if you were sure even to merit by it: at the same time be as humble before God, as the great St. Paul was, who besides keeping the faith, after he had done perhaps more in the way of good works than any mere man had done before him, yet summed up his own life and character in a very few and very humbling words, that he was nothing". He remembered that God was all; in whom "we "live, and move, and have our being *."

SERMON XXIII.

The Care required in choosing our religious Principles, and the Steadiness in retaining them when so chosen, stated and cleared.

I THESS. V. 21.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

THE text contains two very weighty and important precepts, which have a near relation to each other; and which may well deserve both to be rightly understood, and carefully retained by all.

The first is, to prove, try, or examine all things, (proposed as of any consequence to our belief and practice,) that so we may discern what is really good: the next is, to close in with it heartily as soon as found, and firmly to adhere to it. The design of which precepts is to caution us against two pernicious extremes, which many unthinking persons are prone to run into: one is the taking opinions upon trust from others, without ever examining or considering what or why; the other is, being too unsettled and irresolute even after examination, not being able, after a wise choice, to fix and abide by it. It is hard to say which of the two extremes is the most unreasonable; whether the being too credulous in receiving any thing or every thing without distinction, or the not receiving and retaining what upon due examination well deserves it. Credulity on one hand, or unsteadiness on the other, are equally dangerous: both contributing to multiply mis

takes, and to confound all distinction of true and false, good and evil. The way to prevent both is, first, to examine into any opinion or doctrine propounded to us, in order to direct or regulate our choice; and then, after we have made a wise choice, to hold to it resolutely and unalterably, in order to reap the full benefits of it. We must indeed be cautious in the choice of our principles, as in the choice of our friends, not admitting them as such till they have been well approved: but when they have been once well chosen, we must be constant to them, and never lightly part with them. My design then is, in my following discourse, to recommend two things to our more especial notice.

I. Care and discretion in choosing-" Prove all things;" and,

II. Firmness and steadiness in retaining-" Hold fast "that which is good."

I.

To begin with the first, namely, the precept to " prove "all things." Here it will be proper to consider the persons to whom this precept belongs; the rule whereby they are to proceed; and the qualifications necessary to a right performance thereof.

1. The persons. And here I must remark, that the precept is not given to the guides and pastors only, (though they may indeed be conceived principally concerned in it,) but to Christians at large. It is to the church of the Thessalonians, and so to every church, and not to the pastors only, that the advice is directed: it is to as many as are obliged to "hold fast that which is good;" therefore most certainly to all; both clergy and people; only in such proportion and degree, as their several stations, capacities, abilities, or opportunities, respectively, may permit. To this agree those other precepts of like kind, recommended in holy Scripture to Christians at large; to "try the spirits whether they are of Goda;" to "examine

1 John iv. 1.

"themselves, whether they be in the faith," and to" prove" their own selves b;" to be " ready to give a reason of "the hope that is in them," and the like. Accordingly the Bereans are commended for their ingenuous freedom, in examining before they gave their assent even to the Apostle's doctrine;"searching the Scriptures, whether those "things were sod." Vain therefore are the pretences of the Romish bigots, for confining the precept to the clergy only, excluding the laity, without distinction, from the duty or privilege of examining and judging for themselves. It is the right and duty of all persons to believe no farther than they have reasons, and to look themselves (as far as they are able) into the strength and force of those reasons, before they give their assent; or however before they fix and abide by it. Neither is this peculiar to us as Christians; but it concerns us as men. It is one of the natural rights of mankind, founded in the very nature of things, and necessarily resulting from their being made rational creatures. No man can be bound to follow others blindly, who has faculties given him to discern between true and false, between good and evil. His own judgment and conscience, and not another's, is the immediate guide of his faith and practice; which he must give account of at the great day. It is therefore his duty and his business to inform himself as carefully as he can; and then, and there only, to trust to other men's eyes, where he cannot see clearly with his own. And even in these cases he is still to judge for himself, as reasonably as he can, who or what persons are to be taken for his guides or instructors, upon the best and most impartial judgment be is able to make of their authority, integrity, or abilities. We are none of us able to examine particularly into the whole compass and extent of things: something there must be of implicit faith in other men's labours. There are very few persons but who must or who will take some things upon trust; wanting either ability or leisure to run

b 2 Cor. xiii. 5.

1 Pet. iii. 15.

d Acts xvii. 11.

VOL. IX.

U

through all the parts of inquiry, and to search every thing to the bottom. But so far as any man is qualified, and furnished with leisure and opportunity for it, so far he ought to search for himself: and as to the rest, he is still to judge, as he will answer it at the great day, whose report, or whose judgment, he may most safely rely on, in matters beyond his reach or capacity. Very able Divines will, in many things, rely upon the report or judgment of professed linguists, critics, or grammarians: the younger and less furnished Divines will very much confide in the older and more learned: the common people will, in many things, trust to their immediate and proper guides: and, perhaps, the very illiterate and ignorant will much rely upon the judgment of any (be they clergy or laity) whom they take to be wiser and more knowing than themselves; or of whose integrity or friendship towards them they have no reason to doubt. We see then, that in the very nature of the thing, a great deal must and will be taken upon trust from others; and that more or less, according to the great variety there is of men's abilities, opportunities, qualifications, and circumstances: so that the precept, to " prove all things," comes at length to this; to examine into all things, directly, so far as we can do it; and where we cannot, there to examine whose learning, whose integrity, and whose judgment may be most safely trusted for the rest for the purpose.-The bulk of common Christians must in a great measure depend upon the integrity and ability of others, as to the authority and divinity of the sacred canon, the uncorruptness of the copies, the faithfulness of the translation, and the construction of some of the more difficult texts. These things supposed, they may themselves competently judge, from Scripture itself, of the most important or fundamental points of faith or practice. In plain and common cases, ordinary capacities may examine and judge for themselves: and they ought to do so, for the reasons before hinted. They may judge for themselves what religion they ought to be of, and what church to unite with, and what doctrines of that