Ulcera oris immensi wide and very gaping Ulcers they gave feet to the lame eyes to the blind and life to the dead Nor was there any thing that astonished all beholders done by him which he did not subject to the power of these infants these rusticks and gave them authority to do it What say you now O ye incredulous ye hard ye obstinate hearts Did your Jupiter himself ever give any mortal man such power Did he ever so much as bestow upon his High-Priest upon the most sacred of all his High-Priests I will not say the power to raise a dead man or make a blind man see but so much as to make a wheal or a pimple sink down and lye even with the skin by speaking a word or cure a little cleft which a loose skin sometimes makes in the fingers end only by touching it or bidding it be angry no longer And was it an humane power then from which such great things as I have told you of proceeded Sure it was sacred sure it was Divine or if you will admit any more superlative expression it was more than Divine more than Sacred For when thou dost that which thou art able to do and which is proportionable to thy power and strength there is no such reason that admiration should cry out thou didst that which thou hadst strength to do and which one might expect from such a power But now to be able to transfer thy right and power to another and to make a frail weak creature do that which is proportionable to thy might alone this is the effect of a power which is above all and which contains in it the causes of all things and the natures of all faculties Go then and fetch us Zoroastres that great Magician you brag of through the torrid zone or go and bring hither the Armenian that Ctesias writ of nay summon Apollonius Damigero Dardanus and all the rest of your most eminent wonder-workers that ever were let them be gathered together and joyn their forces and let us see them give but one of the common people power to command by a plain word a dumb man to speak or a man whose arms and leggs are withered to work and walk Or if this be too difficult a thing to make another do this and do it with a simple command let us see any of them do it themselves And let them call in the assistance of all their Daemons let them gather all the magical herbs which they can find in the bosome of the Earth and come with the whole power of their murmuring words and with all their charms we will except none of them we forbid them nothing that they can get to aid them and let them try if with the help of all their gods to boot they can do any such thing as these poor rustick Christians effected nudis jussionibus by their naked and bare command Cease O ye ignorant souls therefore to scoff and to curse when ye hear of these things which cannot hurt him at all but will bring no small prejudice to your selves For the Soul is a precious thing nothing ought to be so dear to a Man as that which is in hazard by blaspheming Christ Who is no such contemptible person that you may laugh at him but as appears by these things Deus ille sublimis c. That High God God of God God from unknown Kingdomes God sent by the most High to be the Saviour whom neither the Sun himself nor the brightest Stars if they have any sense nor the Principalities and Rulers of the World no nor your great Gods or those who feigning themselves to be Gods terrifie all mankind with their formidable power could so much as know or suspect whence or what he was he is so great But now that it is known and he hath demonstrated it to the World by his Divine works you had best submit to him and not imagine he is but one of us And that truly is good counsel for us all to acknowledge Jesus to be the Lord and submitting our selves to his authority to be governed by his Laws which God from Heaven confirmed by the most miraculous operations of the Spirit and of the Holy Ghost It is true we do not see and hear those things of which the Apostles and they that lived in their days were spectators and auditors but we have the faithful records of those miraculous works and of their Sermons left by themselves Registers were delivered under the unquestionable hands of those divine men of what they had seen and heard and of what they themselves said and did That is the Testimony of the Apostles and the Testimony of God was preserved and kept in the Holy Books which spake the same to the next Age which their Fathers had seen with their eyes and heard with their ears in the Age foregoing And moreover for a further confirmation that these were the lively Oracles of God his word transmitted unto them on which they might rely they had a continuance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost for some Ages following As Justin Martyr and Tertullian witness for the second Age after our Saviour And Origen Minutius Arnobius and Lactantius to name no more in succeeding times witness for the third and part of the fourth How could they doubt of the truth of the reports which they had received when they beheld them still verified as much as was necessary in their own days by the testimony of God himself And as for the incredulous Gentiles who stopt their ears to these reports they pressed them very strongly in this manner to use the words that follow in Arnobius as we may do those who question or disbelieve the Evangelical History in our own Age. Will you not believe good witnesses of things that were done unless you see them done your selves Shall Authors of certain credit be rejected who received such things themselves and delivered them to their posterity to be belived with no small approbation You will say who are those I answer whole Countries People Nations all that incredulous race of mankind are our Witnesses and the Authors we produce Who would never have entertained these things unless they had been clearer as we say than the light Do you think that the men of that time were such vain lying fools such sots such brutes that they feigned and imagined they saw such things as they never saw and that they childishly affirmed such things were done when there was nothing like it and when they might have lived with you in good esteem and contracted alliances and kindred among you would chuse to become the publick hatred and to make their very name execrable without any reason for it If this story be false whence comes all the world to be filled so soon with this Religion Or how was it brought about that so many people in such distant Countries and of such different humours should all conspire and agree
to think their offences have made their enemy is a thing that can never be certainly resolved without a Revelation Without which also we can have little security of the immortality of our Souls and of the life to come Which hath inclined all Mankind to listen after a Revelation and to catch at any thing which pretends to come from God to them For as Plato acknowledges when he ordains there should be no alterations made in the ancient Customes about Sacrifices because it is not possible for mortal nature to know any thing of these matters without it No says he not long after in the same Book * In Epinom as no body shall ever perswade me that there is any greater Piety than true Vertue and as there is nothing more excellent can be taught than how those that honour Vertue should rightly worship God with Sacrifices and other rites of purifying So none can teach this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unless God show him the way and be his Guide and Leader in so excellent a work But if we search into all the records that are in the World what is there that can stand in competition with the Christian way of worshipping God or pretend to come with such authority from him I have examined those that have most to say for themselves and they can produce no such WITNESSES as Christianity doth No not that ancient Revelation made by God to Moses As for the old Pagan ways which were very various I am ashamed to mention them It is manifest they suffered themselves to be cheated by impure Spirits and took the answers of Daemons for the Oracles of God But ask now of the days that are past which were before us since the day that God created Man upon the Earth and ask from the one side of Heaven unto the other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is or hath been heard like it that God indeed appeared among Men and was manifest in the flesh as is evident by all the signs and wonders and mighty deeds by voices from Heaven by his Resurrection from the dead and all the other Witnesses which have testified this truth to the world Ask again hath God ever assured Men of any thing by so many and such evident testimonies as those which I have produced Unto us it was shown that we might know that Jesus is the Lord and beside him there is no other if I may again allude to the words of Moses iv Deut. 34 35. out of Heaven he hath made us hear his voice that he might instruct us and upon Earth he hath shown us his great wonders that every tongue might confess Jesus is the Lord to the Glory of God the Father III. That now is the next thing I am to press as a necessary consequence of what hath been said in the foregoing Treatise Though there were such slender proofs in comparison with ours that God spake to Moses and though others as I said were drawn away by the subtilties of evil Angels yet they all believed and gave great reverence to that which was delivered to them Every Nation gladly received and held fast that which did but pretend to come from Heaven Which must needs extremely reproach us and put us to eternal shame if we having better evidences should not only be Believers but have a stronger faith in Jesus That which Plato thought was to be wisht for is now come to pass God is come to be our Guide and Director The very wisdome of the Father hath appeared to teach us He that made all the World is come down hither to reform us The WORD IS MADE FLESH that as he had Principalum in coelis to use the words of Irenaeus * L. 4. cap. 37. the Lordship in Heaven so he might have Principatum in terra the same Soveraignty upon Earth He hath appeared also in wonderful and astonisht brightness to convince us of his authority and to make us know assuredly that he is God blessed for ever Shall we not then hear his words shall we not deliver up our selves to receive his Heavenly instruction which came with such powerful demonstration God forbid that any of us should be so perverse as hearing such WITNESSES speak unto us for the Lord Jesus we should give no credit to them I cannot but believe as S. Austin * L. de vera Relig. cap. 3. excellently discourses that if Plato now lived and would vouchsafe to answer my Questions or rather if any Scholar of his being perswaded that truth is not to be seen with corporeal eyes but by a pure mind and that nothing hinders the sight more than a life addicted to lust and false Images of sensible things which impressed on us beget various errors and that therefore the mind is to be purified that it may behold that unchangeable beauty which is always the same and always like it self If I say a Scholar of his thus taught by him should ask him whether in case there should be a Man Great and Divine that should perswade the People at least to believe such things though they could not perceive them or if they did perceive them were so ingaged in vulgar errors that they durst not or could not oppose them He would not judge him worthy of Divine honour I believe he would Answer that this could not be done by Man unless perhaps the very power and wisdome of God should honour some person who was not taught of men but from the Cradle illuminated by the most intimate knowledge of things with so great a grace and strengthen him with such resolution and bear him up with such a majesty that contemning all things that evil Men desire and induring all things that they dread and doing all things that they admire he should convert Mankind with equal kindness and authority to so wholesome a Faith And he would add that it was to no purpose to ask him what the Honours are which ought to be given to such a person when it is easie to be discerned what honour is due to the wisdome of God by the guidance and governance of which he would singularly deserve of Mankind and do some thing for their Salvation proper only to himself and which was above Men to do Now if these things which I have supposed be really done if there be good records of them if from a Country in which alone One God was worshipped and where such a person was to be born there came chosen men who by their Vertues and their Sermons have kindled in Mens breasts the flame of the Divine love and have left the inlightned Earth under a most wholesome Discipline if every where it is preached that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God if to the perceiving and embracing this that the Soul may be cured and recover strength to entertain so great a light the covetous hear such
constant Auditours of Which made them the more confident to declare these things to others because they had them not at the second hand but immediately from himself And because it is the least of testimonies to say we have heard a thing therefore he adds in the second place that they had SEEN it beheld that is all the marvellous works he did to confirm this Doctrine which he delivered as the word Seen seems to be understood xv Joh. 24. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did they had not had sin but now they have SEEN and yet hated both me and my Father They saw the vast numbers that he fed with a little food the sick that he cured with speaking a word the dead that he raised when all their friends gave them for lost and despaired of seeing them again in this world In short so many instances of his Divine power and authority that if they should have been written every one this Apostle supposes the World would not have been able to contain the Books that should have been written xxi ult But these are recorded which we find in the Gospell as he concludes the foregoing Chapter that we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that believing we might have Life through his Name And lest any should imagine it was but a transient sight they had of these things and their eyes might be deluded as we sometimes are when a thing suddenly flies away from us or that they were but seldom spectatours of these things and so could not gather much from thence he adds in the third place that they had LOOKED on it that is had this evidence continually before their eyes They scarce saw any thing else but miracles They had not leisure ofttimes so much as to eat their meat by reason of the great multitude of people that came to be healed by him They conversed a long time with Lazarus after he was risen and our Lord himself was seen of them forty days after his resurrection speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God And when the Holy Ghost came they themselves to whom the Apostle here writes could testifie the wonderfull variety of spirituall gifts that were poured on believers But because we imagine that to feel a thing is far more considerable for our satisfaction then to see it or look upon it as St. Thomas would not believe those who had seen our Lord and heard him speak but he would put his hands into his wounds before he would be satisfied therefore the Apostle tells us farther that they declared nothing but what they had HANDLED of the word of life That is there was most palpable evidence and demonstration given of the truth of their report They were so near as to touch and feel that their eyes were not deceived when they thought they saw such miracles wrought For their own hands distributed the bread and the fish to the hungry multitude And some of them untied the grave-cloaths of Lazarus when he was raised from the dead And to give one instance for all when he himself rose again from his grave they not onely discoursed with him and saw him eat and drink and beheld him severall times and in severall places but he called them to him and said Behold my hands and my feet handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have xxiv Luk. 39. This very handling of him was a great argument of the Eternall Life which was with the Father but was hereby made manifest unto us for it proves his resurrection and that is a proof of ours Now they having thus heard and seen and beheld and handled these things how could they chuse but publish that Jesus is the Authour of Eternall Life And we receiving such testimony from them how can we refuse to believe their word that we may have fellowship with them in God and his Son i. e. be partakers as they were in that most blessed Life of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ If we do but believe there were such men as St. John and St. Paul and all the rest and if they had eyes and ears and hands like other men if they were men of sound brains and understandings as it appears by their writings they were if any credit may be given to sober persons who protest they heard those voices from heaven saw those miracles which they have recorded conversed with our Saviour after he rose from the dead as there are no Writers in the world deserve credit if they do not nay if they deserve more credit then any considering what they did and suffered as you shall hear for the testimony of that which they saw and heard and wrote to the world there is no doubt this Life was manifested most apparently to them and they had reason to bear witness of it and shew it to us And we cannot but rest satisfied that it is the will of God to give Eternall Life by his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. No question to be made of it unless we will question all Histories in the world and believe nothing that is reported and delivered to us by others