108 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR. 3.
at hand, as a public standard for the trial of all doctrines. God himself wrote the first scripture with his own finger upon tables of stone, Exod. xxiv. 12, and he commanded Moses and the prophets to do the same, Exod. xvii. 14, and xxxiv. 27; which dispensation of word and writing continued till Christ's time, who, as the great doctor of the church, per- fected the rule of faith, and by the apostles, as so many public notaries, consigned it to the use of the church in all ages. When the canon began to be complete, the latter apostles pressed the receiving of it ; and John, as the last, and as one who outlived all the rest, closeth up his prophecy thus, Eev. xxii. 18, 19, ' If any man add,' &c., and 'if any man take away,' &c., which doth not only seal up the book of the Eevelation, but the whole canon and rule of faith ; which indeed was a great mercy to the world : the Lord knew to what a liberty we inclined in divine things, and therefore we needed to be tied up to a rule, which here is given us.
3. The mercy of God appeareth in preserving it, that it may be delivered from one age to another. No doctrine so ancient as the doctrine of the scriptures ; it describeth the whole history of the world from the very creation, and the original of all things. Where are there records so ancient? and yet they have been preserved even to our time. We have some ancient writings of the heathens, though nothing so ancient as scripture ; but these are not contrary to men's lusts, and have been cherished by them, and yet they have felt the tooth of time, and are in a great measure mangled ; but the word of God hath been maligned and opposed, and yet it continueth, and holdeth up its head in the world : not only the main doctrine of the scriptures hath been continued, but no part of the word hath been falsified, corrupted, destroyed : the world wanted not malice nor opportunity ; the powers of the world have been against it, and corrupt persons in the church have been always given to other-gospelling, Gal. i. 6, 7 ; 1 Tim. vi. 3 ; but still the scriptures have been wonderfully preserved, as the three children in the furnace, not a hair singed, not a jot and tittle of truth perished.
4. That God doth continually stir up men in the church, and be- stow gifts upon them, for the opening and application of this faith and doctrine of salvation. Christ, that hath given prophets and apostles to the church to write scripture, hath also given pastors and teachers to open and apply scripture, that so still it might be delivered to the saints, and also to vindicate the doctrine of it when opposed. Every age that hath yielded the poison hath also yielded the antidote, that the world might not be without a witness. If there hath been an Arius, there hath been an Athanasius ; if a Pelagius, there is also an Austin : the church hath never wanted help in this kind. Look, as in war, as the arts of battery and methods of destruction do increase, so also doth skill in fortification ; and in the church God still bestoweth gifts for the further explication of truth.
5. That the light cometh to us, and shineth in this land. The gospel is a great national privilege : ' To you is this word of salvation sent,' Acts xiii. 26. Pray mark, it is sent ; he doth not say we have brought it to you, but it is sent; it is a token sent from heaven in love. There is a mighty providence accompanieth the gospel ; the journeys of
VeR. 3.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 109
the apostles, as I said but now, were ordered by the Spirit as well as their doctrine : Acts viii. 26, ' The angel of the Lord said to Philip, Arise, and go towards the south, towards the way that goeth down to Jerusalem.' They went not as their own good affection carried them, but according to the Spirit's direction. So Acts xvi. 7-9, ' The Spirit suffered them not,' &c., as ' prophecy came not by the will of man,' 2 Peter i. 21 ; that is, the doctrine itself, so the delivery of it ; the doctrine they had from the Holy Ghost, and also their commission and passport. You would stand wondering, and think it a special benefit, if in a time of drought the rain should fall on your field, and none else, if, as Gideon's fleece, your heritage should be wet, and all is dry round about you ; or if the sun should be shut up to others, and shine only in your horizon, as it did in Goshen. This is a better blessing, and God hath a special hand in the progress of it ; it goeth from place to place as the Lord will. Why should it come to us? our ancestors were of all nations most barbarous and portentous for their idolatries.'^ Why to us ? No cause can be assigned but the free grace and gift of God.