Instances 1. There was at that time a notable Controversy about the Church which was the true This was the Case between the Jews and Samaritans as 't is stated by the Woman of Samaria Joh. 4. 20. Our Fathers saith she to our Saviour Worshipped in this Mountain Gerizim and ye say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship That is ye say Yours is the true Church and we say ours is that true Church And each of these were so violently addicted to their own way that the Jews would have no dealing with the Samaritans nor so much as ask drink of them in their necessity V. 9. And on the other side the Samaritans would not so much as receive the Jews into their Houses Luk. 9. 53. Nay so high did the Contest grow between them that it ingaged them in the fiercest Quarrels even to Assaults and Assassinations where-ever they were out of Canaan as well as in it as their Historian Reports And though that Samaritan Temple was afterward utterly destroyed by Hyrcanus about 130 years before our Saviour yet the Prejudices and Animosities continued till both fell under the common and final Destruction by the Romans 2. Another point in Controversy was about a Future State and the Resurrection to it This was Disputed between the Pharisees and the Sadducees For the Sadducees held that there was no Resurrection nor Angel nor separate Spirit existing out of a Body for that the Jews called a Spirit but the Pharisees confessed both 3. Another material Controversy that then divided the Church was What was the Rule of Faith For the Sadducees would admit the Law of Moses only to be of that Authority and what was not therein contained was among them accounted of no validity and therefore they denied a Future State because as they pretended there was no proof of it from that Law But the Pharisees whatever respect they might give to the Law above the other Books of Scripture yet allowed both to be of the same Authority and so what was contained in any of them to be the Object of Faith Again The Sadducees were for Scripture alone without any Traditions but the Pharisees set their Traditions in the same Rank with the Scriptures and would have both of the same Obligation as has been aforesaid p. 13 and if either was to give way to the other the Scripture was rather to give way to Tradition than Tradition to the Scripture About which Matters there were often great Disputes and Differences between these Two powerful Factions as the Historian relates so that however they were concerned in the Government yet the Flame broke out upon every occasion and which St. Paul made his advantage of who when he perceived that the one part of the Councel were Pharisees and the other Sadducees cried out I am a Pharisee and the Son of a Pharisee of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question By these means they filled the whole Nation with Bandyings and Feuds the Great Men generally siding with the Sadducees and the People with the Pharisees as the same Author saith 4. Another Point in Controversy among them was about the Messias This was a Character much pretended to by several about the time of our Saviour and was the Chief Subject in Dispute between Him and the Ruling-part of the Jews Points surely these were of great Importance Viz. Which is the True Church What is the Rule of Faith Whether there be a Future Life And whether Jesus be the Messias And Points these were that the whole Nation of the Jews was divided about So that in all Appearance there was scarcely ever a greater occasion for a Determining-power to put this Case to an Issue Now if there had been any such Infallible Authority any such Concluding-Power Visible and Known as it was then if ever necessary so no doubt there would have been Appeals to it in these Disputes among themselves and with our Saviour And in reason it may be thought our Saviour would readily have Appeal'd to it because the Judge being Infallible could never have Determined and given it against Him But we read of no such Appeals in Scripture but on the contrary our Saviour puts them upon another way of Enquiry not to Search after a Living and Infallible Judge by whom they were to be finally concluded but to Search the Scriptures as the Infallible Rule by which they were to be Determined And accordingly the Apostles advised their Auditors to the same Course that they should thereby prove all things and hold fast what upon trial they found to be good and true That they should not believe every Spirit every Pretender to Revelation and Infallibility but should try the Spirits whether they were of God and there was good reason it seems for it because saith the Apostle many false Prophets are gone out into the World 1 Joh. 4. 