereby the Spirit is communicated to the eled: of God. Thus it is of ufe to bring finners home to God, from under the power of darknefs to the kingdom of his dear Son.
3. It is light to the blind, Pfal. xix. 8. "The command- ment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." It is a con- vincing light, to difcover one's ftate to liim, andfo to roufe up the foul from its natural fecurity. It pierces the heart as an arrow, and makes the carelefs finner ftand and confider his way : for it freely tells every one his faults, Jam. i. 25. And while the child of God travels through a dark world, it ferves to light him the way, 2 Pet. i. 19. — " a light lliining in a dark place ;" and lets him fee how to fet dou'n every ftep. Hence David fajs, " Thy word is a lamp unto my fee.t, and alight unto my path," Pfal. cxix. 105.
4. It is awakening to thofe that are afleep, Cant. vii. 9.^ It
K 2 IS
'i^ The Study of the Scriptures en/orced*
'is the voice of God, which is full of majefty, to awaken the fleepj Chriflian to the exercife of grace. For as it is the means of begeiting grace in the heart, fo it is alfo the means of a6luating and quickening thereof, Pfal. cxix. 50. " Thy word hath quickened me." Here the Chriflian may hear the alarm found to rife up and be doing. Here are the precious promifes as cords of love to draw, and the awful threatenings to fet idlers to work.
5. It is a fword to the Chriftian foldier, Eph. vi. 17. " The fword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Who- ever has a mind for heaven mull fight his way to it ; for none get the crown but the conquerors, Rev. iii. 21. They mull go through many temptations, from the devil, the world, and the flelb ; and the word is the fword for refilling of them. It is an ofFenfive and defenfive weapon. We fee how our Lord Jefus wielded it, Matth. iv. 4. 7. " It is written, Man iliall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceed- eth out of the mouth of God. — It is written again, Thou Ihalt not tempt the Lord thy God." And whatever be our tempta- tions, if we be well verfed in the word, we may from thence bring anfwers to them all.
6. It is a counfellor to thofe who are in llraits, doubts, and difficulties, Pfal. cxix, 24. " Thy teftimonies are — my counfellors." Many a time the children of God, when tofifed with doubts and fears, have found a quiet harbour there ; and have got their way cleared to them there, when they knew not what to do. And no doubt, if we were more exercifed unto godlinefs, and looking to the Lord in our llraits, we would make more ufe of the Bible, as the oracles of Heaven.
7. It is a comforter to thofe that are call down, Pfal. cxix. 49. 30. " Remember the word unto thy fervant, upon which thou hall caufed me to hope. This is my comfort in my af- fliction : for thy word hath quickened me." The way to heaven lies through many tribulations, and affliftions are the trodden path to glory. But the Lord has left his people the Bible as a cordial to fupport them under all their preflfurcs from within and without. And indeed the fap of the word, and the fweetnefs of the promifes, are never more lively re- lifhed, than when the people of God are exercifed under af- fliftions. Then does that heavenly fountain flov/ moll plenti- fully, when, created llreams being dried up, the foul goes for all to the Lord. To fum up all in one word,
8. Lajily, It is a cure for all difeafes of the foul, Prov,
iv»
^he Study of the Scriptures enforced. *3^
iv. 22. " My words are — health to all their fiefh." There Is no malady that a foul is under, but there is a fuitable remedy for it in the word, 2 Tim. iii, 16. 17. frequently quoted above, being adapted by infinite wifdom to the cafe of poor finners. By it the fimple may be made wife, the weak ftrengthened, the ftaggering confirmed, the hard heart melt- ed, the fhut heart opened, &:c. it being the means the Spirit makes ufe of for thefe and all other fuch purpofes.
Mot. 8. Confider the honourable epithets given to the fcriptures. Amcngfl which I name only three.
1. The fcriptures of truth, Dan. x. 21. Men may wreft the fcriptures to patronife their ertors, but the whole word of God is moil pure truth. Here are no ralllakes, no weak- neffes, that adhere to all human compofures. Here we may receive all that is taught us without heiitation. The hearers of men, or readers of their works, are divided into four forts r^ Some like fpunges, that fuck up all, both good and bad : Some like fand glaifes, who, what they receive at the one ear let go at the other : Some like a ftrainer, that lets all the good pafs through, but keeps the dregs : Some like the lieve, that keeps the good grain, and lets through what is not worth. Thefe laft are only to be approved ; but in the reading of the wcrd we muft be as the firft fort.
2. Koly fcriptures, 2 Tim. iii. 15. They are the word of a holy God, from whom nothing can come but what is holy. It confifts of holy commands, holy proraifes, holy threaten- ings, inftruftions, diredions, &c. And holy hearts will love and reverence them for that very reafon.
