God's love? What was that price he paid, and ranfom he gave? And how he died for us? If properly and ftrictly, or tropically and elegantly, to fatisfy the juftice of God? and whether God could, or could not, have faved man another way? If this mercy ' were offered to all, or but fome? And whether acceptance and repentance be with the confent of the creature, or by an irrefiftible grace? What body he rofe and afcended with? And what bodies we shall ‹ have in the refurrection, in nature, ftature, and proportion?' Lastly, What this fpirit is, that comes from Chrift? If it comes from God alfo? Whether it be God, or an inferior minifter? How it exifts? If a person, in what relation, degree, or dignity it ftands to the Father and Son?' With abundance more of this unreafonable ftrain, flowing from the curious, ungoverned, and restless minds of men. No man would be ufed by his fervant as they treat God. He muft wait our leifure, before we will believe, receive, and obey him : his meffage is obfcure, we do not understand it; he muft gratify our curiofity; we defire to be better fatisfied with it before we believe or deliver it; it comes not presently up to mens understandings; it is too obfcurely expreffed; we will explain it, and deliver it with more caution, clearnefs and fuccefs, than it is delivered to us. Thus God's revelation hath been scanned, and his precepts examined, before licenfed by his creature: man would be wifer than God; more wary than the Holy Ghoft. Our Lord, it should seem, understood not what kind of creature man was; he wanted his wisdom to admonish him of the danger; or haply he thought not upon that corruption, which fhould befall mankind in these latter ages of the world, which might require the abilities of men to fupply the wants and defects left by the Holy Ghost, in the wording of the fcripture.-I wrong not this practice; I render it not more odious than it is: it is an inexcufable piece of prefumption, that which debases the external teftimony of God, and draws men off from that which is eternal too. It introduces the traditions of men, in the room of God's records, and fetteth

fetteth up their judgments and refults for the rule of Christian faith, and canons of Chrift's church. This is one of those things that made Rome fo hateful, and her yoke intolerable, to our predeceffors: pretended deductions from scripture, put in the room of fcripture, with a fuperfedeas to all diffent upon ever so just a ground of diffatisfaction.

I beseech you, Proteftants, by the mercies of God, and love of Jefus Chrift, ratified to you in his most precious blood, Flee Rome at home:' look to the enemies of your own house! have a care of this prefumption; carry it not too high; lay not stress, where God has laid none, neither ufe his royal ftamp to authorize your APPREHENSIONS in the name of his IN

STITUTIONS.

I do not fay, that men are never to exprefs their minds upon any place of fcripture to edification: there is a Chriftian liberty, not to be denied; but never to lay down articles of faith, which ever ought to be in the very language of holy writ, to avoid temptation and ftrife. You see how the contrary method hath been the great make bait in all ages, and the impofition of fuch opinions the privilege of hypocrites, but the fnare of many honeft minds; to be fure the fad occafion of feuds and miferable divifions. It was plainly feen, that by the many disputes that rose from hence, mens wits were confounded with their matters; truth was loft, and brotherhood was destroyed. Thus the devil acted the part both of opponent and defendant, and managed the paffions of both parties to this end, which was difcord. And but too many were ready to persuade themselves, from the mifcarriages on both fides,

That

nothing certain could be concluded about religion;' for it fo fell out, that whilft men were perpetually wrangling and brawling about fome one opinion of religion, the most important points of faith and life were little regarded, unity broken, amity destroyed, and those wounds made, that were never closed but with the extinction of one party; not a Good Samaritan' being to be found to heal and close them.

Now

Now it was that a godly man was distinguished from an ungodly by this,Let his life have been almost what • it would, that he seemed to maintain the opinions in vogue, and to abhor the doctrine, which, in fome one or two points, might be reputed heretical, or fchifmatical."

