pleat salvation in him; and contains a perfect plan of truth; every truth, "as it is in Jesus;" all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: It is the whole, or all the counsel of God, concerning the spiritual and eternal salvation of men, Acts.xx. 27.

v. From the integral parts of them: the Scriptures, containing all the books, that were written by divine inspiration. The books of the Old Testament were compleat and perfect in the times of Christ; not one was wanting, nor any mutilated and corrupted. The Jews, he says, have Moses and the prophets; and he himself, beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, expounded in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself, Luke xvi. 24. and xxiv. 27. So that they had not only the five books of Moses, but all the prophets, and all the scriptures of the Old Testament: nay, he a firms, that till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be ful filled, Matt. v. 18. The Jews had the oracles of God, committed to their care, Rom. iii. 2. and they have been faithful keepers of them; even some of them. to superstition and scrupulous nicety, numbering not only the books and sections, but also the verses, and even the words and letters: and there never was, nor now is, any reason to be given why they had corrupted, or would corrupt, any part of the Old Testament; on the coming of Christ it was not their interest to do it; and even before that it was translated into the Greek tongue, by which they would have been detected; and after the coming of Christ they could not do it if they would, copies of it being in the hands of Christians; who were able to correct what they should corrupt, had they done it: and whatever attempts may have been made by any under the christian name, to corrupt some copies of either Testament, they may be, and have been detected; or whatever mistakes may be made, through the carelessness of transcribers, of copies, they are to be corrected by other copies, which God, in his providence, has preserved; and, as it seems, for such purposes: so that we have a perfect canon, or rule of faith and practice. It is objected to the perfection of the books of the Old Testament, that the books of Nathan, Gad, and Iddo, the prophets mentioned therein, are lost; but then it should be proved that these were inspired writings, and, indeed, that they are lost; they may be the same, as some think, with the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. And it is also objected to those of the New Testament, that there was an epistle from Laodicea, Col. iv. 16. and another to the Corinthians, distinct from those we have, 1 Cor. v. 9. neither of them now extant: as to the first, that is not an epistle to Laodicea, but from it; and may refer to one of the epistles, we have, written by the apostle Paul, when at that place: and as to that to the Corinthians, it does not appear to be another and distinct, but the same he was then writing: but admitting, for argument-sake, though it is not to be granted, that some book, or part of the inspired writings is lost; let it be proved, if it can, that any essential article of faith is lost with it; or that there is any such article of faith wanting in the books we have; if this cannot be proved, then, notwithstanding the

pretended defect, we have still a perfect rule of faith; which is what is contended for.

ye

vi. This may be further evinced from the charge that is given," not to add unto, nor diminish from, any part of the sacred writings, law or gospel:” this is strictly enjoined the Israelites to observe, with respect to the law, and the commandments of it, given them by Moses, Deut. iv. 2 and xii. 32. And with respect to the gospel, the apostle Paul, savs, Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you-and have received, let him be accursed, Gal. i. 8, 9. And the wise man, or Agur, says of the Scriptures in his time, Every word of God is pure-add thou not unto his words. And the apostle and evangelist John, closes the canon of the Scripture with these remarkable words, If any man shall udd unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, &c. Rev. xxii. 18, 19. Now if there is nothing superfluous in the Scriptures, to be taken from them; and nothing defective in them, which requires any addition to them: then they must be perfect.

VII. This may be argued from the sufficiency of them to answer the ends and purposes for which they are written. As, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, 2 Tim. iii. 16. they are suffici ently profitable and useful for doctrine; there is no spiritual truth, nor evangelical doctrine, but what they contain; they are called the Scriptures of truth; not only because they come from the God of truth, and whatsoever is in them is truth; but they contain all truth; which the Spirit of God, the dictator of them, guides into, and that by means of them; see Dan. x. 21. John xvi. 13. every doctrine is to be confirmed and established by them; our Lord proved the things concerning himself, his person, office, sufferings, and death, by them, Luke xxiv. 25--27. the apostle Paul reasoned out of the Scriptures, in confirmation and defence of the doctrines he taught; opening and alledging, that is, from the Scriptures, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus is Christ, whom he preached; and, indeed, he said none other things than what Moses and the prophets did say should be, and which he was able to prove from thence, Acts xvii. 2, 3. and xxvi. 22, 23. Every doctrine proposed by men, to the assent of others, is not immediately to be credited; but to be tried and proved, and judged of by the holy Scriptures, which are to be searched, as they were by the Bereans, to see whether those things be so or no; and being found agreeable to them, they are to be believed, and held fast; for to the law and to the testimony; if men speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them, Isa. viii. 20. sce 1 John iv. 1. 1 Thess. v. 21. Acts xvii. 11. and these are serviceable for reproof, for the detection, confutation, and conviction of error: thus Christ confuted the error of the Sadduces by the scriptures, Matt xxii. 29, 30. and the apostles, with these, warred a good warfare; these were their spiritual weapons, the word of God is

