no Suspicion of what was done nor any Sense of that great Alteration that had been made in the World by these Books nor any Remembrance afterwards when they awoke and found themselves Christians that they had been of some other Religion before when they were first taken with that Lethargick Fit But if these things may be what is there of this kind that may not be If the World be so much mistaken in this Matter it may be as much mistaken in any other Matter of the like Nature And then It may be that there never was such a Man as Homer or Virgil or Coesar or Cicero or Plutarch or any other of those Persons as whose Writings we now receive the Books that go under their Names but that all the Books pretended to be written by those Authors and likewise all the Books of later Date whereby the Authority of those former Books is attested were in like Manner contrived and made and dispersed by such another Gang of crafty and designing Knaves who took a Pleasure in abusing the rest of the World or hoped to make a Gain to themselves â—hereby Nay then for why should we stop here It may be that not only the Laws of our Religion but the Laws of our Civil State too are all forged and counterfeit It may be that once upon a time The Keeper of the Publick Records having by much and long Observation attained to good Skill â—n the ancient Ways of Writing for many Ages backward and being a compleat Master of his Pen and having also gotten an Art to make a fresh Writing seem just as old as he had a Mind it should be thought to be did compose and deposite in â—heir proper Places those Original Acts of Parliament which are now taken to be the Laws of some of our former Kings and that to confirm and establish his Fraud he procured some other Persons at the same Time to Write or Print and to convey into all Shops and Libraries several Books of Reports and Pleadings wherein these counterfeit Acts were cited and referred to and it may be that while as this was doing none else had their Eyes open to see it nor had ever after the least Suspicion of what was done Or if they had yet that they were so well pleased with the Cheat which they thought would be a good Means of preserving Peace and Justice in the Nation as to be willing it should pass to Posterity undiscovered These May be 's are I am sure every whit as possible and as likely as the other Either therefore let those Men who upon this Account doubt of the Authority of the Books of the New Testament Or who would make others doubt of it only by suggesting that it is a thing possible in Nature that they may be all forged and counterfeit let them I say either entertain and suggest the same Doubt concerning all other ancient Books of the Antiquity and Authority of which there is not greater Evidence than there is of these And then they will render themselves so justly ridiculous to the World that there will be no Need to expose their Folly for then they must call in Question the Authority of all Books and the Truth of all History Or else let them fairly own that the true Reason of their making a Doubt concerning these Books rather than concerning others is because they do not relish the Matter of them because they find it easier to resist that strong Evidence that is given of the Authority of these Books than they do to govern their Lives according to those strict Rules of Holiness and Purity that are therein prescribed and to bring their Wills to the Obedience of Faith And if they will but own this which I believe is the Truth their Prejudice and Partiality will be so evident to all that it may be reasonably hoped their impious Suggestions will do but little Harm in the World and that few Men of any Sense or Reason will be so fool-hardy as to venture their Souls and run the Hazard of a miserable Eternity upon so many and such very improbable I had almost said such impossible may be 's as must be supposed to have been if indeed these Books are forged and counterfeit if indeed they were not written by those Persons whom they are commonly ascribed to But yielding this Point may the Atheist or Infidel farther say viz. that the Gospel called St. Matthew's was written by St. Matthew and that of St. Mark by St. Mark and the Rest of the Books which are ascribed to any other certain Authors by those Persons to whom they are severally ascribed yet the Authority of the whole New Testament will not by this Concession be sufficiently established For of some Books of the New Testament the Authors are not known of others they are doubted Some Parts of this Book that are now received have been rejected in ancient Times and â—thers not universally receiv'd And besides 't is cerâ—ain that in the early Times of Christianity there were several Counterfeit Gospels and Epistles some of which may possibly have slipped into the Canon unawares And lastly If it be granted that all the Books of the New Testament were originally written â—y the Apostles or other Inspired Men yet however the Books that we now have are but Copies in which many Alterations may have been made by designing Men or careless Transcribers These Objections or Cavils rather for such I am sure they would be accounted in any other Case against the Authority of these Sacred Books have been urged by some Men both anciently and lately But they have been also so well and fully answered by those learned Persons that have written in Defence of the Canon that I once thought to have taken no Notice of them and I believe had not done it but that I considered on the other Hand that when an old Objection that has been answered an Hundred times is urged afresh a great many may take it for a new one and if it be not quickly answered may be apt to think it unanswerable so that in this Case it may be better to repeat the same Answer if it be a good one that has been often formerly made to it than to say nothing And besides in this degenerate Age in which any wild or Atheistical Discourse passes for Wit it may be the Hap of some Persons who have not much Mind or Leisure or Opportunity to read Books to hear these things in Conversation and not knowing readily what Answers to make to them to be somewhat staggered in their Belief thereby Especially if they be such whose loose and licentious Way of Living makes them easie to receive without Examination any Notions that may give them Ease or Encouragement in Sin For these Reasons therefore I thought it would not be amiss especially because it is a Matter properly belonging to the Subject I am now upon and because I have some time left for it to
less easie to conceive that a standing Revelation may be at once so contrived as to be for ever sufficient to direct Men in all Points of Practice Because altho' t is possible that every Age may afford new Instances of Wickedness yet the Law that they are all Transgressions of may be but one And the Rule once given is a perpetual Direction not only what to do but likewise what to avoid and this as well in those Instances of Wickedness which may be invented afterwards as in those which were in Practice before the Rule was made For he that giving Direction to a Traveller in his Way bids him keep strait forward shall not need if he speaks to a Man of Reason to tell him over and above that he must be careful to avoid all Turnings to the right hand or to the left and much less shall he need to give him a particular Account of every Turning that he is to avoid And tho' in Time to come there would be many more By-ways and Turnings out of the Road than there are at present yet the same one Direction to keep strait forward will be as full and as sufficient a Direction then as it is now And the Necessity that Humane Law-givers find themselves under to be every Day repealing former Laws and adding new Ones is not caused by an absolute Impossibility of making at once such a Body of Laws as might be sufficient for all after Times but arises as I suppose Partly from the Nature of Humane Laws which are for the most part Negative and Prohibitive only and by such a Law nothing is rendred unlawful but what is named and to name at once every thing that is then or may be in all after Ages needful to be prohibited would indeed be a Work of very great Difficulty Partly from the Nature of that Obedience that is due to a meer Humane Law which is only an external Obedience and to the Letter of the Law and that indeed must needs be a Law or a Body of Laws of a prodigious Bulk and very difficult to be contrived at once which in the Letter thereof shall comprehend and give Direction concerning every Action and every Mode of Action that are necessary to be done or forbore in order to the preserving Justice and Peace among Men Partly from the little Regard that Men