O that we could but fee how many and how great defeats Satan hath given to the work of God in the hearts of men! what defolations he hath made by this one evil, controverfy; begot of opinion, and ufed for it; and how few have contended for the " the faith, "as it was once delivered to the faints!" he must be a man of brass, that could refrain from weeping at these calamities. And truly I must desire to take leave fometimes to bewail this broken condition of Christendom, and to bestow my tears in fecret upon these common ruins: and I befeech God Almighty, with a foul fenfibly touched with the mischiefs that naturally flow from this practice, to awaken you to a most speedy and serious confideration of your present ftanding, and amendment of your miscarriage, in this and all other points that may concern your good, and his glory. Put away wrath! away with clamours! away with arrogance and impatience! let that holy fpirit of God, which we in common profefs to be the "Chriftian's guide," have the ordering of our underftandings in fpiritual things, left ignorance fhould mistake, intereft wreft, or prejudice pervert, the fenfe of God's book. For as too many are ignorant of the divine truth through their own concupifcence, and vile affections, that carry them away to the defire of other things, and therefore easily mistake about nice or obfcure matters; fo there are not a few, who come to search the fcriptures with prepoffeffed minds, that are forry to meet with a contradiction to their own judg ment, instead of being glad to find the truth, and who use their wits to rack out another sense than that which is genuine, which fort of men use the scripture for its authority, and not its fenfe of truth.

All

All this while, the head is fet at work, not the heart; and that which Chrift moft infifted upon, is leaft concerned in this fort of faith and Christianity; and that is, "keeping his commandments." For it is opinion, not obedience; notion, and not regeneration, that fuch men purfue. This kind of religion leaveth them as bad as it findeth them, and worse; for they have something more to be proud of. Here is a creed, indeed, but of what? The conclufions of men! and what to do? To prove they believe in Chrift, who, it seems, never made them. It had been happy for the world, that there had been no other creeds, than what he and his apoftles gave and left: and it is not the leaft argument against their being needful to Chriftian communion, that Chrift and his apoftles did not think fo, who were not wanting to declare the whole 'counsel of God to the church.

To conclude: if you defire peace, love truth, seek piety, and hate hypocrify, lay by all thofe things called articles of faith, and canons of the church, that are not to be found in exprefs terms in fcripture, or fo plainly authorized by fcripture, as may, with eafe, be difcerned by every honeft and confcientious perfon. And in the room of thofe numerous and difputed opinions, made the bond of external communion, let fome plain, general and neceffary truths be laid ⚫ down in fcripture terms, and let them be few;' which leads me to the next point, and that is FAITH, which is generally mistaken in the very nature of it.

TH

SECT. III.

Of FAITH, and mistakes about it.

AHE fecond mischief that is amongst us, is the 'misunderstanding of the nature of faith;' whence it comes to pass, that men take that for faith, which is not; and fit down in a fecurity pernicious to their eternal happiness. I fhall briefly fay fomething of what is

not

not faith, before I fpeak of that which appears to me to be truly and scripturally fuch.

The faith of our Lord Jefus Chrift is not only not believing mens opinions and determinations from the facred text, of which I have fo freely delivered myself, but it is not merely the belief even of the things contained in fcripture to be true: for this the devils and hypocrites do, and yet are very bad believers: they refufe not the authority of fcripture: the devil made use of it to Chrift himself; but he would have the explaining and applying of it: and fince he could not hinder the Divine Inspiration, if he may but be allowed the expofition, he hopes to fecure his kingdom. Since then the verity and authority of both history and doctrine may be believed by the devil and hypocrites, that are falfe to their own faith and knowledge, we cannot, without great injuftice to the faith of our Lord Jefus • Chrift,' which is the faith of all his followers,' allow, that a mere belief of the verity and authority of the history and doctrine of scripture, is that "true " and precious faith, which was the faints victory over "the world."

b

Faith, then, in the sense of the Holy Ghoft, is by the Holy Ghost thus defined: viz. "The evidence of "things not seen, and the substance of things hoped "for." This is general, and runs through all ages; being received of all forts of Chriftians as a true definition of faith: but, with leave, I fhall express it thus: True faith in God, is entirely believing and trufting in God, confiding in his goodness, refigning up to his will, obeying his commands, and relying upon his conduct and mercies, refpecting this life and that which is to come.' For a man cannot be said to believe in God, that believes not what he fays and requires and no man can be said to do that, who does not obey it, and conform to it; for that is believing in God to do as be fays.' This is in fcripture called the "gift of God;" and well it may, for it is fuper

d

Heb. xi. 1.

* Eph. ii. 8.

₫ Gal, v. 6.

natural: