we be guided without danger; so shall we safely arrive in the haven of our rest.

The prophet David therefore saith, Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and seek him with their whole heart. Their faces shall not be ashamed, they shall not be confounded, which have respect unto his commandment. Blessed is the man, whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in that law doth exercise himself day and night. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the simple.

This is the rule of our faith. Without this, our faith is but a fantasy, and no faith; for faith is by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Therefore Christ saith, John v. Search the Scriptures; they are they that testify of me. There shall ye find testimony of my doctrine; there shall ye know what is the will of my heavenly Father, and there shall you receive the comfort for everlasting life.

Again, John viii. He that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. If a man keep my word, he shall know the truth, he shall never see death. Therefore Baruch said, "O Israel, we are blessed, for the things that are acceptable unto God are declared unto us.' This is thy blessedness; herein hath God showed his favour unto thee, he hath revealed the secrets of his will unto thee, and hath put his word in thy mouth. He showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel; he hath not dealt so with every nation, neither have they known his judgments.

Give

Therefore the prophet David teaches us to pray unto God for the knowledge of his word. Show me thy ways, O Lord, and teach me thy paths: take not thy Holy Spirit from me, and incline my heart unto thy testimonies. me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. Open mine eyes, that I may see the wonders of thy law. And, Lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death; that I may discern between safety and danger, that I may know truth to be the truth, and error to be error.

Thus I have declared part of that profit which grows to us by the word of God; but it not only directs our judgment in the trial of truth, it also grafts in us a boldness and constancy in the defence of the truth. It is also said in the book of Ecclesiasticus, “A fool changeth as the moon. He

is always unstable and inconstant, he knows not what to do nor what to believe; he is sometimes full, and sometimes empty, and turns and changes as the moon; he builds, and lays his foundation upon the sand, therefore his house falls to the ground; he halts on both sides, sometimes he worships God, and sometimes Baal; he is neither hot nor cold; he ebbs and flows like the waves of the sea; he doubts and staggers, and rests in nothing; he knows not the truth; he knows not that the Scriptures are the word of God, so he wanders in the dark, and knows not the way in which he walks. He has no feeling, no heart, no understanding; he is unfaithful towards God, and keeps no faith towards man; he is wavering in all his ways." And why? Because he knows not the will of God, nor hath the light of his word to guide his feet.

He

But a wise man is one and steadfast as the sun. builds his house upon a rock, and that rock is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Therefore his house is never shaken down. Be the storm or tempest ever so rough, yet it shall stand fast like mount Sion, because his trust is in the name of the Lord. He knows that his name is written in the book of life; he knows that he belongs to the Lord's sheepfold, and that no man can take him away out of the Lord's hand.

In this boldness David saith, Psal. xxiii. Though I should walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. And again, Psal. xxvii. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? And again, Psal. cxix. Except thy laws had been my delight, I should now have perished in mine affliction.

When Hezekiah heard the proud message of Sennacherib, sent to him and his people by Rabshakeh, that they should not obey Hezekiah, nor trust in him when he said, The Lord will deliver you; and, Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest; he went up into the house of the Lord, and prayed unto the Lord to save him and his people out of their hands, that all the kingdoms of the earth might know that he is God alone, 2 Kings xix.

Even so the apostle, Rom. xiv. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. And in this boldness our Saviour Christ settled himself to bear their reproaches, and to carry his cross, Luke xxii. Father, if thou wilt, take away this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Thus they that are taught by the word of God to put their

trust in the Lord, and are thereby rooted and settled in him, cannot be removed by any practice of Satan, but stand fast, and continue for ever. Which shall more plainly appear, if we look back into the times of persecution, and behold the boldness and constancy of the saints of God. They were brought before magistrates, cast into prison, spoiled of their goods, cruelly murdered; some were hanged upon gibbets, some run through with swords, some torn with wild horses, some drowned in the water, and some burnt in the fire. They were hated of all men for the name of Christ, they were despised as the filth of the world, and dung of the earth; yet they continued faithful and constant; they armed their hearts with the comfort of God's word; THEREBY were they able to resist in the evil day; they were faithful until death, therefore God gave them a crown of glory.

When they were called before kings and princes, and others of authority, and commanded to forsake the truth they had learned, and the comfort which they took in the truth, they answered in this manner, "O my gracious Lord, I would fain do your commandment; I am your subject; I have done you faithful service with my body and with my goods, but I cannot serve you against God. He is King of kings, and Lord of lords; he is my Lord before whom I stand; I have put my life in his hands; he hath forbidden me to do this which you command, therefore I cannot do it. Judge uprightly whether it be meet to obey you rather than God. My living, my wife, my children, and my life, are dear unto me. I am a man like others, and have my affections; yet neither living, nor wife, nor children, nor my life, is so dear unto me as the glory of God. I am but a poor worm, yet am I the work of his hands. God hath put his word in my mouth; I may not deny it; I may not bear false witness against the Lord. My life is not dear unto me in respect of the truth. I know if I should deny him to save my life, I should lose it; and if I lose my life for his sake I shall find it.

"That which your authority shall lay upon me is not done without his will. All the hairs of my head are numbered. I owe you obedience; I will not resist your power; for if I should resist, I should resist the ordinance of God. I am subject to you for conscience sake. I will forsake my country, my goods, my children, and myself, at your commandment; I will say to mine own flesh, I know thee not; only I cannot forsake my Lord God.

Alas? what am I?

"Dear sir, you fight not against me. what can I do? You fight against God, against the Most Holy, against Him who can command your life to go out of your body. It is a hard thing for you to kick against the spur; it is no hard matter for you to kill me, for so mighty a prince to kill so wretched a worm. But this I declare to you, that my blood which you shed is innocent, and shall be required at your hands.

It may please God to give unto you repentance, and the knowledge of the truth. If my blood may be a mean thereto, if my blood may open your eyes, if my blood may soften your heart, it could never be spent in a better cause; blessed be the name of God, which hath made me his instrument for your so happy conversion. This is the only thing wherein I cannot yield. The Lord hath spoken unto me; I have heard his voice; my heart has felt it; my conscience knows it; I cannot deny it; no sword can cut me from it; no water can drown it; no fire can burn the love I bear unto it; there is no creature in heaven or earth, that can carry me from the blessed hope I have conceived by his word."

So constant is he that hath learned the word of God, and hath set his delight upon it, and through it is assured of the will of God. Heaven shall shake, the earth shall tremble, but the man of God shall stand upright. His feet shall not fail, his heart shall not faint, he shall not be moved; such a ground, such a foundation, such a rock is the word of God.

Blessed is the man whose hope is in the name of the Lord. He shall build upon a sure place; he lays his foundation upon the corner-stone; he needs no army to make him strong; he needs no friends to comfort him in adversity; his strength is within; the gates of hell shall not prevail against him; his comfort is inwardly within his heart; he speaks to God, and God unto him; his eyes behold the kingdom, and power, and glory of God.

But what say we of the fathers, Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Cyprian, &c.? What shall we think of them, or what account may we make of them? They are interpreters of the word of God; they were learned men, and learned fathers; the instruments of the mercy of God, and vessels full of grace. We despise them not, we read them, we reverence them, and give thanks unto God for them.

They were witnesses unto the truth, they were worthy pillars and ornaments in the church of God. Yet may they

not be compared with the word of God. We may not build upon them; we may not make them the foundation and warrant of our conscience; we may not put our. trust in them. Our trust is in the name of the Lord.

And thus are we taught to esteem the learned fathers of the church, by their own judgment; by that which they have written, either for the credit of their own doings, or of the authority which they have thought due to the writings of others.

Augustine said of the doctors and fathers of his time, Neither weigh we the writings of all men, be they ever so worthy and catholic, as we weigh the canonical Scriptures; but that, saving the reverence that is due unto them, we may mislike and refuse somewhat in their writings, if we find that they have thought otherwise than the truth may bear. Such am I in the writings of others, and such would I wish others to be in mine. Some things I believe, and some things which they write I cannot believe. I weigh them not as the holy and canonical Scriptures.

Cyprian was a doctor of the church, yet he was deceived; Jerome was a doctor of the church, yet he was deceived; Augustine was a doctor of the church, yet he wrote a book of retractations; he acknowledged that he was deceived. God did therefore give to the church many doctors, and many learned men, who all should search the truth, and one reform another, wherein they thought him deceived.

Augustine saith, "Take away from amongst us any of our own books, let the book of God come amongst us; hear what Christ saith, hearken what the truth speaketh." He is the Wisdom of his Father, he cannot deceive us. Again, he saith, "Hear this, The Lord saith: hear not this, Donatus saith, or Rogatus, or Vincent, or Hilary, or Ambrose, or Augustine saith." All these were learned, most of them were holy; yet, saith Augustine, we may not yield to that which is said by learned men, but we must yield our full consent and belief to the word of God.

Origen saith, "We must needs call to witness the Holy Scriptures; for our judgments and expositions without those witnesses carry no credit," Mark well; our words, and expositions, and constructions, unless they be warranted by the Scriptures, are not enough, they carry not credit. Augustine saith, "We offer no wrong to St. Cyprian, when we sever any of his letters or writings from the canonical authority of the Holy Scriptures."