General Epiftle of St. JUDE,

Verfe iii.-the latter Part.

It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, that ye fhould earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints.

T is at all Times the Duty of the Paftors and Minifters of the Christian Church to call upon the People to be zealous to maintain, and by proper Me

thods to propagate, the Faith of the Gospel: But there are Seafons in which it is more especially neceffary for them to discharge this Duty; Seasons which require that the Paftors fhould be vigilant to prevent, and

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the People careful to avoid, the Danger of growing Errors and Superftitions.

Such was the Seafon, and fuch the Occafion of this Epiftle. Some very dangerous Errors, and fome abominable Practices, began to fhew themselves among the Members of the Church, and there was great Reason to apprehend the Infection would fpread. Certain Men, it seems, had crept in unawares— ungodly Men, turning the Grace of our God into Lafcivioufness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jefus Chrift. This it was that made it needful for the Apostle to exhort Chriftians every where to contend earnefly for the Faith ence delivered to the Saints.

If it was needful in the Apoftles' Times, when the Mischief began firft to fhew itself, what muft it be in ours, when this Evil feems to be at its full Growth, and to furround us in different Shapes on every Side? Superftition on one Hand, and Irreligion on the other, have left true Chriftians a harrow Path to walk in: And though Reason and Reflection will make Men fometimes fick of the Extremes, yet the Transition from one Extreme to another is much eafier, than from either to the Truth that lies between them, From Popery to no Religion, and from

from no Religion to Popery, is a ready Step: And when a Man is tired of either Extreme, it requires only a Refolution to run away from it as faft as he can, to get foon to the other; whereas it requires a ferious and a steady Mind to ftop at the right Place.

Another Difficulty there is, which diftinguishes our Times from that of the Apostles: St. Jude complains, that fome corrut Men, teaching perverfe Doctrines, had mixed with Christian Societies; but it was by ftealth and unawares they had crept in: The Churches themselves were pure and uncorrupt, and profeffed and taught the true Faith of the Gospel of Chrift. But our Cafe is far otherwise. There are, indeed, in all Churches, corrupt Members, a Calamity common to all Times: But in these latter Days the Infection has fpread fo far, and fo wide, that whole Churches are tainted with it. The Errors we have to contend with are not fuch as creep in filently and unawares, but fuch as are taught by Authority, and infifted on as neceffary Conditions of Chriftian Communion: They are preffed upon Men by an Application of all the Promifes of the Gofpel to those who receive

receive them gladly, and of all the Threats of the Gospel to fuch as embrace them not. Is it not then now, more than ever, needful to exhort Men to contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints?

But it is to little Purpose to exhort Men to be zealous for the Christian Faith, unless you can give them fome fure and certain Mark to know what the right Faith is. If you inquire of particular Churches, or Societies of Chriftians, which is the true Faith, each of them will answer, that the Faith profeffed by them is the true one, and that other Societies have fallen into Errors and Mistakes. In this divided State of Things, therefore, no Church has a Right to be believed on its own Word merely, without giving a Reason of the Faith which is in them: And yet this Pretence of Authority is the only Thing that can be faid, and therefore it always is faid, to justify the Dominion which the Church of Rome has ufurped over the Faith of Chriftians. With how much better Grace might St. Jude have dictated to the Christians of his Time, and told them, upon his own Authority, what the true Faith was, in oppofition to corrupt Teachers. But does he fo? By

no

no Means: So far from it, that he gives them another Rule to examine the Faith by, and fends them to inquire, what the Faith was, which was once, or from the Beginning, delivered to Christians.

Church Authority is one of thofe unhappy Subjects which is feldom feen but from one of its Extremes: In fome Places, and with fome Perfons, it can do every thing; in others, it can do nothing. I cannot propofe to confider juftly fo copious a Subject in the Compass of a Sermon ; and therefore I fhall content myself with laying before you fome Obfervations on the Apoftolic Rule in the Text, which may be of Use if duly confidered. And,

First, Since an Apostle of Chrift, in early Days of the Church, fent Chriftians to inquire after the Faith delivered from the Beginning, it follows manifeftly that the Apostles themselves were but Teachers and Witneffes of the Faith, and had no Authority or Commiffion to make new Articles of Faith. Had it been otherwise, how abfurd was it in St. Jude to fend Christians to an Inquiry after the Faith once delivered, when he and they could not but know, that there was a ftanding Authority to make Articles

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