Which if it were once resolved there would be an end of most of the trade commerce and business that is managed in the world And deeds and evidences which men have from their ancestours would become void and present possession would be the onely title they could have to their estates But for our farther satisfaction let me briefly shew that the APOSTLES gave a continued Testimony to this truth all the three ways whereby St. John saith He came by WATER by BLOVD and by the SPIRIT I. As for the purity of their Doctrine which is one part of the Testimony of Water I have given an account of it in the first part of this Discourse Which demonstrates it was of that nature that it had been an idle attempt to preach it and endeavour to plant it in the World had they not believed and been able to prove that their Master who employed them would give them and all those who obeyed their word the reward of Eternall Life To which if you adde the holiness of their Life which is another part of this Testimony you cannot think that men of such sincerity in all other things would have affirmed so confidently as they did that which they did not take to be true nor have protested they saw and heard and felt such things as they never had any notice of But if you will needs suppose they might be so vile which is very unreasonable yet who can think they would have denied themselves so much as they did for their Master's sake in which a great part of their piety consisted if they had not been sure that he would lead them by such means to everlasting life This extraordinary contempt of all present things even of life it self as you shall
When the LXX Elders were to receive a portion of Moses his Spirit God ordered them to be brought unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation and says he would come down and talk with Moses there and take of the Spirit which was upon him and put it upon them xi Numb 16 17. Accordingly you read ver 24. that as they stood round about the Tabernacle the Lord came down in a cloud ver 25. that is in such a manner as now the Holy Ghost descended at our Lord's Baptism But He came not down upon them who were about the Tabernacle but rather as in the next story xii 5. and at other times stood in the door of the Tabernacle from whence he spake to Moses and took of the Spirit which was on him and gave it to the seventy Elders Whereas here the Holy Ghost came down in a visible glory and pitched upon Jesus himself who was the Tabernacle now where God chose to dwell For this Schekinah as you have heard or Divine majesty not only lighted on him but rested there and remained in him as if God had told him who saw it both descend and abide on him Here will I dwell for ever for therein do I delight This demonstrated him to be more than any ever was not merely a great Prophet but the very Son of God Never was there such a Crown prepared for any mans head but his Never before did the hand of Heaven put such a Diadem of Glory upon any person as this which encircled and as I may say was bound about our Saviour This can be accounted nothing less than the testimony of the HOLY GHOST to him that he was the Holy one of God the anointed from above the King of God's people and the heir of all things Thus S. Peter you know expresses the honour which was now done him when he tells Cornelius and his company x. Acts 38. that God ANOINTED him with the Holy Ghost and with power The HOLY GHOST came down as an holy oil from the Heavenly Sanctuary which being poured on him in such a glorious Majesty gave him authority to be called the Son of God and made him his King So John Baptist acknowledged him you remember as soon as he beheld this strange sight and bare record of it unto others that this person thus anointed was the Son of God i. John 34. He was now invested with a royal power for that 's the meaning of his being ANOINTED and we ought I shall show you to look upon this as a solemn inauguration of him in his Kingdom to which he had now a title given him together with some part of a Kingly Authority And if there be any truth in the Traditions of the Hebrews concerning their own Ceremonies there was something remarkable in it that this ANOINTING him with the holy oil from above was immediately after he came up out of the waters of Jordan For Maimonides and the Doctors in the Talmud tell us that they never anointed a King of the house of David but at the side of a Fountain or of a River of water Which was the reason that David commanded his servants to bring his son Solomon down to GIHON 1 Kings i. 33. and there anoint him King over Israel For this GIHON was a little River as R. Solomon there notes or the head of a River nigh Jerusalem which discharged it self into the brook Kidron and in the Chaldee Paraphrase is called by the newer name of Siloah It was made very famous afterward by that memorable work of Hezekiah 2 Chron. xxxii 30. who to take away the advantage any Enemy might make of it in a siege stopt up the course of its water and brought it by Chanels under-ground into the City of David At this place without the walls of Jerusalem not in the City Zadok and Nathan anointed King Solomon That is one of them poured out the oil and the other anointed his head drawing a circle with the oil upon it For so they all say that Kings were anointed in the form of a Crown to denote the royal dignity Which if it be true and that they made choice of such a place to show as they will have it the perpetuity of their Kingdom because Rivers run alway though the Cities which stand by them decay and may be demolished then it is very observable that our Lord was ANOINTED or Crowned with the Holy Ghost by the River JORDAN rather than in any other place to denote him indeed to be the King of Israel who should sit upon the throne of his Father David as the Angel said for ever and ever But this I mention only by the way The chief thing to be noted is that now he began to reign and entred upon his Kingdom called the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven which John Baptist told them was at hand For this descent of the HOLY GHOST in such a visible majesty did not merely give him a title to the Divine Kingdom which was to be erected by him in the world and assured him that he was God's Christ or ANOINTED that is his King and endued him with such royal qualities as fitted him for that office But it made him a King by conferring several branches of the Regal power on him and by giving him authority to exercise them in the world It is true indeed he did not actually take possession of his Kingdom nor exercise his royal power completely and the time of his inthroning was deferred till he had accomplished the will of God other ways and by the suffering of death was crowned with glory and honour in the Heavens But that he did not act only as a Prophet all his life-time but likewise took upon him the person of a King or acted as a Royal Prophet doing many things which only the royal Authority could do is a most manifest Truth in the Holy story Which cannot be better explained than by the parallel case of his Father David who was the exact type and figure of him He was anointed by Samuel some years before he sate upon the throne of the Lord. But as that Unction was the designation of him to the royal dignity and a pawn or pledge of the possession of it in due time so ever after he atchieved very great things which spoke him to be the person designed by God for his Kingdom as it is called I told you 2 Chron. ix 8. and he also received some portion of it before he enjoyed it all entirely 2 Sam. ii 4.9 v. 3. Just thus did our blessed Saviour after he was ANOINTED with the Holy Ghost give several proofs that he was a King which is the meaning you have heard of the word CHRIST and had received some of the power belonging to that high office For first he cast out Devils and cured all diseases at any time when he pleased only with his powerful word and for nothing Which were Acts of such royal bounty
