debility of the human faculties in our present state, seem ill to
accord with the high destinies which the expectations of religion
point out to us, I would only ask them, whether any one, who saw a
child two hours after its birth, could suppose that it would ever come
to understand _fluxions_;[12] or who then shall say, what further
amplification of intellectual powers, what accession of knowledge,
what advance and improvement, the rational faculty, be its
constitution what it will, may not admit of, when placed amidst new
objects, and endowed with a sensorium, adapted, as it undoubtedly will
be, and as our present senses are, to the perception of those
substances, and of those properties of things, with which our concern
may lie.
“Upon the whole; in every thing which respects this awful, but, as we
trust, glorious change, we have a wise and powerful Being, (the
author, in nature, of infinitely various expedients for infinitely
various ends,) upon whom to rely for the choice and appointment of
means, adequate to the execution of any plan which his goodness or his
justice may have formed, for the moral and accountable part of his
terrestrial creation. That great office rests with him: be it ours to
hope and prepare; under a firm and settled persuasion, that, living
and dying, we are his; that life is passed in his constant presence,
that death resigns us to his merciful disposal.”
PALEY.
Footnote 12:
See Search’s Light of Nature, passim.
Footnote 13:
The theory of a nervous fluid, or animal spirits, is generally
abandoned.
Footnote 14:
See this doubtful doctrine discussed post Quest. 60.
Quest. III.
QUEST. III. _What is the Word of God?_
ANSW. The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word
of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.
In speaking to this answer, we shall consider the several names by which
the scripture is set forth with the import thereof, and more
particularly that by which it is most known; to wit, the Old and New
Testament, and then speak of it as a rule of faith and obedience.
I. There are several names given to the word of God, in Psalm cxix. one
of which is found in almost every verse thereof.
It is sometimes called his law, statutes, precepts, commandments, or
ordinances,[15] to signify his authority and power to demand obedience
of his creatures which he does therein, and shews us in what particular
instances, and how we are to yield obedience to it.
It is also called his judgments, implying that he is the great Judge of
the world, and that he will deal with men in a judicial way, according
to their works, as agreeable or disagreeable to this law of his,
contained in his word; and, for this reason, it is also called his
righteousness, because all that he commands in his word is holy and
just, and his service highly reasonable.
It is also called God’s testimonies, as containing the witness,
evidence, or record, that he has given to his own perfections, whereby
he has demonstrated them to the world. Thus we are said, 2 Cor. iii. 18.
_To behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord._
It is also called his way, as containing a declaration of the glorious
works that he has done, both of nature and grace; the various methods of
his dealing with men, or the way that they should walk in, which leads
to eternal life.
Moreover, it is called, Rom. iii. 2. _The oracles of God_, to denote
that many things contained in it could not have been known by us till he
was pleased to reveal them therein. Agreeably hereto, the apostle speaks
of the great things contained in the gospel, as being hid in God; hid
from ages and generations past, but now made manifest to the saints,
Eph. iii. 9, Col. i. 26.
Again it is sometimes called the gospel, especially those parts of
scripture which contain the glad tidings of salvation by Christ, or the
method which God ordained for the taking away the guilt, and subduing
the power of sin; and particularly the apostle calls it, _The glorious
gospel of the blessed God_; 1 Tim. i. 11. and _the gospel of our
salvation_. Eph. i. 13.
And, in this answer, it is called the Old and New Testament; that part
of it which was written before our Saviour’s incarnation, which contains
a relation of God’s dealings with his church, from the beginning of the
world to that time, or a prediction of what should be fulfilled in
following ages, is called the Old Testament. The other which contains an
account of God’s dispensation of grace, from Christ’s first to his
second coming is called the New.
A testament is the declared or written will of a person, in which some
things are given to those who are concerned or described therein. Thus
the scripture is God’s written will or testament, containing an account
of what he has freely given in his covenant of grace to fallen man; and
this is the principal subject matter of scripture, as a testament;
therefore it contains an account,
1. Of many valuable legacies given to the heirs of salvation; the
blessings of both worlds, all the privileges contained in those great
and precious promises, with which the scripture so abounds. Thus it is
said, _Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to
glory_; Psal. lxiii. 24. and _the Lord will give grace and glory_, Psal.
lxxxiv. 11.
