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riches; and it had been early obferved, that it was difficult for rich men to enter into the kingdom of heaven. They were more difpofed to the pleafures, which riches furnish; than to the comforts, which religion adminifters and even they, who had embraced chriftianity, found much work for the apostle in keeping them pure from the contagion, that was spread around them.

Befides the gay, and thoughtless, the apostle had another kind of people to contend with. These were philofophers and tho' they were a more refpectable set of men than the other, they were, at the fame time, perhaps more intractable. Aftate of learning is in itself, no doubt, favourable to religion, at least in a certain degree; and has ever been found fo: but the philofopher himself. has fometimes too much wifdom to be taught. The Corinthian philofophers certainly had; and were in general rather inclined to add fomething of their own to amend the gospel; than to accept it in that fimplicity, in which Paul preached it.

To the latter the text alludes. These philofophizing christians (many of whom were probably teachers alfo) the apostle recalls to the fimplicity of the gospel. He fets before them his own example.

ample. He came not, he tells them, with the excellency of speech, or the enticing words of man's wifdom. He knew nothing among them, but Jefus Chrift, and him crucified: adding, that he had never preached the words, which man's wifdom teacheth; but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing fpiritual things with spiritual.

In this paffage the apoftle gives us the only true rule of interpreting fcripture, which I shall endeavour to explain, by fhewing-first, How the apostles were directed by it.-And Secondly, How far it seems applicable to us.

I. In the first place, the apoftle tells us, he avoided the words, which man's wisdom teacheth. In the apostle's days, indeed, man's wisdom had made but little progress in matters of religion. We read of Hymeneus, Philetus, and à few others, who feemed defirous of being teachers, before they understood what they affirmed. But their number was fmall.

Man's wisdom, however, was a kind of leaven, which made a rapid progrefs. We need only curforily examine ecclefiaftical history to fee it's mifchievous effects. There we find men running fuch lengths of folly, extravagance, wild

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nefs, and I may add of wickedness, that we may well fuppofe, it was in the spirit of forefight, that the apostle puts us fo much on our guard againft man's wisdom. Man's wifdom hath filled innumerable volumes: the gofpel is comprised in

one.

In this ingrateful field we might wander long. The history of man's wisdom is the history of his opinions; and of these there is no end. Zeal, and indifcretion; pride, and vanity; bad meanings, and good meanings, have all contributed to interpret what the Holy Ghost teacheth, by the words of man's wifdom. Inftead therefore of wandering in this wide wilderness, let us fix our eyes on those great land-marks, which the apostle has fet up to lead us fafely through it.

The apostles were immediately infpired. They taught, as the Holy Ghost inftructed. Immediate inspiration brought all things to their remembrance, whatever their bleffed Lord had taught them.

At the fame time, it fhould seem that the inspiration of the apostles was restricted to what was new in the religion they taught or if not wholly new, yet fo obfcurely fhadowed out in prophecies, and prophetic types, that it needed

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needed explanation. The great truths, with regard to the redemption of the world-the interceffion of Christ-his atonement for fin-the conditions of acceptance-the, univerfality of the christian religion-the motives it holds outthe purity it hath introduced into morals-the certainty of a future ftate-and of a last judgment were all, no doubt, ftrongly impreffed on the minds of the apoftles, and properly opened by immediate infpiration. In any of these great truths, mistakes were dangerous-memory was frail-and there were yet no written records.At the fame time fuch notices as were already on the records of inspirationthofe divine truths contained in the books of the Old Teftament-wanted no farther illuftra tion from the Holy Ghoft. Here nothing more. seems to have been neceffary, than the use of reafon and common fenfe. And thus the apostle diftinguishes between the things, which God

had revealed by the Spirit; and the act of com paring Spiritual things with fpiritual. The one he calls declaring the teftimony of God: the other was plainly the exertion only of reafon. Nothing more than the exertion of reason was neceffary to prove the connection between the Old Tefta

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ment and the New-or to point out the com pletion of prophecies or to fhew, how the types of the law were fulfilled. Of this mode of reafoning we find abundant inftances among the facred writers-in the epistle to the Hebrews especially.

Thus then inspiration feems to have been neceffary to direct the apostles in what was hitherto unknown but human reason feemed fufficient to enable them to apply what had been already infpired.

II, Let us then now fee, how this rule, which guided the apoftles, appears applicable to us-or in what way we are to speak what the Holy Ghoft teacheth, comparing spiritual things with Spiritual.

In the first place, I think, it plainly appears, we have no reason to expect immediate direction from what the Holy Ghoft teacheth. To wait for defultory illapfes of the spirit to lead us into truth, feems to have little countenance from fcripture; unless indeed we apply to ourselves fuch paffages, as by the fairest rules of interpret. ation can apply only to the apoftles. And furely the greatest caution is neceffary in settling a

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