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SERMON VI.

A FORM OF SOUND WORDS TO BE USED BY MINISTERS.

SERM.

VI.

2 TIMOTHY i. 13.

Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus.

ALTHOUGH We are apt to wonder most at such things as seldom happen in the world, yet certainly the most common and obvious things that be, if duly considered, deserve as much, if not much more, to be admired by us. What more common to all mankind, and yet what more strange and wonderful, than that by certain sounds in the air, or by certain characters upon solid bodies, we should be able to discover our thoughts to one another? Thoughts, we know, are the immanent acts of the soul, a spiritual being, and so not capable of any external representations; and yet for all that, we can make such sounds and figures, utter such words, and write such letters, from whence other persons may understand what we think as well as we ourselves. And this indeed is the foundation of all human society and conversation for by this means we can communicate our hopes and fears, our joys and griefs, our desires and abhorrences, all our sentiments and notions, to one another; yea, by this means we can converse with the ancients, and know what they thought that lived above a thousand years ago. Of so great use are words, whether spoken or written, to mankind!

And yet as nothing may be more easily, so nothing hath been more grossly, abused than they; for though we can frame ideas and notions of things in our minds, without any relation unto, or dependence upon words, yet having been

all along accustomed to express our thoughts by them, we are apt to be more intent upon words than we are upon things themselves; and so to accommodate and suit our notions to words, rather than words unto our notions. So that whatsoever words we commonly use, whereby to express such or such things, our apprehensions of these things are according to the words whereby we are wont to express them if they be false, our apprehensions being regulated by them cannot possibly be true; and if they be true, and rightly understood by us, our apprehensions cannot possibly be false, being bound up, as it were, and confined within the sense and meaning of such words. But it being very hard and difficult to find out fit and proper words in any language, whereby fully and distinctly to express the nature of things and our own ideas of them, most men, to save themselves the labour of a further search, take up with the first they meet with, especially if they be but generally received: which if they happen to be false, as they frequently are, they infallibly lead them into false conceptions and erroneous opinions of the things themselves. And therefore it cannot but highly concern us all to be very cautious and wary in the choice of our words, especially in Divinity, where every mistake is dangerous, and many damnable.

This therefore being a matter of so great importance, much greater than it is commonly thought of, it may justly challenge to be the subject of our present discourse for which end I have chosen these words of St. Paul to Timothy, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard. of me, in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus."

Where we may observe three things:

First, That some time before the writing of this epistle, St. Paul had given to Timothy a form of sound words, though not in writing, yet by word of mouth. This is plain, in that he saith, "A form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me." Timothy was now ordained Bishop of Ephesus, the metropolis of all Asia Proconsularis, whither the Apostle sent him to preach and propagate the Gospel; and that he might rightly understand the principles of that religion which he was to preach, and cause others to do so too, the Apostle puts words into his mouth, such as would

VI.

SERM. clearly and properly express the great truths, which he was mostly to insist upon; which he therefore calls yaívovras 26yous, "sound words," such as would make his hearers to be sanæ mentis, men of sound judgment and right notions in the mysteries of religion. And whosoever doth not consent to those sound and wholesome words, the same Apostle elsewhere saith, "That such a one is a fool, knowing nothing," λλà voo; but he is sick, as the word signifies, or as our 1 Tim. 6. 4. translation hath it, "He doats about questions and strifes of words." As if a malignant fever had affected his brain, distracted his mind, and made him delirious, so as to rave and talk nonsense. For so all do that use any other than right and proper words in the mysteries of our religion; whatsoever they say, is nonsense, if not downright blasphemy. Hence it is that the Apostle so often makes mention of sound doctrine, in opposition to the extravagant and corrupt opinions which false teachers, even in those days, instilled into the minds of their ignorant and unwary disciples. And lest Timothy, through any mistake or inadvertency, should fall himself, or lead others into the same errors, St. Paul, before he sent him to preach the Gospel, furnished him with such a form of sound words, which if he did but constantly observe, he could neither be deceived nor deceive.

