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lieve not every fpirit; that is, not every one that takes upon him to be infpired, and to be a teacher come from God: but try the fpirits; that is, examine thofe that make this pretence, whether it be real or not; and ex amine the doctrines which they bring, because there are many impoftors abroad in the world..

This is the plain fenfe of the words. In which there. are contained these four propofitions.

1. That men may, and often do, falfely pretend to infpiration. And this is the reafon upon which the Apoltle grounds this exhortation: Because many falfe prophets are gone out into the world, therefore we fhould try who are true, and who are falfe..

2. We are not to believe every one that pretends to be infpired, and to teach a divine doctrine. This fol lows upon the former: becaufe men may falfely pretend to inspiration, therefore we are not to believe every onethat makes this pretence. For any man that hath but confidence enough, and confcience little enough, may pretend to come from God: and if we admit all preten-ces of this kind, we lie at the mercy of every crafty and confident man, to be led by him into what delufions he pleafeth.

3. Neither are we to reject all that pretend to come: from God. This is fufficiently implied in the text, forwhen the Apoitle fays, Believe not every Spirit, he suppofeth we are to believe fome; and when he faith, Try the fpirits whether they be of God, he fuppofeth fome to be of God; and that those which are fo, are to be believed. These three observations are so plain, that I need. only to name them, to make way for the

4. Fourth, which I defigned principally to infift upon. from these words; and that is this, That there is fome way to difcern mere pretenders to infpiration, from thofe who are truly and divinely inspired. And this is neceffarily implied in the Apoftle's bidding us to try the Spirits whether they are of God: for it were in vain to make: any trial, if there be no way to difcern between pretend.. ed and real infpiration.

Now, the handling of this will give occafion to two › very material inquiries, and ufeful to be refolved..

1. How may we difcern between true and counterfeit: doctrines:

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doctrines; those which really are from God, and those which only pretend to be fo?

2. To whom this judgement of difcerning doth appertain ?

I. How we may difcern between true and counterfeit doctrines and revelations? For the clearing of this I shall lay down these following propofitions.

1. That reafon is the faculty whereby revelations are to be difcerned; or, to use the phrase in the text, it isthat whereby we are to judge what fpirits are of God, and what not. For all revelation from God fuppofeth us to be men, and to be endued with reafon; and therefore it does not create new faculties in us, but propounds new objects to that faculty which was in us before. Whatever doctrines God reveals to men, are propounded to their understandings; and by this faculty we are to examine all doctrines which pretend to be from God, and, upon examination, to judge whether there be reafon to receive them as divine, or to reject them as impostures.

2. All fupernatural revelation fuppofeth the truth of the principles of natural religion. We must first be af fured that there is a God, before we can know that he hath made any revelation of himself: and we must know that his words are true; otherwise there were no fufficient reason to believe the revelations which he makes to us: and we must believe his authority over us, and that he will reward our obedience to his laws, and punish our breach of them; otherwise there would neither be fufficient obligation nor encouragement to obedience. These, and many other things, are fuppofed to be true, and naturally known to us, antecedently to all fupernatural revelation; otherwife the revelations of God would fignify nothing to us, nor be of any force with us.

3. All reafonings about divine revelations must neceffarily be governed by the principles of natural religion; that is, by thofe apprehenfions which men naturally have of the divine perfections, and by the clear notions of good and evil which are imprinted upon our natures: becaufe we have no other way to judge what is worthy of God, and credible to be revealed by him, and what not, but by the natural notions which we have of God, and of his effential perfections; which, because we know him

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to be immutable, we have reafon to believe he will never contradict. And by these principles likewife we are to interpret what God hath revealed; and when any doubt arifeth concerning the meaning of any divine revelation, (as that of the holy fcriptures), we are to govern ourfelves, in the interpretation of it, by what is most agreeable to thofe natural notions which we have of God; and we have all the reafon in the world to reject that fense which is contrary thereto. For instance: When God is reprefented in fcripture as having a human shape, eyes, ears, and hands; the notions which men naturally have of the divine nature and perfections, do fufficiently direct us to interpret thefe expreffions in a fenfe worthy of God, and agreeable to his perfection: and therefore it is reafonable to understand them as rather spoken to our capacity, and in a figure, than to be literally intended. And this will proportionably hold in many other cafes.