generally have to the good of Posterity which makes them only careful to contrive such Orders and Constitutions as they hope will suffice to preserve Peace in their own time leaving it to those that come after to take the like Care for themselves in their Times Partly from the Weakness and Ignorance of the wisest of Men who not understanding exactly the Tempers of all their Subjects cannot know certainly what Effect their Laws will have till after they have been for some time experienced And partly from the unexpected Difficulty that is sometimes met with in the Execution of a Law which may make it necessary afterwards to enforce it with a greater Penalty or to take some further Care than at first was thought needful to see it executed But none of these Reasons of the Necessity of new Laws among Men are of any force to shew that it is also necessary that God should be every Day making new Declarations of his Will and that no Standing Revelation can be sufficient for all Times For the Laws of God are positive and commanding enjoining the truest and heartiest Love both to God and Men and every natural and proper Expression thereof and by consequence prohibiting every Affection of Mind and every outward Act that is contrary thereto whether it be expressly named or not And the Obedience that we owe to a divine Law is the Obedience of the Heart and of the whole inner Man such as looks beyond the Letter to the Design and Intention of the Law and avoids as carefully whatsoever is contrary to the Reason of the Law as if it had been forbidden in the most express Words And God being King for ever and ever has the same Relation to all Men in all Ages and cannot but be supposed to design the good Government of his Subjects in after as well as in former Times And he also understanding fully the Tempers of all his Subjects knows beforehand what Effect the Laws he gives them will have and can never be disappointed in his Expectation and so can never be obliged to repeal or alter any of his Laws by an unforeseen Experience that they are not so convenient or so effectual as he thought they would be And lastly He having all Power in his Hands and a soveraign and uncontroulable Dominion over all can appoint what Penalty he pleases to the Transgression of his Laws can at any time convict Transgressors by his own unerring Knowledge only and the Testimony of their guilty Consciences without other Witnesses and has it in his own single Power without any Help of others to execute when-ever he will whatever Penalty he threatens Thus I think it appears that a standing Revelation may be so well contrived as to be sufficient for all Times that all Matters necessary to be known and done by Men at all Times may be at once committed to Writing 2. But Secondly Tho' this be granted it may be still further objected against the Sufficiency of a Standing Revelation that it can hardly be sufficiently attested that there cannot be sufficient Evidence given to satisfie a Rational Man that any such Writing which is said to be of divine Inspiration and Authority is indeed so And that 1. Because there is no Way but Eye-witness to be sufficiently assured that any Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it 2. Because there is no Way to be sufficiently assured that the Author of such a Book did not design to impose upon his Readers And 3. Because no Man can be sure that he himself was not deceived in his Opinion of his own Inspiration or of a Revelation made to him or in the Truth of any other Matter which he has related as of his own Knowledge 1. It may be said that there is no Way but Eye-witness to be sufficiently assured that any Book was written by the Person that is said to be the Author of it But that is very strange that there should be no other Way to be sufficiently assured of the Author of any Book and yet that there are a great many Books in the World ancient as well as modern the Authors whereof were never in the least doubted of who yet I suppose did not use to call together a Company of Men to stand by and see them write those Books which they intended to Publish It seems then that either there may be besides Eye-witness sufficient Reason to believe that a Book was written by the Person under whose Name it goes or else that all the World has been extremely credulous in receiving an infinite Number
in the Holy Scripture it must be either in the Matter of it or in the Proof of it And if it be in the Matter of it it must be either that it does not give us sufficient Directions what to do or that it does not propose sufficient Motives to persuade Men to do what it requires And therefore in speaking to this Head I shall shew 1. That the Holy Scripture gives us sufficient Directions what to do 2. That the Motives which the Scripture proposes are sufficient to persuade us to do what it requires And 3. That we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines which are taught by it 1. I shall shew that the Holy Scripture gives us sufficient Directions what to do And of this there can be little Doubt among those that believe the divine Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scripture because to them its own Testimony of its own sufficiency is a Proof thereof beyond all Exception For if as the Apostle says 2. Tim. 3.16 it be profitable for Doctrine and for Reproof and for Correction and for Instruction in Rigteousness it is plainly profitable for all the Purposes for which we can desire a divine Revelation And if as he says in the next Verse it was given to make perfect the Man of God that is the Man whose Business it is to teach and instruct others and throughly to furnish him unto all good Works it cannot be deficient in delivering all such Rules and Directions as are necessary to be given by a Pastor to the People committed to his Care And if as the same Apostle had said at the 15th Verse of that Chapter it be able to make us wise unto Salvation we have no Reason to desire to be wiser than this excellent Book can make us And if all this could truly be said by the Apostle before the Canon of the New Testament was compleated if it could be said by him of those Holy Scriptures which Timothy had known from a Child that is of the Books of the Old Testament only much more may it be now said of the Books of both Testaments together But to speak at large of this Point at present would be too great a Digression from the Design of these Lectures which were intended only against Infidels not against any Sect of Christians and such they pretend to be such because they hold the Foundation Christ Jesus they may in Charity be allow'd to be who do chiefly differ from us in this Article and deny the sufficiency of Scripture only because they are resolved to maintain some gainful Doctrines and Practices of their own Church which they are sensible have no Warrant from Scripture and so can be maintained no other Way but by affirming that they have been delivered down to them by Tradition and that unwritten Tradition is a necessary Supplement to the written Word and of equal Authority with it For between us and Infidels who reject the Scripture the Sufficiency of the Scripture as a Rule of Faith and Manners is hardly Matter of Controversie for these do not reject the Scripture because it teaches too little but rather because it teaches too much because it teaches Doctrines above their Reason and commands such Duties as they do not like to practise and if it taught less than it does they would be more ready to own its divine Authority But nevertheless even these Men that they may leave no Stone unturned will be sometimes discoursing upon this Point and altho' those Books of Holy Scripture which are now extant and which are now generally receiv'd do teach much more than they themselves are willing to believe and practise yet that they may as much as they can unsettle the Belief of others do not stick to argue againast the Christian Religion from this Topick and to affirm that the Books of Holy Scripture which are now receiv'd do not contain the whole Will of God For there were say they in former times several other Gospels and Epistles and other Tracts designed to instruct Men in the Christian Religion which were written by the Apostles or other inspired Men and which were consequently of the same Authority in themselves with those which are now receiv'd into the Canon of which nevertheless we have nothing now left but the Names and Titles or some imperfect and uncertain Fragments so that it may well be doubted whether those few Books which are now remaining are sufficient to instruct us in all necessary Points of Knowledge and Practice And of this Matter of Fact there is they say some Evidence even from