[1.] Whatever is so delivered in any place, if it be of importance for us to know and believe, as unto the ends of divine revelation, it is in some other place or places unveiled and plainly declared ; so that we may say of it as the disciples said unto our Saviour, " Lo, now he speaketh plainly, and not in parables." There can be no instance given of any obscure place or passage in the Scripture, con-
CHAP. VI.] THE SPIRIT'S WORK IN THE COMPOSING OF SCRIPTURE. 197
cerniug which a man may rationally suppose or conjecture that there is any doctrinal truth requiring our obedience contained in it, which is not elsewhere explained. And there may be several reasons why the Holy Spirit chose to express his mind at any time in such ways as had so much obscurity attending of them: —
1st. As for types, allegories, mystical stories, and obscure predic- tions, he made use of them under the Old Testament on purpose to draw a veil over the things signified in them, or the truths taught by them; for the church was not yet to be acquainted with the clear knowledge of the things concerning Jesus Christ and his me- diation. They had not so much as a perfect image of the things themselves, but only an obscure shadow or representation of good things to come, Heb. x. 1. To have given unto them a full and clear revelation of all divine truths would have cast the whole de- sign of God for the various states of the church, and the accomplish- ment of the great work of his grace and love, into disorder. It was not hard, then, for the church to be taught of old in types and allegories; but it was much grace and mercy that through them the light of the Sim of Righteousness so far beamed on them as enabled them comfortably to wait " until the day did break and the shadows flee away," as Cant. iv. 6. The fulness and glory of the revelation of grace and truth was reserved for Jesus Christ. God did them no wrong, but reserved " better things for us," Heb. xi. 40.
2dly. Whatever seems yet to be continued under any obscurity of revelation is so continued for the exercise of our faith, diligence, humility, and dependence on God, in our inquiries into them. And suppose we do not always attain precisely unto the proper and peculiar intendment of the Holy Spirit in them, as we can never search out his mind unto perfection, yet are there so many and great advantages to be obtained by the due exercise of those graces in the study of the word, that we can be no losers by any difficulties we can meet withal. The rule in this case is, That we affix no sense unto any obscure or difficult passage of Scripture but what is materially true and consonant unto other express and plain testi- monies. For men to raise peculiar senses from such places, not confirmed elsewhere, is a dangerous curiosity.
Sdly. As to sundry prophecies of future revolutions in the church and the world, like those in the Revelation, there was an indispen- sable necessity of giving them out in that obscurity of allegorical expressions and representations wherein we find them ; for I could easily manifest that as the clear and determinate declaration of future events in plain historical expressions is contrary to the nature of prophecy, so in this case it would have been a means of bringing confusion on the works of God in the world, and of turning all men
198 CAUSES, WAYS, AND MEANS, ETC. [BOOK VI., PART II.
out of the way of their obedience. Their present revelation is suffi- cient to guide the faith and regulate the obedience of the church, so far as they are concerned in them.
Hilly. Some things are in the Scripture disposed on purpose that evil, perverse, and proud men may stumble and fall at them, or be farther hardened in their unbelief and obstinacy. So our Lord Jesus Christ affirms that he spake unto the stubborn Jews in parables that they might not understand. And whereas " there must be he- resies, that they which are approved may be made manifest/' 1 Cor. xi. 19 ; and some are " of old ordained to this condemnation," Jude 4; some things are so declared that from them proud, perverse, and wrangling spirits may take occasion to " wrest them unto their own destruction." The truths of Christ as well as his person are ap- pointed to be a " stone of stumbling and a rock of offence," yea, " a gin and a snare" unto many. But this, humble, teachable believers are not concerned in.
[2.] The Holy Spirit hath given us a relief in this matter, by sup- plying us with a ride of the interpretation of Scripture, which whilst we sincerely attend unto we are in no danger of sinfully corrupting the word of God, although we should not arrive unto its proper meaning in every particular place ; and this rule is, the ana- logy or "proportion of faith."1 " Let him that prophesieth," saith the apostle, — that is, expoundeth the Scripture in the church, — " do it according to the proportion of faith," Rom. xii. 6. And this ana- logy or " proportion of faith" is what is taught plainly and uni- formly in the whole Scripture as the rule of our faith and obedience- When men will engage their inquiries into parts of the Scripture mystical, allegorical, or prophetical, aiming to find out, it may be, things new and curious, without a constant regard unto this analogy of faith, it is no wonder if they wander out of the way and err con- cerning the truth, as many have done on that occasion. And I cannot but declare my detestation of those bold and curious conjec- tures which, without any regard unto the ride of prophecy, many have indulged themselves in on obscure passages in the Scripture. But now suppose a man brings no preconceived sense or opinion of his own unto such . places, seeking countenance thereunto from them, which is the bane of all interpretation of the Scripture ; suppose him to come in some measure prepared with the spiritual qualifications be-