the Sun or an Idol does in the opinion of other men There is no other reason as far as they know but only the common practice of the place where they live why they honour him as the great Lord who governs all Is not this a foul dishonour to our Saviour to have no better subjects nor a stronger hold than this of their hearts How little is he beholden to those who can justifie his Title upon no better principles than others make use of in the behalf of the Usurpers of Divinity But it reflects the greatest shame in our own faces that we should have such plentiful and good evidence in our Books and none at all in our minds What is that respect worth which we pretend to Religion if a false would have been accepted with as much affection as we have for the true had it not come too late The People would have Christ's Ministers to move their affections to carry them away with a torrent of words and earnest expressions But to what shall they carry them stay a while and answer that question If it be not to that which is true they will do you wrong to hurry them so violently and in such haste to that from which you ought rather to run away Now how shall you know whether it be to the Truth or no Must it not be proved by good reasons must they not make it evident and clear that they propound something which ought to be entertained before they can safely move any mans heart to embrace it But to what purpose is all this done if after all their labour you will not consider it If all this must be passed by as dry stuff and you will gape only for the application Consider I beseech you that if the affections you desire should be stirred be not grounded on good judgment which must be setled on some weighty reason they are so far from being so good as they ought that they may soon prove very hurtful and bad They dispose a man to be an empty Enthusiast to be rapt away with any passionate though idle story and to be set on fire by zealous expressions for any plausible though dangerous error In short such affections are indifferent to be either good or bad as it chances Therefore if you would have our Lord commend you for being of his Religion rather than of any other if you would have the praise of it study well such things as these which from the Holy writings I have propounded to be considered in the foregoing Treatise for you see the very bottom of his Religion stands upon them So shall you be satisfied also that your affections are truly good when you are moved with love towards him because you are sure and know as S. Peter speaks vi Joh. 69. that he is that CHRIST the Son of the living God Do you not think that many have a very tender melting affection for the Blessed Virgin Mary and that they are full of devotion to several other Saints and feel a great passion sometimes in their Prayers to them or in their commendation of them Have a care lest your affections to the Lord Jesus be no better than these How can you think that they are of an higher strain more than meer natural and imaginative things if you have no better reasons to prove that he is to be worshipped than they have to build their respect upon to those If you receive him for the King of Heaven upon the same account that she is set up for the Queen because it is the common opinion which you have suckt in with your Mothers milk c. your love to him is just like their love to her nothing Divine nor Heavenly but a natural passion which is as ready to spend it self upon any other person as on himself And here it will be fit to add that we ought to be very cautious what we believe because there are so many cheats in the world And of those above all others we ought to be well aware who would have us use no caution but greedily swallow without any chewing that which they deliver to us upon their word God you see would not have us believe without good reasons and reasons proportionable to the weight of the thing which we are to believe His Ministers appeal to the testimony of known Witnesses and where Witnesses offer themselves to us to prove any thing it is our duty sure to hear and examine them And we ought not to surrender our belief to any thing carelesly nor either out of idleness and sloth or being over awed by the confidence which any men assume to themselves content our selves with an implicite faith neglecting to search and prove and try all things which demand to have no less than our Souls resigned up unto them For that which commands our understanding and hath got authority there hath a right to govern our Will and command the whole man And therefore we had need take care what we suffer to seat it self in that throne for according as our opinions and judgments are so will our inclinations be both in our affections and in our lives It is a great commendation which Socrates gives Gebes that he was careful to enquire into all things and duly weigh them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and would not presently believe that which any body said though otherwise he had sufficient respect unto him That wariness which was in an Heathen sure doth as much or more concern us Christians Who ought to suspect those who would have us believe them without putting our selves to the trouble of much search It is a sign they mean to deceive for if God himself doth not expect to be believed unless there be good witnesses for that to which his Embassadors demand assent why should men be so presumptuous as to ask us to believe them blindly Or why should we be such obedient fools as to do more for them than God would have us do for himself He hath given us eyes and therefore we ought to look about us especially when men bid us wink and take any thing upon trust He hath endued us with Reason and therefore we ought to sift and try and examine that which is propounded to us And if any body say do not try nor examine you are not able to discern the differences of things believe as we teach for we cannot deceive you mark that man or company of men as the greatest Deceivers Who intend to impose something upon you which will not abide the test and for which they have no good proof if their pretences be examined You may be sure if they were well furnished with proofs they would not fear the trial but desire to have all brought to the touch-stone that Truth may be differenced from its counterfeit No body refuses to be judged but he that knows his cause is naught and fears he shall be cast Such men had need do all they can
hear plainly shewed they were not merely big words which they spake of being with God and our Saviour to see the Glory which the Father had given him but things which they heartily expected For does any man find such inclinations in himself as should make him imagine they would have left their trades their houses their possessions their wives kindred friends all that is desirable in this world and perswade those who were the dearest to them to doe so too if they had not had an assurance upon such grounds as were apt to convince others as well as them of the recompence they should meet withall hereafter in a better life Who can believe that St. Paul would have quitted all his Dignities his hopes of greater preferment his esteem and reputation with the wisest and chiefest persons in the Nation his ease and quiet and every thing else and betaken himself to the troublesome service of a despicable Master if he had not known and seen it as clearly as the Sun in the firmament that Jesus whom he served was raised from the dead and made the King of Glory and would prefer all those that proved faithfull to him unto the greatest honour in the heavens For what reason should those good men live as having nothing and all the time be as chearfull as if they possessed all things Did they not look upon themselves think you as heirs of a Kingdom which could not be taken away from them Reade St. Paul's description of himself to Timothy 2. iii. 10 11. who he says had fully known his doctrine and manner of life not onely what he had been wont to teach but how he had followed his own instructions what his purpose and aim had ever been his fidelity his lenity towards offenders his charity to all Christians his patience under troubles of all sorts for he was persecuted and endured great afflictions by that means at Antioch where they thrust him out of the city at Iconium where an assault was made upon him to stone him at Lystra where they actually stoned him And in how many other places he had been vilely used Timothy he says could not be ignorant having been a companion with him in his travels xvi Act. 3. Now what think you of such a person as this Do you take him for a dolt and an ignorant sot Was this great Apostle a mere lump of clay who was sensible of nothing and imagined others so senseless as that he might without any reason propound this example to Timothy for his imitation How came they to be so stupefied as to chuse rods and whips and stones and all other miseries when they might have lived in ease and peace Nay to glory in these things alone as if there had been nothing that could have done them such honour 2 Cor. xii 5 They did both hunger and thirst as I noted from the same Apostle in my former Book 2 Cor. iv 11. they were naked and buffetted they had no certain dwelling-place they laboured working with their own hands being reviled they blessed being persecuted they suffered it they were made as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things Which things no body in his wits can think men of their understanding would have endured if they had not been provided of meat which the world knew not of and been nourished and sustained with the hope of glory and assured of eternall mansions in the heavens and known that they should inherit a blessing and be made more honourable and glorious with Jesus for ever then the World for the present could make them vile and contemptible These things are so clear that the bare recitall of them is sufficient to satisfie us they were no deceivers nor men of light belief who took things upon trust without good evidence but had the greatest reason to endeavour to baptize all Nations into this belief as they did by an indefatigable diligence which was no small testimony of the power and glory of the Lord Jesus II. And their BLOUD speaks as much For as none of them saith St. Paul xiv Rom. 7. lived to himself so none of them died to himself but consecrated even his bloud to the Service of Christ if he pleased to command it Whereby they sealed to this Truth and shewed they were so far from doubting of immortall Life by the Lord Jesus that they unfeignedly desired to be dissolved and to be with him Witness St. Stephen who was stoned because he said he saw the Lord Jesus in the highest glory which he was never more assured of then when he died for then he recommended his Spirit to him as our Saviour had done his to God the Father Witness Antipas a faithfull Martyr Witness all those Souls whom St. John saw beneath the Altar who had all learnt from our Saviour what they must expect in his Service when he said The Brother shall deliver up the Brother to death and the Father the Child and the Children shall rise up against their Parents and cause them to be put to death And ye shall be hated of all men for my Name 's sake Under which afflictions they had nothing to support them but that which he immediately adds He that endureth to the end shall be saved x. Matth. 21 22. These few words were a sufficient incouragement to them and made them not regard their lives for the sake of Christ Jesus who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospell For the which cause saith St. Paul I suffer these things and am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day 2 Tim. i. 10 12. And for this cause he would not have Timothy to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of him his prisoner ver 8. but to imitate him by being partaker of the afflictions of the Gospell which he endured as he adds in the next Chapter ver 10. for the elects sake that they also might obtain the Salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternall glory The Apostles nothing doubted that they themselves should obtain Salvation and immortall glory this way and they hoped likewise by their constant sufferings even to the death to draw others also to the faith or confirm them in it that they might have a share with them in this happiness and be willing to suffer for it For it is a faithfull saying he adds that if we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him ver 11 12. I shall conclude this with that Discourse of St. Paul 1 Cor. xv 30 31 32. where he alledges this among other reasons to confirm that Church in the belief of the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come that He and the rest of the preachers of Christian Religion would not
have been such fools as to have suffered in that manner they did had they not seen plain demonstrations of this truth For they were so miserably treated that they carried their lives in their hand and were every hour for any thing they knew at the brink of the grave He for his part had been compelled to encounter with wild beasts on the Theatre at Ephesus so some ancient Writers understand him who knew there was nothing more common with the Pagans then to cry Christiani ad Leones Away with the Christians to the Lions and it was a punishment to which the vilest Malefactors were subject particularly Magicians as we learn from another Paul * L. v de receptis sentemiis the Lawyer or at least he ran as great hazzards as those men did who were exposed unarmed to the fiercest creatures such as Lions Bears Tigers Leopards wild Boars and Bulls and Dogs To every one of which we have examples of Christians in the Ecclesiasticall Story that were condemned And it was for no other cause but this that he preached Jesus and the Resurrection How could they think him so senseless as to put his life in such danger upon this account if he was not fully perswaded of that for which he suffered so much nay had not good ground to be of this belief He knew the value of life as well as other men He was no stone nor block as I have said that had no feeling of pain He naturally loved ease and quiet and pleasure as well as the rest of the world And his education had not been such as to incline him to believe things carelesly especially such a thing as this quite contrary to all his former principles and as contrary to his present preferments and future hopes And therefore without imputing to him the highest degree of folly and stupidity the Corinthians could not disbelieve what he preached of the Life to come Concerning which he had received such full satisfaction and was convinced of it by such undeniable arguments that he chose rather to lose his life then to deny it or not to preach it III. And that He and the rest of the Apostles were not deceived nor judged amiss in this matter the mighty power of the SPIRIT which wrought continually in them and with them abundantly testified This was sufficient not onely to satisfy them but to satisfy the rest of the world that Jesus as they said was alive and made the Lord of all who was ready at hand on all occasions to bear witness to this Truth when they preacht it that he would give Eternall Life unto his followers This power of the SPIRIT going along with them was a thing so notorious that the Pagans in some places cried out the GODS are come down to us in the likeness of men and could scarce be restrained from doing divine honours to them xiv Act. 11 18. And whereas there had been some wonderfull things heretofore done among the Jews if we may believe themselves they now all ceased as if God had transferred all power on earth into the Apostles hands For they tell us there were Ten Signs in the House of the Sanctuary * Pirke Avoth cap. v. which never failed as that no woman ever miscarried by the smell of the flesh that was burnt upon the Altar no fly was ever seen in the House nor did the flesh of the Sanctuary ever stink nor the rain ever extinguish the fire nor the greatest winds hinder the smoak from ascending in a straight pillar towards heaven c. But forty years before the Sanctuary was destroyed all these Miracles ceased according to that of the Psalmist which they apply to this business * Talmud Bab. in Joma apud Raimund p. 297. We see not our signs nor is there any prophet to tell us how long lxxiv. 