the Scripture its self For St. Luke in the Beginning of his Gospel takes Notice that many before him had taken in Hand to set forth a Declaration of those things which were surely believed among Christians that is had written and published Narratives of the Life Actions Miracles Preaching Death and Resurrection of our Saviour But there are no Histories of this Kind no Gospels now extant that were written before St. Luke's except only St. Matthew's and St. Mark 's and if there had been no more extant at that time it would have been very improper they say for the Evangelist to have said that many had written upon this Subject when he spake only of those two And that there was Matter enough for several such Narratives so that tho' they were very different Gospels they might nevertheless be all true we are told by St. John who wrote his Gospel the last of the Four Evangelists Joh. 20.30 Many other Signs truly did Jesus in the Presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book and again Ch. 21. Vers 25. There are also many other things which Jesus did the which if they should be written every one I suppose that even the World its self could not contain the Books that should be written Now if it be true that there were several other Books formerly extant but which are now lost that were written by the Apostles and other inspired Men and consequently by divine Inspiration either these were needless when written and it is unreasonable to suppose that any Book written by divine Inspiration was needless or else the Loss of these Books is a Loss to Religion and we cannot be well assured that those which we have now remaining do sufficiently instruct us in all Points of Christian Faith and Practice But admit the Truth of this Matter of Fact viz. that more Books were written by the Apostles or inspired Men than are now extant which I will not now dispute because I think it needless because I think it may be granted without any Prejudice to the Christian Cause altho' there be none or at most but very slender Evidence of it nay admit more than is upon any good Grounds alledged viz. not only that several but that every one of the Apostles and immediate Disciples of
Christ every one that had heard him Preach and had been a Witness of his Life and Miracles and Resurrection and had received the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost did write a distinct Gospel giving an Account of some of the most remarkable Passages of our Saviour's Life which he had been a Witness of and did likewise as he had Occasion write Epistles or other Tracts for the Use and Instruction of the Christian Church every one of all which Books if they were now extant and as well attested as the Books of the New Testament are would be of equal Authority with them because dictated by the same Spirit by which all the Apostles were led into all Truth and had all things that Jesus had spoken brought to their Remembrance yet I say it would by no Means follow from hence either that those Books which are now lost if indeed there are any lost that were written by the Apostles were needless when they were written or that those which do now remain are not sufficient And a very little Consideration of the State of things as it was then and as it is now will make this which I have said very plain For the Case then was thus The Gospel of Christ was to be preached to the whole World by a few Persons who had been Eye-witnesses of his Miracles and were enabled by the Power of the Holy Ghost to confirm their Testimony of him by doing the like Miracles themselves And that this great Work might be accomplished within the Term of their Life it was necessary that they should quickly disperse themselves into all Parts of the World one going this Way and another that according as they had agreed among themselves or were directed by the Spirit And in this Division of Countries every one had a large Province assigned to him so that having much Work to do in a little Time he could not well stay long in one Place And upon this account it might be very proper for him after he had preached the Gospel in one City and made a good number of Converts and ordained Elders and established a Christian Church there when he went thence to leave behind him in Writing the Sum of what he had before preached among them for the Help of their Memories for the Direction of their Pastors and to prevent any Mis-representation that might afterwards be made of his Doctrine by ignorant or designing Men And after he was gone from thence he might have frequent Occasion to send them Letters either to confirm them in their Faith or to caution them against some Errors which he had heard were springing up among them or to correct some Fault in their Discipline or Manners By this Means I say it might well enough be tho' there be no Evidence that it was so that in the first Age of Christianity there might be besides occasional Letters as many distinct Gospels as there were Apostles every One writing a Gospel for the proper Use of those Churches which he himself had planted and in the Language that was best known to them And this if it was done might be no more than might be then necessary when it was not so easy as it is now since the Increase of Commerce and Navigation and the Invention of Printing to communicate and disperse the Books that are Published in one Country to other Countries that are far distant Besides if this could have been done then it can't well be supposed that a Gospel written by any other of the Apostles who had never been in that Province or Division and of whom they had never heard perhaps more than only his Name should be at first of so great Authority to them as a Gospel written by that very Apostle by whose Ministry they had been converted and of whose Miracles they themselves had been Witnesses Thus it might be and if it was so it might be agreeable to the divine Wisdom and Goodness so to order it that before those Books of the New Testament which we now have could be well dispersed and upon good Attestation receiv'd in all Christian Countries some particular Churches and especially those most remote from Judea should have for their present Use other Books written by some other of the Apostles containing the same Form of sound Words and relating the same things concerning the Life and Doctrine of our Saviour that these do And that some of those many Books which might be written by the Apostles or other inspired Men upon this Subject should be lost is no Marvel at all 't is rather a Wonder considering the Poverty of the first Christians and the constant Persecutions they were then under and the many Revolutions of Government that have been in Christendom since that time that so many as we have now left could be preserved for so many Ages before Printing was found out And those were of all the most like to be lost which were published in rude and barbarous Countries and which were written in some Language that was peculiar to one Nation only And those the most easie and consequently the most probable to be preserved which were published in the learned Part of the World and written in the most learned Language then in Use But altho' a greater Number of inspired Books than are now extant might be necessary in the first Age of Christianity before the Christian Churches then newly planted in all Countries of the then known World could have Communication with one another it cannot be argued from hence that those Books which we have now remaining are not sufficient for the present Time and for all the Time that has passed since the other Books were lost But rather it may very reasonably be presumed that there was nothing more for Substance in those Books which are supposed to be lost than there is in these which are now remaining so that the Loss of them may be no real Loss or Detriment to Religion and those which remain and are now receiv'd in all Christian Churches may be abundantly sufficient to instruct us in all Points of Christian Faith and Practice And there is indeed no Reason to think they are not seeing some of those single Books which we have now were written for this very Purpose were designed as Compendiums of the whole Christian Institution For St. Luke wrote his Gospel that Theophilus might know the Certainty of those things wherein he had been instructed And if this was the Evangelist's Design Luke 1.4 it can't be supposed but that he thought he had put into his Gospel whatever was necessary or very material And St. John in the same Place where he acknowledges that he had omitted the Relation of many things which Jesus did Joh. 20.30 31. says that he had written the things contained in his Gospel that Men might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing they might have Life through his Name By which it appears that