4. Nothing ought to be received as a revelation from God, which plainly contradicts the principles of natural religion, or overthrows the certainty of them. For inftance: It were in vain to pretend a revelation from God, That there is no God, because this is a contradiction in terms. So likewife to pretend a command from God, That we are to hate and despise him; because it is not credible, that God fhould require any thing of reasonable creatures so unsuitable to their natures, and to their obligations to him: befides, that fuch a law as this does tacitly involve a contradiction; because, upon fuch a fuppofition, to defpife God, would be to obey him; and yet, to obey him, is certainly to honour him. So that in this cafe, to honour God, and to despise him, would be the fame thing, and equal contempts of him. In like manner it would be vain to pretend any revelation from God, That there is no life after this, nor rewards and punishments in another world; because this is contrary to those natural apprehenfions which have generally poffeffed mankind, and would take away the main force and fanction of the divine laws. The like may be faid concerning any pretended revelation from God, which evidently contradicts those natural notions which men have of good and evil; as, That God fhould command or allow fedition and rebellion, perfidiousness and perjury; because

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because the practice of thefe would be apparently deftructive of the peace and happiness of mankind, and would naturally bring confufion into the world: but God is not the God of Confufion, but of Order; which St Paul appeals to as a principle naturally known. Upon the fame account, nothing ought to be entertained as a divine revelation, which overthrows the certainty of the principles of natural religion; because that would take away the certainty of divine revelation itself, which fuppofeth the truth of thofe principles. For inftance: Whoever pretends any revelation that brings the providence of God into question, does by that very thing make fuch a revelation questionable: for if God take no care of the world, have no concernment for human affairs, why fhould we believe that he makes any revelation of his will to men? And by this principle Mofes will have falfe prophets to be tried, Deut. xiii. 1. If there arife among you a prophet, and giveth thee a fign or wonder, and the fign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee, faying, Let us go after other gods, and let us ferve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet. And he gives the reafon of this, ver. 5. Becaufe he hath Spoken unto you to turn away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Here is a cafe wherein a falfe prophet is fuppofed to work a true miracle, to give credit to his doctrine, which in other cafes the fcripture makes the fign of a true prophet; but yet in this cafe he is to be rejected as an impoftor; be caufe the doctrine he teacheth would draw men off from the worship of the true God, who is naturally known, and hath manifefted himfelf to the people of Ifrael in fo miraculous a manner, by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. So that a miracle is not enough to give cre dit to a prophet, who teacheth any thing contrary to that natural notion which men have, that there is but one God, who only ought to be worthipped.

5. Nothing ought to be received as a divine doctrine and revelation, without good evidence that it is fo; that is, without fome argument fufficient to fatisfy a prudent and confiderate man. Now, fuppofing there be nothing in the matter of the revelation that is evidently contrary

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to the principles of natural religion, nor to any former revelation which hath already received a greater and more folemn atteftation from God, miracles are owned by all mankind to be a fufficient teflimony to any perfon, or doctrine, that they are from God. This was the teftimony which God gave to Mofes, to fatisfy the people of Ifrael that he had fent him: Exod. iv. 1. 2. Mofes faid, They will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will fay, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. Upon this God endues him with a power of miracles, to be an evidence to them, That they may believe that the God of their fathers, Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. And all along in the Old Testament, when God fent his prophets to make a new revelation, or upon any strange and extraordinary meffage, he always gave credit to them by fome fign or wonder, which they foretold or wrought. And when he fent his Son into the world, he gave teftimony to him by innumerable, great and unquestionable miracles, more and greater than Mofes and all the prophets had wrought. And there was great reason for this; because our Saviour came not only to publish a new religion to the world, but to put an end to that religion which God had inftituted before. And now that the gospel hath had the confirmation of fuch miracles as never were wrought upon any other occafion, no evidence inferior to this can in reafon controul this revelation, or give credit to any thing contrary to it. And therefore, though the false prophets and antichrifts foretold by our Saviour did really work miracles; yet they were so inconfiderable in comparison of our Saviour's, that they deferve no credit, in oppofition to that revelation which had fo clear a teftimony given to it from heaven by miracles, befides all other concurring arguments to confirm it.

6. And lastly, No argument is fufficient to prove a doctrine or revelation to be from God, which is not clearer and stronger than the difficulties and objections against it; because all affent is grounded upon evidence, and the strongest and clearest evidence always carries it: but where the evidence is equal on both fides, that can pro. duce nothing but a fufpence and doubt in the mind, whether the thing be true or not. If Mofes had not confu

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