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iniquity of us all; Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus; that is, proved to him that all these prophecies applied to Jesus: and then, upon his requiring of the eunuch, who desired to be baptized, a profession of belief, he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Again, in the seventeenth chapter of the Acts, Paul is related to have reasoned with the Jews and proselytes out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them, says St. Luke, believed; namely, that Jesus was the Christ, or Messiah, and therefore the Son of God; and that he had suffered death, and risen again from the dead. This, then, was the belief which carried with it salvation. It was the foundation, which the great master-builders of the Church laid for the superstructure of Christian holiness; for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ;+ Christ the Son of God; Christ crucified; Christ risen; Christ the atoner, the mediator, the intercessor. From this root, so planted by the

* Acts viii. 35.

+ 1 Cor. iii. 11.

Apostles, watered by faithful teachers, increased by the Spirit of God, would naturally spring up all those opinions and affections and habits, which, combining together in perfect and unblemished symmetry, grow up into trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.*

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The instruction, which the Apostle and his companions had given to the converts at Philippi, although it had convinced them of the truth as it is in Jesus, and made them partakers in the grace of God, was yet not sufficient to ensure the perfection of Christian knowledge and practice, and to bring them to the very measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.+ Those who believed, had still much to learn. We read of Apollos, that by his singular knowledge of the Scriptures, he helped them much which had believed through grace. The growth of the spiritual man is gradual; and requires attention, and the use of all the ordinary means of improvement, as well as the strengthening and refreshing dews of the Spirit.

It was probably for the purpose of giving further instruction in Gospel truth, that Luke was left behind at Philippi, when Paul and Silas

* Is. Ixi. 3. + Ephes. iv. 13.

Acts xviii. 27.

went to Thessalonica. That he did remain there, we infer from his speaking of their departure in the third person; nor does he resume the narrative in the first person, till the fifth verse of the twentieth chapter.

In the seventeenth chapter the historian contrasts the obstinate, uninquiring bigotry, and worldly-mindedness of the Jews at Thessalonica, with the candour and disinterestedness of their countrymen at Beroa, who manifested at the same time a perfect readiness of mind to receive that, which professed to be a revelation from God, and a sense of the duty incumbent upon every reasonable creature, to whom such a revelation is announced, of making the most careful and conscientious inquiry into the proofs of its authenticity. This is the true province and legitimate exercise of human reason; not first to look at the doctrines of an alleged revelation, and by them to judge of its truth or falsehood; but to ascertain the fact of its being a divine revelation, and then to receive with meekness the word, which is thus implanted, or engrafted* in their minds. They searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were So. The

* James i. 21.

Berceans are designated as noble, because they searched the Scriptures, the undoubted oracles of God, to discover whether the preaching of the Apostles contradicted, or was agreeable to that infallible canon of truth. With what equity, or piety, can that proceeding be now condemned, in an inquirer after the revealed will of God, which was commended in those who heard the declarations of an Apostle? With what consistency can the pretended successor of St. Peter demand that implicit, uninquiring submission to his own interpretation of God's word, which St. Paul did not demand for himself? Contrast the conduct of these pious and wise Berceans, and the praise bestowed upon them by an inspired historian, with the denunciations of scriptural research which have issued from the citadel of Romish superstition; and even with the efforts which have been made within the last few years, and are still making, in a part of this Christian empire, by those who ought to be the lights and guides of the people, to prevent them from discovering in the Scriptures the whole counsel of God. Contrast the two pictures; and then determine, by this one criterion, which most resembles the primitive and catholic Church of Christ; our own Church, which declares, that "unto a Christian

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man there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable than the knowledge of Holy Scripture;"* or that of Rome, which declares, that "since it is manifest by experience, that, if the Holy Bible be permitted in the vulgar tongue, by reason of the rashness of men, more loss than profit will arise-he that without a written faculty from the Bishop or Inquisitor shall presume to have, or to read the Bible, may not receive absolution of his sins, except he first deliver up his Bible to the Ordinary.t

Let us pray, that He, who opened the heart of Lydia by the gentle influences of his Spirit, and beat down with an earthquake the pride and impenitence of the jailor at Philippi, and rewarded the pious curiosity of the Beroan Jew's with the discovery of himself, may bless the efforts of those, who are endeavouring to dispel so dreadful, so destructive a delusion; and direct the understandings and consciences of all men to the only sure test of truth and error, of right and wrong, the written and unchangeable word of God.

And with respect to ourselves, let us not

* Homily on the Reading and Knowledge of Holy Scripture.

+ Trent Expurgatory Index.

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