2. It describes the testator Christ, who gives eternal life to his
people, and confirms all the promises which are made in him; as they are
said, 2 Cor. i. 20. _To be in him yea and amen, to the glory of God_;
and more especially he ratified this testament by his death as the same
apostle observes, which is a known maxim of the civil law, that _where a
testament is, there must of necessity be the death of the testator_,[16]
Heb. ix. 16, 17. upon which the force or validity thereof depends. And
the word of God gives us a large account how all the blessings, which
God bestowed upon his people, receive their validity from the death of
Christ.
3. It also discovers to us who are the heirs, or legatees, to whom these
blessings are given, who are described therein, as repenting, believing,
returning sinners, who may lay claim to the blessings of the covenant of
grace.
4. It has several seals annexed to it, _viz._ the sacraments under the
Old and New Testament, of which we have a particular account in
scripture.
This leads us to consider how the scripture is otherwise divided or
distinguished.
(1.) As to the Old Testament, it is sometimes distinguished or divided
into _Moses and the prophets_, Luke xvi. 29. or _Moses, the prophets,
and the psalms_, Luke xxiv. 44. And it may be considered also as
containing historical and prophetic writings, and others that are more
especially doctrinal or poetical; and the prophets may be considered as
to the time when they wrote, some before and others after the captivity.
They may also be distinguished as to the subject matter of them: some
contain a very clear and particular account of the person and kingdom of
Christ, _e. g._ Isaiah who is, for this reason, by some, called the
evangelical prophet. Others contain reproofs, and denounce and lament
approaching judgments, as the prophet Jeremiah. Others encourage the
building of the temple, the setting up the worship of God, and the
reformation of the people upon their return from captivity: thus
Zechariah and Haggai. As for the historical parts of scripture, these
either contain an account of God’s dealings with his people before the
captivity; as Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, &c. or after it, as Ezra
and Nehemiah.
(2.) The books of the New Testament maybe thus divided. Some of them are
historical, _viz._ such as contain the life and death of our Saviour, as
the four gospels, or the ministry of the apostles, and the first
planting and spreading of the gospel, as the Acts of the Apostles.
Others are more especially doctrinal, and are wrote in the form of an
epistle by the apostle Paul, and some other of the apostles.
One book is prophetical, as the Revelations, wherein is foretold the
different state and condition of the church, the persecutions it should
meet with from its Anti-christian enemies, its final victory over them,
and its triumphs, as reigning with Christ in his kingdom.
This leads us to consider, when God first revealed his will to man in
scripture, and how this revelation was gradually enlarged, and
transmitted down to the church in succeeding ages. There was no written
word, from the beginning of the world, till Moses’s time, which was
between two and three thousand years; and it was almost a thousand years
longer before the canon of the Old Testament was completed by Malachi
the last prophet, and some hundred years after that before the canon of
the New Testament was given; so that God revealed his will, as the
apostle says, in the beginning of the epistle to the Hebrews, at _sundry
times_, as well as in _divers manners_, and by divers inspired writers.
Notwithstanding the church, before it had a written word, was not
destitute of a rule of faith and obedience, neither were they
unacquainted with the way of salvation; for to suppose this, would be
greatly to detract from the glory of the divine government, and reflect
on God’s goodness; therefore he took other ways to supply the want of a
written word, and hereby shewed his sovereignty, in that he can make
known his will what way he pleases, and his wisdom and goodness, in
giving his written word at such a time when the necessities of men most
required it. This will appear, if we consider,
1. That when there was no written word, the Son of God frequently
condescended to appear himself, and converse with man, and so revealed
his mind and will to him.
2. There was the ministry of angels subservient to this end, in which
respect the word was often spoken by angels, sent to instruct men in the
mind and will of God.