by so many different and far distanâ— Nations without some good Grounds is not conceâ—vable because it can neither be imagined that thâ— Christians of the present Age dispersed in all Countriâ— should combine together to say that they receiv'â— these Books from their Fathers as the genuine Wrâ—tings of the Apostles if they had not so receiv'd them nor that their Forefathers in any of the Ages paâ—â— should have all agreed together to put a Cheat upoâ— their Posterity by delivering down to them theâ—â— Books as written by the Apostles when they themselves had no good Reason to believe them so or whâ—â— they knew the contrary It is a further Satisfaction to us to observe and consider that the Authority of these Books is as well proved as it can be not only by oral but also by the best written Tradition The Christian Writers of all Ages citing them as they had Occasion as the genuine Writings of the Apostles And that as well before the Canon of the New Testament was defined and declared by Councils as since And lastly It gives us very good Satisfaction that these Books are the genuine Writings of the Persons to whom they are ascribed that we do not find they were ever excepted against as spurious and counterfeit in those times when it would have been most proper to have made the Exception and by those Persons whose Cause and Interest it would have served very much to have proved them Spurious if it could have been done For the proper time to have made this Exception to these Writings was when or soon after they were first published when it would have been easie to have proved them Spurious if they had been so and no less easie to have brought positive Evidence of their being Genuine if indeed they were Genuine either by the living Testimony of the Authors themselves or of others that knew their Writing or by producing the original Copies under their own Hands And therefore their being then received as the Writings of the Apostles by those who were best able to know whose Writings they were and their being not for ought appears excepted against upon this Account at that time â—s a very good Argument that there was no just Ground for any such Exception And the most likely Persons they whose Cause and Interest it would have served most to deny that these Books were written by the reputed Authors thereof were the Enemies of our Religion The Jews or the Heathens who neither of them wanted either Malice or Wit to alledge any Fact that they could have justified the Truth of in Disproof of the Christian Religion It is therefore no small Satisfaction to us to observe that they never argued against the Christian Religion from this Topic that they never denied that the Books which the Christians received as written by the Apostles were genuine Nay that Julian himself one of the subt'lest as well as of the bitterest Adversaries of the Christian Faith did yet expresly own that the Books read by the Christians as the Books of Peter Paul Matthew Mark and Luke were indeed theirs After all indeed it must be owned that we have not such Demonstration that the Books of the New Testament were written by the Apostles as is self-evident and cannot possibly be contradicted for the Matter it self is not capable of such Demonstration But we have such Demonstration of it as cannot be contradicted with any Reason We have as good Assurance of it as we have or can have of any Matter of that kind We have as good Evidence of the Truth of it as supposing it to be true we could have of it and more than this cannot be desired We are as morally certain that these Books were written by the Authors to whom they are ascribed as we are that any other ancient Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it There being no Argument by which it is or can be proved that any ancient Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it which does not prove the Authority of these Books rather more strongly than it does the Authority of any other Book And there being no Argument that is or can be urged against the Authority of these Books which may not with as good Reason be urged to disprove the Authority of any other Book of the like Antiquity nay indeed of all the Books in the World ancient or modern the Authors of which are not now living or of whose Writing the Books ascribed to them no living Evidence can be produced For what is there that can be said to disprove or to render suspected the Authority of these Books but only that there is a Possibility that Things may not be as we believe them to be It may be the Atheist or Infidel will say that these Books were not written by the Persons under whose Names we receive them but by some others It may be he 'll say for Instance that there never was such a Man as Matthew the Publican afterwards an Apostle of Christ Or if there was yet it may be that the Gospel that goes under his Name was not of his Writing but is a Book of a much later Date It may be that it was written by some crafty Priest no longer ago than the last Age And that he and some others in Confederacy with him at the same Time that they forged this Gospel in the Greek Tongue did likewise make and contrive all those Translations of it into several Languages that are now extant some of which pretend to very great Antiquity and which are all made with such an Appearance of Truth and with such Congruity to the several Times in which they are said to be made that none of the Learned Men of the present Age have been able to discover the Fraud And It may be also that when they forged the Gospel it self they forged likewise all the other Books that are pretended to be written by several Historians and Divines in divers Languages and in several Ages of the World for Sixteen Hundred Years past in which this Gospel is either testified to be written by St. Matthew or is cited or commented upon as his And it may be likewise that at the same Time that they trumped up all these Books in one Countrey they had their Confederates and Correspondents that did the same in all the other Countries where they are now found not only exposing them to publick Sale as Books of ancient Date and venerable Antiquity but likewise slily conveying an infinite Number of written and printed Copies of the same into all Libraries both publick and private unknown to the Keepers and Owners thereof And it may be that all these things were done so secretly that none of the Confederacy did ever confess nor any besides ever discover the Cheat And it may be that all the rest of the World was so much asleep at that time as to have
of Books as written by such and such Authors without sufficient Assurance thereof But I believe the Truth is There are some Men who for Reasons best known to themselves but which may some of them be easily enough guessed at will not allow that to be sufficient Evidence that a Book was written by a Prophet or an Apostle which they must and do allow to be sufficient Evidence in any other Case of the like Nature For in other Cases we make no Doubt to receive a Book as written by such an Author if he owns himself to be the Author of it or if it be shewn written with his own Hand or if they that are the Publishers of it declare that they had it from him as his own or that they transcribed or printed it from a Copy which they knew to be of his Hand-writing or if it passes current in common Fame and Report to be his and his most intimate friends believe it so and he himself does not disown it and there be none else that pretend any Claim or Title to it Where these or most of these Circumstances do concurr we never doubt but that the Person said to be the Author of such a Book is so indeed unless there be some very clear Reason grounded upon the known Incapacity of the Person to write in such a Language in such a Stile concerning such a Subject or the like whereby it may be demonstrated that whoever was he could not be the Author of it The truth is Now adays and I suppose the Case was much the same formerly whoever is the true Author of any Book finds very little Difficulty to make Men believe that the Book is his the greatest Difficulty is for a Man to conceal himself in case he be not willing to be known to be the Author of it And when once a Book is generally receiv'd as written by such a Person when I say 't is thus receiv'd in that Age in which it was first publish'd and by those that were in the best Capacity to inquire and to judge who was the true Author of it they that live in after times never think it reasonable to question the Authority thereof unless there be evidently something either in the Language Dialect