3. Lajlly, The book of the Lord. What can be faid more to comm.end it to us, if we have any regard to the Lord himfelf ? If I could tell you of a book that fell down from heaven, and were to be had by any means, who would not be curious to have fuch a book and ftudy it ? This is the book that contains the counfels of Heaven, and is given from Heaven to the church, to let men fee the way to it.
Mot, ult. Confider the danger of flighting the word. It expofes to fin, and confequently to the greateft danger. How can they keep the way of the word that do not ftudy to ac- quaint themfelves with it ? They muft needs walk in darknefs that do not make ufe of the light ; and tliis leads to everlafting darknefs, John iii. 19. If by this word we muft be judged, how can they think to ftand that negledt it ?
I
^8 ' The Study of the Scriptures enforced,
I conclude with fome direftions for the ftudy of the fcrip- tures.
I. Keep an ordinary in reading of them, that ye may be acquainted with the whole ; and make this reading a part of your fecret duties. Not that ye fhould bind up yourfelves to an ordinary, fo as never to read by choice, but that ordi- narily this tends moft to edification. Some places are more difficult, fome may feem very bare for an ordinary reader ; but if you would look on it all as God's word, not to be flighted, and read it with faith and reverence, no doubt ye would find advantage.
1. Set a fpecial mark, one way or other, on thofe paflfages you read, which you find mofl fuitable to your cafe, condi- tion, or temptations ; or fuch as ye have found to move your hearts more than other paffages. And it will be profitable of- ten to review thefe.
3. Compare one fcripture with another, the more obfcure with that which is more plain, 2 Pet. i. 20. This is an ex- cellent means to find out the fenfe of the fcriptures ; and to this good ufe ferve the marginal notes on Bibles. And keep Chrill in your eye, for to him the fcriptures of the Old Tefta- ment (in its genealogies^ types, and facrifices) look, as well as thofe of the New.
4. Read with a holy attention, arlfing from the confidera- tion of the majefty of God, and the reverence due to him. This mufl be done with attention, (i.) To the words ; (2.) To the fenfe : and (3.) To the divine authority of the fcrip- ture, and the bond it lays on the confcience for obedience, I Their, ii. 13.
' 5. Let your main end in reading the fcriptures be prac- tice, and not bare knowledge, Jam. i. 22. Read that you may learn and do, and that without any limitation or dillin6lion, but that whatever you fee God requires, you may ftudy to pra6life.
6. Beg of God and look to him for his Spirit. For it is the Spirit that dilated it, that it mufl be favingly under- ftood by, I Cor. ii. 11. And therefore before you read, it is highly reafonable you beg a bleffing on what you are to read.
7. Beware of a wordly flefhly mind ; for fleflily fins blind the mind from the things of God ; and the worldly heart can- not favour them. In an eclipfe of the moon the earth comes between the fun and the moon, and fo keeps the light of the
fuu
Of God and his PerfeBions, 79
fun from it. So the world, in the heart, coming betwixt you and the light of the word, keeps its divine light from you.
8. Labour to be exercifed unto godlinefs, and to obferve your cafe. For an exercifed frame helps mightily to under- ftand the fcriptures. Such a Chriftian will find his cafe in the word, and the word will give light to his cafe, and his cafe light into t?ie word.
9. Lajilyy Whatever you learn from the word, labour to put it in pra6lice. For to him that hath fnall be given. No wonder they get little infight into the Bible, who make no confcience of pradifing what they know. But while iht llream runs into a holy life, the fountain will be the freer.
OF GOD AND KIS PERFECTIONS.
John iv. 24. — God is ajpirit,
SIMONIDES, a heathen poet, being aiked by Hiero king of Syracufe, What is God ^ defired a day to think upon it ; and when that day was at an end, he defired two days ; and when thefe were paft, he defired four days. Thus he continued to double the number of days in which he defired to think of God, ere he would give an anfwer. Upon which the king exprefling his furprife at his behaviour, aiked him. What he meant by this ? To which the poet anfwered, " The more I think of God, he is ftill the more dark and unknown to me" Indeed no wonder that he made fuch an anfwer ; for he that would tell what God is in a meafure fuitable to his excellency and glory, had need to know God even as he is known of him, which is not competent to any man upon earth. Agur puzzles the whole creation with that fublime queftion. What is his name .«' Pro v. xxx. 4. But though it is impof- fible in our prefent flate to know God perfedlly, feeing he is incomprehenfible j yet fo much of him is revealed in the
fcriptures
8o Of God and his PerfeBions,
fcriptures as is neceflary for us to know in order to our fal- vation.