9. When the veil of the Temple was rent in sunder God who dwelt in the Holy place left his habitation and went out at that breach to return no more thither All the wonders were now without those doors in the open streets in every house in the whole world Which was a notable sign that Jesus was Christ and alive from the dead by whose power the Apostles professed to doe all their wonderfull works By these they proved that he was exalted at God's right hand and sate as he said he would on the throne of his Glory And their proof was the stronger because there was no great thing done as formerly there had but onely what was wrought by their hands who reigned now with him as so many Princes and sate on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel xix Matth. 28. xxii Luk. 30. They were supreme Governours whose office it is to judge in the Church under our Lord Christ it plainly appeared by the mighty power wherewith their Gospell was accompanied Which came as St. Paul tells the Thessalonians not in word onely but in power and in the Holy Ghost That is in Miraculous works and in extraordinary gifts which brought along with them a full assurance insomuch that he left it to them to tell the world what manner of men they were among them And if any enquire what was the effect of it he tells us that they were perswaded by this miraculous power to turn from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come 1 Thess i. 9 10. This was the fruit of their labours and travels to convince a number of people by wonderfull operations upon the sick nay upon the dead and by gifts of the Holy Ghost that Jesus was raised from the dead and possessed of Eternall life in the heavens from whence he will come to bestow it upon the faithfull whom he will never susser to perish but rescuing them from destruction make them ever happy with himself And whosoever afterward revolted from this Faith I may adde and set themselves to oppose it the Apostles shewed their power which was a great witness to Christianity as much in their plagues and punishments as in the cures they wrought upon others It may well be thought that those in the Corinthian Church who did not believe the Resurrection were reclaimed from their errour by that Letter which St. Paul wrote to them for we hear nothing of it more in the next Epistle But some there were in other places that obstinately persisted in their folly and not contented to disbelieve what the Apostles taught in this matter contradicted and blasphemed it Two of them are named in the 2 Tim. ii 17 18. Hymeneus and Philetus who taught that the Resurrection was past and consequently denied the rewards of the Life to come The occasion of their erring thus from the faith seems to have been this that the Apostles often speaking of a spirituall resurrection from a state of sin to the life of
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
Pharisees that he hath sometimes suffered himself to be commanded by his Copartners it hath ever been with the same design that cunning Gamesters have who permit a meer bungler to beat them a set or two only to draw them in to play for a greater stake He never gives way to any of his Friends or seems to be afraid of their authority over him but it is to bring Men to an acknowledgment of his power or to seduce them to the performance of some magical services to him Whereas our Saviour demanded no other reward for all his charitable Cures but this alone that they whom he had thus obliged should thank GOD and give him glory and sin no more To this purpose Origen admirably discourses in the latter end of his first Book against Celsus It is senceless to think that any of his Miracles were done by Magick for there never was any Magician that called Men to the forsaking of the Devil and all Idolatry and perswaded them to amend their lives in good earnest They never instructed them in the fear of God by all their wonderful tricks nor taught those that saw them so to live as those that are to be tryed and judged by God This is none of their business They neither can nor will carry on such a design nor have any thing to do with the amendment of Mankind being themselves full of all filthiness and swarming with the most abominable Vices But he who by all the wonderful things he did called the spectators to the correction of their manners and the amendment of their lives propounded himself also not only to his familiar disciples but to all others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a pattern and example of the best and most excellent life That so both his Disciples might be instructed to teach Men the will of God and others being taught by his Word and manners more than by his Miracles how to live might have respect to nothing else in all they did but how to please God Now if the life of Jesus was such as this what Man of sence is there that can compare him with Magicians and not rather believe him to be God appearing in an humane body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be a benefactor to Mankind and bestow the greatest blessings on us But because this