or Stile or else in the Matter of the Book as in the Relation of some Piece of History the References to some ancient Customs the Citations out of other Authors or the like by which it may be clearly made out that the Book cannot be of such Antiquity as it pretends to or could not be the Writing of that Person who is reported and has been commonly taken to be the Author of it Upon such Reasons as these a great many Books are every Day received as written by such and such Authors and tho' we cannot be so sure of a thing that we believe upon these Inducements as we are of what we see with our own Eyes yet such Reasons as these are by the general Consent of Mankind judged to be sufficient in a Matter of this Nature which is hardly capable of better Proof And for a Man to disallow in one Case that same Evidence of the Truth of a Matter of Fact which in other Cases of the like kind he allows to be sufficient for a Man to receive a Book as written by another Person and not to receive a Book as written by a Prophet or an Apostle when he has as much Reason to receive one as the other and no more Reason to reject one than the other is not Judgment or Discretion or reasonable Caution but manifest Prejudice and Partiality But 2. It was further said That tho' we might be well enough assured that a Book was written by the Person who is said to be the Author of it there is no Way to be sufficiently assured that who he was the Author of it did not design to impose upon his Readers It seems then there is no Way to be sufficiently satisfied that any Man is an honest Man and fit to be credited that he does not lye in every thing he says and intend a Cheat in every thing he does For if a Man may be believed in what he says he may as well be believed in what he writes And if he may be trusted in one Concern he may be as safely trusted in another unless good Reason can be shewed to the contrary But in judging of humane Nature in general Men commonly judge of others by themselves What they are inclined to they think is the Inclination of Mankind what they allow themselves in they think others whatever they may pretend make as little scruple of as they do what they freely practice they make no Doubt other Men would practise as freely on the same Occasions and upon the same Inducements So that when any Man is so very suspectful of the Honesty and Veracity of other Men it gives but too just Ground to think that the Reason of his Aptness to distrust all others is his Consciousness of his own evil Designs and of the little Regard that he himself has to Truth in his own Assertions And if those he has to deal with should refuse to give any Credit to any thing that he affirms because according to his own declared Opinion very little Credit can reasonably be given to the Report and Affirmation of others I do not see with what Reason he can blame them for so doing Not but that after all 't is possible that a Man may 't is doubtless what has been done by some give out a Report or write Book on purpose to deceive Mankind But nevertheless I say that it ought not without very good Reason to be suspected that this is any Man's Design and that we may have Assurance enough that a thing is not which yet we must grant was possible to have been Particularly as to the Matter we are now speaking of First In case the Author of any Book or of any Report relates a Matter of Fact of which there are not nor well could be any other Witnesses but himself as if he says that he has received from God such a Revelation with order to publish it to the World or that he himself was an Eye or Ear-witness that such a thing was privately done or spoken by another the Credibility of such a Report whether written or spoken depends Partly upon the Nature of the Report its self Partly upon the Credit of its Author And partly upon the Proofs that he gives of his Honesty and Veracity in that particular And where there is a full Concurrence of all these that is When the Matter of the Report is credible in its self when its Author is a Person of Credit and when he gives the best Proofs that can be of his Veracity in that particular there is no Reason to reject his Testimony there is sufficient Reason to give Credit to it 1. If the Matter of his Report be credible in its
of Holy Scripture were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof 2. That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to them in their Relation of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded And 3. That if the Matters of Fact recorded in the Scripture are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught These things therefore I shall now endeavour to make good But in speaking to this Point I shall for Brevity's sake confine my Discourse only to the Books of the New Testament Partly because these are the Books wherein our Christian Religion is chiefly taught And especially because I think there are none who receive the New Testament as of divine Authority that do or â—ndeed can with any Reason reject the Old 1. Then I am to shew that we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of Holy Scripture of the New Testament in particular were written by those Persons that are said to be the Authors thereof This indeed is a Point that it does not properly lie upon us to make any Proof of For as a Man's Possession of an Estate is alone a good and a sufficient Title to it till a better is shewn by the Person that endeavours to eject him so it is here These Books are generally receiv'd as written by such and such Persons These Authors have the Name these have as it were â—he Possession of them and that 's Title enough if no other could be produced so long as no Evidence is ofâ—ered to shew that any other Persons have a better Title â—o them It lies on them therefore who deny that the Books are theirs to give a Reason of what they say â—ither by alledging some special Matter out of the Books â—hemselves whereby it may be proved that they could â—ot be of their Writing or by producing some creâ—ible and authentick History testifying that they were written by some other Persons and not by them And â—ill they can and shall do this which I am persuaded â—an never be done we may very well refuse to proâ—uce any positive Evidence to affirm or prove their Title their Possession being a good Title enough till a better appears And a Tenant might with as good Reason refuse to pay Rent to the Person of whom he â—ook the Estate and to whom he hath ever hitherto â—aid Rent and whose Right to it is not at all controverted until he shall suffer his Writings to be perused and examined and by them make it plainly appear that he is the lawful Landlord as any Man can now refuse to give that Credit to these Books as written by the Apostles which has been given hitherto and is still given by all Christians unless he may have now as good positive Evidence of their being written by the Apostles as might have been given thereof at first and as it may be presumed was given before their Title to them was so universally acknowledged But nevertheless what a Man is not under any Obligation to do for the asserting of his Right he may do wisely enough for his own Satisfaction And it must needs be a Satisfaction and Pleasure to a Man altho' his Title to his Estate be not at present controverted if in looking over the Writings and Evidences of it he sees plainly how it descended to him by a lineal Succession from Father to Son for many Generations past and how it came at first to his Ancestors by a clear and fair Purchase from the former Possessors or by Donation from the Prince in the Division of a wast or conquered Country and if he also finds ancient Terriers agreeing in the same Measure and Boundings and exactly describing the same Estate which he now possesses and if moreover looking far back he sees that upon some Disputes or Law-suits that have formerly been concerning it Judgment has been always given on his Side It cannot but please him I say that upon such a Search into Antiquity he finds that he is so very well provided to make out his Title if there should ever be any Occasion for it altho' by Reason of the long and quiet Possession that he and his Ancestors before him time out of Mind have had of it he has no just Cause to fear he shall ever meet â—ith any Disturbance And so it is here These Writings the Books of â—he New Testament are generally acknowledged to be â—ritten by the Apostles of Christ and their Authoâ—â—ty is at present uncontested It may therefore reaâ—â—nably be presumed especially by those who have â—ot Parts or Learning or Leisure to examine into the â—easons of such things that they would not have â—â—en so universally acknowledged and