mouth For besides the Divinity of the matter which he spake and the mighty works which accompanied it there was a certain majesty in the manner of its delivery For he taught as one having authority vii Matth. 29. That is as one who had power to enact and ordain new Laws and those much superiour to the old and not only to explain those which were already written He plainly also discovered a power to reward the faithful and to punish the disobedient which was so astonishing that in the judgment even of those who were sent to apprehend him Never man spake like unto him vii Joh. 46. He opened to them the Kingdom of Heaven he revealed to them Immortal Life he gave them Manna of which if a Man did eat he assured them he should never dye and he promised which is the thing they chiefly refer to in that speech that Whosoever believed in him out of his belly should flow rivers of living water which he spake concerning the spirit which they that believed on him should receive v. 38 39. When this promise was fulfilled then that which Moses did but wish for was actually done All the Lords people became Prophets He made the gifts of Prophecy and wisdome and knowledge as common as ordinary discourse was before Which showed that indeed God dwelt in him else he could not have had all this wisdome much less communicated so much to others II. But it will not be fit to prosecute these things too largely therefore let us pass to the consideration of the mighty power of God manifested from the place where he was said to dwell which was an evidence that he was there And this you shall see appeared no less in our Saviour as a token that God dwelt in him and that he was become his Temple All their help you know of old is said to come from the Sanctuary where God inhabitated and he is said to strengthen them out of Sion xx Psal 2. Thence the Ark upon the Cover of which the Divine Glory sate is called The Ark of his strength cxxxii Psal 8. Nay it is often called simply by the name of his strength Psal lxix 61. He delivered his STRENGTH into captivity and his Glory into the Enemies hand And Psal cv 4. Seek the Lord and his STRENGTH that is the Lord before the Ark of his presence from whence their help and succour came For whether this went God was said to go along with them to deliver them As the Philistins themselves had learnt who hearing the Israelites had brought the Ark into the Field began to be afraid and said GOD is come into the Camp Wo be to us for there hath not been such a thing heretofore 1 Sam. iv 7 8. That is we fought with Men hitherto now with God And this is the meaning of those words lxxx Psal 2. Before Ephraim Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy STRENGTH and come and save us Those three Tribes marching immediately after the Ark for their quarter was on the West of the Tabernacle in which part was the most holy place and the Ark in it ii Numb 17 18 c. it is as much as if he had said make thy self sensibly present now to thy People manifest thy favour towards them from thy Mercy seat shew that thou art among us and give us a sign and token of thy presence and power by overcoming and treading down our enemies Now as then he gave proof that he dwelt there by those acts of power and might so he made it manifest by all the wonderful things which Jesus did that he was the Sanctuary wherein he dwelt among men From him there were such emanations of power as never flowed from the Ark it self He stirred up his strength indeed that I may borrow the ancient Language when Jesus appeared and came and saved them in a diviner manner Whensoever he healed any desperate Disease it was an act of Salvation and deliverance which told them there was a gracious presence of God among them When he cast out a Devil it was the vanquishing of a dreadful Enemy And when he threw out a whole Legion it was a glorious victory over a more powerful Army than ever the Israelites by the STRENGTH of God among them had overcome To say nothing of his commanding the Winds and the boisterous Waves which as readily obeyed him as the red Sea fled when Judah was Gods Sanctuary cxiv Psal 2. the Divine presence not having setled it self then among them in any certain place and Jordan was driven back before the Ark of his strength By these acts it plainly appeared that all things were under his Authority not only Men and other Creatures here below but also Angels Principalities and Powers over whom he as easily triumphed as the Israelites had heretofore done by the power of God among them over the Philistins or such like adversaries Nay he gave his Apostles such a power over them that they were ready to triumph too much in these conquests He is fain to repress the joy wherewith they were transported and to bid them not rejoyce so much that the Devils were made subject to them as that they themselves were become the subjects of his Kingdom and their Names written in Heaven x. Luk. 20. And so eminent was this manifestation of the Divine power in him that he did but speak a word and any thing was done that he required In so much that the People were amazed to hear him only say to a Devil Come out and instantly he left the Man and hurt him not What a word is this for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits and they come out iv Luk. 37. And upon another occasion of the like nature you read the same again that They were all amazed at the mighty power of God ix 43. And acknowledged with just admiration at such another sight that It was never so seen in Israel ix Matth. 33. Among all the marvellous works of former times even those done by Moses himself when the Divine Glory visibly appeared on several occasions to them there never was any thing like to that which our Saviour now wrought so quickly without so much as the pains of a bare touch by his Word only and in all sorts of Diseases none excepted For at his first entrance upon his office after he was anointed with the Holy-Ghost he healed all manner of sickness and all manner of disease throughout the whole Region of Galilee and the adjoyning Countries iv Matth. 23 24 25. III. Nor was the kindness and good will of God to them more plainly manifested from the Tabernacle and Temple than it is to us more abundantly declared in Jesus Christ. The Ark the place of God's presence is called the TESTIMONY xvi Exod. 34. for this reason as well as others because it was a token of God's great love to them and care over them testifying that he dwelt among them And out of SION
the very shadow of some of them did more than all the power of Medicines This was a very great demonstration of his supreme dominion over all Creatures Nothing could be more effectual to induce men to obey him to whom they saw every thing else was subject Without this they could never have moved men to believe that he was the Lord but this gave it sufficient credit For suppose they had stood up in the places of popular concourse and said We come to preach to you in the name of Jesus and require you to submit your selves to him whom God hath made the Lord of all He was born of the seed of David a great King in Israel did many wonders in that Nation though he was hated and rejected by them and delivered to Pontius Pilate by whom he was crucified but God raised him out of his grave and we saw him go to Heaven where he is inthroned in the most glorious Majesty and reigns over all Angels as well as mankind Cast away therefore your ancient Gods who are his subjects Forsake presently all your superstitious Rites and Ceremonies Believe on this person submit to his government and obey his commands Though you get nothing in this world by it but perhaps may lose all you have he will reward you for it in his Pleavenly Kingdom What force do you think there would have been in such a speech to perswade the Nations far distant from Jerusalem to fall down before him as their Sovereign Would they not have smiled and said What do these bablers mean to bring us these strange stories from a foreign land Why should we acknowledge him to be our King whom his own Country-men would not suffer to reign over them Shall we become the subjects of one whom we never saw nor heard of until now and venture the loss of all our liberties and perchance of our lives for one whom they confess to be crucified and dead What likelihood is there that he should rise again from the dead who could not keep himself when he was alive from being put to death Truly saith Eusebius when I consider the mere doctrine they were to preach I cannot see how they could hope to draw the people to their belief But then when I consider how they did prevail every where at Rome at Alexandria at Antioch in all other places I must have recourse to a Divine power which succeeded this Doctrine Jesus plainly declared by putting them upon the attempt that he was confident he had all power to get himself a Kingdom by this preaching And by the issue it appeared that it was no presumption wherewith he was possessed instead of a well grounded confidence They preached as he bad them but it was not with such Rhetorick as is in use among us not with the enticing words of mans wisdom with eloquent expressions enchanting language or mere plausible arguments but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power 1 Cor. ii 4. The HOLY GHOST from Heaven presently appeared wheresoever they preached to justifie their words and to testifie by many miraculous operations that Jesus was no less than they affirmed This evident demonstration perswaded mens minds This was such a power that the people were ready to take them for Gods and imagined that Mercury and Jupiter were come down from Heaven to them and thereupon prepared publick sacrifices to be offered in their honour xiv Acts 13. Natural reason told them that such things could not be done by mortal nature but