If the scriptures do thoroughly direct men to know God in Christ, and save their own souls, why should we look any further ? Now, they do not only furnish every private Christian with this knowledge, but ' the man of God,' who is to instruct others, he needeth look no further, but is furnished out of the scripture with all things necessary to discharge his office. Therefore here we fix and rest ; we have a sufiicient rule, and a full record of all necessary Christian doctrine.
Use 1. The use of all is : Let us not seek another rule than the word of God. Papists cry up unwritten traditions to be received with equal respect and reverence, as we receive the holy scriptures. But you, brethren, stand fast, holding the apostolical tradition. You can- not have it by word of mouth from them now ; therefore 30U mu.-t stick to what is written, or else you cannot preserve yourselves from the frauds and impostures of Anticln-ist. These apostolical writini^s have been received in all ages and times of the church from the
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beginning ; and all disputes among Christians have been tried by them. None were allowed good or sincere Christians who doubted of the truth of them. But because we have to do with a people that will sacrifice all to the honour and interest of their church, and knowing they are not able to stand before the light of scriptures, have, to the no little prejudice of the Christian cause, done all they can to weaken the authority, sufficiency, and perspicuity of them, that we miglit have no i-eligion without the testimony and recommendation of their church ; therefore I shall resume the matter and declare it afresh.
1. Mankind lying in darkness and in the shadow of death, it was necessary that one way or another God should reveal his mind to them, that we may have what belongeth to our duty and happiness, for our chief good and last end. Being altered by sin, we strangely mistake things, and put light for darkness and darkness for light, good for evil and evil for good, weighing all things in the balance of the flesh, which we seek to please. We confound both the names and natures of things, and wander in a maze of a thousand j)erplexities ; therefore God, in pity to mankind, hath given us a sure direction in his word, whicli is 'a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our paths,' Ps. cxix. 105. Mark the words of light and lamp. The use of a lamp is by night, and in the day we have the light of the sun : whether it be day or night with us, here we are taught how to carry ourselves. Mark again the words of jja^/i and feet. The one signifietli our way and general course, the other all our particular actions ; so far as religion is concerned in them, we have directions in the word about them. Besides, man's condition is such, that he needeth a supernatural remedy by a Redeemer ; which, depending upon the mere love and free grace of God, cannot be found out by natural light left to us ; for that only can judge of things necessary, but not of such things as depend upon the mere pleasure of God ; therefore a divine revelation there must be.
2. Since it is necessary that God should some way or other reveal his mind to his people, it must be done by oracles, visions, dreams, or by extraordinary messengers, who by word of mouth might convey it to us ; or else by writing, or by ordinary teachers, whose lips may pre- serve knowledge in the church. The former ways might suffice while God saw fit to reveal but a few truths, and such as do not burden the memory, and men were long-lived, and of great simplicity, and the church was confined within a small compass of ground, and not liable to so many miseries and changes as now in the latter ages ; but when once God had spoken to us by his Son, those extraordinary ways ceased : Heb. i. 1, 2, ' God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last times spoken to us by his Sou.' As formerly God did speak TroXvTpoTro)^, in divers manners, — that is to say, by visions, oracles, dreams ; and so 7To\.vfiep(o<i, at sundry times, by several steps and degrees, he acquainted the world with the truths necessary for man to know, delivering them out by portions, not altogether at once, till he came who had ' The S[)irit without measure,' John iii. 34. The prophets to whom God revealed himself before by visions, oracles, dreams, or the coming of the Spu'it upon them, had the spirit e/c fierpov, by measure, to fit them for some particular errand or message on which God sent them. But when God
132 THE THIUTEENTH SEIOIOX. [2 ThES. II. 15
sent lii.s Sun out of his bosom to reveal the whole doctrine of faith at once, and to dechire his Father's will with full authority and ])0wer, he fixed and closed u}) the rule of faith. ISo it was not fit that after liim there should come any extraordinary nuncios and ambassadors from lieaven, or any other should be owned as infallible messengers, but such as he immediately sent abroad in the world to disciple the nations. There- fore all former extraordinary ways ceased, and we are left to the ordi- nary rule stated by Christ.