A Difcourfo concerning faril y concern us? Other Knowledge is ;nly for the .1dorning and embcllifhment of Nature ; this is for the neceffity of Life, of Life Eternal. 1 have before fpokcn enough concerning the ncccffi ty of Knowledge unto Salvation, and therefore fha!l not farther inlargc. Therefore as Sr. Peter faid to Chrift, Lord, 1vhirher JhatJ we go, thou haft the words of cremat life? So let us Anfwer whatfoevcr may fcem to call us off from the dil iQent Stt~dy of the Scr iptures, Whither !hall we go, to this we muft cleave, w ith th is we will converfe, for here alone are rhe Words of Eternal Life. Fifthly, The Knowledge· that the Scripture difclofeth is of undoubted Certaimy, and perpetual Truth ; it depends not upon Probabilities or ConjcB:urcs but the infallible Authority of Chrifr himfclf; he hath diCbted it, for whom it i; impoflible to lie. The Rule of our Veracity or Truth, is the conformi ty of our Speech to the Exift~ncy of Things; but .divine Truth and Veracity bath no other Rule befides the Will of Jum that fpeaks It. He rnuft needs fpeak inf:dlible Truth who fpc:aks Things into .their Beings , fuch is the omnipotent Speech of God: Whatfoe\•er he declares, Is therefore true, becaufe he declares it. Never matter how ftrange and i~1poffible Scriptt~re-M yfreries may feem to Flefu and Blood, to the corrupt and capt aous Underftandmgs of natural Men; when the Word of God hath un~ertaken fa~· the Truth, it is as r:tuch Impiety to doubt them, as it is Folly to quefhon the reality of what·we fee With our very Eyes. Nay, the informat ion of our Senfes, what we fee, what we hear, what: we feel, is not fa certa in as t he Truth of thofe Things which God reveals and teftifi.es in the Scriptures. And therefore the Apoftle, 2. Ptt . I. l 8, 19. Speaking of that miraculous voice that founded from Hea"Jen. Matth. 17. 5· ThU if my beltYUed Son £n whom I am well pleafed. We fa ith the Apofrle, heard this Voice when we were with him in the Holy Mount: but we have alfo a more fure Word of Prophecy; or, as the Greek may well be! rendred, We account more fure the Word of Prophecy~ unto which ye do well, that ye take heed. What a morc.fure Word than a Vmce from Heaven? When God himfel f fhall vocally bear Wltnefs to the Truth? Yes, we ha ve a more furc Word, and that's the Word of Prophecy, recorded in the Old Teftamen t. Aud hence it will follow, that becaufe the Prophecies concerning Chrift, may fecm fomewhatobfcure in Compar ifon with this audible Voice from Heaven; therefore the Teftimony of obfcure Scripture, is to be preferred before the Tefl. imony of clear Senfe. Now therefore if you would know Things beyond all danger, either of Fallhood or Helitation, be Converfant in the Scripture, where we may take all for certain upon the Word and Author ity of that God, who neither can deceive, nor be deceived. Sixthly, The Scripture alone gives us the true and unerring Knowl'cdge of our Selves. Man that bufiesbimfelf in knowing all things elfe, is of nothing more ignorant than of himfelf; the Eye that beholds of hers Thi ngs, cannot fee its own iliapc; and fa the Soul of Man, whereby he underftands other Objects, is ufually ignorant of its ow"h Concernments. Now as the Eye that canner fee it fclf directly, may fee itfelf reflexively in a Glafs; fa God bath given us his Scripture, which St. James compares to a Glafs, ']ame 1. 2.3. And holds this before the Soul, wherein U reprefented our true Stttte and !de ~C. There is a Fourfold ftate of Man, that we could never have attained to know, but by the Scriptures. His ltate of Integrity. His ftate of Apoftacy. His ftate of Reftitution. His Itate of Glory. The Scripture alone can reveal to us, what we were in our Primitive Confti.. tution. Natural1y Holy, bearing the Image and Similitude of God, and enjoying his Love, free from an inward Perturbations or OUtward Mifcries; having all the Creatures· fubjeet: to us, and what is much more, our felvcs. What we were in our ftate of Apoftacy or Deftitution, dcfpoiled of all our Primitive Excellencies, difpoffefs'd of all the Happincfs we enjoy'd, and of all hopes of any for the future; liable every moment to the revenge of Juftice, and certain once to feel it. What we are in our ftate of Reftitution, through Grace, begotten again to a lively Hope, Adopted inlo the Family of Heaven, Redeem'd by the Blood of Chrift,
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