3. The scripture appears to be the word of God, by the matter contained in it. — 1. By its profundity. The mystery of scrip- ture is so abstruse and profound, that no man or angel could have known it had it not been divinely revealed. That eternity should be born ; that He who tlmnders in the heavens should cry in the cradle ; that He who rules the stars should suck the breasts ; that the Prince of life should die ; that the Lord of glory should be put to shame; that sin should be punished to the full, yet pardoned to the full ; who could ever have conceived of such a mystery, had not the scripture been the oracle to reveal it to us ? So, for the doctrine of the resur- rection : that the same body which is crumbled into a thousand pieces, should rise idem numero, the same individual body, 'for else it were a creation not a resurrec- tion^ )_l,ow could such a sacred riddle, a- bove all human disquisition, be known, had not the scripture made a discovery of it ?— 2. By its purity. It is, for the matter of it, so full of goodness, justice, and sanctity, that it could be breathed from none but from God ; the holiness of it shows it to be of God, it bears his very image. The scrip- ture is compared to silver refined seven times, Ps. xu. 6. This book of God hath no errata in it; it is a beam of the Sun of Righteousness,— a crystal stream flowing from the fountain of life. All laws and e- dicts of men have had their corruptions, but the word of God hath not the least tincture, it is of a meridian splendour, Ps. cxLx, 140., " Thy word is very pure," like
wine tliat comes from the grape, which is not mixed nor adulterated. It is so pure, that it purifies every thing else, John xvii. 17.," Sanctify them through thy truth." The scripture presseth holiness, so as never any book did ; it bids us live " soberly, righ- teously, godly," Tit. ii. 12. Soberly, in acts of temperance ; rigliteously, in acts of jus- tice ; godly, in the acts of zeal and devo- tion. It commends to us whatever is just, lovely, and of good report, Phil. iv. 8. This sword of the Spirit. Eph. vi. 17. cuts down Aicc. Out of this tower of scrij)ture is thrown down a millstone upon the head of sin. The scripture is the royal law, which commands not only the actions, but affec- tions ; it binds the heart to its good beha- viour. Where is there such holiness to be found, as is digged out of this sacred mine .'' who could be the author of such a book, as God himself?
4. That the scripture is the word of God, is evident by its predictions ; it prophesieth of things to come. This shows the voice of God speaking in it. It was foretold by the prophet, " A virgin shall conceive," Isa. vii. 14. ; and, the " Messiah shall be cut off," Dan. ix. 26. The scripture furetels things that should fall out many ages and centuries after ; as how long Israel should serve in the iron furnace, and the very day of tlieir deliverance, Exod. xii. 41., " At the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the self-same day, it came to pass, that the host of tiie Lord went out of Egypt." This ])rediction of future things, merely contingent, and not depending upon natu- ral causes, is a clear demonstration of its divine original.
5. The impartiality of those men of God, who wrote the scriptures. They do not spare to set down their own failings. A\'hat man that writes an history would black his own face, viz., record those things of him- self that might stain his reputation ? Moses records his own impatience when he struck the rock, and tells us, therefore he could not enter into the land of promi.se ; David writes of his own adultery and bloodshed, which stands as a blot in his scutcheon to succeeding ages ; Peter relates his own pu- sillanimity in denying Christ ; Jonah sets dewn his own passions, " I do well to be
OF THE SCRIPTURES.
nnfjry to the (loath. " Siirclv, had not their pen 1)0011 frai(lo(' by God's own liand, they would never liave written that which did reflect dishonour upon themselves ! Men do usually rather hide their blemislies than publish them to the world : but these pen- men of holy scripttire eclipse their own name, — they take away all the <]^l<)ry from themselves, and give the glory to Gtxl.