in all Ages and Sexes and Conditions of Men than in the primitive Martyrs Were any of the Heathen Soldiers comparable to the Christian Legion for Resolution and Courage even the Heathens themselves being Judges The Religion of Mahomet seems to be contrived to inspire Men with Fierceness and Desperateness of Resolution and yet I do not find but that generally where there hath been any equality for Number the Christians have been superior to them in Valour and have given greater Instances of Resolution and Courage than the Turks have done So that I wonder upon what Grounds this Objection hath been taken up against Christianity when there is nothing either in the Nature of this Religion or from the Experience of the World to give any tolerable Countenance to it And surely the best way to know what Effect any Religion is likely to have upon the Minds of Men is to consider what Effects it hath had in the constant Experience of Mankind There remains the other two Objections which I mention'd but I must reserve them to another Opportunity SERMON III. The Prejudices against Jesus and his Religion consider'd MATTH XI 6 And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me FROM these Words I proposed to consider these Two Things I. The Prejudices and Objections which the World at first had and many still have against our Blessed Saviour and his Religion II. That it is a great Happiness to escape the common Prejudices which Men are apt to entertain against Religion Vol. V. I have considered those Objections which the Jews and Heathen Philosophers made against our Saviour and his Religion And II. Those which at this Day are insisted upon by the secret and open Enemies of our Religion And I mentioned seven the two last of which I shall now speak to Sixthly It is objected That there are many Divisions and Factions among Christians This I confess is a great Reproach and Scandal to our Religion but no sufficient Argument against it And 1. To lessen and abate the Force of this Objection it is to be consider'd that a very great part of the Divisions that are among those that are call'd Christians are about things that do not concern the Essentials of Christianity and therefore they are no Argument that Christianity is not true because they bring no Suspicion of Doubt and Uncertainty upon the Fundamentals of Christianity which all agree in though they differ in other things 'T is true indeed they are very undecent and contrary to the Nature and Precepts of the Christian Religion Ser. 3. which above any Religion in the World does strictly require Love and Unity They take off much from the Strength and Beauty of our Religion but do by no means destroy the Truth of it 2. How many and great soever they may be yet they can with no Colour of Reason be imputed to the Christian Religion as giving any Cause and Encouragement to them however by Accident it may be the Occasion of them For no Man doubts but that the best thing in the World may be perverted by bad Men and made an Occasion of a great deal of Mischief in the World and yet be very innocent of all that Mischief No Man can deny but that Christianity does strictly enjoin Love and Peace and Unity among all the Members of that Profession and so far as Christians are factious and unpeaceable so far they are no Christians So that a Man may as well except against Philosophy because of the Differences that were among the Philosophers and say there was no Truth among them because they were not all agreed in all Things as call the Truth of Christianity in question for the differences that are among Christians Nay a Man might every whit as well except against Laws and Government because notwithstanding them there are frequent Seditions and Rebellions infinite Suits and Controversies occasion'd even by the very Laws But no Man was ever so unreasonable as to think this a good Reason against Laws and Government 3. The Divisions of Christians are so far from being an Argument against Christianity that on the contrary they are an Argument that Men should embrace Christianity more heartily and make more Conscience of obeying the Precepts of it And if they did this the greatest part of those Contentions and uncharitable Animosities which are among them would presently cease If the Christian Religion were truly entertained and Men did seriously mind the Precepts of it and give up themselves to the Obedience of its Laws Differences would not be easily commenced nor so vehemently prosecuted nor so pertinaciously continued in as they are Men would not upon every slight Reason and little Doubt and Scruple rend and tear the Body of Christ in pieces and separate themselves from the Communion of the Church they live in and in which they were baptized and received their Christianity If Men seriously consider'd and truly understood what they do when they divide the Church of Christ upon little Scruples and Pretences they would hardly be able to think themselves Christians whilst they continued in these unchristian and uncharitable Practices If Men would but be or do what Christianity requires there would be no occasion for this Objection and if Men will not Christian Religion is not to be blamed for it but those that act so contrary to the plain Precepts and Directions of it I proceed to the Seventh and last Objection The vicious and wicked Lives of a great part of the Professors of Christianity This is a heavy Objection indeed and such an one that though we may justly be ashamed to own the Truth of it yet can we not