was eclipsed at the time when Nicias was General for the Athenians against the Syracusians Or when Columbus made first discoverie of America are questions which may be scientifically resolved by astronomicall calculations But whether Nicias through ignorance of naturall causes and grosse superstition committed that intolerable oversight which as Plutarch relates occasioned the overthrow of the Athenian forces by Sea Land or whether Columbus made that witty advantage of the like eclipse which Benzo in his history of America mentions cannot be known by any computation Astronomicall or Chronologicall This wholly depends upon the authority of the Historians Yet if by calculations astronomicall compared with the Annales of those times it should appeare that there were no such Eclipses in the yeares pretended for these practices this would convince these historians and those whom they follow of errour if not of forgerie On the other side if Astronomers should make it cleare that in the points of time assigned by these Historians there did fall out such Eclipses of the Moone this would free them from suspition of fiction so much the more by how much they were lesse skilfull or lesse observant of the coelestiall motions or revolutions of times wherein Eclipses happen 2. But sometimes the sensible events or experiments may square so well with historicall relations as to leave no place for curiosity it selfe to suspect either fiction or falsehood in the Historian As who could suspect the truth of the Roman Histories which mention the subjection of this Iland to their Empire for divers successions if he had seene their coynes lately digged out of the earth bearing the inscriptions of twenty severall Emperours Or who could suspect the historicall truth of their progresse into the Northerne parts of this Kingdome that have observed the ruines of that wall which they built and other monuments as sutable to their Narrations as the seale is to the signet The best is that the experiments which suite unto the histories of the old and new Testaments are more plentifull and and more pregnant then any externall ratifications of any other historicall narrations can be For of sacred historicall truth besides the legible testimonies of the great book of the creatures every little world may have a world of witnesses in himselfe Now if our beliefe of the histories concerning Christ and him crucified be but equall to our beliefe of other histories yet their authority or esteeme will be much greater because we cannot believe this truth but we must withall believe it to be divine and every man by nature hath a more sacred esteeme of matters which hee conceives to be divine then hee can have of things meerely mundane or humane 3. But where the truth of historicall beleefe is to our apprehension the very same and the degrees of our assent unto it equall yet the estimate of the same truth or its impression upon our affections is not the same These vary according to the severall waight of matters related though by the same Author and beleeved by equall degrees of the same kinde of beleefe Of Edward the seconds strange defeate by Robert de Bruce King of Scotland and of Edward the third and the black Prince his sonne or Henry the fifth their successe against the French wee have but one and the same historicall beleefe whether for degree or quality yet are wee not the same way or in the same degree affected with the one story as with the other The reading of Edward the third of Henry the fifts successe delighteth us English with the ancient honour of our Nation The remembrance of Edward the seconds defeate doth so disaffect us that wee could wish this story were not so true as the other But how unpleasant soever the annales of Edward the second be to some English yet wee never observed any of this age to weepe at the reading of them whereas in some provinces of this Kingdome the battaile of Pannierehugh the rebellion in the North and that lesse disaster in the yeare following that rebellion upon the English borders could not have beene mentioned or seriously related within our memory without many teares of such Auditors as had no other knowledge of the events save onely from histories or from traditions which can produce no better beleefe than historicall 4. Some cases then there be in which although the authority of the Historian be the same and albeit the matters related by them be for weight or substance the same yet shall they not make the same impression upon our hearts or affections Yea matters in themselves considered of small moment will sometimes sway double as much as others of more then double waight unto them although the historicâ—ll beleife of both be equall The circumstances from which historicall truths of lesser waight simply considered receive these extraordinary degrees of gravitation are specially three Vicinity of place Recencie of time and Peculiar references to our Selves to our Country to our Friends or Allies The true reason why the historie of Christs death in some degree I suppose beleeved by all doth worke so little or so successelesly upon most mens affections is because they consider his death though in it selfe a matter of greatest consequence yet as a matter past a thousand and some hundred yeares agone or as a matter done by the Jewes more then two thousand miles from our coast And thus they consider it without any peculiar reference to themselves as the cause of it or no more concerning themselves then as they are Pars quota humani generis some little parcells or graines of mankinde or of the humane nature which he redeemed these being more innumerable than the sand on the Sea shore 5. But how firmely soever we apprehend the truth of Christs death and passion for the substance yet this apprehension cannot produce a true compleate historicall beleife of his death unlesse our