reverenced as â—â—ey are upon this Account but upon very good â—rounds tho' what the Grounds thereof are they â—â—ve not yet inquired Their being in Possession is â—one Reason enough to acknowledge and assert their â—â—tle It lies upon them that deny these Books to 〈◊〉 theirs to produce satisfactory Evidence of their â—ing forged or counterfeit and till they shall proâ—â—ce some Evidence thereof that has a Shew and Apâ—â—arance of Truth we have no Reason to be stagâ—â—red in our Belief by their bare however bold and â—â—nfident Denial of their Authority And much â—s shall we need to give our Reasons for our reâ—â—ving them as written by the Apostles till our Adâ—â—â—saries shall offer some Reasons why we ought not 〈◊〉 receive them as such But nevertheless because we see there are some in â—s incredulous Age that shew a good Will to deny 〈◊〉 Authority of these Sacred Books and whose Inâ—est it would be to prove them Spurious and beâ—se we cannot tell what unwarrantable Practices â—ir Inclination and Interest may put them upon 〈◊〉 what Writings or Evidences plausibly forged 〈◊〉 counterfeited they may hereafter produce it cannot be amiss for us to inquire and see and it cannot but be a Pleasure and Satisfaction to us who hold our Hope of eternal Life chiefly by these Writings to find and consider how well provided we are to detect and disprove any such Forgeries if they should be offered by being able to produce in Opposition thereto as good positive Proof that these Books are genuine as such a Matter is capable of much better than I believe can be produced for the Authority of any other Books of the like Antiquity And it gives us some Satisfaction in the Belief wâ— have been bred up in that these are the genuiâ—â— Books of the Authors to whom they are ascribed tâ— find that they are receiv'd as such not by a smaâ—â— Party of Men not by that Church and Nation onlâ— to which we belong but by all Christians disperseâ— in all Parts of the World and likewise that they aâ— agree with us in the same Testimony viz. that theâ— received then as such from their Fathers For thâ—â— these Books should be thus generally receiv'd anâ— acknowledged
was For in Matters of common Testimony we make little Difference between Speech and Writing If a Man whom we dare trust sends us a Letter and therein relates such and such things as heard or seen by himself or as well attested to him by unexceptionable Witnesses we give as full Credit to his Letter as we should do to his Words So that in Truth our Case who live now is not very different from theirs who lived in the Apostles Days and heard them saying those same Things which we now read in their Books and if we think those inexcuseable who did not receive their Testimony when given by Word of Mouth we can't in good Reason hold our selves excused if we receive not the same Testimony of the same Persons given under their Hands In one Respect indeed it must be granted that they had the Advantage of us viz. because they might be surer that they heard an Apostle speak than the Nature of the Thing will admit we should be that we read the Words of an Apostle written But we are sure enough of this We have as good moral Certainty of it as we can have of any thing that is not capable of any other than a moral Certainty And if the Words that we read in the New Testament are the Words of the Apostles of Christ we have in some Respects the Advantage of those who lived in those early Times for we have the concurrent Testimony of several of the Apostles written whereas hardly any in those times when a few Persons were to bear Witness to all the World could have more than the Testimony of one single Apostle only by Word of Mouth and many Witnesses are more credible than one And besides there being several Witnesses their Testimony if it be false may be more easily proved so by their Disagreement with one another than the Testimony of one single Witness could be And lastly a Writing which we may review and read over as often as we will and which we may take what time we please to consider of may be more throughly understood and better digested than a Sermon or Discourse only once spoken can well be But if it be granted that the Faith of the first Converts to Christianity which came by Hearing of the Apostles might be built upon more certain and infallible Grounds than ours that comes only by Reading is And some Reasons may perhaps be given hereafter why 't was fit it should be so it is enough however to render our Infidelity inexcusable if the Grounds of Faith that we now have are very rational if they are a sufficient Support for such a Faith as will enable us to please God and to overcome the World And this may be farther said for our Comfort and to make us easie and satisfied with those Grounds and Reasons of Faith which are afforded to us by the written Testimony of the Apostles in the Books of the New Testament that as there is more Certainty in that Belief if it may be called Belief which is grounded upon Demonstration or infallible Evidence so there is more Praise and Vertue in that good Disposition of Mind which makes us rest satisfied with such Grounds of Faith as tho' not absolutely and infallibly certain yet cannot with any good Reason be denied or excepted against According to that Saying of our Saviour to St. Thomas in a like Case with which I shall conclude Joh. 20.29 Thomas because thou hast seen me thou hast believed blessed are they that is they are more blessed their Faith is more excellent and praise-worthy and so will intitle them to a greater Reward who have not seen and yet have believed Which Blessedness that we may all attain God of his great Mercy and Goodness grant for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ c. FINIS ERRATA Pag. 8. l. 19. for then r. them Books Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard A Sermon Preach'd before the Honourable the House of Commons at St. Margaret's Westminster January the 30th 1698 9. The Sufficiency of a Standing Revelation A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's Jan. 1st 1699 700. being the first for the Year 1700. of the Lecture Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq The Sufficiency of the Scripture Revelation as to the Matter of it Being the Second for the Year 1700. of the Lecture Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq These Three by Ofspring Blackall Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty A Perswasive to Prayer A Sermon Preach'd before the King at St. James's A Sermon Preach'd before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled in the Abby Church at Westminster Jan. 30th Fifteen Sermons Preached on several Occasions the Last of which was never before Printed These Three by the most Reverend Father in God John Lord Arch-Bishop of York Primate of England and Metropolitan The Faith and Practice of a Church of England Man A False Faith not Justified by Care for the Poor Prov'd in a Sermon Preach'd at St. Paul's Church Mysteries in Religion Vindicated or the Filiation Deity and Satisfaction of our Saviour asserted against Socinians and others with Occasional Reflections on several late Pamphlets These Two by Luke Milbourn a Presbyter of the Church of England Two Sermons of Mr. Young's about Nature and Grace Preach'd at Whitehall THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE Scripture-Revelation As to the Proof of it PART II. TWO SERMONS Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul April 1 st and May 6 th 1700. BEING The Fourth and Fifth for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead THE Point I entred upon the Proof of the last time was this 3. That we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines that are taught by it And for the Proof of this having for Brevity sake confined my Discourse upon it to the Books of the New Testament only the rather because the Authority of that being granted the Authority of the Old Testament cannot reasonably be questioned I propounded to shew 1. That we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof 2. That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to them in their Relations of those