they must be concluded to be the works of some God though no body told them that they were And therefore this was all they had to do for their own satisfaction to enquire by what power and authority the Apostles did these wonders since they themselves confessed that they were but men And here now they took occasion to let them know that it was Jesus who did these Miracles Him they preached and him they hereby proved to be the Lords ANOINTED who by this power would prevail notwithstanding the fierce opposition that was made against his authority For as you read in a devout address which the whole company of believers made to God the Rulers were gathered together and the Kings of the Earth stood up against the Lord and against his Christ At their first entrance upon this work there were mighty endeavours to overthrow it just as there had been against his holy child Jesus whom he had ANOINTED that is promoted to a greater glory than he had on Earth And therefore they desire God to go along with them and stretch forth his hand to heal and that signs and wonders might be done by the name of his holy child Jesus for the propagating of this Religion which it was not in their own power to advance iv Acts 26 27 30. Now this was a further testimony of the power and glory of Jesus that when a solemn address was made to God and they represented to him their design they were so far from receiving any discountenance from him that he incouraged and promoted this undertaking For the place where they prayed was shaken by a powerful inspiration which came upon them all as it had done upon the Apostles And they were ALL filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness ver 31. III. And this leads me to the last Testimony which the HOLY GHOST gave to him by descending upon other persons as well as upon the Apostles though not in such a visible form as it did on the day of Pentecost The place indeed was SHAKEN where these believers were assembled by the like mighty wind I suppose as filled the house where the Apostles received the Holy Ghost ii Acts 2. But there were no fiery tongues now appeared as there did then Nor do we afterwards read of any such sensible sign of an invisible power coming upon them as this shaking of the place was when the Holy Ghost first descended upon the body of the Church But whensoever the Apostles laid their hands upon any person who believed in Jesus and was baptized presently the Holy Ghost fell down upon them and they spake with tongues and prophesied viii Acts 15 17. xix 6. This laying on of their hands was ever after the only external sign of the Divine power for that 's the meaning of stretching out the hand in the place just before named iv Acts 30. wherewith they should be endued at the request of the Apostles Which was a plain demonstration of the royal Majesty and munificence of Jesus whose Servants and Ministers these were and hereby the HOLY GHOST bare record to him that he was the Son of God So this very Apostle teaches us in the second Chapter of this Epistle where he tells them to whom he writes that he need not be very solicitous to prescribe them Antidotes against those Antichristian doctrines which then began to poison the Church because they had an Unction
proved John's words to be true which he spake of him that he should be preferred before him be the true Joshua whom they must all follow the Messiah the KING of Israel to whose conduct they must trust if they meant to enter into rest I have done with the first BAPTISM that of John which if you consider throughly the Person from whom Jesus received it the place where he went into the water the testimony that was here given him both by the Father by the Holy Ghost and by John you will easily grant it might well be affirmed in respect to all these that he came by WATER and that this was one of his WITNESSES II. It is time now to come to the second particular and take into consideration awhile his OWN BAPTISM which he administred For that is not without some proof that he was the CHRIST Indeed Jesus himself baptized not but his Disciples as you read iv John 2. But yet because whatsoever a Servant doth by the authority of his Master it is reputed the Masters Act and he himself is said to do it therefore Jesus also is said to baptize in the same Evangelist iii. 26. iv 1. Now this was an argument to the Jews that he was the Messiah 1. First because all expected that the Messiah or CHRIST should come with Baptism and thereby renew the world as the Hebrew Doctors sometime speak It began they say in the time of Moses when he brought them to receive the Law from God and entred them by this Ceremony of washing into a new Religion xix Exod 10 14. By which they tell us Proselytes were received into their communion in succeeding times when they passed from the state of Gentilism and were regenerated to worship God with the Israelites And therefore when CHRIST came and with him a new world for there is nothing more common in their Books than to call his days The WORLD TO COME they concluded he should begin it with Baptism as Moses did that frame of things which he erected This is certain it was one of their marks of him that in his days there should be an universal Baptism and cleansing of the people Which they gather from xiii Zach. 1. where we read of a FOUNTAIN opened for sin and for uncleanness and from several places in the Prophet Isaiah where he speaks of the Waters in the wilderness in which S. Mark tells us John baptized i. 4. and from the xxxvi Ezek. 25. where he says I will sprinkle Water upon you c. a new heart also will I give you which is applied by the Apostles to the days of Christ who began his new Kingdom with washing with Water or Baptism in his name And therefore when John the Baptist came with this Water they sent as I noted before to know of him who he was thinking he might be the Christ For which there appears no reason for he did not work so much as one miracle but that all Judea and all the region about Jordan went out to him and were BAPTIZED of him in Jordan confessing their sins iii. Matth. 5 6. And therefore when He told them that he was not the CHRIST nor Elias nor that other Prophet whom they expected to accompany him they ask him then i. John 25. Why BAPTIZEST thou if thou art none of these They thought it was not in the power of any man to institute and introduce this new Ceremony unless he was either the CHRIST or his Forerunner or some other Prophet Jeremiah it is like who they fansied should rise from the dead and come along with him A new Ceremony I call it because though we should grant that Baptism was in use among them as much hath been said by Mr. Selden * Lib. de Jure Nat. L. de Succession among others to prove it yet thereby they only received Proselytes and their children from other Countries But it was not the manner to baptize Jews such as were grown and adult much less did any of the Masters in Israel gather Disciples after this fashion and therefore the Sanhedrim might well send to enquire who this was that took upon him to call all the Country to repent and sanctifie themselves and also like a Prophet had particular scholars ministring unto him The most learned of the Jews indeed had but confused notions of things to come and the Priests and Levites you see here by their questions did not certainly know whether Baptizing with such an authority was a sign that a man was the Christ or not yet they generally inclined to believe that it was a note of him as may be gathered I think from iii. Luke 15. where you read that the people were in expectation knew not what to think but waited that John would declare the Christ to them and ALL MEN mused in their hearts of John that is debated and reasoned within themselves as it is in the Margin whether John would at last declare himself to be the Christ or not And another Argument there is to prove that they lookt upon Baptism as a mark of the Messiah for as soon as our Saviour began to make this his business and to authorize his Disciples to baptize then they were more in suspense as that word expectation in S. Luke now mentioned may be rendred than ever And knew not what to imagine when they saw two great men doing one and the same thing and thereby drawing the people after them But after they had debated the matter better it seems they began to leave their opinion of John's being the Messiah and to look rather upon Jesus as the person at least to have some thoughts that it might be so For we find in iii. John 25. that there arose a controversie between some of John's Disciples and some Jews who were not his Disciples about purifying or cleansing by which may be understood Baptism which was the sign and the instrument of it And the dispute as far as the following discourse directs our conjectures was this Whether their Master John's Baptism or that of Jesus was the best and which of them a Jew should receive For they saw them both baptise Jesus in Judea ver 22. and John in Enon near to Sabim ver 23. To which of these places therefore they should resort seems to be the question If John's baptism was from Heaven why should it be laid aside or why should another come and take his work out of his hand Was Jesus now sent with a greater authority so that they must leave John and go to him To this his Disciples being able to give no satisfaction they go to the Master himself for a resolution and tell him Rabbi he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou barest witness behold the same baptizeth and all men come to him As much as to say we are much perplexed being in doubt which of you two to receive for our Master For Jesus who was baptized of thee