have the face to deny it 'T is so sad a Truth that it is enough to confound us and to fill all our Faces with Shame and Blushing But yet it is an Objection not so strong against Christianity as it is shameful to Christians And notwithstanding the utmost Force of it we have no cause to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ but the Gospel of Christ may justly be ashamed of us For whatever we be The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto Salvation The Natural Tendency of it is to reform and save Men and the wrath of God is therein revealed against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men however they may detain the Truths of God in Vnrighteousness and not suffer them to have their due and proper Influence upon their Hearts and Lives But that I may give a more clear and particular Answer to it I desire you to attend to these following Considerations 1. It cannot be denied but that Christianity hath had once very great and marvellous Effects upon the Hearts and Lives of Men. And for this I appeal to the Lives and Manners of the Primitive Christians for which we have not only the Testimony of our own Books and Writers but even of the Adversaries of our Religion What Reformation Christianity at first
wrought in the Manners of Men we have clear and full Testimony from what the Apostles wrote concerning the several Churches which they planted in several Parts of the World What hearty Unity und Affection there was among Christians even to that Degree as to make Men bring in their private Estates and Possessions for the common Support of their Brethren we may read in the History of the Acts of the Apostles The City of Corinth by the Account which Strabo gives of it was a very vicious and luxurious place as most in the World and yet we see by St. Paul what a strange Reformation the Christian Religion made in the Lives and Manners of many of them 1 Cor 6.9 10 11. Be not deceived neither fornicators nor adulterers nor idolaters nor effeminate nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And such were some of you But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God And surely it is no small matter to reclaim Men from such a profligate course of Life The Apostle instanceth in Crimes and Vices of the first Rate from which yet he tells us many were cleansed and purified by the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God that is by the Power and Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine together with the Co-operation of God's Holy Spirit After the Apostles the Ancient Fathers in their Apologies for Christianity give us a large Account of the great Power and Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine upon the Lives and Manners of Men. Tertullian tells the Roman Governors that their Prisons were full of Malefactors committed for several Crimes but they were all Heathens De vestris semper aestuat carcer Their Prisons were thronged with Criminals of their own Religion But there were no Christians to be found committed there for such Crimes Nemo illic Christianus nisi hoc tantùm c. There were no Christians in their Prisons but only upon account of their Religion Or if there were any Malefactors that had been Christians they left their Religion when they fell into those Enormities And afterwards he adds that if Christians were irregular in their Lives they were no longer accounted Christians but were banish'd from their Communion as unworthy of it And they appealed to the Heathens what a sudden and strange change Christianity had made in several of the most lewd and vicious and debauched Persons and what a visible Reformation there presently appeared in the Lives of the worst Men after they had once entertained the Christian Doctrine And these Testimonies are so much the stronger because they are Publick Appeals to our Adversaries which it is not likely they who were so persecuted and hated as the Christians were would have had the Confidence to have made if they had not been notoriously true even their Enemies themselves being Judges And that they were so we have the Confession of the Heathen themselves I shall produce two remarkable Testimonies to this Purpose and one of them from the Pen of one of the bitterest Enemies that the Christian Religion ever had Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan the Emperor gives him an Account That having examined the Christians setting aside the Superstition of their way he could find no Fault and that this was the Sum of their Error That they were wont to meet before Day and sing a Hymn to Christ and to bind themselves by Solemn Oath or Sacrament not to any wicked Purpose but not to steal nor rob nor commit Adultery nor break their Faith nor detain the Pledge So that it seems the Sum of their Error was to oblige themselves in the strictest manner against the greatest Vices and Crimes Which methinks is a great Testimony from an Enemy and a Judge one who would have been ready to discover their Faults and had Opportunity of enquiring into them My other Witness is Julian the Emperor and Apostate who in one of his Epistles tells us The Christians did severely punish Sedition and Impiety And afterwards exhorting the Heathen Priests to all Offices of Humanity and especially Alms towards the Poor he tells them they ought to be more careful in this particular and to mend this Fault Because says he the Galileans taking advantage of our Neglect in this kind have very much strengthned their Impiety for so he