3. The church had among them all this while, more or less, the spirit of
prophecy, whereby many were instructed in the mind of God; and though
they were not commanded to commit what they received by inspiration to
writing, yet they were hereby furnished to instruct others in the way of
salvation. Thus Enoch is said to have prophesied in his day; Jude ver.
14, 15. and Noah is called, _a preacher of righteousness_, 2 Pet. ii. 5.
Heb. xi. 7.
4. Great part of this time the lives of men were very long, (_viz._)
eight or nine hundred years, and so the same persons might transmit the
word of God by their own living testimony.
5. Afterwards in the latter part of this interval of time, when there
was no written word, the world apostatised from God, and almost all
flesh corrupted their way; not for want of a sufficient rule of
obedience, but through the perverseness and depravity of their nature;
and afterwards the world was almost wholly sunk into idolatry, and so
were judicially excluded from God’s special care; and since Abraham’s
family was the only church that remained in the world, God continued to
communicate to them the knowledge of his will in those extraordinary
ways, as he had done to the faithful in former ages.
6. When man’s life was shortened, and reduced to the same standard, as
now it is, of threescore and ten years, and the church was very
numerous, increased to a great nation, and God had promised that he
would increase them yet more, then they stood in greater need of a
written word to prevent the inconveniences that might have arisen from
their continuing any longer without one, and God thought fit, as a great
instance of favour to man, to command Moses to write his law, as a
standing rule of faith and obedience to his church.
This leads us to consider a very important question, _viz._ whether the
church, under the Old Testament dispensation, understood this written
word, or the spiritual meaning of those laws that are contained therein?
Some, indeed, have thought that the state of the church, before Christ
came in the flesh, was attended with so much darkness, that they did not
know the way of salvation, though they had, in whole or in part, the
scriptures of the Old Testament. The Papists generally assert, that they
did not; and therefore they fancy, that all who lived before Christ’s
time, were shut up in a prison, where they remained till he went from
the cross to reveal himself to them, and so, as their leader, to conduct
them in triumph to heaven. And some Protestants think the state of all
who lived in those times, to have been attended with so much darkness,
that they knew but little of Christ and his gospel, though shadowed
forth, or typified by the ceremonial law; which they found on suchlike
places of scripture as that, where Moses is said to have _put a vail
over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to
the end of that which is abolished; and that this vail is done away in
Christ_, 2 Cor. iii. 13, 14. and those scriptures that speak of the
Jewish dispensation, as _a night of darkness_, compared with that of the
gospel, which is represented as _a perfect day_, or the _rising of the
sun_, Isa. xxi. 11. Cant. ii. 17. Malachi iv. 2. And as these extend the
darkness of that dispensation farther than, as I humbly conceive, they
ought to do, so they speak more of the wrath, bondage, and terror that
attend it, than they have ground to do, especially when they make it
universal; since there are several reasons, which may induce us to
believe that the church, at that time, understood a great deal more of
the gospel, shadowed forth in the ceremonial law, and had more communion
with God, and less wrath, terror, or bondage, than these suppose they
had; for which I would offer the following reasons,
1. Some of the Old Testament saints have expressed a great degree of
faith in Christ, and love to him, whom they expected to come in our
nature; and many of the prophets, in their inspired writings, have
discovered that they were not strangers to the way of redemption and
reconciliation to God by him, as the Lord our righteousness. A multitude
of scriptures might be cited, that speak of Christ, and salvation by him
in the Old Testament, Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. Zech. xiii. 7. Psal. xxxiii. 1,
2. compared with Rom. iv. 6. Thus Abraham is described, as _rejoicing to
see his day_, John viii. 56. and the prophet Isaiah is so very
particular and express in the account he gives of his person and
offices, that I cannot see how any one can reasonably conclude him to
have been wholly a stranger to the gospel himself, Isa. xxii. 25. ch.
lii. 13, 14, 15. Can any one think this, who reads his 53d chapter,
where he treats of his life, death, sufferings, and offices, and of the
way of salvation by him?
_Object._ It is objected hereunto that the prophets who delivered these
evangelical truths, understood but little of them themselves, because of
the darkness of the dispensation they were under. Thus it is said, 1
Pet. i. 10, 11, 12. that _the prophets_, indeed, _searched_ into the
meaning of their own predictions, but to no purpose; for _it was
revealed to them, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they
ministered_; that is, the account they gave of our Saviour was not
designed to be understood by them, but us in this present
gospel-dispensation.
_Answ._ The answer that may be given to this objection is, that though
the prophets are represented as enquiring into the meaning of their own
prophecies, yet it doth not follow from thence that they had but little
or no understanding of them: all that can be gathered from it is, that
they studied them, as their own salvation was concerned therein; but we
must not suppose that they did this to no purpose, as what they were not
able to understand; and when it is farther said in this scripture, that
_not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things that are
now reported_; the meaning is, not that they did not understand those
things, or had not much concern in them, but that the glory of the
gospel state, that was foretold in their prophecies, was what we should
behold with our eyes, and not they themselves, in which sense they are
said _not to minister to themselves, but to us_; so that this objection
hath no force in it to overthrow the argument we are maintaining; we
therefore proceed to consider,
2. That it is certain, that the whole ceremonial law had a spiritual
meaning annexed to it; for it is said, _That the law was a shadow of
good things to come_, Heb. x. 1. and that all those things _happened to
them for ensamples_, [or types] _and they are written for our
admonition_, 1 Cor. x. 11.
3. It is unreasonable to suppose that the spiritual meaning of the
ceremonial law should not be known by those to whom it was principally
given; or that the gospel, wrapt up therein, should not be seen through
this shadow till the dispensation was abolished, the ceremonial law
abrogated, and the nation cast off to whom it was given.
4. If the knowledge of the gospel, or faith in Christ, which is founded
upon it, be necessary for our salvation, it was necessary for the
salvation of those who lived in former ages; for it was as much a truth
then as it is now, that there is salvation in no other; therefore the
church of old were obliged to believe in him to come, as much as we are
to believe in him as already come; but it is inconsistent with the
divine goodness to require this knowledge, and not to give them any
expedient to attain it; therefore we must either suppose this knowledge
attainable by them, and consequently that he was revealed to them, or
else they must be excluded from a possibility of salvation, when, at the
same time, they were obliged to believe in Christ, which they could not
do, because they did not understand the meaning of that law, which was
the only means of revealing him to them; or if Christ was revealed in
the ceremonial law, and they had no way to understand it, it is all one
as though he had not been revealed therein.
5. They had sufficient helps for the understanding the spiritual meaning
thereof, _viz._ not only some hints of explication, given in the Old
Testament, but, besides these, there was,
(1.) Extraordinary revelation and inspiration, with which the Jewish
church more or less, was favoured, almost throughout all the ages
thereof; and hereby it is more than probable that, together with the
canon of the Old Testament, they received the spiritual sense and
meaning of those things which were contained therein.
(2.) There was one whole tribe, _viz._ that of Levi, that was almost
wholly employed in studying and explaining the law of God; therefore it
is said, _They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law_,
Deut. xxxiii. 10. and that _the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and
they should seek the law at his mouth_; Mal. ii. 7. that is, the priests
should, by all proper methods, understand the meaning of the law, that
they might be able to teach the people, when coming to be instructed by
them.
(3.) There were among them several schools of the prophets (in some ages
at least of the Jewish church) in which some had extraordinary
revelations; and they that had them not, made the scriptures their
study, that they might be able to instruct others; so that, from all
this, it appears that they had a great deal of knowledge of divine
truths, and the spiritual meaning of the Old Testament; though yet we
will not deny that the gospel dispensation hath a clearer light, and
excels in glory.[17]
We shall now proceed to consider, how far the Old Testament is a rule of
faith and obedience to us, though that dispensation be abolished; for we
are not to reckon it an useless part of scripture, or that it does not
at all concern us. Since,
(1.) The greatest part of the doctrines contained therein are of
perpetual obligation to the church, in all the dispensations or changes
thereof.
(2.) As for the ceremonial law, which is abolished, with some other
forensick, or political laws, by which the Jews, in particular, were
governed, these, indeed, are not so far a rule of obedience to us, as
that we should think ourselves obliged to observe them, as the Jews were
of old: notwithstanding,
(3.) Even these are of use to us, as herein we see what was then the
rule of faith and obedience to the church, and how far it agrees as to
the substance thereof, or things signified thereby, with the present
dispensation; so that it is of use to us, as herein we see the wisdom,
sovereignty, and grace of God to his church in former ages, and how what
was then typified or prophesied, is fulfilled to us. Thus it is said,
that _whatsoever things were written afore-time, were written for our
learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope_, Rom. xv. 4.
The scriptures of the Old and New Testament contain a revelation of the
whole mind and will of God, and therefore are very justly styled a
perfect rule of faith and obedience. Nevertheless,
We do not hereby intend that they contain an account of every thing that
God hath done, or will do, in his works of providence and grace, from
the beginning to the end of time; for such a large knowledge of things
is not necessary for us to attain. Thus it is said, John xx. 30. that
Christ did many _other signs_, that are not written in the gospel; but
those things that are contained therein, are _written that we might
believe_; therefore we have a sufficient account thereof to support our
faith; and that _there were many other things which Jesus did, which, if
they should be written every one, the world would not contain the books
that should be written_, John xxi. 25.[18]
Nor do we understand hereby, that God has given us an account of all his
secret counsels and purposes relating to the event of things, or the
final estate of particular persons, abstracted from those marks on which
our hope of salvation is founded, or their outward condition, or the
good or bad success that shall attend their undertakings in the world,
or the time of their living therein: these, and many more events of the
like nature, are secrets which we are not to enquire into, God having
not thought fit to reveal them in his word, for wise ends best known to
himself, which shews his sovereignty, with respect to the matter of
revelation; _Secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those
things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children_, Deut.
xxix. 29. When Peter was over-curious in enquiring concerning the future
estate or condition of John, our Saviour gives him this tacit reproof,
_What is that to thee?_ John xxi. 21, 22.
Nor are we to suppose that the divine perfections, which are infinite,
are fully and adequately revealed to man, since it is impossible that
they should, from the nature of the thing; for that which is in itself
incomprehensible, cannot be so revealed that we should be able fully to
comprehend it, though that which is possible, or at least necessary, to
be known of God, is clearly revealed to us.
Again, we do not suppose that every doctrine, that is to be assented to
as an article of faith, is revealed in express words in scripture, since
many truths are to be deduced from it by just and necessary
consequences, which thereby become a rule of faith.
Nor are we to suppose that every part of scripture fully and clearly
discovers all those things which are contained in the whole of it, since
there was farther light given to the church, by degrees, in succeeding
ages, as it grew up, from its infant-state, to a state of perfect
manhood; therefore there is a clearer and fuller revelation of the
glorious mysteries of the gospel, under the New Testament-dispensation,
than there was before it. The apostle uses the same metaphorical way of
speaking, when he compares the state of the church, under the ceremonial
law, to that of an heir under age, or of children under the direction of
tutors and governors, whose instruction and advances in knowledge are
proportioned to their age; so God revealed his word at _sundry times_,
as well as in _divers manners_, Gal. iv. 1, 3. Heb. i. 1.
The word of God, accompanied with those additional helps before
mentioned, for the churches understanding the sense thereof, was always,
indeed, sufficient to lead men into the knowledge of divine truth; but
the canon being compleated, it is so now in an eminent degree; and it is
agreeable to the divine perfections that such a rule should be given;
for since salvation could not be attained, nor God glorified, without a
discovery of those means, which are conducive thereto, it is not
consistent with his wisdom and goodness that we should be left at the
utmost uncertainty as to this matter, and, at the same time, rendered
incapable of the highest privileges which attend instituted worship. Can
we suppose that, when all other things necessary to salvation are
adjusted, and many insuperable difficulties surmounted, and an
invitation given to come and partake of it, that God should lay such a
bar in our way, that it should be impossible for us to attain it, as
being without a sufficient rule?