disproved but that there has been no such History cannot with certainty be affirmed This therefore say they is our Unhappiness that tho' we have a good Cause we are destitute of Means to support it and are in the Condition that the Israelites are said to have been in in the Days of Saul 1 Sam. 13.22 when they had War with the Philistins It came to pass in the Day of Battel there was neither Sword nor Spear found in the hand of any of the People But what was the Reason of this Why the Philistins had disarmed them Ver. 19. they had taken away the Weapons they had before and would not permit more to be made And this say the Infidels is exactly our Case In the War we have now with the Christians we are forc'd to fight without Sword or Spear And tho' for other good Reasons we are confident the Gospel History is false and are resolved never to believe it and make no doubt but that in former times it has been opposed and contradicted yet in this the Christians have been too hard and too cunning for us that while they have kept their own Weapons they have slily taken away ours for they have been careful to preserve the ancient Books that were written by those of their own Party in Defence of their Superstition but the Books of their Adversaries they have been as careful to suppress and destroy And they have had such good success in it that of all the Books or Discourses of the ancient Champions of Judaism Paganism or Deism Trypho Celsus Porphyry Julian and other great Names not much is now remaining besides Fragments and those perhaps imperfectly or falsly cited to be picked up out of the Books of those who have written Answers to them who we may well presume took notice only of those Passages therein which they thought were easiest to be answer'd But this is no unusual thing for the powerful and prevailing Party to stifle that Evidence which they know not how to disprove and to supâ—ress those Books which they cannot answer And â—his say they we take for a good Argument that â—here was something very considerable in these Books â—nd not easily to be answer'd because otherwise the Christians of former times would have been more willing that they should be preserv'd and transmitted â—o after times that so Posterity upon a fair Hearing â—f all that had been said on both sides might be â—ble to pass a right Judgment upon the Case and eiâ—her to chuse or to reject the Profession of Christiaâ—ity with Prudence and Discretion This is what has been sometimes suggested by â—he Enemies of our Religion and indeed I know not â—hat else can well be said to invalidate that Proof of â—he Gospel History which I am now upon But what â—ender ground there is for this Suggestion and how â—ery little the Christian Cause is affected by it a few Words will suffice to show For 1. Whereas 't is said that tho' indeed there â—â—e no Histories now in being whereby the Gospel â—istory can be disproved 't is possible however there â—ay have formerly been several Narratives extant that were perfectly contradictory to it and those too perhaps better attested and confirmed than the Gospel History was To this I answer That t is never allow'd to be a good Proof that a thing is to say that 't is possible it might be And besides if this surmize or suggestion of a thing barely possible be a good Objection against the Gospel History it is as much an Objection against all other ancient Histories If for this Reason the Gospel History be not credible no other History is so for there is no ancient History in the World now extant which we can be sure was never contradicted by some other as ancient History that is not extant But 2. As there is no Evidence that the Gospel History was contradicted when it was first publish'd that is when if it had been false it might most easily have been disprov'd so there is on the other Side as good Evidence as such a Matter is capable of that it never was thus contradicted or disproved Because if the Facts recorded in the Evangelical History had been then denied or disproved by any competenâ— and credible Witnesses 't is impossible that the Christian Doctrine which was grounded upon and chiefly established by these Facts should ever have spread so fast as by the Confession of all Parties it did from the time that it began to be preached by the Apostles Nothing but the strong Evidence that there was of the Truth of the Gospel History and strong it cannot be accounted if there was stronger and better Evidence on the other side could have supported the Profession of Christianity when it had nothing tâ— recommend it self by but its Purity and Truth against that violent Opposition which it met with every where in the World And 3. Whereas 't is further suggested that the Loss of those ancient Books which are supposed to have been written to disprove the Gospel History is owing to the Power and Subtlety of the Christians of those early times who thought it best to stifle that Evidence which they could not gainsay or refute this Suggestion is manifestly as groundless as 't is malicious For many Books of all sorts and of all sides have perish'd by Accident or been worn out by Time without any formal Design of any Party or Persons to suppress and destroy them And I see no Reason why these Books written in contradiction to the Gospel History if indeed any such were ever written may not have perished one of these ways as well as many other Books have done Or if a Reason must needs be given why some Books and why these in particular have been lost while others of the same or greater Antiquity have been preserv'd I think the little Value that Men generally had for those Books that are lost is the best Reason that can be given why they were suffered to perish and that the most probable Cause of Mens having so little value for them was because the Matter of them was so evidently false or the Reasoning of them so manifestly weak and fallacious that no Man thought it worth his while to be at the Pains or Charge of getting them transcribed Or if the Men we are now arguing with will not allow this to be a good Account of the Loss of such very valuable Books as they think these Anti-Gospel Histories were let them find out a better But I 'm sure that that before suggested by them viz. that it was by Design the first Christians purposely abolishing and destroying all Testimonies and Records that made against them is a much worse Account of it and infinitely more improbable than that which I have given For it must be supposed either that these Anti-Gospel Histories were written very early as soon almost as the Gospel History was published by the Preaching or Writing
of the Apostles or else in after Times And if they were destroyed by the Christians this must have been done either soon after they were written or else after they had been for some time receiv'd and allow'd as true Histories by the Adversaries of the Christian Faith Now if it be suppos'd that these Books were not written till a good while after the Apostles had preach'd and the Evangelists written the Gospel they were written too late to be of sufficient Authority to weaken the Credit of the Gospel-History For how could those that were not born when the things recorded in the Gospel were said to be done pretend to contradict the Testimony of those who were living at that time and who testified either that they saw them with their own Eyes or that they receiv'd that Account of them which they publish'd from very credible Persons who said they had been Eye witnesses thereof But if it be supposed that these Books were written sooner even as soon almost as the Evangelists wrote or the Apostles began to publish by their Preaching the Gospel History then I say 't is impossible they should be suppress'd and destroy'd by the Christians either then or afterwards Not then for tho' we grant that Christianity from the very first Preaching of it made a very swift Progress in the World and from a Beginning no bigger than a Grain of Mustard-seed grew up quickly to be a goodly Tree shadowing many Nations under the Branches of it yet it did not spring up like a Mushroom in a Night it did not grow to this Bigness all at once And what were the Christians in the weak and infant state of the Church but an Handful of Men in Comparison with their numberless Opposers and those too without Wealth without Power of no Interest or Esteem in the World that they should undertake to corrupt or stifle the Evidence that was given against them which was supported by the Secular Power and gladly receiv'd and embrac'd by all other Men but themselves What were they that they should be able to call in all the Books that had been written against them and to suppress and destroy them at their pleasure and that too so fully and effectually as that with the Books themselves which they destroy'd all Memory of them should likewise perish A powerful and prevailing Party with the Government on its side may indeed do much in this kind and yet hardly so much as this But they that believe the Christians to have been such a powerful and prevailing Party early enough to hinder the spreading and dispersing of any Books that were written against them believe without any Ground or Warrant from History a more unaccountable and incredible