Secondly, We may observe, that this form of sound words. was both in "faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus;" that is, both concerning the doctrine and the discipline, what we are to believe, and what to do, in obedience to the Gospel of Christ. For as faith comprehends the one, so doth love the other; and St. Paul had given Timothy a form of sound words in both: but first in faith, and then in love, because it is faith that works by love; and he that doth not rightly [Gal. 5. 6.] believe, can never truly obey the Gospel of Christ as he ought to do. But in one as well as the other, St. Paul instructed Timothy how to express himself, and by that means hath admonished us also to be very careful how to speak, what words we use, whether in theoretical or practical Divinity, concerning either faith or manners.

Lastly, St. Paul did not think it enough, to give Timothy a form of sound words, but he chargeth him to hold it fast, to keep it, to use no other words, but such as exactly agreed

with those which he had taught him. The Greek words are ὑποτύπωσιν ἔχε τῶν ὑγιαινόντων λόγων, where the ὑποτύπωσις is variously rendered by interpreters. I shall not trouble. you with any critical observations about it; but only observe in general, that it is sometimes used for a pattern or example, sometimes for a short description, or delineation, or 1 Tim. 1.16. summary, or compendium. Thus Clemens Alexandrinus wrote a book, which he called orus, which Photius saith, was a brief exposition of the Old and New Testament; out of which the Επιτομαὶ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοδότου at the end of his works, I suppose, were taken. And in this sense, the word here used intimates as if St. Paul had given Timothy, if not that which we call the Apostles' Creed, yet some suchlike form of sound words, containing the sum and substance of what he was to believe and preach.

But the Apostle lays no great stress upon that word. For it follows, "hold fast the form of sound words," v rag' spoũ xovoas, ŵv not, which words, not which form thou hast heard of me. So that it is not so much the form as the words themselves, which the Apostle would have him to hold fast, to have them continually in his mind, and in his mouth too, whensoever he speaks of those Divine truths which are revealed to us in the Gospel.

What these sound words were, which Timothy heard of St. Paul, we know not: but this we know, that it doth as much concern us to use sound words in matters of divinity, as it did him. And therefore having not heard them at St. Paul's own mouth, as he did, it may not be amiss, if we consider of the most certain way to find them out, that we may know how to express ourselves in all the Articles of our Christian faith, by such words as the Apostle here calls sound and wholesome, such as will give us and those we speak to, occasion to frame right notions and conceptions of those things which belong to our everlasting peace.

For this end therefore, I shall in the first place lay down this as a most certain and undeniable truth, that the Scriptures, as being indited by the Spirit of God, in the languages wherein they were first written, do contain the best and soundest words that possibly could be invented, whereby to express such truths as are necessary for mankind to

VI.

SERM. believe or know. For they being designed on purpose to be the rule both of our faith and manners, and contrived for that end, by infinite wisdom and goodness itself, it cannot be imagined, but that every thing is there expressed, in the most plain and perspicuous, the most fit and proper, the most full and significant words that could be desired of Almighty God, whereby to discover Himself and His will to our capacities; to which of His infinite mercy He is pleased to condescend, in åll these books which are acknowledged by all Christians to be written by men inspired, moved, assisted, and directed in what they wrote, by the Spirit of God Himself. By which means the whole Scripture is indeed but as one continued form of sound words; which if we do but hold fast and understand aright, we can neither fall either into Heresy or Schism. And whatsoever words we use in the mysteries of our religion, are either true or false, sound or corrupt, as they do or do not agree with those which are used in that Holy Writ.

But in the next place, we must consider withal, that notwithstanding the extraordinary clearness and propriety of speech, whereby Divine truths are there revealed to us, yet there never was any error, heresy, or schism in the Church, but what was pretended by the authors and abettors of it to be grounded upon Scripture. In this all Heretics, Greek and Latin, old and new, agree. They all plead Scripture for what they say; and each one pretends that his opinion, be it ever so absurd and ridiculous, is consonant to the words there used which though it may seem strange at first sight, we shall not much wonder at, if we do but consider three things.

First, That most men, not understanding the original languages, read and consult the Scriptures no otherwise than in some translation, which they notwithstanding look upon as the Word of God; and if there be any word in that translation that favours any erroneous opinion, they presently conclude that the Scriptures do so too, though they be as much against it as that translation is for it. As for example; in the first promulgation of the Gospel to Gen. 3. 15. mankind, God said to the serpent that beguiled our first parents, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed," say an:

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