Caesar Then as it follows in the very next words vers 16. delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified When he heard they still obstinately pretended respect to Caesar and would have him to be concerned in the case he thought it was time to make an end and give sentence that their new King should be crucified For this at last was the crime for which he must suffer vers 19. Pilate wrote a title showing the cause of his death and put it on the Cross And the Writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS Which Pilate knew was false in the sence wherein they meant it a King opposite to Caesar and therefore the words were so contrived that he might still express the opinion he had of him and yet satisfie Caesar too To the very last he would give testimony to the innocence of Jesus as far as he durst and even then proclaimed him their King in several Languages an Omen of the proclaiming it shortly in all Countries to their everlasting reproach when he hung upon an infamous Gibbet And therefore they were not yet satisfied because they saw themselves plainly indited by this Title in the face of the World as the Murderers of their KING Which made them renew their Petitions to Pilate that he would alter the Inscription and not write The King of the Jews but that he said I am King of the Jews vers 21. But now Pilate grew as obstinate as they and gave them this short answer vers 22. What I have written I have written That is content your selves for the first writing shall stand let the World make what they can of it And there is no question but there was a Divine Providence in the business that the cause of his death should be so expressed as that the Jews should be openly condemned and Jesus still cleared by Pilate even after he had not only given sentence against him but ordered it to be put in execution All things concurred to justifie him when his BLOUD was shed Which this very Title declared was upon this account to testifie that he was their KING and told the World withall that in the judgment of him who was his Judge He was no deceiver when he affirmed that he was their KING but the Jews villainous Traytors who had crucified that Person whom they ought to have honoured and obeyed XIV For which the terrible vengeance of God followed them and never left them till they had their own wish His BLOUD was required at their hands and at the hands of their Posterity For they never thrive from that time forward but declined more and more till about Forty Years after their City was besieged by those whom they had importuned to crucify our Saviour multitudes of them were crucified as I told you before in the face of all their Brethren far greater numbers were famisht Jerusalem and the Temple at last destroyed the People of the Nation banished and their Children became Vagabonds even to this day For it was not very long before those very Men who when they said those words We have no King but Caesar in the same breath had for ever renounced their CHRIST and pronounced themselves Rebels if they were not obedient to Caesar took up arms to deliver themselves from their subjection to him whom they really hated though now to serve a turn they courted and flattered They who had rejected their true CHRIST and KING by whom they might have been restored to true liberty were ready upon all occasions to run after those false CHRISTS of whom our Saviour prophesied xxiv Matth. 5.24 who by the promises of a false liberty led them into perdition They could never be quiet till they had undone themselves by provoking the only King whom they pretended to reverence to be the Instrument of our Saviour to make them the vilest slaves and the most miserable wretches upon the face of the Earth S. John lived to see the day of Jesus his COMING WITH POWER to execute Judgment upon them and we see their wish still more and more accomplished upon their Children Who as they never yet solemnly indeavoured to wipe off the guilt of his BLOUD from them by acknowledging the crime of their Fore-fathers as the manner of former times was we see in the examples of Nehemiah and Daniel so they continue to taste of the bitter fruits of this execrable Treason against their Soveraign Lord and King CHRIST JESUS By which you may see that his BLOUD both upon the Cross and upon their Heads by the heavy guilt it loaded them withall is very fitly here alledged by S. John as a great WITNESS that He was sent of God as his only Son For Pontius Pilate himself did not wholly escape but some of it lighted also upon his Head Though he was not so guilty our Saviour confessed as they who pursued him out of hatred whereas he having no unkindness for him delivered him to be crucified only out of fear yet he felt the weight of this crime and was oppressed himself as our Saviour had been by false accusations which the Samaritaus brought against him Whereupon he was deprived of the Government of Judaea by Vitellius then President of Syria And having lost the authority which he abused in condemning our Saviour he was required to go to Rome and there answer the crimes that should be objected to him There indeed he found Tiberius dead but he did not live long after him For he fell into so distressed a condition that about the third year of the succeeding Emperor Caius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Eusebius his word is * L. 11. Hist Eccl. c. 7. he was constrained either by the grievous afflictions he endured or by the command of Caesar which was an usual thing to become his own Executioner and punish himself with Death for all the crimes he had committed But I shall not pursue either his or their story any further it being time to put an end to this Argument which I shall conclude with these Two observations 1. First That after our Saviour was dead one of the souldiers pierced his side with his spear and forthwith came thereout WATER and BLOUD as this very Apostle hath recorded in the Chapter so often mentioned xix John 34. Now some have from hence imagined that he being the only Evangelist that takes any notice of this and setting a particular remark upon it as a thing that he saw and bears witness of ver 35. it is most likely he hath some respect to that passage in his Gospel and to the Water and Bloud there mentioned when he speaks of the witness of WATER and BLOUD here in this Epistle For the Water and Bloud which flowed out of his side were an argument of the truth of his humanity which some wild Hereticks then denied and testified also that he was truly dead and not merely in appearance But it must be observed that S. John is
therefore we ought to study this place of holy Scripture and have it much in our thoughts that so our Faith may stand in the Power of God For otherwise how shall we be able to follow the Apostolical Precept which would have us when we are questioned to render a reason of the hope that is in us 1 Pet. iii. 15. We may be able to stand our ground though we be ignorant of the true causes of belief but the enemies of it will look upon it as a foolish obstinacy if we have not so much understanding as to give some other account of our Faith than they give for theirs Suppose they should say Why are you a Christian whence is it that you look for a Resurrection a Glorious body and Eternal life in another world Would they not think us very stupid if we could say nothing to them but that so we have been always taught and are resolved to believe Would not this be as good a reason for them as it is for us and make us unworthy of the name of Christians who know our Books no better which bid us give and furnish us with a reasonable account Consider therefore what Answer you would shape to them that should make such a demand The Apostle says it is fit they should have a reason what is the best that you can offer for their satisfaction shall I tell you The plain Answer is this That Jesus whose Religion we follow was the Son of God and therefore we believe these things because the Son of God taught us so who cannot deceive us and we will not exchange this for any other perswasion though we should die for it It is certain enough that every body who