thing than any that is recorded in the Gospel But if this could not be done then it might perhaps be done afterwards For in progress of Time 't is certain it may be said that the Christians did come to be of very great Power and Interest and able to bear down all their Opposers and 't is likely enough that then they might set themselves to destroy all those Monuments of Antiquity whereby their fabulous Gospels had been contradicted and disprov'd And 't is not incredible that they should so far succeed in their Attempt as to leave no means to Posterity to discern how weak and sandy a Foundation their Religion was built upon But this Supposition taking it altogether involves a greater Difficulty and supposes a greater Miracle than the former did For whatever the Christians might attempt to do or whatever they might be able to do after they had attained to such great Power and were become the most numerous and prevailing Party 't is utterly incredible that they ever could have attained to such great Power that they ever could have become the most numerous and prevailing Party if indeed the Gospel History had almost from the very Beginning been opposed and contradicted by other Histories that were more credible than the Gospel History was For it must be and is granted by all that at the first Preaching of Christianity all worldly Power and Interest were on the other side and engaged most strongly to hinder the Growth and spreading of it Now when Truth is on one side and Power and Interest on the other 't is not impossible that Truth may at last prevail against Interest and bring the Power also to be of its side But if Truth I mean that which hath most Appearance of Truth I say if Truth and Power and Interest are all on the same side from the Beginning as it must be allowed they were by those who say that the Gospel History was quickly prov'd false by other Histories written and publish'd about the same time than I say it is utterly impossible that an Imposture quickly discover'd to be an Imposture and which serv'd no worldly Interest should ever have so gained ground as Christianity did against that apparent Truth and mighty Power and Interest that were on the other side So that whatever Progress Christianity might have made for a short time at first by reason of the Boldness and Confidence of its first Preachers it must needs be that immediately from and after the Time that the Anti-Gospel Histories of better Credit and Authority than the Gospel History was were publish'd it must have declined much faster than it had before increased and in a very few Years have so dwindled to nothing that 't is like in the Age in which we live there would hardly have been so much as any Remembrance of it left And now if nothing more could be said upon this Subject for I have not time at present to take into Consideration the other Proofs before hinted at of the Truth of the Gospel-History I think what has been said already is enough to shew that there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to the Evangelical Writers in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded This I 'm sure of that upon much less Evidence and Assurance of Truth than we have in this we generally give Credit to other Histories For we believe other Historians in their Relation of such Matters as they could not have so certain Knowledge or so good Assurance of as the Evangelical Writers might have of those plain Matters of Fact and Sense which they have related in their History And again we believe other Historians giving an Account of things which they do not pretend to have had a personal Knowledge of which were done in Countries far Distant from them and in Times long before them which their Readers had no Means to enquire into the Truth of which were done in secret or when but few were by and which if they were falsly related none were engaged by any Worldly Interest to be at much Pains to disprove And lastly If two Historians of the same Antiquity give different or contradictory Accounts of the same Matter we do not for that Reason
Part of my Discourse and therefore shall lengthen it no further Heb. 6.9 I am persuaded better things of you and things that accompany Salvation For your Presence here in the House of God and in the Assembly of Christians makes it reasonable to believe that you are already convinced not only of the Being and Providence of God but likewise of the Truth of the Christian Religion and of the Divine Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scriptures 2. To you therefore who are Christians I shall now turn my Discourse Heb. 13.22 And I beseech you Brethren suffer the word of Exhortation it is only this Since you have Moses and the Prophets and Christ and his Apostles and believe that they are Messengers to you from God to instruct you in his Will receive the Truth and the Law at their Mouths mind what they say and be careful to follow their Directions in all things For even we who have the Scriptures the lively Oracles of God may perish for want of Knowledge as well as they that have them not unless we make that Use of them which they were given for unless we are diligent in reading them and careful to practise what they teach For the Rich Man spoken of in this Parable had the Scriptures but his meer having them did not keep him from Hell And his five surviving Brethren had likewise the Scriptures and yet were then in a fair way of following their Brother to that Place of Torment They had Moses and the Prophets but they did not hear them And this also may be our Case who have not only these but also Christ and his Apostles Preaching to us if we do not hear them for what Advantage can it be to us to have good Instructors if we will not mind what they say if we stop our ears to all their Counsels and Reproofs No Man was ever made a Scholar only by having a good Library in his Possession No Man ever learnt any Art or Science tho' it was never so well taught in any Book only by keeping the Book in his Chamber or carrying it about in his Pocket And as little shall we be the wiser only by having the Holy Scriptures tho' as the Apostle says they are able to make us wise unto Salvation 2 Tim. 3.15 if we do not read and study them with an honest Design to furnish our selves from thence with a stock of useful Knowlege and with a firm Resolution to lead our Lives according to the Directions which they give us Nay so far shall be from receiving any Advantage only by our having the Holy Scriptures given us and free Liberty allowed us to look into them a Privilege we of this Nation have above most of our Neighbours that if we do not read and study them it will be much the worse for us our Condemnation will be the greater and our Destruction so much the more certain For the Case of those who offend thro' Ignorance when their Ignorance is unaffected is very pitiable and tho' we can't certainly say how God will deal with those who had no clear Revelation of his Will made to them this we may be sure of that God who is a merciful God will deal mercifully with them John 15.22 If I had not come and spoken unto them says our Saviour they had not had Sin But the Case will be quite otherwise with those Luke 12.47 who knew their Master's will and did not do it They as our Saviour says shall be beaten with many Stripes And it will be all one if they did not know it if their Ignorance of it was occasioned by their own fault in neglecting those Means of Knowledge which God has afforded them And much rather if their ignorance of their Duty was affected and chosen that they might Sin with less disturbance of Mind for our Saviour's Judgment in this Case is very plain and and 't is his Judgment by which we must stand or fall to all Eternity Joh. iii. 19. This is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men loved Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds were Evil. Having therefore Moses and the Prophets and also Christ and his Apostles continually Preaching to us in the Books of Holy Scripture let us hear them This is both our Duty and our Interest And that our study of the Scripture may be with good success and we may thereby be thoroughly furnished unto all good Work Let us Pray as we are taught by our Church in a most excellent Collect suited to the Subject I have been Discoursing of Collect for 2d Sunday in Advent Blessed Lord who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our Learning Grant that we may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by Patience and Comfort of thy Holy Word we may embrace and ever hold 〈◊〉 â—he blessed Hope of everlasting Life which thou hast given us 〈…〉 â—ur Jesus Christ Amen FINIS ERRATA Page 55. line 10. for some read same