does assert this on the very ground we mention'd for they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inspir'd by God they come from him All which must be made out in the next place That those Holy Scriptures which St. Paul first mentions those of the Old Testament were so and did contain sufficient revelation both of God and of the way of worship of the Jews that Nation did so perfectly believe that neither Sufferings nor Miracles could perswade the contrary neither the Roman persecuters that destroy'd their worship nor the Son of God that chang'd it could yet take them off from Moses and his Scriptures Now that this Moses led that Nation out of Egypt with an high hand and made himself their Prince and Law-giver multitudes of forreign Histories of the first times and the best account assure us whose relations we cannot question as deriv'd from themselves because they hated Jews beyond all possibility of such compliance But the Scriptures also tell us how in Egypt by strange wonders such as their Magicians could not imitate nor bear who tho they had permission to do some it was that so they might appear to be outdon the more miraculously themselves confessing Gods hand in those prodigies Moses wrought on the Egyptians to give leave the people should depart and how when yet notwithstanding that leave given they were pursu'd he made way for them through the Sea by Miracles which was a rampart and defence to them a ruine to their enemies How they were fed for forty years with Manna raining down from Heaven in the wilderness and that they might depend on Providence for their daily provision when he forbad them to take care or gather for the morrow whatsoe're their greediness or want of faith provided strait bred worms and stank except that on the Sabbath eve to keep off such cares from the day of their Religion they gather'd double which corrupted not How when they mutined for flesh would have variety Paradise in the desert such great plenty of Quailes flew to them as fed the whole Nation till their very lust was surfetted and they had no more will then hunger to them How Moses Rod did strike a living stream a River that suffic'd that people and their cattle out of a Rock How in the midst of lightning and thunder God himself promulgated his Law to the whole Nation audibly at once How his glorious presence shew'd it self in all necessities upon the Ark in which the Tables of the Law were laid up How the waters of the river Iordan fled from that Ark both waies flow'd upwards to give passage to the people into Canaan How the walls of Ierichó without any other battery any other force but that the Ark was there fell down before it But to name no more If these be true that power by which these were wrought was great enough to give that Law require obedience to it and reward it and to punish all transgression according to the tenor of these Scriptures that is it was God and he that wrote those Scriptures must have had communication with and bin inspir'd from God to write them But 2. Whether they were true or no according as they are recorded in those Scriptures that whole people from the greatest almost to the least must know because they are recorded as all don not only in the presence of them all but as the objects and the entertainments of their senses every one so that if they were forg'd not one of the whole Nation could be ignorant of it And then 3. If they knew them forg'd all that 600000 men besides their wives and families should endure this Moses having brought them forth only into a wilderness there to lay such a heavy Law and so severe a yoke upon them with such penalties annext to every least transgression and adjure them to observe it on the account of all those prodigies that had bin wrought among them and upbraid them with stiffneckedness rebellion and appeal to their own senses for the truth of all this and record all to posterity in this Scripture cause all to be read before them and that they should bear all this from him they knew so impudent a deceiver and conveigh that Scripture and the faith of it to their posterity ground their so strict so chargeable Religion on that book which they were certain had no word of truth in it this sure transcends belief and possibility 'T is certain therefore since the Jews of that age did perform the services requir'd and in performing them according as that book directs did teach their children the great works that God had don in their sight therefore they believ'd those Miracles and Scriptures And since it was impossible that they should be deceiv'd if they believ'd them they were true and their posterity receiv'd from them the faith of this and so deriv'd it on that neither Gods dread judgments nor mans cruelty can yet shake it Now had they not bin don and on that account conveigh'd when ever they were broacht and that book first appear'd the men of that age must needs know their Fathers never had perform'd such services had such a book read to them constantly nor told them of such Miracles that had bin wrought and therefore 't was impossible that they could have believ'd it had bin so from Moses if it had bin true that it had first begun to be taught in their own time or in theirs with whom they liv'd And this discourse must be of force concerning every age if we ascend until we come to that of Moses wherein all was effected Yet besides this they had also that perpetual Miracle in the High Priest's Pectoral the Oracle of Vrim and Thummim that did keep alive their faith and strengthen it and they had Prophets constantly foretelling as from God things that were somtimes suddenly to come to pass and somtimes not till many ages after the event of which depended often on the will of those that would not of some hundred years be born others on Gods own immediat will and hand and therefore none but God could look into foretel and bring to pass all those events Now such were Ieremies predictions of the taking of Ierusalem and the captivity of the people and the express number of years it would continue Esays naming Cyrus who was to release it near two hundred years e're he was born All Daniels prophecies particularly that most eminent one of the Messiah this Christ Iesus of whose Scriptures we are next to speak That that Iesus whom Cornelius Tacitus the heathen historian in the fifteenth book of his Annals calls Christiani dogmatis autorem the Author of the Christian Doctrine did work Miracles and prophesy both Jews and learned Heathens do confess But these Books tell us when he first began to preach he publicly cast out a Devil in the Synagogue on