calls their Religion by being very intent upon these Offices and exemplary in their Charity to the Poor whereby they gained many over to them And in his 49th Epist to Arsacius the High-Priest of Galatia he recommends to him among other Means for the Advancement of Paganism the building of Hospitals and great Liberality to the Poor not only of their own Religion but others For says he it is a Shame that the impious Galileans should not only maintain their own poor but ours also wherefore let us not suffer them to outdo us in this Virtue Nothing but the force of Truth could have extorted so full an Acknowledgment of the great Humanity and Charity of the Christians from so bitter an Enemy of our Religion as Julian was If he owned it we may be sure it was very great and exemplary So that you see that the Christian Religion had a very great Power and Efficacy upon the Lives and Manners of Men when it first appeared in the World And the true Spirit and Genius of any Religion the Force of any Institution is best seen in the primitive Effects of it before it be weakned and dispirited by those Corruptions which in time are apt to insinuate themselves into the best things For all Laws and Institutions are commonly more vigorous and have greater Effects at first than afterwards and the best things are apt in time to degenerate and to contract Soil and Rust And it cannot in Reason be expected otherwise So that though it be a thing to be bewailed and by the greatest Care and Diligence to be resisted yet it is not so extremely to be wonder'd at if Christianity in the space of Sixteen Hundred Years hath abated much of its first Strength and Vigor Especially considering that there were several Circumstances that gave Christianity mighty Advantages at first especially the miraculous Powers which did accompany the first Publication of the Gospel which must needs be full of Conviction to those who saw the wonderful Effects of it The extraordinary Operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men to dispose them to the receiving of it The persecuted and suffering State that Christians were generally in which made those who embraced the Profession to be generally serious and in good earnest in it and kept up a continual Heat and Zeal in the Minds of Men for that Religion which cost them so dear and for which they suffer'd so much And the fury of their Enemies against it did naturally inflame their Love and Kindness to one
in his bosom As corporal Acts are attributed to God in Scripture so likewise to separated Souls In Hell he lift up his Eyes being in Torments Intimating to us that this sensual and voluptuous Man had stupidly past away his Life without any serious Thoughts and Consideration but now at last he was awakened when it was too late and began to consider In Hell he lift up his Eyes being in Torments O the Stupidity of Sinners who run on blindly in their Course and never open their Eyes 'till they are fallen into the Pit who cannot be brought to consider 'till Consideration will do them no good 'till it serve to no other purpose but to enrage their Consciences and to multiply the Stings of them Thus it was with this Rich Man he lift up his Eyes being in Torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom Our Saviour represents him as seeing that which would then most probably come to his Mind Feeling his own Misery he began to consider the happy Condition of the poor Man whom he had so cruelly neglected And indeed one great part of the Torment of Hell consists in those Reflections which Men shall make upon the Happiness which they have wilfully lost and neglected and the Sins whereby they have plunged themselves into that miserable State Ver. 24. And he cried and said Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his Finger in Water and cool my Tongue for I am tormented in this Flame See how the Scene is changed now he is fain to beg Relief of the Beggar who had sued to him in vain Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his Finger in Water and cool my Tongue Here is another very decent Circumstance the Rich Man is represented as not having the Face to beg any great Relief from Lazarus towards whom he had been so hard-hearted To dip the tip of his Finger in Water to cool his Tongue had been a very great Favour from Lazarus to whom the Rich Man had denied even the Crumbs which fell from his Table For I am tormented in this Flame The Scripture loves to make use of sensible Representations to set forth to us the Happiness and Misery of the next Life partly by way of Condescension to our Understandings and partly to work more powerfully upon our Affections For whilst we are in the Body and immers'd in Sense we are most apt to be moved by such Descriptions of things as are sensible and therefore the Torments of wicked Men in Hell are usually in Scripture described to us by one of the quickest and sharpest Pains that Human Nature is ordinarily acquainted withal namely by the pain of Burning Fire being the most active thing in Nature and therefore capable of causing the sharpest Pains But we cannot from these and the like Expressions of Scripture certainly determine that this is the true and proper Pain of Hell All that we can infer from these Descriptions is this that the Sufferings of wicked Men in the other World shall be very terrible and as great and probably greater than can possibly be described to us by any thing that we are now acquainted withal for who knows the Power of God's Anger and the utmost of