hears this will presently consent to us that he is a fool who doth not stoop to him and comply with us if it be certain that Jesus is the Son of God But how do you prove that will be the next question Here is the labour this is our work and whence will you fetch convincing Arguments to make them yield to you this weighty point There is no such Compendious Abridgment of them any where that I know of as in this place of S. John which furnishes us with reasons both many and mighty to perswade us and others that Jesus is the Son of God You may tell them that the Father Almighty said so by voices from Heaven in the audience of credible persons and that the Word said so as they may be informed of S. Paul who had no reason greater than this to force him to leave all and with the daily hazard of his life to follow Jesus You may alledge the testimony of the Holy Ghost both at his Baptism and afterward the marvellous sanctity of his Doctrine and Life the Confession he made at his bloudy Death the Glory of his Miraculous works his Resurrection from the Dead the Power of the same Spirit in his Apostles after he was gone to Heaven all the Miracles which were wrought long after their times in the places where the holy Martyrs of Jesus suffered together with the wonderful success of these Witnesses who perswaded innumerable People in all Countries to become the subjects of this crucified King Christ Jesus Study this place therefore I say again very well that you may be able to oppress any gain-sayer with the great weight of those reasons which you render of your faith And study it likewise till you feel the faith of Jesus doing something in your hearts till that faith which hath so good a cause have sutable effects that is till it change you as it is ever apt to do into the nature of that cause from whence it flows It comes from God see that it carry you to him and change you into his likeness It relies on his Testimony be sure that it make you perfectly of his mind It comes with the authority from the Word of God it self and from the Holy Ghost let it mightily inspire you with devotion to him and set your affections on things above where Christ is now at God's right hand It relies upon the Purity of his holy Doctrine and Life and therefore ought to purifie our hearts that we may behave our selves in all holy conversation and godliness It is founded on his Bloud on which we can never look but it will deaden our affections to this World and make us crucifie the flesh with its passions and lusts It stands upon the power of God and should therefore make us strong in the Lord and in the power of his might It grows as you see upon sundry roots and flows from several heads and therefore should dispose those in whose hearts it is planted to be abundant in the work of the Lord and to bring forth much fruit that we may be known to be indeed the Disciples of Jesus whose faith is supported by such numerous Witnesses And this now will lead me to the next thing which S. John here makes to be the necessary consequent of this faith and therefore ought not to be omitted IV. If there be such great such abundant reason to believe that Jesus is the Son of God then there is as great a necessity lying upon us to be obedient unto him and punctually to observe all his commands This Faith both requires our submission and obedience to him and also gives us power and ability to perform it It is a meer trick of the Devil another piece of his Sophistry when He cannot dig up the foundation of Christianity which I told you was his first indeavour to hinder all superstructure upon it by perswading Christian People that Faith and Obedience are no necessary Companions but that they may be good believers and yet not keep Christ's Precepts Some think they need not and others which is the same cheat in another shape think they cannot But I appeal to every Man's conscience if he be a believer whether he do not perceive his heart over-awed and his will inclined to reverence and subjection and all his powers mightily moved to tender their service when he seriously thinks that Jesus is the Lord to whom God the Father hath committed all Judgment and will render to every Man according to his works Do you not feel this faith carrying a great authority with it Nay is there not an irresistable energy and vertue in it while you attend to it pressing you to conformity with his holy will Who can gain-say this And who can say then that his Faith does not both engage and inable him to be obedient to his Saviour if he do but mind what he believes He never thinks of that but it powerfully urges and constrains him to yield himself to be a faithful Servant of Jesus in every thing that he declares to be the mind and will of God These uncontrollable inclinations declare to us so plainly the tendency and natural disposition of Christian Faith that we cannot but see it is so far from
be more imployed to know the truth and certainty of this then to know what the Good is we shall enjoy which will be best known by possessing it And herein now we may admire the Goodness of God and see how liberall he is of his bounties where we are capable to receive them Though he hath said little to make us particularly understand the LIFE of the next world yet he hath said very much to assure us that there is such an happy Life Where we can understand and comprehend his mind there he fully expresses himself and therefore where he is more silent it is no doubt because should he speak of such matters we cannot understand him We are able to conceive any thing that he shall declare for the reason of our hope and the ground of our faith and it highly concerns us to be very well satisfied in the foundation of such expectations in a future World And therefore herein our gracious God hath not been sparing to reveal himself but hath granted us the strongest Evidences for our claim to such an Inheritance Which makes me conclude that if we were as capable to receive instruction concerning the Inheritance it self and to have a Terrier as I may call it or particular description of that heavenly Country of the manner of their Life and all the fruits growing there delivered to us He that hath been so large in the assurances he hath given us would not have denied us also this satisfaction Well therefore it is for us that this is the onely reason why we want it and know not what we shall be because we cannot till we be changed be made partakers of so great a knowledge And well is it for us that we have also so good a cause to think that this is the onely reason because God hath manifested himself so fully to us in other things that belong to our happiness by giving us the most firm grounds whereon to build our future hopes This is the thing which this present Treatise chiefly intends to shew as God himself speaks concerning the promises of the New Jerusalem xxi Rev. 5. that these Words are faithfull and true There is no couzenage or deceit in these promises no fraud or collusion in the drawing them up nor any alteration in God's mind since they were made and he hath set such seals to them But I may say as he there doth to St. John who it 's possible might doubt of what the Angel had shewn him Behold or as Andreas Caesariensis reads it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold behold I make all things new See here and observe I my self who sit upon my Throne assure thee of the Certainty of these Visions If thou wilt take my word I here pass it to thee that I will fulfill all these promises Such I say is the unquestionable credit of the Words of ETERNALL LIFE God himself hath spoken them He hath bid us believe them yea he hath said we must account him a liar if we do not rely upon them For this saith St. John is the Record that God hath given us eternall Life and this Life is in his Son Before I come to a particular examination of all that hath been said and done to verify this let me note these two things First that the Apostle saith we have a RECORD of this truth which is attested from the mouth of severall infallible Witnesses who have deposed what they saw and heard about it to the satisfaction of all those that will consider their testimony There being such a RECORD that is that Jesus is the Son of GOD we have no reason to doubt of the Eternall Life he promises but upon the very same grounds that we believe the one we ought to believe the other If the Father the Word the Holy Ghost and all the other Witnesses have proved the former by undeniable testimonies then at the sametime they proved this also that we shall live by him For 1. it is evident that if Jesus was the Son of God sent by him in a speciall manner into the world to act in his stead we are to believe all that he says of himself or that others by his commission and authority have declared him to be Now if we look into his Gospell we shall find that he most earnestly affirms himself to have been