to chide away unbelieving doubts, which would throw gloom and sorrow upon your souls: the high privilege of the Christian is, that he is called to joy in the Lord, and to rejoice in the God of his salvation. His is that blessed Comforter, who can lighten the darkest hour, and soothe the most unquiet spirit. Take Take up, then, your song, my believing brethren, for your Saviour will not leave you: take up your joyful song as you journey to his presence, "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."

LECTURE IV.

ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURE.

1 THESSALONIANS V. 27.

I charge you by the Lord, that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.

IT is a very trite observation, that the opinions of men are as various as their features. On no subject, perhaps, do any two minds, however closely allied, in all points agree. The pursuit of truth, therefore, if we lean upon human authority, becomes infinitely difficult and perplexing. It is the more so, because each man propounds his own imaginations with the utmost confidence; each man advances pretensions, as if he were the happy individual who had lighted on the truth, hidden from all

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other eyes, and often contemptuously laments over those who differ from him, as pitiably wrong. This diversity of judgment, though not to be lightly thought of in anything, is of mightiest import in religion; for, as an interest of eternal moment is here at stake, error must be proportionably dangerous. The kindness and love of God our Saviour is therefore particularly to be praised, that he has not, in this matter, left us to the uncertain deductions of our reason, but has established for us an infallible guide, a perfect standard of right and wrong, which may be "a a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path." Into the balance of the scripture we must throw all our opinions, and doctrines, and systems: "To the law and to the testimony," must we ever appeal : "If we speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in us." The scripture is the loadstar of our course; it is the voice at whose bidding, the gloom and confusion of ignorance and worldly wisdom flee away, and the light, and order, and beauty of divine knowledge appear; it is the unearthly hand which lifts, as it were, the veil that divides this mortal

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which

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from immortality, disclosing mysteries beyond eye hath not seen, nor ear heard," nor heart of man conceived.

Hence, the admonitions are most important, which commend the scriptures to our continual and diligent perusal. Such a one we have in our text: and it is observable that this solemn charge is subjoined to an epistle, the first, it is supposed, in date, of those inspired letters which proceeded from the apostle Paul's pen; it may, therefore, be considered as applying not to one only, but to all his writings. I shall, in the following discourse, invite your attention,

I. To the character of the scriptures.

II. To our duty in reference thereto, considered with particular respect to the public reading of the scriptures.

I. In speaking of the character of the scriptures, or the reason why they are so solemnly commended to our perusal, I shall make, as concisely as I can, some general observations on their genuineness and authenticity, and their inspiration.

1. Their genuineness and authenticity. I

will advert only to the New Testament, premising that the authority of the Old Testament is established by similar proofs. How, I ask, do we know that any book, purporting to be a history of facts, is genuine and authentic? I answer, by the chain of evidence, which, ascending from our own times, reaches back to the period when the book first appeared. And this chain we have here, going upwards, link by link, to the very apostles themselves. We know, for example, that what we call the New Testament now, and believe to be a faithful testimony of Jesus Christ, was so called, and so believed to be, a hundred years ago. For we have the witness of authors of every description who lived at that time, referring to the New Testament, and putting extracts from it into their writings; which extracts we find in the volume we now possess ; in those particular places of it too, from which it was specified they were taken. We have also in existence copies printed a century back which do not in any respect differ from those now in use. Here then is proof positive that no forgery has been attempted during the last century, and that the New Testament is the