1. that pleaded Inspiration and a Divine Mission and Authority for what they Taught as is manifest from the Epistles of the Apostles And yet the Apostles who themselves had the Spirit of Infallibility and Immediate Revelation referr'd the Jews to the Written Word as the Rule and to their own Reason and Conscience as the Judge If ever any might have required an implicit Faith and an absolute and a blind Obedience to their judgment it was Christ and his Apostles and yet we find that they would have all Try and Examine Weigh and Consider It being an innate Privilege of Mankind not to be led blindfold but to be governed by their Reason a privilege that true Religion doth evermore preserve and what every Man is obliged to defend since every Man must give an account of himself to God And therefore the Bereans are commended by St. Paul as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more generous and free-spirited Who Searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were true which that Apostle Taught and compared one with another his Doctrine with that Holy Standard and finding them to accord they received the word with all readiness of mind So manifest is it that in the Apostolical times every Man was to judge for himself and to use the same reason in Religion which he used in the Common Affairs of Life All that those Inspired Writers desired was That Men would Search and search Impartially and then they did not question but as they would be like the Bereans in Temper so they would be alike prevailed with in the conclusion and receive the truth with the like promptitude and readiness of mind toward the finding out of which Searching and Honesty go a great way And whereas it might have been thought however that the times would come when the Apostles should leave the World and Immediate Inspiration should cease with them and so Men would be left to their own Fallible judgment in the Interpretation of the Rule Yet there is no other provision made by our
Scripture the Rule of Faith A SERMON Preached at St. Martins in the Fields Febr. 3. 1695 6. BEING THE Second of the LECTURE For this Present YEAR Founded by the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE Esquire By JOHN WILLIAMS D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell and Tho. Cockerill Sen r Jun r At the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard and at the Three Legs in the Poulâ—râ—y MDCXCVI JOHN V. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life and they are they which testify of me AFTER that our Saviour had Cured the Impotent Man at the Pool Bethesda Ver. 9. the Jews sought to Slay him because he had Healed him on the SaÌ„bbathday Ver. 16. And so much the more were they bent upon this as in Vindication of himself he had said also that God was his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 own proper Father making himself equal with God V. 18. Our Saviour therefore in the following part of this Chapter largely insists upon the Explication and Proof of what he had Asserted and Appeals to a Threefold Testimony for his Justification Viz. 1. That of John Baptist who bore Witness of him and to whom for a season they gave Credit Ver. 32 33 34 35. 2. His own Works Ver. 36. they saith he bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me 3. The Scriptures Ver. 46. Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me And in the Text Search the Scriptures for in them ye think c. The Words may be either an Appeal to the Jews and so are to be read by way of Affirmation and Concession ye do search the Scriptures as it is in the Margin Or they may be read Imperatively and by way of Exhortation as it is in our Version Search ye the Scriptures If we admit the former then they are a Reproof to the Jews that professed to be very Conversant in those Sacred Books so that not a Word Syllable or Tittle should escape their notice as it 's said in After-times of the Masorites and yet so little heeded what was the main Subject of them that they observed not how the Characters belonging to the Messias pointed plainly to him But I conceive the Words are to be understood as an Exhortation as the way of our Saviour's arguing doth shew which is from point to point from John Baptist to his own Works and from his Works to the Scriptures And so St. Basil and St. Athanasius understand them And if the Words contain a Duty then they are an Appeal of our Saviour to the highest Authority that is Divine Revelation and what even the Jews themselves admitted for such So that should they reject the Testimony of John Baptist whom they did at one time believe to be a Prophet Or should they be so perverse as they sometime were as to impute our Saviour's Miraculous Works to Beelzebub yet the Scriptures was a proof not to be gainsaid For they themselves thought and judged as the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies that Eternal Life was therein Revealed and by the direction whereof it was to be obtained and yet even those did testify of him Having brought the Controversy thus far it would in reason be at an end Thither therefore he remits them to their Authority he Appeals these he requires them to Search and if they Searched and Searched sincerely and impartially they would find Him whom they now traduced and whose Life they sought to be the Messias there described So he concludes his Discourse There is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom ye trust For had ye believed Moses and his Writings ye would have believed me for he wrote of me Ver. 45 46. Or as it is in the Text They testify of me From the Words I Observe 1. That notwithstanding there is a Revelation from God and owned to come from him yet there may be Disputes about Points contained in that Revelation It was so here the Jews as well as our Saviour believed the Old Testament to be a Divine Revelation and to contain all things necessary to Everlasting Life and yet there was a Dispute about an Article of no less Importance than whether our Saviour was the Messias therein Prophesied of and whom they hoped for Salvation by 2. There is a Direction what to do in this Case and that is to Repair to the Rule Search the Scriptures impartially Examine them and compare what is therein Revealed with what our Saviour affirmed concerning himself 3. There is the final Decision of the Case and that is by the Scriptures You grant saith he they contain all things necessary to Eternal Life and they are they which testify of me Thereby he is willing to abide and thereby they ought to be concluded 4. Here is a further Direction how to Search implied in the Verses following Ver. 41 c. and that is with Humility and Diligence with Impartiality and Sincerity without Prejudice and Prepossessions The Words we see contain a plain Resolution of a Case of great Importance and that is what is to be done in Matters of Doubt or Controversy and how persons should proceed to obtain due satisfaction And here the first thing to be agreed upon is By what shall we be tried what is the Rule which is to determine us and which we must abide by The next thing is Who shall be the Judge The Third is What are the Qualifications of such as are to judge To the First our Saviour Answers We must go to the Scriptures for if it be a matter of Consequence and concerns Eternal Life there to be sure it is contained and there it is to be found As to the Second He saith the persons concerned are to Search those that doubt question or deny are carefully to examine As to the Third He saith they must lay aside all other Interests and Search with all Humility as those that love God and seek after the honour that cometh from him only Ver. 44. So that by this resolution of the Case we have gained two or three considerable points towards the resolving all Doubts and ending all Controversies in the Christian Church And they are 1. That the Scriptures are the only Rule by which we are to judge and determine concerning points of Faith and necessary to Salvation 2. That it appertains to all persons to have recourse to and to judge by this Rule concerning matters of that nature and which are of that Importance 3. A Direction how to Search and that is with Modesty and Humility with Sincerity and Impartiality 1st The Scriptures are the only Rule by which we are to judge and determine concerning Articles of Faith and matters necessary to Salvation 'T is on all hands granted that there must be some Authority which Faith is to be resolved into For Faith is no other than an assent to some Proposition or Propositions upon Authority And according
as the Authority is such is our Faith Humane or Divine So that Divine Faith must have Divine Authority and Divine Authority is no other than Divine Revelation delivered at sundry times and in divers manners Written or Unwritten And where there is no verbal Revelation by Persons Divinely Inspired the Written Word is the only Authority that Faith can be resolved into which our Saviour here appeals to and propounds as a means sufficient and in their Circumstances as the only means for ending the Dispute The Question here in Debate was as I observed before Whether Jesus was the Messias prophesied of in the Old Testament This the Jews denied and our Saviour affirms appealing for proof of it to John Baptist to his own Works and to the Scriptures and there he leaves it For this was the old and true way of deciding matters of that nature To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word there is no light in them Indeed in After ages a party of the Jews rose up that taught for Doctrines the Commandments of men that did exalt their Traditions to an equal Authority with the Divine Law and made it equally a fault to transgress them as our Saviour charges it upon them of which more anon But our Saviour shews the invalidity of this and directs them to the Fountain of all Revealed Truth the Holy Scriptures then extant as a Rule sufficient to guide them and of Authority sufficient to determine them And this was the course he at other times took As doth the Young Ruler put a serious Case to him Good Master What shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life Our Saviour Answers Thou knowest the Commandments Do the Sadduces that denied a Future State and a Resurrection to it contend with our Saviour about it He argues with them from the Scriptures Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures As touching the Resurrection of the Dead have ye not read c. Would he instruct the Disciples in the great Articles of Faith He doth it from those Sacred Oracles Ought not Christ to have suffer'd c. And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself In like manner did the Apostles proceed to convince the Jews of their Incredulity So St. Paul reasoned with them out of the Scriptures opening and alledging That Christ must needs have suffered and risen again and that this Jesus is the Christ So Apollos shewed by the Scriptures That this Jesus was the Christ To this they always remitted them as to a Rule certain and sufficient and without which nothing was to be received as an Article of Faith To a Rule certain called therefore by St. Peter 2. 1 19. A more sure word of Prophecy and which he prefers before a Voice from Heaven And a Rule sufficient that is as St. Paul saith able to make wise unto Salvation and thoroughly to furnish even the Man of God the Teacher unto all good works And when these things were spoken at that time more immediately of the Jewish Canon of the Old Testament they may equally as well be applied to the New which is not only as much the Scripture as St. Peter calls it 2 Pet. 3. 19. as I have before proved but also by the addition of it renders the Old much more intelligible and complete Now there can be no imaginable reason assigned why the Scripture which was then sufficient in all points necessary to Salvation and for resolving of Faith should now be insufficient after the Revelation made by Christ That is that we should be more at a loss with the more clear full and perfect Revelation than they were under the less perfect that what in the last days God Deliver'd and Reveal'd by his Son should be less sufficient to direct us than what he Spoke at sundry times and in divers manners in times past to the Jews by the Prophets And especially considering that there was a time when their Circumstances were much the same with ours which was in the long interval of 400 or 450 Years between the finishing of the Jewish Canon in the Prâ—phecy of Malachi with whom Revelation ceased and the appearance of John Baptist In which time they were left as we are wholly to the Written Word of God for their Direction and the Sole Authority they were to rely upon Since then in the Christian Church there is no more need of any Traditionary or Unwritten Word than the Jews had at that time at leâ—st under the Law and no more proof to be made of it now than there was then it follows that the Scripture is the only Rule in exclusion to all others and what is not contained therein by positive Proof nor by evident Consequence to be deduced from it can no more be of Divine Authority and Obligation to Christians than Unwritten Traditions were then to the Jews This is the true Reâ—olution of Faith and if our Saviour in a point of such Importance as his being the Messiah put the Case upon this issue we have good reason to think that it is still the true Method of reasoning among Christians and of resolving any Point of Faith and Doctrine necessary to Salvation And therefore supposing we would find out the truth of any Doctrine thus Necessary and Fundamental we must come hither for direction and resolution and if it has no Foundation in Scripture we are to reject it For it is a Rule in the Law Quod Instrumâ—ntum non dicit nec nos dicere debemus or as it is usually said Where that has not a Tongue to Speak we are not to have an Ear to Hear 'T is then a Doctrine of Men and may be a Tradition of the Elders but is no Fundamental Article of the Christian Faith But grant this yet it has been before yielded that Doubts and Disputes may arise in the Church about the sense of this Written Rule and therefore who shall be the Arbiter to Judge and Determine oâ— how shall the Doubter be resolved or how shall he be sure of the Sense and Meaning of that which is Disputed Our Saviour here directs what is to be done Search the Scriptures examine and prove all by this Rule He doth not direct them to any speaking Infallible Guide nor to any Church nor Persons into whom their Faith is to be resolv'd but puts them themselves upon the trial of it Whence it follows 2. That every Man is to judge for himself Certainly if ever there were a necessity of an Infallible Judge to Determine points of Controversy to Mens hands it had been in the long Interval before spoken of between the Cessation of Prophecy and the Appearance of our Saviour when there were divers Sects risen up among the Jews continually contending one with another and oftentimes about matters of very great Importance Of which I shall give a few
Saviour and the Apostles for preventing any such Inconvenience though they foresaw and foretold there would be Deceivers and Impostors but all Future-Ages were left in the very same Circumstances with the Jews in that Period of 450 years before spoken of The Divine Writers supposing that there was in the Scriptures such a plain and full Revelation of all things necessary to be known in order to Salvation and there would be so much Reason and Sense in Mankind where so great an Interest as their Salvation was concerned that with Ordinary and Common Helps such as Prayer and Consideration and Advice and appointed Teachers are that they would be able to find out the Truth or as much of it as was necessary to their Salvation if they came to it with sincere and well-disposed minds And that God would never suffer such to want Ability Opportunities and Means for it or be wanting in mercy to them in forgiving and passing by such defects as were unavoidable to them in their Circumstances But that belongs to the next Head and that is 3. The Direction what to do in this Case which is to Search that is with Diligence and Impartiality Supposing this that every Man is to judge for himself then persons will judge differently and there will be Eternal and Endless Disputes To