Fathers but by this and the following discourses you will find the doctrine of man is no sure ground to build your Faith and Salvation on but only on the Word of God Moreover were the Doctrines of the Fathers of far more Authority yet among their Writings there are many spurious Books foisted in by idle Monks who were the common transcribers of the Fathers Works before Printing Bellarmine the great Champion of the Papists doth acknowledge this and hath written a Book to distinguish the true from the false yet hath reserved some in his Catalogue for true making for their Doctrines as spurious as those he hath cast out You see then 't is very difficult to know which are the genuine Books of the Fathers and when you know that 't is as difficult to know what is the clear sence of their Writings and thirdly to know which are their Orthodox Opinions which their Errors for there is no learned Papist but will acknowledge they had Errors and after all this we have no warrant to build our Faith and Salvation on their Doctrine Wherefore to save all men this great labour both needless and fruitless I resolved on this short easie plain way to prove That in the Scripture alone without any other Book in the world we have clear full and compleat instruction for matters of belief and practice in summ all things necessary for our salvation in Scripture and that there is no need to consult any other Book but the Bible alone for all And Secondly I do here further prove that it is both dangerous and impious to affirm the Scriptures are not compleat in themselves for our Salvation And Thirdly that 't is both irreligious and idolatrous to believe in any man or assembly of men in matters of Salvation which saves all men the labour of looking farther than the Bible for it And because the Papists pretend Scripture which we acknowledge to be our Rule of Faith for some of their Opinions differing from us I have here I hope fully Explained and Answered those Scriptures especially what they pretend for Transubstantiation and Corporal Presence of our Saviour Christ in the Lords Supper which I shall add at the end in a short Tract by it self because it is not at all contained in that Text whereon my three Sermons depend And thus I hope this little Book if not confuted subservient to Scripture may without any other satisfie and settle any one in all the Controversies we have with the Papists First by having proved we are not to believe any thing with divine Faith but what is plainly contained in Scripture Secondly by having Answered what they pretend from Scripture Thirdly because for all other differences with us they have no Scripture Now if any Papist can confute me in any one of these material principal things I shall heartily thank him and promise in the word of a Christian I shall readily acknowledge my Error and embrace his Truth But if he only cavil or scurrilously scoff at trivial things as some to their own shame and reproach have formerly done I shall thank them also for this for thereby they prove their own Errors and confirm my Truths I have this one thing more only to trouble the Reader with The first of my three Sermons on that Text Search the Scriptures was Preacht in September 1677 and in June 1678. comes out a little book to the same intent of that Sermon expressing several things in it and in the very same manner by what means I know not but this I and many others know that my Sermon was Preached almost a year before that Book came forth and therefore I could not have them from that Author called The same Author that wrote the whole Duty of Man who it seems must countenance Books to the worlds end However I thought it fit to Print that Sermon with the other two first because it contains several things not in that Book and secondly the other two would be very defective without it And now good Reader I beg your favourable Censure if you find any small Mistakes or Errors for you know and I confess being a man I may err humanum est errare sed in errore perseverare belluinum est therefore I abhorr it I conclude all with my Prayers for you and begging your Prayers for me that God in his great mercy by the light of his holy Word and holy Spirit would guide us all into all saving truth And to his Divine Majesty from whom cometh every good and perfect gift be ascribed as is most due all Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen A SERMON ON JOHN V. Ver. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life WHEN I last appeared here my business was to arm you with Christian Courage and firm resolution to fight manfully the good fight of Faith with full assurance of a glorious reward from the sure hand of our most gracious God who never fails to reward those that seek and serve him And this our fight must be not with the arm of flesh and sword of steel which is often subdued and broken by a stronger but with the power of the Word and Sword of the Spirit which no power upon earth or under the earth can subdue because he that is with us is stronger than all that are against us Now for the present I shall endeavour to shew you what we are to fight for And this we learn from the Apostle St. Iude who commands us to contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints once for all the faith which was delivered by our Saviour and his Apostles once to remain to all future Generations for the Salvation of all Mankind Which Faith is contained in the Holy Scriptures and written there for our Learning as the Scripture it self tells us Search therefore the Scriptures for it for in them ye have Eternal Life In these words we have two things set forth unto us First A Command Secondly The Reason of the Command The Command to Search the Scriptures then the Reason of this Command for in the Scriptures we have Eternal Life Both these things are so plain in themselves that they need no explication But the perverse wits of evil men who can find nodum in scirpo have invented some difficulties in them to excuse their pernicious practices clean contrary to them The Governours of the Romish Church guilty of such practices have invented these difficulties For they having many things in their Church Devotions quite contrary to Scripture as I shall shew you e're this business be ended find it necessary to shut up the Scripture from the Laity who would not so blindly be seduced into them had they the light of Holy Scripture to discover the grossness of them And therefore First They will have it that this command of our Saviour to Search the Scriptures belongs only to the Clergy and they are to teach the people out
back that was profitable Doth not this I pray you fully confirm what I said That the belief of any thing more than what is declared in Scripture may prove rather a hinderance than a help to Salvation Nay 't is not only may be but probably if not certainly will be a hinderance and not a help since the Apostle assures us that he declared all things profitable that is all things helpful And doth not St. Peter 2 Epist. i. 8. and following verses discourse to this purpose For there he tells them that in doing those things which he had taught them they should make their calling and election sure and that thereby an entrance should be ministred unto them abundantly Were it not then as sensless as dangerous to venture on any other means or helps as they call them than what the Scripture shews for our Salvation for if we follow that it makes our Salvation abundantly sure But say the Romanists all that the Apostles declared was not committed to writing but some by word of mouth and so passed by tradition from hand to hand and for this they bring us a Scripture 2 Thes. ii 15. My Brethren stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught whether by word or our Epistle From whence say they 't is evident that all things the Apostles taught for mans Salvation were not delivered in writing but some by tradition from word of mouth The answer to this is very easie for though St. Paul did not teach the Thessalonians all things by writing but some by word of mouth yet it doth not follow but that his Epistles to the Thessalonians with other his Epistles as also the Epistles of the other Apostles the Acts the Gospels all together did contain in them all things necessary and profitable also to Eternal Life For this reason St. Paul commanded his Epistles written to one Church to be read to other Churches as I formerly shewed you And so St. Peter in his Epistles commends to the people likewise the Epistles of his beloved Brother Paul And therefore I did not say that any one Epistle two or three did contain all things necessary to Eternal Life Nor did our Saviour tell the Iews that in any one or more Prophets they had Eternal Life but in the Scriptures they had Eternal Life in Moses Psalms Proverbs Prophets in the whole Scripture And if the Old Testament were so perfect and so glorious as to contain in it all things necessary to Eternal Life which glory was to be done away as St. Paul saith shall not the New Testament the Ministration of the Spirit be much more glorious and perfect 2 Cor. iii. 7 8. Would God be less careful of his Church establish'd by his own Son in Person which was to remain to the end of the world than of that erected by Moses his Servant which was but a shadow of that to come Can any man be so simple as to think this though perchance so perverse as to affirm it This and such like things they may whisper in a corner to silly women or men as silly but certainly none can have the face to say this to any man of understanding 't is so absurd and so fully confuted by St. Paul not only in the places before cited but also in 2 Tim. iii. 16 17. where he tells him that all Scripture is given by inspiration from God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works Observe I beseech you That the man of God may be perfect perfect in Doctrine in faith in good works in all things Oh! my beloved God send me and you the perfection of Scripture the Doctrine and Works there taught and let the Papists follow their Doctrines of men their perfection their works of merit yea and of supererogation too Whereas we learn from Scripture that when we have done all we can we are unprofitable Servants but their Doctrines of men teach them that their great Saints Bennet Francis Dominick Ignatius and many hundreds more are such profitable Servants and have done such mighty works of perfection as not only to merit Heaven