the sword of the Spirit, they used in fighting the good fight of faith, against false teachers; by sound doctrine, fetched from thence, they were able to convince and stop the mouths of gainsayers: there never was an error, or heresy, broached in the world yet, but what has been confuted by the Scriptures; and it is not possible that any one can arise in opposition to "the faith once delivered," but what may receive its refutation from them. They are also of use for correction of every sin, internal or external; of heart, lip, and life, secret or cpen; sins of omission or commission; all are forbidden, reproved, and condemned by the law of God; which says, Thou shalt not covet, nor do this, and that, and the other iniquity, Rom. vii. 7. and xiii. 9. And the gospel agrees with the law herein; and what is contrary to the law, is to sound doctrine; the gospel of the grace of God, teaches to "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts," 1 Tim. i. 9-11. Tit. ii. 11, 12. There is not a sin that can be named, but what the Scriptures inveigh against, forbid, and correct. And another end answered by them is, that they are for instruction in righteousness, in every moral duty of religion, and in every positive precept of God, according to the different dispensations; they instruct in every thing of a moral or positive nature, and direct to observe all that is commanded of God and Christ; and now writings by which all such ends are answered, must needs be perfect and compleat.

The Scriptures are sufficient to make a man of God perfect, and thoroughly furnish him unto all good works, 2 Tim. iii. 17. Not a private good man only, but one in a public character and office; a prophet, a preacher, and minister of the word; in which sense the phrase is used both in the Old and New Testament, 1 Sam. ix. 6. 7. 1 Tim. vi. 11. An acquaintance with these fits him for the work of the ministry, and furnishes him with sound doctrine, to deliver out to the edification of others; by means of these he becomes "a scribe well instructed in the kingdom of God; and to be able to bring out of his treasure things new and old:" and if they are able to make such a man perfect, they must be perfect themselves.

Another use of the Scriptures, and an end to be, and which is, answered by them, is not only the learning and instruction of private men, as well as those of a public character; but to make them patient under afflictions, and comfort them in them, and give hope of deliverance out of them, as well as of eternal salvation hereafter; for the apostle says, Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning; that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope, Rom. xv. 4. Nor is there any afflictive circumstance a good man can come into, but there is a promise in the word of God suitable to him in it; and which may be a means of enlivening, chearing, and comforting him, Psal. cxix. 49, 50. yea, the Scriptures are written to promote and increase the spiritual joy of God's people, and that that joy might be full,

and therefore must be full and perfect themselves, 1 John i. 3, 4.

VIII. The Scriptures are able to make a man wise unto salvation, 2. Tim. iii.

15. One part of them being the gospel of salvation; which points out to men.

the way of salvation; gives an account of Christ, the author of it, and of the salvation itself wrought out by him; and describes the persons that have an interest in it, and shall enjoy it; and who, through the grace of God, are made wise enough to see their need of it, seek after it, and embrace it; for it is not barely by reading the word they become so wise; but through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation opening their eyes to see what is contained in it, and applying it to them; whereby the gospel becomes "the power of God unto salvation" to them. In short, the Scriptures contain all things in them necessary to be believed, unto salvation; and, indeed, they are written for this end, that men might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, they might have life through his name, John xx. 31. and hereby, under a divine influence and blessing, they come to have the knowledge of God and Christ, and of God in Christ; which is the beginning, earnest, and pledge of eternal life, John xvii. 3. I proceed,