this our Saviour fits an Answer not only in the Direction given in the Text but also in the subsequent part of his Discourse which amounts to thus much that we are to Search with Diligence and Impartiality The former is implied in the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Search and which is very requisite in matters of such Importance as those were which our Saviour is here Discoursing upon and that is no less than his being the Messias the Son of God A Subject that from the quality of it and the various passages in Scripture relating to it requir'd due Consideration For though the Scriptures are so plain in most necessary points that in the Prophet's Phrase the wayfaring men though fools shall not err therein and what are as soon understood as they are read Yet there are even some of those that in the nature of the thing require a strict and careful attendance Of which kind are such as contain the Characters of the Messiah and therefore lye not so open to a superficial Eye but that they may be misunderstood and he that would then know and understand the force of the Argument referring to it must Search Our Saviour doth not therefore say only That the Scriptures Testify of him but requires them to Search if they would be satisfied in it For though proofs of this nature often are like Mines that lie deep yet upon Searching they are to be found And if so then our Ignorance is not to be imputed to their Obscurity but to our own Negligence that we take not that course which is proper thereunto and may very justly be requir'd But there is a further Qualification requisite and that is Sincerity and Impartiality Our Saviour here resolves the Infidelity of the Jews into Obstinacy and Insincerity They had another Interest to mind a Reputation to maintain Ver. 40. Ye will not come to me Ver. 42. Ye have not the love of God in you Ver. 44. How can ye believe which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour which cometh from God only These and the like Vicious Inclinations hinder from Searching or from finding the truth if they Search or from receiving it though they find it Persons thus disposed will then handle the word of God deceitfully and like artificial Orators put what Colour they please upon it They will pervert and wrest distort and writhe the Text till they force it to serve the Cause they espouse and are resolved beforehand to maintain And so it would be if there were an Infallible Judge and so it was when there were Inspired Persons in the Church when our Saviour himself was in the Chair and the Apostles were helpers of their Faith So that there is no Fence in the World against Perverseness and Obtinacy against Pride and Self conceit against Interest and Self-seeking These things indeed will make the Scripture difficult and Truth unintelligible though ne'er so plain in it self or never so evidently proved When in the Phrase of Scripture Their heart is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and they have closed their eyes lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart For then it is with such as with a sickly Stomach that will nauseate the most wholsome and delightful Diet In which Case it is not the fault of the Diet but of the Stomach which wants an Appetite or of the Palate that wants the savour which is the occasion of the disorder and for remedy of which the Body is to be Cured and the Stomach to be restored to its natural Tone and Temper and then the same Diet will be nourishing and grateful as before So it is in the Case before us where it is not the Understanding but the Will that is in the fault or some pre-occupations and Sinister Inclinations that do Cloud the mind and keep it from judging or dispose it by such fatal Biasses to judge amiss But now if the contrary Temper prevail that Men lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness all Prejudices and Interests and receive with meekness the ingrafted word If they are candid and ingenuous free and impartial and come with an hearty desire to know the truth and with a stedfast resolution to be guided by it whether it be for or against their Worldly Interest and to do according to what they know they shall not finally and fundamentally mistake according to our Saviour's resolution of this Case Joh. 7. 17. If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or saith he whether I speak of my self So again If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed and ye shall know the truth John 8. 31 32. For God will not leave an honest mind without such means as shall be sufficient for the understanding of all things necessary to Salvation He that sent a Philip to an Eunuch and an Angel to Cornelius and called to a Saul out of Heaven will present such occasions give such assistance or direct to such Instructors that shall as Aquila to Apollos expound unto them the way of God more perfectly And if we put the Case that a Person sincerely disposed to know and receive the Truth should fall into error for man is a fallible Creature yet the Error shall not be Damnable but what may be as consistent with his being a Christian and Orthodox as Infirmities are with a good Man and Sincerity For as in the present State which is a State of Infirmity there is no arriving