for themselves but also to gain Heaven for others by their superabundant merits which the Pope hath power when he pleases to apply to Souls scorching in Purgatory and dismiss them away presently to Heaven Sure a hard hearted cruel man that will let any lie long in those raging flames if he have power to release them Who can but pitty those poor silly Souls that are led into everlasting flames by these seducing Teachers so flatly contrary to the Scriptures cited now and others That no man may deliver his brother or make agreement unto God for him For it cost more to redeem their Souls it cost the blood and death of our Saviour Jesus For our sins being trespasses against the infinite majesty of God none but our Saviour who is also of an infinite Majesty both God and man could make a just satisfaction for them Had a thousand Bennets Dominicks c. and ten thousand thousands more been sacrificed on Crosses all had been in vain we should all lie for ever in everlasting flames These Scriptures are shut up from the eyes of poor blind-folded Papists But Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear Matt. xiii 16. Your eyes and your ears see read and hear these Scriptures daily preached unto you Hold fast these the words of Eternal Life which alone will make you wise unto Salvation and throughly furnish you unto all good works make you perfect without any Doctrines of men as you shall hear more particularly by and by What then must we lay aside all the Writings of the Holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church even in the purest times by no means for they may be very helpful to us in expounding obscure places of Scripture for which several sorts of learning are very useful First The perfect understanding of the Original Languages in which the Scriptures were written as the Hebrew the Syriac the Greek Languages Now many of the Primitive Fathers were either born or much educated when those Languages were naturally spoken and thereby could much better judg of the propriety and full signification of many words which we are much to seek in and each Country Language hath several proverbial sayings and antient forms of speech which in process of time grow out of use and very hard to be understood we see that very few now are able to understand old Chaucers Language English being very much altered since Secondly History and Geography are very necessary for the understanding of several passages in Scripture And certainly those Primitive Fathers living near the times and places when and where our Saviour and the Apostles taught and acted may be able to inform us of several circumstances and give us great light in many
passages which otherwise we could not well understand Thirdly Where a passage of Scripture may have several significations and thereby make it doubtful what is the more proper meaning of it there those Primitive Fathers can best tell us in what sence it was received in the Primitive Church And surely in doubtful places every modest man will think it fit to incline to those Primitive Godly men whose nearness to the Apostles gave them great opportunities of knowing the true sence and whose godly lives give us great assurance of their fidelity in delivering unto us what they received from their godly Fore-fathers some the very Disciples of the Apostles Several other reasons might be added for our regard and reverence to these Primitive Fathers in their Expositions of the dark or doubtful places of Scripture Yet I humbly conceive nothing of all this is necessary to understand those matters of faith which are necessary to Salvation as that God created and governs the world or the incarnation death and resurrection of Christ. These and such necessary things are so plainly set down in Scripture as that men of ordinary capacity may understand them without any Comment of the Fathers But what if any one or more very learned and very godly Fathers even such as laid down their lives for the faith what if they teach me a Doctrine in which the Scripture is wholly silent Ought I not to believe in them To this I small give you an answer from Tertullian one of the first Christian Writers who lived in the second Century about a hundred and fifty years after Christs Ascension He tells us in his Prescriptions against Heresies that this was the rule among Christians That they were not to believe any thing but that which Christ and his Apostles had delivered unto them in the Scripture Hoc priùs credimus non ess◠quod ultra credere debemus And a little after sets down a Creed which very little varies from that which we have amongst us called the Apostles Creed This saith he is our rule of faith and we believe Nihil esse ultra quod credere debemus That there is nothing more for us to believe for this rule here set down is a compendium of all I do not cite this out of Tertullian as if I would prescribe unto you from him what you are to believe by his Authority for he doth not tell us this as his own opinion but only relates what was the belief and practice of the Church in his Primitive days who was so near after Christ. And this Tertullian is generally believed by the Learned to be as faithful a relater as any antient Writer whatsoever And