HI. To prove the perspicuity of the Scriptures; for since they are a rule of faith and practice, they should be clear and plain, as they are: not that they are all equally clear and plain; some parts of them, and some things in them, are dark and obscure; but then by comparing spiritual things with spiritual, or those more dark passages with those that are clearer, they may be plainly understood. Moreover, the light of the Scriptures has been a growing one; it was but dim under the dispensation of the law of Moses; it became more clear through the writings of the prophets; but most clear under the gospel-dispensation; where, "as in a glass, we behold, with open face, the glory of the Lord;" and of divine things: though in the gospel-dispensation, and in such clear writings and epistles as those of the apostle Paul, who used great plainness of speech, there are some things hard to be understood, see 2 Cor. iii, 12—18, 2 Pet. iii. 16. And this is so ordered on purpose to remove all contempt and loathing of the Scriptures, and to humble the arrogance and pride of men, to engage reverence of them, and to excite attention to them, and to put men on searching them with close study, application, and prayer. Nor is every doctrine of the Scriptures expressed in so many words; as the doctrine of the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead; the eternal generation of the Son of God, his incarnation and satisfaction, &c. but then the things themselves signified by them, are clear and in; and there are terms and phrases answerable to them; or they are to be deduced from thence by just and necessary consequences. Nor are the Scriptures clear and plain to every one that reads them; they are a sealed book, which neither learned nor unlearned men can understand and interpret without the Spirit of God, the dictator of them; the natural man, by the mere light of nature, and dint of reason, though he may understand the grammatical sense of words; yet he does not understand the meaning of them, at least in a spiritual way, with application to himself; and so far as he has any notion of them, he has a disgust and contempt of them, for the most part; yet they are so fully expressed and clearly revealed, that if the gospel is hid to any, it is to

those that perish, who are left to the native darkness of their minds, and to be "blinded by the god of this world," that the glorious light of the gospel might not shine into them, see Isa. xxix. 11, 12. 1 Cor. ii. 14. 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. But then the Scriptures are plain to them that have a spiritual understanding; who are spiritual men, and judge all things; " to whom it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom :" What are more clear and plain than the precepts of the law, commanding one thing to be done, and forbidding the doing of another? in what plain language are they expressed, Thou shalt have no other Gods before me, &c. Thou shalt not kill, &c? And how clearly is asserted the great and fundamental doctrine of the gospel, "That salvation is alone by Jesus Christ, through the free grace of God; and not of the works of men?" and so every thing necessary of belief unto salvation. In short, they are like a full and deep river, in which the lamb may walk, and the elephant swim, in different places. The perspicuity of the Scriptures may be urged.1. From the author of them, God, as has been proved, who is the Father of lights; and therefore what comes from him must be light and clear, in whom is no darkness at all. →→ 2. From the several parts of them, and what they are compared unto. The law, or legal part of them, is represented by things which are light, and give it; The commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, Prov. vi. 23. The commandments of the law, as before observed, are clearly expressed; and are a plain direction to men what to do, or shun; the same David says of the word of the Lord in general and more explicitly, Thy word is a lamp unto my fect, and a light unto my path, Psal. cxix. 105. directing how to walk and act. The evangelical part of the Scriptures, or the gospel, is compared to a glass, in which may clearly beheld, the glory of the Lord; of his person, offices, grace, and righteousness; and every one of the glorious truths and doctrines of it, 2 Cor. iii. 18. Hence the ministers of the word are called the light of the world; because by opening and explaining the Scriptures, they are instruments of enlightening men in the will of God, and the mysteries of his grace, Matt. v. 14.-3. From other testimonies of Scripture, particularly from Deut. xxx. 11-14. For this commandment, which I command thee this day, is not hidden from thee; neither is it far off—it is not in heavenneither is it beyond the sea-but the word is very nigh unto thee; in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. And if it is not hidden, nor at a distance and inaccessible, then it must be open, and the knowledge of it to be come at; and this is to be understood, not only of the law of Moses, but more especially of the gospel, the word of faith, preached by the apostles, as the apostle Paul interprets it, Rom. x. 68. And the whole of Scripture is the sure word of prophecy, whereunto men do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place: and so the means of dispelling the darkness of ignorance, error, and unbelief; and of giving light all around, both with respect to doctrine and duty, see 2 Pet. i. 19.-4. From exhortations to all sorts of people to read them and who are commended for so doing. Not only the Kings of Israel were to red the law of the Lord, but all that people in general; and there was a certain