before Abraham was viii Joh. 58. and to have had a Glory with God before the world was xvii 5. and to be so one with the Father that the Father was in him and he in the Father x. 30 38. And they who were his inspired Witnesses whom he said he would send as the Father sent him xx 21. and who were filled by him with the Holy Ghost declared him to be God's WORD who in the beginning was with God and was GOD i. Joh. 1 2. the image of the invisible God the brightness of his glory and the character of his person who in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens were the works of his hands i. Col. 15. i. Heb. 3 10. From all which we may certainly conclude that he is not onely the Son of God in regard of his Authority but by Nature begotten of him before all worlds of one substance with the Father And therefore We may be confident 2. that he being thus nearly related to God must needs know his mind and be acquainted with his most secret purposes and resolutions To which he was so privy that he says he was then in heaven when he was come down to reveal them to men iii. Joh. 13. So that we may safely look upon the promises he makes us of ETERNALL LIFE as the declarations of God's gracious will and pleasure which shall undoubtedly be fulfilled No man indeed as St. John speaks i. 18. hath seen GOD at any time the onely-begotten Son which is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him For who could dive into God's mind and tell us what was in his thoughts What man could enter into his breast and see what was in his heart to doe for us None but his onely-begotten Son who being in his bosome and privy to his most secret Counsels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath declared or expounded him i. e. his hidden will and decrees which else had not been revealed to us It is the opinion of Maimonides in severall parts of his Works * L. de Fund Legis cap. i. n. 10. More Nev. part i. c. 37. 54. c. that when Moses prayed God to shew him his Glory he meant his Essence of which he desired to have a distinct conception as it is in it self such as we have of a man when we have seen his face and by the image of him remaining in our mind can distinguish him from all other men But there are other of their Learned men who by his Glory understand the Rewards he will give the pious and the prosperity he sometimes bestows on the
Israel And if we carefully enquite into it we shall find it to have been as clear a Witness that it is in his power and in his purpose to give Eternall Life to all his faithfull subjects I. For first the very end of its appearing was to invest him with the highest office and dignity which from this time he took upon him and exercised whereas before he had lived as a private person So you reade x. Act. 38. that he was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power Which being a ceremony whereby Kings are created we are to understand that by the coming down of the HOLY GHOST he was appointed our Lord and Sovereign one part of whose office is to bestow rewards on those that doe him good and faithfull service Now his Kingdom not being of this World as he professed and as was apparent by his life and death and yet he constantly asserting that he was a King and exercising severall acts of Royall Authority as I have formerly proved we must conclude that by this Vnction he was designed to be a King in the heavens where he disposes of all places and preferments and will promote all his loyall subjects to the greatest honours and dignities There is no reason to doubt of it for the Glory of the Lord which at his Baptism descended on him so as it had never done on any man was the Seal or if you will the Crown of God upon him which markt him to be the Lord of Glory from whom we may expect the blessing of Eternall Life The very opening also of the Heavens at the descent of the HOLY GHOST upon him signified as much as St. Chrysostom thinks and was a plain declaration of the exceeding great favour of God towards us Who now open'd to us as he speaks * Homil. xii in Matthaeum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those gates above and sent the Spirit from thence to call us to our celestiall Country and not simply to call us but with the greatest prerogative for he hath not made us Angels and Archangels but making us the Sons of God and his beloved Sons so he draws us to that heavenly portion II. Which we may with the greater confidence expect because the HOLY GHOST as I observed heretofore not onely came down upon him but rested or took up its abode in him It did not onely overshadow him as the Glory of the Lord did the blessed Virgin but descending on him settled it self in him as its habitation insomuch that every day one might see the Glory of the Lord shining in him Thus John Baptist who was a carefull observer of it relates in i. Joh. 32 33. where he twice takes notice of the abiding and the resting of the HOLY GHOST with him In which Isaac Abarbinel himself in xi Isa a known enemy to Jesus confesses the excellency of Christ's prophecy consists This being one of the Ten privileges which the Messiah he saith shall be indued withall that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him xi Isa 2. So it did upon our Saviour as an undoubted Prophet testified in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily and therefore He must needs have Life in himself and out of his fulness as St. John speaks we may expect to receive grace for grace For he that bad John baptize you may farther consider told him that this person who had the HOLY GHOST not onely descending on him but residing in him was He that should baptize men with the Holy Ghost Be a King that is in the heavens and have all power committed to him as he would demonstrate by sending the Holy Ghost upon others as now it came upon him And till that time came it was as visible as the Light wherein the HOLY GHOST appeared that it did inhabit in him by the constant sensible effects of his Divine power every-where St. Luke as I observed in the First Part remembers how he returned immediately from Jordan where he was baptized full of the Holy Ghost iv Luk. 1. As was manifest not onely from a number of miraculous operations but from the no-less wonderfull wisedom whereby he spake and opened the ancient Oracles of God For to this end also he was anointed and herein he exercised the authority of a King as the very first place of the Propheticall Books which he expounded clearly tells us iv Luk. 18 19. Where you may note that the great business for which he was anointed by the Spirit was to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. The time of grace that is wherein the good will and pleasure of God was shewn to the world which consists principally in giving remission of sins and eternall Life This he came to proclaim and publish with the power of the HOLY GHOST having all those divine gifts mentioned in xi Isaiah to qualify him for this high office four of which belong to the Mind and was well represented by that luminous body which came down upon him at his Baptism and one to the Will and another to the power of action viz. Wisedome Vnderstanding Counsel Might Knowledge and the Fear of the Lord. He was able on all occasions to speak most divinely to teach as one that had authority to evade all the secret plots which his adversaries had upon him to search into their very hearts and desires to shew the straight way to that bliss which he preached to foil all the power of the Enemy and to raise even the dead to life again Which were evident demonstrations that the Spirit of the Lord rested on him and made him the greatest Prophet that ever was not onely the Preacher but the Giver of ETERNALL LIFE III. For as by this power of the Holy Ghost it was manifest he had Life in himself so God's intention to give this Life to us was apparent from the manner of its descent which is said to have been like a Dove The phrase indeed is dubious and may signify onely that this glorious Body which came down from heaven was in its descent or falling like the coming down of a Dove with its wings spred abroad Yet since St. Luke saith that it came in a bodily shape and the Church though the words do not necessarily inforce it hath thus understood it we may most probably conclude the word Like hath relation not onely to the coming down but to the Dove it self telling us that the form or figure of this celestiall glory which now appeared carried the resemblance of that creature Now to think that this form was assumed without any design at all would be very contrary to common reason which leads us rather to conceive that God would shew at the very first entrance of our Saviour upon his office by this known emblem of meekness and love what great favour and kindness he intended to shew to mankind and with what a tender spirit of gentleness and sweetness our Lord should exercise the Ministry