he was of so great a credit with that learned and godly Father and Martyr of the Church St. Cyprian who lived not many years after Tertullian that he always called him Master and daily read his Works calling to his Servant Da Magistrum Give me my Masters Book to read Which shews he was of great credit But Tertullian after the discourse I now mentioned out of him confirms what he had said by Scripture Authority which is of far more weight than Tertullian and St. Cyprian both citing that place of St. Paul to the Galatians Chap. i. vers 8. Though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached let him be accursed Now you must know that the Original Greek from whence our Gospel is translated hath this more effectual to our purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which more exactly in English is rendred thus If any man preach unto you any thing besides what we have preached he doth not say contrary to what we have preached but besides which is the same in effect as to say any thing more And Arius Montanus a learned Papist in the University of Sevil in Spain who translated the Greek new Testament word for word sets it down just as I have done unto you Praeter quod evangelizavimus Besides what we have preached St. Paul means If they shall preach any more as necessary to Salvation for this is to make the Word of God of no effect he having in his Holy Word given us a rule of Faith for our Salvation and then for any one to say you must believe more is in effect to say Gods Word is not sufficient This is an accursed saying according to St. Paul Now if neither St. Paul nor an Angel from Heaven had any Commission to preach any thing besides what is already set down in the Scripture certainly we may shut up our ears to any one or to all the Doctors of the Church preaching unto us any thing more than what is there contained As for Example If they shall preach 't is necessary to obey the Pope to believe Purgatory or the like things which are not expressed in Scriptures let them be accursed as St. Paul saith A second Question may be what you are to do when any Father or Fathers expound a place of Scripture contrary to what you believe is the plain meaning of that place Must you quit your own judgment and believe in them This is just like the Prophet whom God sent to Bethel with an express command not to eat bread there he hearkened afterward to the old lying Prophet who pretending to have received a contrary message from God dissuaded him from what God had commanded for which he was slain by a Lion in his return And surely all men have great reason to expect the like recompence for their disobedience who forsake that which they verily believe is Gods Command and hearken to the Doctrins of men To this my Answer I shall give you another from a person of great Authority St. Austin a most eminent Doctor of the Church In one of his Epistles to St. Ierome he gives a clear judgment in this case First He tells us that when he reads the Holy Scriptures he entirely submits his own judgment to them and absolutely believes every thing there to be true meerly because it is contained there Gods Word is truth it cannot be otherwise therefore whether he understands it or no yet still he believes it truth But as for all other Writers he saith Alios autem ita lego ut quantalibet sanctitate doctrináque praepolleant non ideo verum putem quia ita ipsi senserint sed quia mihi vel per illos autores canonicos vel probabili ratione quod à vero non abhorreant persuadere potuerint Other Writers I so read as that be they ever so Holy ever so Learned I do not therefore believe their opinion to be true because they thought so but so far only as they prove it true by Canonical Scripture or by such reasons as seem not to be contrary to the truth And then tells St. Ierome that he doubts not but he is of the same mind And as for my part I am fully of Saint Austins mind and farther think it
not to add any thing nor subtract from it under a severe penalty there declared Wherefore we must take this Text as it lies without any human addition and so 't is evident that it contains nothing but the determination of matters of trespass between Neighbours of which our Saviour would have the offender privately admonisht and if no amendment than appeal to the Congregation in publick Not one word here concerning matters of Faith And thus beloved you see what a vain empty sound this great clamor is which the Papists make of this Text Hear ye the Church and whoever will not hear the Church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican Every part of it most grosly mistaken and wrested from the true meaning matters of fact such as trespasses and injuries wrested to matters of Faith the word Church wrested from the Congregation to the Clergy contrary to the whole current of Scripture Wherefore my beloved you see how necessary it is for you to follow this counsel of our Saviour and search the Scriptures and advise also with the more learned Pastors of our Church to arm you against these seducing teachers I hope this Text is sufficiently cleared and so I pass unto another 1 Tim. iii. 15. There 't is said The Church is the Pillar and ground of truth This Scripture say the Papists