what Omnipotent Justice can do to Sinners For as the Glory of Heaven and the Joys of God's Presence are now inconceivable so likewise are the Torments of Hell and the Miseries of the Damned Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man those dreadful things which God prepares for them that hate him Who can imagine the utmost significancy of those Phrases which the Scripture uses to set forth this to us of God's being a consuming Fire of being tormented in Flames of God's Wrath and Jealousy smoaking against Sinners and all the Curses that are written in his Book falling upon them Who can conceive the Horror of those Expressions of the Worm that dies not and the Fire that is not quenched of God's pouring out the Vials of his Wrath of being deliver'd over to the Tormentor of being thrust into utter Darkness of being cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone These forms of Speech seem to be borrowed from those things which among Men are most dreadful and affrighting and to be calculated and accommodated to our Capacities and not so much intended to express to us the proper and real Torments of Hell as to convey to us in a more sensible and affecting manner the sense of what the Scripture says in general that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Ver. 25. But Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Abraham said Son remember It is very observable how our Saviour chuses to represent to us the discourse between Abraham and the Rich Man tho' there was the greatest difference between them imaginable the one was in Heaven and the other in Hell yet they treated one another civily Abraham is brought in giving the common terms of Civility to this wretched wicked Man and calling him Son Son remember It was indeed a very severe thing which he said to him he put him in mind of his former Prosperity and of his Fault in his unmerciful Usage of Lazarus Remember Son that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and Lazarus c. But yet whilst he speaks such sharp things to him he ' bates bad Language A Man may say very severe things where a just Occasion requires it but he must use no reviling rem ipsam dic mitte male loqui say the thing but use no bad Language And this as one says is the true art of Chiding the proper Stile wherein we must use to reprove If we do it with Malice and Anger and Contempt it is misbecoming even tho' we despair of doing good but if we hope for any good Effect we are like to miss of it this way for as the Apostle says excellently the wrath of Man worketh not the righteousness of God Some think that Abraham gives the Rich Man the Title of Son ironically and by way of Jeer but without all reason For surely there is not so much bad Nature in Heaven as to scoff at those who are in Misery Besides that we find our Saviour observing this Decorum of good Language in other of his Parables as particularly in that of the King who invited Guests to the Marriage of his Son Matth. 22.11 When the King saw there the Man that came without his Wedding Garment tho' he past a very severe Sentence upon him yet he gives him the common terms of Civility Friend how camest thou hither This should teach us Christians how we ought to demean our selves towards those who are at the greatest distance from us and how we ought to behave our selves
the mediation of Angels seems not to be true for St. Stephen tells us that the Law was given by the disposition of Angels Acts 7.53 And St. Paul that it was ordained by the Angels in the hand of a Mediator that is Moses Gal. 3.19 But that the Revelation which was made to him had some singular Prerogatives above those of other Prophets is plain from Scripture Numb 12.5 6 7 8 when Aaron and Miriam contended with Moses as being equal to him God tells them that there was a vast difference between him and other Prophets Hear now my Words if there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known unto him in a Vision and will speak unto him in a Dream My Servant Moses is not so With him will I speak Mouth to Mouth even apparently and not in dark Speeches c. Ex. 33.11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a Man speaketh unto his Friend Deut. 34.10 And there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face All which signify at least this that God made the clearest and most familiar and most perfect Discoveries to Moses of any of the Prophets only our Lord Jesus Christ by whom God hath discovered his Will to us under the New Testament did excel Moses Moses being but a faithful Servant that is humilis amicus a meaner sort of Friend but the Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God who came from the bosom of his Father and was intimately acquainted with the secrets of his Will and had not the Spirit given him by measure but the most plentiful Effusion of it being anointed above his Fellows Now these being the several sorts and degrees of Revelation which God hath made of himself to the World the Holy Scriptures are a System or Collection of these the authentick Instrument or Record by which the things revealed any of these ways are transmitted to us and is therefore call'd the Word of God as containing those things which God in several Ages hath spoken to the World that is matters of Divine Revelation which are necessary to be known by Men in order to their Eternal Happiness And this being now the great and standing Revelation of God which is to continue to the end of the World I intend to limit my Discourse solely