apprehension of the substance be seconded with the like apprehension of such circumstances as are peculiar to this history above others What circumstances are these Although he suffered but once and that farre off and long agoe yet whatsoever he then suffered or did doth as neerely as immediately concerne every man this day living in what place soever as it did those that were living when he dyed either such as were sorrowfull spectators of his death or Actors in it For albeit he were offred but once and that but in one place without the gates of Jerusalem yet this one offering was of value truely infinite and for efficacy everlasting And being such it must be equally applyable to all persons times and places In his death in his infinite and everlasting sacrifice every one hath a peculiar interest not Pro ratâ but in solidum by vertue of that atonement which he made by that redemption which he purchased once for all he hath an entire absolute right of dominion over every one of us and every one of us hath
had fore-determined to be done Those things saith Peter Acts 3. 18. which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his Prophets that Christ should suffer hee hath so fulfilled Yet saith S. Paul Acts 13. 27. They that dwell at Ierusalem and their rulers because they knew him not nor yet the voice of the Prophets which are read every Sabboth day they have fulfilled them in condemning him So then God is said to fulfill all things which were written of Christ because he did order and direct all the counterplots and malicious intentions of his enemies according to the models and inscriptions which had been exhibited in the old testament Iudas his treachery against his Lord and Master with its accursed successe was exactly forepictured by Achitophels treason against David The malice of the high Priest and elders was foretold and forepictured by the like proceeding of their predecessors against Jeremie and other of Gods Prophets which were Christs forerunners and types and shadowes of his persequutions They then fulfilled the Scriptures in doing the same things that their predecessors had done but in a worse manner and degree albeit they had no intention or ayme to worke according to those models which their predecessors had framed nor to doe that unto Christ which the Prophets had foretold should be done unto him For so S. Peter Acts 3. 17. Now Brethren I wote that through ignorance yee did it as did also your Rulers 5. But here I must request all such as reade these and the like passages of Scriptures not to make any other inferences or constructions of the holy Ghosts language or manner of speech then such as they naturally import and such as are congruous to the rule of faith If wee say no more then this God did order or direct the avarice of Iudas the malice of the high Priest the popularity of Herod and ambition of Pilat for accomplishing of that which he had fore-determined concerning Christ wee shall retaine the forme of wholsome doctrine In thus speaking and thinking wee think and speake as the Spirit teacheth vs. But if any shall say or think that God did ordaine either Iudas to be covetous or the high Priests to be malicious or Herod and Pilat to be popular and ambitious to this end and purpose that they might respectively be the betrayers and murtherers of the sonne of God this is dangerous The orthodoxall truth and wholsome forme of expressing it in this and the like point is acutely set downe in that distinction which for ought I find was unanimously embraced by the Anciēts and by all at this day that be moderate acknowledged to be true Deus ordinavit lapsū Adami non ordinavit ut Adamus laberetur God did dispose or order Adams fall for by his all-seeing providence and all ruling power he turn'd his fall into his owne and our greater good but he did not decree ordaine or order that Adam should fall or commit that transgression by which hee fell For so hee should have beene the Author both of Adams first sinne and of all the sinnes which are necessarily derived to us from him For no man I think will denie that God is the sole Author of all his owne ordinances and decrees or of whatsoever hee hath fore-decreed or fore-determined us for to doe CHAP. 12. Of the severall senses of Scripture especially of the literall and mysticall WIthout knowledge of Scriptures there can be no true knowledge of Christ and to know the Scriptures is all one as to know the true sense and meaning of them intended by the holy Spirit I will not here dispute whether every portion of Scripture in the old Testament admit more senses intended by the holy Spirit than one or whether in some sense or other every passage in Moses writings in the Prophets in the booke of Psalmes or sacred Histories doe point either immediatly or mediatly at Christ or at Him that was to come But that divers places alledged by the Evangelist out of the old Testament to prove that Jesus whom the Jewes did crucifie was their expected Messias admit more senses I take as granted The question is how many senses either the places alledged by the Evangelists or Apostles or other passages in the old Testament may respectively admit And in this Quaere I will not be contentious but onely crave that liberty which I willingly grant to others in all like cases that is to make mine owne division and to follow mine owne expressions of every severall sense or branch of this division that so I may referre the particular explication of every type of every Prophecie or other praenotion of Christ which hath beene fulfilled without perplexity or confusion to its proper or generall head That sense of Scripture in my expression may happily be referred unto the literall which in some other mens language would be accounted figurative or Allegoricall That sense againe according to my division may be reduced unto the literall mysticall or morall which some great Divines make a distinct sense from all these to wit Anagogicall Or admitting all these and more senses of Scriptures I may perhaps sometimes touch upon another sense which is not to my apprehension reducible to any of these 2. The severall senses of Scriptures especially such as more immediatly point at Christ cannot be better notified or more commodiously reduced to their severall heads then by a review of the severall wayes by which God from the beginning did intimate or manifest his will his good will towards mankinde in him and through him which was to come And the wayes by which God did manifest Christ to come were in the generall two either by words assertive and expresse prediction or by way of picture and representation or by a concurrence of both which third way is no way opposite to the two former but rather a friendly combination of them The second branch of this division to wit praenotions of Christ representative may as heretofore it hath beene be subdivided into representations reall as by type historicall event or other matter of fact or into representations meerely literall verball or nominall The first generall branch of this division that is prenotions of Christ delivered in words expresly assertive exhibit to us that which wee commonly call the literall or grammaticall sense For that as best Divines agree is the literall sense or meaning of the holy Spirit which is immediatly signified by words assertive whether legall propheticall or historicall without any intercourse or intervention of any type or matter of fact Whether the words be logicall proper allegoricall or otherwayes figurative skills not much The variety of expressions by words assertive if so the words immediatly expresse the matter foretold without intervention of type or matter of fact doth not divide or diversifie the literall sense As when God foretold that the wildernesse should be planted with pleasant trees Isa 41. 19 c. That the Wolfe should
Ieremy with death The same practise you have reiterated against S. Stephen Acts 6. ver 12 13. And they stirred up the people and the Elders and the Scribes and came upon him and caught him and brought him to the Councill and set up false witnesses which said this man ceaseth not to speake blasphemous words against this holy place and the Law For wee have heard him say that this Iesus of Nazareth shal destroy this place and shall change the customes which Moses delivered us Whether S. Stephen said thus or no I will not dispute but most probable it is that he did never say this in expresse termes because the Text saith They set up false witnesses against him However these false witnesses against S. Stephen did truly prophecy as Cataphas did For Jesus being made Christ did destroy the Temple by the Romanes and abrogated the ceremonies given by Moses because they had made up the measure of their forefathers sinnes who persecuted Ieremy for saying no more in effect then they laid to S. Stephens charge And that which Ieremy threatned was in part fulfilled not long after his persecution and imprisonment For Sion became like Shiloh a desolate place and forsaken of God for a long time yet reedified againe within the age or generation then living so was not Shiloh untill this day Nor hath Jerusalem or Sion been restored since they forsook the Lord God of their Fathers when he came to visit his Temple as Ieremy had done and to be annointed King over Sion 4. All that I have to adde unto the former testimony Ier. 7. is this that our Saviour at this time of his consecration or whilest he was a King or Priest in fieri only did give some documents of his royall power or just chalenge to his right over Judah and Jerusalem in a more special manner then at any time before hee had done For wee doe not reade that he did take upon him to judge betweene party and party in matters temporall nor to dispose of the goods or possessions whether of Jews or of Gentiles save once when he gave the Legion of Devills leave to enter into the heard of Swine and to cary them headlong into the Sea And this hee did immediatly after he had manifested himselfe to be God by commanding the winde and the water as was before declared Before this time he might have said more truly then Samuel did whose Oxe or Asse have I taken Yet now when he came to visit his Temple he gave his Disciples Commission more then royall to take an Asse and her colt for his service to ride on them in triumph as the Prophet Zachary had foretold unto Jerusalem and to Sion And this he did jure dominii by right of Dominion The tenour of the Commission and the execution of it you have distinctly set downe Matt. 21. 1 2 3. And when they drew nigh unto Ierusalem and were come to Bethphage unto the Mount of Olives thou sent Iesus two Disciples saying unto them Goe into the village over against you and straight way yee shall finde an Asse tyed and a colt with her loose them and bring them to me And if any man say ought unto you yee shall say The Lord hath need of them and straightway he will send them And S. Mark tells us Chap. 11. ver 5. And certain of them that stood there said unto them What doe yee loosing the colt And they said unto them even as Iesus had commanded and they let them goe 5. This manner of his comming to Jerusalem his powerfull visitation of the Temple immediatly upon it and the Inscription which Pilate made on his Crosse some foure dayes after with other remarkable circumstances of the story or journall of that sacred weeke be a pregnant testimony that this Iesus of Nazareth whom wee adore was that King of the Iews and of Sion whose comming Zacharias had so long before foretold But it is not so apparent out of his forecited prophecy either that this King of â—â—on was the God of Sion or that the God of Sion and of Israel was to be made King of both For in that he was God he was the King not of Israel or Iudea only but of all the earth God over all from everlasting to everlasting by right of Creation The next point then in question betwixt the Iew and us is this Whether it may be concludently proved from the literall sense of those Oracles which they adore that he who was the God of Sion and of Israel from everlasting to everlasting were to be made King of Sion in later times or after the gift of Prophecy did cease in Iudea and Ierusalem CHAP. 24. That the God of Israel was to be made King and to raigne not over Israel only but over the Nations in a more peculiar manner than in former ages he had done WEre there no other part or volume of the Old Testament left besides the booke of Psalmes the testimonies conteyned in it which according to the literall sense will abundantly induce this conclusion are for number more and more punctuall then all the testimonies which the Jew can bring out of all other Scriptures that they were to have a Messias or sonne of David whose throne was to be exalted above the throne of David or of Salomon Or if this booke of Psalmes were the only booke whereby both Jews and Christians were to be regulated in points of faith this booke alone would condemne both of such folly and sluggishnesse of heart as Christ our God and Saviour upbraydeth those two Disciples with Luke 24. 26 c. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himselfe He did then enter into his glory when he was made a King of glory and such a King he was not made untill he had endured an harder servitude or condition of life more miserable to flesh and blood then Israel had done in Aegypt or then any of the Prophets whether Psalmists or others had undergone Of this servitude or hard condition of life which was prefigured by matters of fact in most of his Prophets and in all those Psalmists and foretold in all those Psalmes which contayne matter of complaint or imploration of release from oppression in its proper place Wee are now briefely to peruse some of those Psalmes which according to the literall sense imply the exaltation of the God of Israel or of Sion to be the King of Israel or of Sion for this view it would much availe if we knew who were the Authors of such Psalmes and upon what occasion they were penned 2 The Author of the seaventh Psalme was David himselfe and no other as the inscription and occasion of his complaints therein mentioned do manifest The complaints he tenders immediately unto God and yet this God who was to
face whilest he talked with the people who were not able to behold the glory But this vaile as our Apostle tels us 2 Cor. 3. 14. is put away in Christ It is true Yet this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the word was not the Christ to doe away this vaile till he put on the vaile of flesh The flesh then was a vaile to him but as a glasse or mirrour to us Wee may in Christ with open face behold that glory of God whose reflexe on Moses face the Israelites could not behold but through a vaile Christ then is that glasse or mirrour wherin the brightnesse of Gods glory which the Israelites could not then behold may now be seene But did the Iews or Israelites in the time of the old Testament or in that time wherein the Author of the booke of Wisdome wrote conceive any such matter as our Apostle here inferres that the glory of God should be more fully revealed or that men should be more capable of the participation of his presence in later ages then they had beene in former Some of them did others did not all of them ought even by their owne prenotions or interpretations of Scriptures so to have conceived and beleeved For thus some moderne Iews conceive of Moses his request What was that saith a great Rabbin amongst them which Moses our Master sought to attaine unto when he said I pray thee shew me thy glory 9 He requeged to know the truth of the being or essence of the holy blessed God untill that he were knowne in his heart like as a man is knowne whose face is seen and whose forme is ingravē in ones heart so that man is distinguished or separated in his knowledge from other men So Moses requested that the Essence of God might be distinctly knowne in his heart from the essence of other things so that he might know the truth of his Essence as it is But God answered him that the knowledge of living man who is compounded of body and soule hath no ability to apprehend the truth of this thing concerning his Creator That knowledge of God or sight of his glory whereof Moses was uncapable was truely ingraven in the heart of the man Christ Iesus and in his light wee see light He that saw him with the eyes of faith did see the father he did see the glory of the Godhead The brightnesse of the divine glory is alike inaccessible alike incommunicable in the Sonne as in the Father if we consider them in their divine nature alone but in the man Christ Iesus and in him alone wee may behold the brightnesse of the Divine glory which neither eye nor heart of man could behold in it selfe or in any divine person alone but only in the divine person which was incarnate 10 And it is not here to be omitted that the forecited 29. of Exodus ver 45 I will dwell among the Children of Israel is thus translated by Onkelus in his paraphrase ponam praesentiam divinitatis meae in medio filiorum Israel So Fagius with some others render it and why he so renders it gives the reason And the later Rabbines as one well conversant in their writings saith generally observe that whensoever it is said in the person of God that I will dwell amongst them this may not be understood but of the Majestie of the holy and blessed God To this purpose they alleage the 9. verse of the 8 Psalme His salvation is neere them that feare him that glory may dwell in our Land And Simeon in his dying song doth testifie that Jesus the sonne of Mary whom he imbraced when he was presented in the Temple was the salvation of God Lord now lattest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy Word For mine eyes have seene thy Salvation And although our Saviour whilest hee lived here on earth had no constant dwelling no place of inheritance yet at this time the Godhead or that glory of the Godhead of which the Psalmist speaketh was incorporated in him These and the like Scriptures S. Iohn did see fulfilled in Christ when he said the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us and wee saw his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father that is such glory as could not bee communicated to any but to him who was by nature the sonne of God such glory as no flesh could behold otherwise then as it was in Christ or in the word made flesh such a declaration of the divine Majestie as none besides the sonne of God could declare So the Apostle saith ver 18. No man hath seene God at any time but the only begotten sonne who is in the bosome of the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath declared or expounded him But wherein doth this declaration consist or how was it made by the sonne Not by word only or by declaration of his will but by matter of fact or reall representation But of this point more fully in the exposition of the name Iesus Seeing Moses had said that no flesh could see God and live it may seeme strange to men which have not their senses exercised in the search of Scriptures that the Prophet Isaiah should avouch the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together Isay 40. 5. Moses speech and that conceipt which the ancient had that man could not see God and live was universally true untill the word or brightnesse of Gods glory was made flesh But this was the very mysterie which Isaiah in that chapter foretold as elsewhere hath beene declared in part and shall be as it comes in order to be handled more fully a little after this Chapter 11 That the moderne Iews can expect the God of their Fathers should dwell with them should walk with them should manifest his glory unto them after such a manner as their owne Doctors interpret his promise made to Moses to al these purposes after any other way or manner then the Evangelist witnessed he did walk with and manifest his glory unto his Disciples This to us Christians is an evident demonstration that the vale which their Forefathers put before their faces when they could not behold the brightnesse of Gods glory which shone on Moses face after he had seene God and talked with him is to this day put before their hearts when they read Moses and the Prophets For this glorious Majestie of God the very expresse or graven Image of his substāce which they say Moses desired to see but could not did so personally dwell in the man Christ Jesus that whilest he walked with his people God did walke with thē whilest he remayned within the territories of Iudah or Galilee salvation glory did dwell in their Land And to this day in whomsoever he dwelleth by faith in him God dwelleth by faith As he is the expresse image of the person of his Father so every one in whom he thus
as entire an interest in his death as if what soever he did or suffered in the daies of his humiliation he had done and suffered all for us alone But this last consideration perhaps is more pertinent to the knowledge of Christ and of him Crucified then unto the historicall beliefe of his death or Crosse CHAP. 3. Whether such knowledge of God and of Christ as the Scriptures teach be a science properly so called ADmitting the objects of our beleife might bee as certainely and as evidently knowne at least by some as the subjects of sciences properly so called are Whether this knowledge and our beleife of the same objects may be coincident that is whether it be all one so to know them and to beleeve them I will not dispute for this would occasiō a controversie about the use of words unfitting for a professed Divine to entertaine much more to invite But that there is a knowledge of Christ even in this life which if not for perspicuity or evidence of truth yet for the excellencie of the truths knowne exceeds all other knowledge we have our Apostles peremptory sentence for us For writing to his Converts of Corinth which then abounded with all kinde of knowledge secular he saith I esteemed or determined to know nothing amongst you save Iesus Christ and him crucified 1 Cor. 2. 2. He therefore determined to know nothing besides because he had no other knowledge in any esteeme in comparison to this And what good Christian would desire any other but as it is subservient to this knowledge This comprehends all that wee can desire either to know or to enjoy all that wee can esteeme or love even eternall happinesse it selfe as the author and fountaine of all happinesse instructs us John 17. ver 3. This is life eternall to know thee the onely true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent But whether our Saviour in this speech or his Apostle in the former do use the word knowledge in a strict or in a vulgar sense may be questioned And this question resolves it selfe into another more generall as whether Theologie that is knowledge of God be a science properly so called or whether many conclusions of faith may bee clearely demonstrated 2. Two sorts of men there be who for the support or securing of their unreasonable conclusions have some reason to deny this Queene of sciences this Mistresse of Arts and supreame Governesse of all good faculties to be a science properly so called The Agents for the Romish Church and their extreame opposites whether mere Enthusiasts such as deny al use of scriptures or mixt Enthusiasts men that acknowledge the use of Scriptures but abuse them more then such as reject them by using them too much or to no good purpose or mingle them with the secret inspirations of their private spirits or wrest them to their owne fancies First if the conclusions controverted betwixt us and the Romane Church may be one way or other demonstrated as either to be altogether true or altogether false or so sublime that in this life they cannot be punctually or absolutely determined then are wee not absolutely bound to beleeve every proposition which that Church shall commend unto us as a doctrine of faith with the same confidence as if it were expresly delivered in Scripture or in the Articles of our Creed Nor should every applauded booke or Sermon albeit their bulke or substance consists for the most part of Scripture sentences be acknowledged to be that word of God to which all owe obedience if once it were acknowledged that there is a facultie or science of Divinitie which hath the same authority to approve or disprove doctrinall conclusions or their uses which other Arts or sciences have to examine the workes of all pretenders to them If Divinity be a science then he which is a Divine or a master of his profession might censure the Professors of other Arts faculties or sciences which take upon them to resolve Theologicall controversies or to teach doctrines which the Church wherein they live never avouched with the selfe same libertie which the Professors of other Arts usually doe Divines if they take upon them to teach or practise within the precincts of their profession Besides these two sects of men and some other men which cannot be comprehended under any sect or faction but have the same temptation to desire that there might be no true knowledge of God or of Christ or no demonstration of the Spirit that the Atheist or desperate sinner hath to wish there were no God or no Judge of quick and dead I cannot conceive what reason any man or any sort of men have to deny Theologie to be a true and proper science Yet to give the ingenuous Reader if not full satisfaction yet some Hints at least whereby hee may satisfie himselfe it will be no digression from our present argument at least no long digression briefely to shew wherein that knowledge of God and of Christ which may in this life be obtained doth differ from sciences properly so called and wherein they doe agree Now all the differences or concordance that can be betwixt any sciences Arts or faculties do either concerne the Maxims and Principles or the conclusions and the subjects of such faculties 3. The Maximes or Principles of all other sciences may be clearely apprehended and firmely assented unto by the industrious search and light of common reason without illuminations supernaturall so cannot the principles or Maxims of Divinity there must be a light or illumination more then naturall before wee can have either a cleare and undoubted apprehension of their truth or a just valuation of their worth Yet this difference is not much materiall neither part of it positive or negative is any way formall or essentiall to the constitution of a science properly so called For by what meanes soever the Principles of any science become manifest and certaine unto us whether by our owne industry or by the teaching of others or whether wee bee taught them immediately from God either by the admirable disposition of his extraordinary Providence or by speciall infused grace is meerely accidentall to the constitution or nature of a science properly so called Hee that sees the deduction of Mathematicall conclusions from the uncontrovers'd Maximes of the same Art as clearely as another doth is never a whit the lesse skilfull Mathematitian although perhaps he learned the Principles by the helpe of an Extraordinary teacher which the other attained unto by the industrious exercise of his owne wit Now if it be meerely accidentall to the nature of a science whether a man be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his owne Master or anothers Scholar whether in learning the principles or conclusions it can be no prejudice either to his knowledge or proficiency in such knowledge that he hath beene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immediatly taught by God at least for the Maximes And I make no
Antagonists from all advantage of hold either gotten or aimed at But our Apostle did imitate their practise upon his owne body not on any others for his owne body was his chiefe Antagonist The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath in that place no immediate reference unto the preaching of the Gospell but did generally import such as were tryers of Olympick games whether wrestlings whirlebats or the like The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comprehends all which lost the prize for which they contended whether by sluggishnesse or foule play The same word commeth to signifie a Reprobate or a man finally rejected by God or irreverfibly deprived of his good spirit but at the second third or fourth hand And those interpreters of sacred writ who take this title usuall in Scripture to be a metaphor or speech borrowed from false coines or counterfeit metals faile more in Logique then in Grammar though faile they doe in both It sometimes indeed referres or alludes unto false or counterfeit it coines and according to this reference it comes the nearest to the denotation of a Reprobate or a man finally rejected by God For that coine which is for substance but brasse or copper will hardly if at all after it be cast aside upon tryall go amongst wise men for currant money The transmutation of baser metals into more pretious however some men professe this skill is seldome effected perhaps not facible whereas he that was this yeare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Olympick games or other like prizes might the next yeare be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or crowned as victor But the originall word for its formall or abstract signification is a great deale more generall then to be restrained either to coyned metalls or to men which strive for mastery in any kinde of activity It properly imports a rejection upon just triall and is applyable to matters and persons almost infinite 14. Or if we interpret this word by its reference unto money or coynes yet even these may be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more wayes then one either for the basenesse of the metall or for the counterfeit stamp or for want of weight For if it bee but some few graines too light any man may refuse it although it beare Caesars image and superscription Or if it be full waight and pure gold withall yet if it be elsewhere estamped then where Caesar shall appoint or by any stamp or person not authorized no man is bound to receive it and he that tenders it is to be punished And yet both these kindes of Reprobate coines may bee legitimated or made currant by new coining or addition of quantitie without any alteration of the qualitie But coines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the metall as if that be brasse copper or silver gilt and estamped for gold albeit they be full waight are by no Lawes currant And yet some there be as we said which professe the art of turning such metalls into gold but whether this be facible or no is no point of Divinity But surely the Almighty Creator of all things hath more skill in transforming men of what condition soever then any Alchymist hath in changing metalls from worse to better Even such as are said to bee given over by him into a Reprobate sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may for ought we know bee afterwards refined by him and become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justifiable men Many of the Gentiles were delivered by him into a reprobate sense not particular persons only but even whole Nations and so hath the Natiō of the Jews for the most part bin for these many yeares But that God did finally reprobate any person whether Jew or Gentile which lived in opposition to the Christian faith or whether there shall not be a reversion of that curse which hath befalne the Jewish or other nation God alone must judge and determine So that it will be hard for any man to prove that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth any where in the new Testament punctually answere unto that use or notion which custom hath now in a manner prescribed for in many theologicall disputes that is for men irreversibly fitted or designed to everlasting destruction If in any place it were to be taken in this strict sense I should suspect that of S. Paul 2 Cor. 13. 5. above others but that not from the Grammaticall signification of the word or from any reference it hath in that place more then any other to false coynes but from the peculiar reference which the matter and circumstances of that place have to matters of fact or historicall types in the old Testament without whose knowledge or observation the true meaning or importance of many words usuall in the New can never be truly valued The Apostles words in the forecited place are thus Examine your selves whether yee be in the faith prove your owne selues know yee not your owne selves how that Iesus Christ is in you except yee bee Reprobates CHAP. 19. Of the use of sacred or miscellane Theology for finding out as well the literall as the mysticall or other senses of Scripture WHat shall we say then that every one that is not certaine of his owne salvation or every one not assured by faith that his name is written in the booke of life is irreversibly appointed to everlasting death or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to our Apostles meaning in this place God forbid No Christian man I hope will forbid us or deny us leave to restraine the Apostles words in what sense soever we take them unto such men only as those Corinthians were that is to men which have beene instructed in all points necessary for a Christian to believe to men that have been baptised in this faith to men partakers in a plentifull manner of the word preached and of the Sacraments But may wee or ought wee to apply this peremptory sentence unto every man that is a visible member of the true Church or of those Churches in which the pure word is constantly preached and the Sacraments duely administred Are all these bound upon paine of Reprobation to beleeve either that they are already compleatly regenerated or that they have so mortified the deeds of the body that they cannot die the death of the soule If thus wee should preach or teach how should wee be able to comfort afflicted consciences in their perplexed feares And would not the best fruites of our labours be presumption in many and despaire in most of our hearers Yet if thus wee may not say must wee therefore deny that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in the forecited place to be taken in that strict sense in which it is usually taken by some moderne Divines not in that place only but in many others of the new Testament that is for men either irreversibly ordained to death or finally forsaken of God That the word is used by our Apostle in this strict sense I
of their brethren two hundred thousand women sonnes and daughters and tooke also away much spoile from them and brought the spoile to Samaria Upon this great disaster or captivitie of the people of Judah by these two Kings the Prophet Isaiah did name one sonne of his Shear-iashub as a pledge or token that these captives should returne againe unto their own Land as they did beyond all expectation from Samaria The historie is very remarkable both for matter and circumstance and recorded at large by the author of the 2 booke of Chronicles in the words immediately following the forecited But a prophet of the Lord was there whose name was O ded and he went out before the host that came to Samaria and said unto them Behold because the Lord God of your Fathers was wroth with Iudah he hath delivered them into your hand and yee have slain them in a rage that reacheth up into Heaven And now yee purpose to keepe under the children of Iudah and Ierusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you But are there not with you even with you sinnes against the Lord your God Now heare mee therefore and deliver the Captives againe which yee have taken captive of your brethren for the fierce wrath of God is upon you Then certaine of the heads of the children of Ephraim Azariah the sonne of Iohanan Berechiah the sonne of Meshillemoth and Iehizkiah the sonne of Shallum and Amala the sonne of Hadlai stood up against them that came from the warre and said unto them Ye shall not bring in the Captives hither for whereas we have offended against the Lord already yee intend to adde more to our sinnes and to our trespasse for our trespasse is great and there is fierce wrath against Israel So the armed men left the Captives and the spoile before the Princes and all the Congregation And the men which were expressed by name rose up and tooke the Captives and with the spoile cloathed all that were naked among them and arrayed them and shod them and gave them to eate and to drinke and annointed them and caryed all the feeble of them upon Asses and brought them to Ieriche the Citie of palme trees to their brethren then they returned to Samaria And so no doubt those Captives which Rezin King of Syria had carryed to Damascus were set at libertie after the King of Assyria had slaine Rezin meeting with Ahaz there But the Edomites and the Philistines both ancient Enemies to the house of David became ungues in ulcere and kept the wound open with tooth and nayle which Rezin Pekah and Zichri had made as it is registred 2 Chron. 28. 17. c. For againe the Edomites had come and smitten Iudah and carryed away Captives the Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low Country and of the South of Iudah and had taken Bethshemesh and Ailon and Gederoth and Shocho with the villages thereof and Timnah with the villages thereof Gimzo also and the villages thereof and they dwelt there After these wounds which these severall enemies had made in the state of Judah Rezin and Pekah with joynt forces beseiged Jerusalem 2 Kings 16. 5 6 7 8. Then Rezin King of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah King of Israel came up to Ierusalem to war and they beseiged Ahaz but could not overcome him At that time Rezin King of Syria recovered Elath to Syria and drave the Iews from Elath and the Syrians came to Elath and dwelt there unto this day So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pelezer King of Assyria saying I am thy servant and thy sonne come up and save mee out of the hand of the King of Syria and out of the hand of the King of Israel which rise up against mee And Ahaz tooke the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the Kings house and sent it for a present to the King of Assyria And the King of Assyria hearkned unto him for the King of Assyria went up against Damascus and tooke it and carryed the people of it Captive to Kir and slue Rezin This unhallowed submission of Ahaz unto the King of Assyria was the very thing which the Lord by the Prophet Isaiah did diswade him from foretelling withall that if he persisted in this purpose of casting out one Divell by another or by the Prince of Divels the later would prove worse than the former On the contrary if Ahaz and his people would relye upon the signe which God had given them or accept of his immediate aide both Rezin and Pekah should within short space be ruinated without either present aide or future evill from Assyria But if they would not beleeve or rely upon him although God for his part would performe the former part of this Prophecie as it concerned the death of Rezin and Pekah and the captivitie of Samaria yet he would bring all the plagues upon Judah which the Prophet Isaiah had threatned by the hand of Assyria whose aid they now sought And yet this present Emmanuel was to be a pledge of a strange defeat of the Assyrian after much mischiefe done by him as well to Judah as to Israel For Hezekiah sonne and successor unto Ahaz was inforced to buy his peace of Senacherib successor to Tiglah-Peleser at as deare a rate as Ahaz had purchased the Assyrians aid Now in the fourteenth yeare of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced Cities of Iudah and tooke them And Hezekiah King of Iudah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish saying I have offended returne from mee that which thou puttest on me will I beare And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah King of Iudah three hundred Talents of silver and thirty Talents of Gold And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the Kings house At that time did Hezekiah out off the gold from the doores of the Temple of the Lord and from the pillars which Hezekiah King of Iudah had over-laid and gave it to the king of Assyria 2 King 18. 13 14 c. Both this distresse whereunto Judah was now brought and Hezekiahs strange deliverance from Sennacherib or whatsoever the sacred Story 2 Kings 19. or else-where relates concerning both were foretold by Isaiah the Prophet Chap. 8 and 9 as consequences oâ— Ahaz his refusall of the signes which God had offered him and of the signe which God did give to the house of David albeit they would not accept it 11 But to descend unto the parallel betweene the historicall narrations in the Booke of Kings of Chronicles and Intersertions to the same purpose in the prophecie of Isaiah our Euangelists relations how they were fulfilled In the dayes of Ahaz the House of David was brought exceeding low by the Syrians by the King of Samaria by the Edomites and by the Philistines From this extraordinary depression