THE Divine Autority AND USEFULNESS OF THE Holy Scripture ASSERTED IN A SERMON On the 2 Timothy 3. 15. By R. ALLESTREE D. D. and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty OXFORD At the THEATER 1673. 2. Tim. 3. 15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation throughx faith which is in Christ Iesus THE words are part of St. Pauls reasoning by which he presseth Timothy to hold fast the truth he had receiv'd and not let evil men seducers work him out of what he had bin taught urging to this end both the authority of the Teacher himself who had secur'd the truth of his doctrine by infallible evidence and beyond that as if that were a more effectual enforcement pressing him with his own education in the Scriptures how he had bin nurst up in that faith suckt the Religion with his milk that it was grown the very habit of his mind that which would strengthen him into a perfect man in Christ and make him wise unto salvation if he did continue in the faith and practise of it which he proves in the remaining verses of the Chapter In the words read there are three things observable 1. Here is a state suppos'd Salvation and put too as of such concernment that attaining it is lookt upon as wisdom wise unto salvation Now since true wisdom must express it self both in the end that it proposeth and the means it chooseth for that end to be pursued with and attain'd by and take care both these have all conditions that can justify the undertaking and secure the prudence of it and this wisdom to salvation therefore must suppose both these in order to them both we have here 2. That which with all divine advantage does propose this end and alsox does prescribe most perfect means for the attaining it and that is Holy Scripture through faith which is in Christ Iesus Thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Iesus Holy Scripture probably of the Old Testament for there was hardly any other Timothy could know from a child scarce any other being written then The faith of that then through the faith which is in Christ Iesus that is together with the faith of all things necessary to be known concerning Christ is meant Now since St. Iohn after the view of all that the other three Evangelists had wrote concerning Christ adding his story also says that Christ did and spoke more then what is written yet affirms most positively that those things were written that we might believe that Iesus is the Christ the Son of God and believing might have life through his name and so enough is written for that faith which is in Jesus that is necessary to eternal life therefore the Holy Scripture of the Old Testament together with the faith of what is written in the New is that which St. Paul affirms is able to make us wise unto salvation 3. Here is the advantage Timothy had above others as to Faith in these and consequently the far greater obligation to continue in it He had known them from a child And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scripture c. The first thing that does offer it self to our consideration is the state suppos'd Salvation But because my Text supposes it I shall do so too nor shall think it needful to prove here that there is such a state nor consequently that all those are stupid who propose not to themselves this everlasting safety for their main end and by strict care in the duties of Religion and Gods service aime at it for if that state be granted nay if it be but possible it must be granted that there can be no security but in doing so nor consequently any wisdom without being wise thus unto salvation But then if this were granted that the wisest thing man could propose to himself were by strict care in all the duties of Religion to design Gods honor and his own salvation still as to the other part of prudence which consists in the choice of means we are to seek for that Religion we are to pursue this end by and attain it since there are so many and so opposite Religions in the word that 't is not easier to reconcile them then to make peace betwixt enemies and contradictions And it alwaies was so for excepting that mankind agree'd still in the notion of the necessity of Religion that all had apprehensions of invisible powers above us and differ'd not much in the rules of Justice and Morality in other things there was no nearness Almost from the beginning there was more variety of Gods then Nations I had almost said then Worshippers Beasts were their Sacrifices and their Deities and therefore the votaries were certainly no better Vices also were their worships things which their Cities and their Camps would not endure found Sanctuary in their Temples and the actions which were whipt in the Judgment-hall were their piety in the holy places And tho some wise men among them found good reason to decry this yet they knew not what to take up in the stead I need not add the present differences of the world even that call'd Christian too great part of which as heretofore they seal'd their faith with their own blood now seal it in the blood of all that differ from them and by their persecutions hope to merit Heaven more then those did hope to gain it by their Martyrdoms But these I need not add to make up this into a demonstration that it is impossible for lapsed men so far as they are left to themselves and have no other guide to follow but their reason to find out what they are to believe of God and how to serve him and save themselves The Fathers and Philosophers too conclude that we can learn from none but God what we must understandx of God who must be known only as he himself is pleas'd to revele himself His worship also how he will be serv'd and what observances he does require or will admit since it depends on his own good plesure therefore without his directions 't is in vain to hope to please him with our Religious service whatever it be and by consequence impossible without his guidance and assistance to acquire the end of all our Service and Religion the salvation of our souls So that how wise soever he be who does propose this blessed end to himself if yet withall he be not some way from the Lord instructed by what means he must pursue that end and do not make choice of and use those means it is impossible he can be wise unto salvation Now for this St. Paul assures us most expresly here we may be furnished For he saies The Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Iesus And he
liv'd till near that time who rose up with him at his resurrection when these books writ by the will of God to be the pillar and foundation of mens faith in after ages as saith Irenaeus in that age were also read in the assemblies weekly when not only those that did assemble were by Hadrian martyr'd but they put men to their oaths to find out whether they were Christians that they might massacre them And in the 3 d it was the like when Miracles they say were not yet ceast yet sure the greatest was the constancy of Christians in adhering to this book patience in suffering for it For they report the sands on the sea shore almost as easy to be numbred as the Martyrs of that age what by Valerian Decius Maximinus and Severus but especially by Dioclesian who put so many men to death for not delivering up their Bibles to be burnt and refusing to Sacrifice to his Gods as if he meant to have depopulated the whole earth And this is as notorious as that men do now profess that they are Christians and that these are holy Scriptures Therefore I shall need to go no further Now among so many myriads who on the account of all these Miracles whate're they were suffer'd themselves to be converted to the faith of Christ and then as if they car'd for nothing but Religion and their Bibles for them bore the loss of goods and life it self and engag'd their posterity to do so also that not one of these should know whether indeed any such miracles were wrought if any were restor'd to life or no for if they knew then they were true and that among so numberless a crow'd of teachers who by assuming to speak languages raise the dead work signs drew in those Myriads to Religion and the stake and went before them gave them an example both in faith and death that not one of all those should believe either the Miracles or himself that did them for if any one that did them did believe them since he knew who did them they must needs be certain but not one of them to know it sure is such a thing as neither could be don nor be imagin'd He therefore that requires strict evidence in things of faith which cannot bear it he that calls for Mathematical demonstration nor will believe on easier terms yet is so credulous and so unwary that he can believe so many things which by the nature and the disposition of mankind I have demonstrated not possible which yet must be true unless these scriptures be from God 't is plain he does not seek for certainty but for a pretence of not believing would fain have his Infidelity and Atheism look more excusable and is not fit to be disputed with but to be exploded But if these scriptures be from God then whatsoever they affirm with modesty I may conclude is true And therfore when St Luke Acts. 1. 1. declares his former treatise contain'd all that Iesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up since Christ before he did ascend taught every thing that was requir'd to be believ'd and don in order to salvation and more too therfore if his Gospel did contain all that he taught and did since it did not contain all absolutly it must needs mean it contained all that was necessary or it must mean nothing And since the same St Luke in the beginning of that Gospel does affirm he wrot it that Theophilus might know the certainty of those things wherein he had bin instructed T is plain he avers that the certain knowledg of all those things wherein the having bin instructed made Theophilus a Christian might be had out of that Gospel and when St Paul says here that the Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Iesus and St John in his 20 chap. v. 31. that tho he had not wrot all the things that Iesus did yet those that he had wrot were written that we might believe that Iesus was the Christ the son of God and that believing we might have life through his name T is evident the Scriptures say that what was written was sufficient to work that belief which was sufficient to life and salvation as far as the credendâ— do concur to it And when St Paul in that verse that succeeds my text in most express particular words sets down the usefullness of Scripture in each several duty of a man of God or preacher of the Gospel both for Doctrine of faith for reproof or correction of manners and instruction unto righteousness and tells you Gods express end in inspiring it and consequently its ability when so inspir'd was that the man of God might be made perfect throughly furnisht unto every good work that belongs to his whole office t is most certain that what is sufficient for that office to instruct reprove correct and teach in must needs be sufficient to believe and practise in for all men i. e. what my text affirms they are able to make us wise unto salvation I might call in Tradition universal to bear witness to this truth for holy Scriptures if having once demonstrated that they are Gods word when that does affirm it and bears witness to it there were need of any other And this I dare boldly say that if the Scripture did say as expresly that the Pope had a supremacy or soveragnity over the whole Church or that he or the Roman Church were infallible their definition or the living voice of their present Church a most sure rule of Faith as it does say Scripture is able to make us wise unto salvation those Articles would suffer no dispute it would be blasphemy or sacriledg to limit or explain them by distinctions when those sayings of the perfectness of Scriptures are forc't to bear many Then we should have no complaints of the obscurity of those books if those articles were either in the Greek or Hebrew they would never say the Bible were not fit to be a Rule of Faith because the Language were unknown to the unlearned and they could not be infallibly secure of the Translation were they there they would account them sure enough who think them plain enough already there and that we must believe them because Thou art Peter Feed my sheep and Tell the Church are there And for him that shall affirm all necessaries that must make us wise unto falvation are not in the Scripture 't is impossible to give a rational account how it should come to pass that some are there the rest are not It must be either on design or else by chance Now 1. That God should design when very many things that were not necessary were to be written that the main and fundamental ones should be omitted and when of the necessaries most he did design for Scripture then He should not suffer