to this as being the only Revelation which we are concern'd to enquire after And therefore in the 3 d Place to shew you what Advantages this standing Revelation of the Scriptures hath above private Revelations made to particular Persons and frequently repeated and renewed in several Ages that so it may appear both agreeable to the Wisdom of God to settle Revelations in this way as being more commodious and likewise to his Goodness it being a real Priviledge which these later Ages of the World enjoy that they have a more fixt and certain way of being acquainted with the Will of God than those Ages had which were govern'd by such private Revelations as were now and then made to particular Persons And the Advantages are these 1. It is a more certain way of conveyance of things and more secure and free from Imposture Suppose a Revelation made to a particular Person which is of general Concernment that this may have a general and lasting effect he must impart it to others as many as he can and give them the best Assurance he can of it and these must relate it to others and so it must pass from hand to hand to be delivered from Parents to their Children Now this way of conveying a Revelation by Oral Report must needs be liable to many Uncertainties both by involuntary Mistakes through Weakness of Memory or Understanding and wilful Falsifications and Impostures out of Malice and Design So that the effect of an unrecorded Revelation can neither be large nor lasting it can but reach a few Persons and continue a little while in its full Credibility and the further it goes the weaker like Circles made in Water which the more they inlarge themselves and the longer they continue the less discernable they are 'till at length they quite disappear Whereas being once recorded by Persons secured from Error by Supernatural and Divine Assistance they are not liable to those easie Falsifications or Mistakes which traditional Reports and Relations are necessarily through human Malice or Weakness liable to 2. It is a more general and universal way of Conveyance Which is evident from the common Experience of the World who have pitched upon this way of writing things in Books as that which doth most easily convey the knowledge and notice of things to the generality of Men. 3. It is a more uniform way of Conveyance that is things that are once written and propagated that way lye equally open to all and come in a manner with equal Credit to all it being not morally possible that a common Book that passeth through all hands and which is of vast Importance and Concernment should be liable to any material Corruption without a general Conspiracy and Agreement which cannot be but that it must be generally known So that considering the commonness and universal Concernment of this Book of the Scriptures all Men are in a manner equally that is every Man is sufficiently and competently assur'd of the credit of it that is that we are not in any material thing imposed upon by false Copies But in traditional Revelation it is quite otherwise Traditional being a very unequal and ununiform way of Conveyance For seeing it may be of general Concernment and all cannot have it at the first hand that is immediately from him to whom it was made but some at the second others at the third fourth or fifth hand or much further off the Credit of it will be necessarily weakned by every Remove A Report that comes through many Hands being like the Argument we call Induction and as the Strength and Goodness of that depends upon the Truth of every one of those Instances that make it up so that if any of them fail the whole Argument is naught so the credit of a Report that passeth through twenty hands depends upon the Integrity and Sufficiency of all the Relators and whatever there is either of Falshood and Malice or of Incapacity of Understanding or Frailty of Memory in any of the Relators so much Weakness is derived into the Report or Testimony and consequently the assurance which we can have of a private Revelation which is deliver'd traditionally through a great many Persons must needs be very unequal 4. It is a more lasting way of Conveyance Which likewise appears by Experience we having now nothing at all of the History of ancient times but what is conveyed down to us in Writing 5. It is a more human way of Conveyance which requires less of Miracle and supernatural Interposition for the Preservation of it This Book of the Scriptures may with ordinary
human Care be transmitted intire and free from any material Error to all succeeding Ages But Revelations unwritten if they have any lasting and considerable Effect they must at least in every Age be renewed and repeated otherwise in a very short space either through the unfaithfulness or carelessness and frailty of Men they will either be quite lost or so corrupted and depraved that they will signifie nothing From all which it appears that we have so little cause to murmur and repine at the Providence of God which in these later Ages of the World does not make those more immediate Discoveries and Manifestations of himself to us that he did to former Ages that we have rather great reason to admire the Wisdom and Goodness of God's Providence which hath privileged us with this standing Revelation of his written Word which hath so many ways the Advantage of frequent and extraordinary Revelation and in respect of the generality of Mankind is much more useful and effectual to its end I know there are some that have endeavour'd to perswade the World that Doctrines may much better be preserved by common Rumor and Report than by Writing and Record but I hope there is no Man so destitute of common Sense as to believe them contrary to the Experience of all Men. I come now to the 4 th thing I propos'd to be consider'd namely That there is sufficient Evidence of the Divinity of the Scriptures By the Divinity of the Scriptures I mean that they were revealed by God and that the things contained in them were not invented by Men but discovered to Men by God and that the Pen-men of these Books did not write their own private Conceptions but were inspired by the Holy Ghost Now if we can be satisfy'd of this we ought to receive the Scriptures with the same reverence as if an Angel from Heaven should declare these things unto us or as if God should immediately reveal them to our Minds for nothing can come with greater Authority than this that we believe it to be revealed by God and provided we be assured of this it matters not which way the thing hath the same Authority Now that we have sufficient Evidence of the divinity of the Scriptures will best appear by considering what is sufficient to give Authority to a Book so that no prudent or reasonable Man can question but that the Book was writ by him whose Name it bears For what Evidence we would accept of for the Authority of other Books we must not refuse in this case for the Scriptures if we do we deal unequally and it is a sign that we do not want Evidence for the Authority of the Scriptures but that we have no mind to believe them Now the utmost Authority that any Book is capable of is that it hath been transmitted down to us by the general and uncontroll'd Testimony of all Ages and that the Authority of it was never questioned in that Age wherein it was written nor invalidated ever since And this Evidence we have for the Authority of the Scriptures As for the Old Testament I shall not now labour in the proof of that by Arguments proper to it self but shall take the Divinity of them upon the Authority of the New which if it be proved is sufficient Evidence for it tho' there were no other Now for the Scriptures of the New Testament I desire but these two things to be granted to me at first 1. That all were written by those persons whose Names they bear and for this we have as much Authority as for any Books in the World and so much as may satisfie Men in other cases and therefore not to be rejected in this 2. That those who wrote those Books were Men of Integrity and did not wilfully falsifie in any thing and this cannot reasonably be denied because these very Persons gave the utmost Evidence that Men could give of their Integrity The highest attestation that any Man can give of the Truth of what he relates is to lay down his Life for the Testimony of it and this the Apostles did Now if this be granted that they did not falsifie in their Relations concerning the Miracles of Christ and his Resurrection and the miraculous Gifts which were bestowed upon the Apostles after his Ascension this is as great an Evidence as the world can give and as the thing is capable of that our Saviour was a Teacher come from God and that the Apostles were extraordinarily assisted by the Holy Ghost and if this be granted what can be desired more to prove the Divinity of their Writings But it may be said that tho' the Apostles were granted to be Men of Integrity and that they did not wilfully falsifie in their Relations yet they might be mistaken about those Matters But that they were not we have as much Evidence as can be for any thing of this Nature namely that the things which are related are plain sensible matters of Fact about which no Man need mistake unless he will and they did not write things upon the report of others who might possibly have designs to deceive but upon the surest Evidence in the world their own Knowledge and the Testimony of their Senses the things that we have seen and heard testifie we unto you So that if they were mistaken in these things no Man can be sure of any thing and by the same reason that we disbelieve the Authority of the Scriptures upon this account we must believe nothing at all This is in short the whole force of the Argument for the divinity of the Scriptures which I might have enlarged infinitely upon but I design now only briefly to represent to you that we who live at the distance of so many Ages from the time of this Revelation are not destitute of sufficient Evidence for the Authority of the Scriptures and such Evidence as they who reject in other Cases are esteemed unreasonable I should come now to the 5 th and last Thing namely that it is unreasonable to expect that God should do more for our Conviction than to afford us a standing Revelation of his Mind and Will such as the Books of the Holy Scriptures are But this I shall refer to another Opportunity in a particular Discourse upon the 31 verse which contains the main Design the Sum and Substance of this whole Parable SERMON XII The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Sermon III. Preach'd at Whitehall Anno 1678. LUKE XVI 31 If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead THESE Words are the Conclusion of that excellent Parable of our Saviour concerning the Rich Man and Lazarus and they are the final Answer which Abraham gives to the Rich Man's last Request who being in great Torment and not able to obtain any Ease for himself is represented as concerned for his Relations whom he had left behind him upon Earth lest they