plainly relates to matters of Faith for truth is the object of our Faith we readily grant it What then Why then we are to hold fast to the Faith of the Church for that is the Pillar of truth ergo she cannot err This is another of their feigned consequences far from the meaning of the Text let us then peruse the Text it self with the circumstances there set down as we did the former and you will not find any such thing here as the Papists pretend That thou mayst know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the house of God which is the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of truth First That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the house of God There is nothing more frequent in Scripture than to set the word House for the People the house of Israel for the people hundreds of times And so Moses was faithful in all his house Heb. iii. 2. that is among all his people And so 1 Pet. ii 5. tells the Christians That as living stones they are built up a spiritual house to God And again iv 17. If judgment begin at the house of God that is the people of God Wherefore here Behave thy self in the house of God signifies the houshold the people of God That place where a man dwells is commonly called his house and God being said to dwell among his people 2 Cor. vi 16. I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people therefore the people are called the house of God Next follows Which is the Church of the living God that is the Congregation of the living God for 't is the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I shewed you alwaies in Scripture signifies the Congregation Now I pray you put this together that thou mayest know how to behave thy self among the people of God which is the Congregation of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth This last part of the verse the pillar and ground of the truth is metaphorical and may be interpreted several ways according to several mens apprehensions But in the first place I conceive all must grant that no metaphorical saying can be a clear evident and general rule to explain and determin other sentences but rather in it self needs an exposition But however you take this place it is evident that the Papists from hence can never have any proof for the infallibility of their Church as they would have it for S. Paul calls the Congregation of the people the pillar and ground of the truth But to shew you how little this Text will serve their turn though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 never in Scripture signifies the Clergy yet for their greater conviction let it pass The Clergy are here called the pillar and ground of truth What then Why then the assembly of the Clergy must be infallible Hold there I beseech you Why can truth be fallible no certainly but the pillar of truth may fail the pillar may decay and go to ruin but the truth of God endureth for ever 1 Pet. i. 23. What then is meant by these words The pillar and ground of the truth I will shew you I suppose you have seen pillars set up in high ways at the meeting of several ways together and inscriptions written on the several sides of the pillars This way leads to such a place That way leads to that place some pillars have arms in them and hands pointing to the ways The pillar is only that which bears the inscription 't is the inscription that gives you the true information which is the way Now St. Paul saith Rom. iii. 2. speaking of the people of the Iews and the great advantage they had over other Nations For unto them were committed the Oracles of God And so St. Stephen Acts vii 38. tells his brethren the Iews that their fathers received the Oracles of God to give unto us So we may say of the Christians to their great honour and advantage above all other people in the world To them were committed the Oracles of God the Holy Scriptures to give unto us As then of old the people of the Iews were peculiarly the people of God the house of God which was then the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth and they bare the Oracles of God the Holy Scriptures So St. Paul now calleth the Christians the peculiar people of God the house of God which is the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth for they now bear the Oracles of God the Holy Scriptures the word of truth teaching us the true and perfect way to the Heavenly Ierusalem This my Exposition is strongly backed and confirmed by another Text of Scripture which is accounted by all men the best way of expounding Scripture Rev. i. 20. The seven Churches or Congregations are set forth by seven golden Candlesticks and you know candlesticks give no light of themselves but only hold the candles which give the light so the Churches are to hold forth Christ he is the light of the world and his Doctrine contained in the Scriptures they give the light they teach us the way to Eternal Life As in the former place the pillars bear and hold forth the inscriptions the Oracles of God so here the Candlesticks hold forth the light of Gods Holy Word this teacheth us the way herein lies the infallible truth not in the Church the Congregation that consists of fallible men Gods Word is truth all men are liars And