study, to tell us, that it is best and most useful and profitable for us, to be much taken up in the study and search of necessary fundamental truths, and, particularly, of the way to the Father.  For, 1.  Here is the substantial food of the soul; other notions are but vain, and oftentimes they make the case of the soul worse; but the study of this is always edifying. 2.  The right understanding of this and other fundamental truths will not puff up, but keep the soul humble, and will make the soul active and diligent in duty. 3.  The fruit of this study is profitable and lasting. 4.  And the right uptaking of these truths will discover the vanity of other sciences, falsely so called, and the folly of spending our time about other things. 5.  The right understanding of this fundamental will help us to understand other truths the better. 6.  A mistake in this, and such like fundamentals, or the ignorance of them, is more dangerous than the ignorance of or mistake in other things.

Oh! if this were teaching us all, in humility, to be much in the study of such fundamental necessary truths as this is; and to guard against a piece of vanity in affecting knowledge, the effect of which is nothing but a puffing of us up with pride and conceit!

VI.  We may here take notice of what may serve to discover Thomas his mistake, and what is the ground of Christ’s assertion, verse 4, which Thomas doth little less than contradict, verse 5, viz. that such as had any acquaintance with Christ did, according to the measure of their knowledge of him, both know heaven and the way to it; whence we see these truths,

1.  Persons may have some real acquaintance with Christ, and yet be, for a time, very indistinct in their notions about him, and apprehensions of him.  They may know Christ in some measure, and yet look upon themselves as great strangers to the knowledge of heaven, and be oft complaining of their ignorance of the right way to heaven.

2.  Where there is the least measure of true acquaintance with Christ, with love to him, and a desire to know more of him, Christ will take notice thereof, though it be covered over with a heap of mistakes, and accompanied with much ignorance, weakness, and indistinctness.  He seeth not as man seeth, which is good news to some that are weak in knowledge, and unable to give any good account of any knowledge they have; yet one thing they can say, that he who knoweth all things, knoweth that they love him.

3.  Various are the dispensations of God’s grace unto his own.  To some he giveth a greater, to others a lesser measure of knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; and to one and the same person, more at one time than at another.  Various are his manifestations and out-lettings of grace and love.  Small beginnings may come to much at length.  Thomas, and the rest of the disciples, had but little clear and distinct apprehensions of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ; and yet, ere all was done, they