The text tells us, and it fliould be remembered, that the Lord Jefus, the Son of God, who lay in the bofom of the Fa- ther, and who only can reveal him, is here the fpeaker, that God is afpirit. It is but little of the nature of fpirits that we, who dwell in tabernacles of clay, are fo intimately con- nefted with flefli and blood, and fo naturally impreffed with fenfible objedls, can know. We cannot fully underftand what our own fpirits or fouls are ; and lefs do we know of the na- ture of angels, who are of a fuperior nature to us ; and far lefs can we know of the fpiritual nature of the Divine Being, which is utterly incoraprehenfible by men or angels. How- ever, as all our ideas begin at what is finite, in confidering the pature of fpirits, fo we are led to conceive of God as infinite- ly more perfe£l than any finite fpirit*. All we can know of fpirits is,
1. That a fpirit is the moft perfect and excellent of beings, more excellent than the body, or any thing that is purely ma- terial.
2. That a fpirit is in its own nature immortal, having no- thing in its frame and conftitution tending to diffolution or corruption.
3. That a fpirit is capable of underftanding, willing, and putting forth adions agreeable to its nature, which no other being can do.
Now thefe conceptions of th<2 nature of fpirits lead us to conceive of God,
I. As a being that is more perfe6l and excellent than all
ether fpirits and beings. Hence he is faid to be incorruptible y
Rom. i. 23. ; immortaly and invifible^ 1 Tim i. 17. He has
2 underftanding
* It will not be improper here to fubjoin the follcTying obfcrvation of the celebrated Mr Addifon. *' If we coniider tli^e idea which wife men, by the light of reafon, have framed of the Divine Being, it a- mounts to this, That he has in him all tlie perfeclion of a fpiritual na- ture ; and fince we have no notion of any kind of ipiritual perfection but what we dilcover in our own fouls, we join infinitude to each kind of thefe perfe61:icns, and what is a faculty in a huinan foul becomes an attribute in God. We exift in place and time, the Divine Being hiis the immcnfity of fpace with his prefence, and inhabits eternity. IVe are pofieffed of a little power and a little knowledge, the Divine Being is almighty and omnifcient. In fhort, by adding infinity to any kii.d of perfection we enjoy, and by joining all thefe different kinds of perfec-
.\r. in one being, we form our idea of the great Sovereign of nature."
Of God and his PcifcBions, 8/
underllanding and will ; and {o we conceive of him as the crea- tor and governor of all things ; which he couid not be, if he were not an intelligent and fovereign fpirit.
2. Though angels and the fouls of men are fpirits, jet their excellency is only comparative ; that is, they excel the befl of all material beings in their nature and properties. But God, as a fpirit, is infinitely more excellent than all mate- rial beings, and all created fpirits. Their perfections are de- rived from him ; and therefore he is called " the Father of fpirits," Heb. xii. 9. and ** the God of the fpirits of all flefh," Numb. xvi. 22. ; and his perfeflions are underived ; and hd is independently immortal. Hence it is faid of him, that " he only hath immortality," 1 Tim. vi. i6. He is an in- finite fpirit ; and it can be faid of none but him, that ** his underftanding is infinite," Pfal. cxlvii. 5.
Now, a fpirit is an immaterial fubftance, Luke ::xiv. 59.; and feeing whatever God is, he is ir.finitely perfeft in it, he is a mod pure fpirit. Hence we may infer,
1. That God has no body nor bodily parts. OhJeB. How then are eyes, ears, hands, face, and the like, attributed in fcripture to God ? ^Inf. They are attributed to him not pro- perly, but figuratively ; they are fpoken of him after the mariner of men, in condefcenfion to our weaknefs ; but we are to underftand them after a fort becominjr the Divine Ma- jefly. We are to confider what fuch bodily parts ferve us for, as our eyes for difcerning and knowing, our arms for ilrength, our hands for a6lion, &:c. and we are to conceive thefe things to be in God infinitely, which thefe parts ferve for in us. Thus, when eyes and ears are afcribed to God^ they figijify his omnifcience ; his hands denote his power ; and his face the mani.eftat-on of his love and favour.
2. That God is invifibie, and cannot be feen with the eyes of the body, no not in heaven ; for the glorified body is ftili a body, and God a fpirit, which is no objeCl; of the eyes, more than found, tafte, fmell, &:c. i Tim. i. 17.
3. That God is the mofl fuitable good to the nature of our fouls, which are fpirits ; and can communicate himfelf, and apply thofe things to them, which only can render them hap- py, as he is the God and Father of our fpirits.
4. That it is finful and diilionourable to God, either tcr make images or pictures of him without us, or to have any image of him in our mi *ds, which our unruly imagination Is apt to frame to itfel .. ^ fpecially in jgj-ayer. For God is the objed of our underftanding^ iiot of our imagination.
Vol. I. L God
Bz Of God and his PerfecHons',
God exprefsly prohibited