Argument is very large let us draw it into a narrower compass and take particular notice onely of these two sorts of miraculous works casting out of Devils and raising the dead I. As for the former the casting of Devils out of a number of distracted and mad or melancholy People whose depraved imaginations were oft-times furiously moved by the power of evil spirits it is the more remarkable because it declares he had as great a power over the invisible World as they saw him have over the bodies of Men and over the water the winds and things growing upon the Earth all which yield some examples of his Miraculous works Who could this be but the Lord of Angels and Men and all other things who commanded the Prince of the power of the Air and all his Legions and they could not resist him Was it not an Argument that God was with him as S. Peter speaks when no created power whatsoever could withstand him For you may observe further 2. That there were no kind of Devils which did not presently give place when he required them to come out There might have been some colour as Athanasius well observes * Di incarn verbi p. 103. to say he cast out Devils by Beelzebub if he had not expelled all though never so numerous and never so outragious The Prince of Devils might have been supposed to have had power over the lesser fry But since it was apparent that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the fury and madness of Daemons fled before him at the very mention of his Name we must confess that our Lord and Saviour was no Daemonaical power but the very Son of God the Word as he speaks the Wisdome and the Power of the Father Nay 3. he not only expelled them himself but gave his Twelve Apostles authority to cast them out Thereby showing he came to deliver Men from the dominion of the Devil in that he gave the meanest Men such power over him Go ye says he x. Matth. 7.8 and preach saying The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand heal the sick cleanse the lepers raise the dead cast out Devils freely ye have received freely give This was long before they received the HOLY GHOST presently after they were called into his attendance and therefore was a portion of the SPIRIT which testified their CHRIST or KING was not far off but would shortly visit them For they were sent to prepare the people for him as seventy two Disciples more were afterward though with a less portion of the SPIRIT than the twelve Apostles had For when he sent them with the same commission to preach that the other had we read of no other power given them but to heal the sick in every City whereinto they came x. Luke 9. But they were possessed with such an high opinion of the power of their Master who sent them that they adventured further and in his name cast out Devils as well as healed sick people For when they returned back to give him an account they tell him with no small joy Lord even the Devils are subject unto us through thy name ver 17. Which might well have such power though they had no particular authority given them to cast out Devils by it since it was very terrible to them you may observe further 4. when pronounced by those who were not of our Saviours company So S. Mark relates ix 38. that S. John brought a report to him of a man whom they had seen casting out Devils in his name and yet was none of his followers for we forbad him says he because he followeth not us To which Jesus replies that there was no cause to prohibite him for this must needs prove a convincing argument to the man himself if not to others that he was the Christ ver 39. There is no man which shall do a miracle in my name that can lightly speak evil of me Of this sort they seem to have been to whom our Saviour appeals when the Pharisees accused him of confederacy with Beelzebub That 's strange saith He did you ever hear of a Devil cast out in the name of any Magician In my name there is even by those who are more related to you than they are to me Let them therefore determine this matter That seems to be the sence of those words xii Matth. 27. By whom then do your children cast them out therefore they shall be your Judges There are those who are none of my Disciples but yours that use my name for the casting out of Devils who immediately fly before them What do you think of them do they deal with Beelzebub I
know you will not pass such a judgment on your own disciples and therefore this fact of theirs condemns your partiality and proves my Divine vertue Nay the Devils themselves we find 5. were so astonished at this power which they felt in his name that thereupon they acknowledged him to be the CHRIST For that 's their meaning when they confessed him to be the HOLY ONE of God i. Mark 24. And so S. Luke expounds it iv 41. The Devils also came out of many crying out and saying Thou art the Christ the Son of God And 6. the most unprejudiced people who could not be worse than Devils took this miraculous work of the SPIRIT to be an argument of it xii Matth. 23. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a Devil blind and dumb and he healed him insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw And all the people were amazed and said Is not this the Son of David By that name they called their KING whom they expected with the power of working more miracles than any Prophet before had done vii John 31. And therefore 7. when Cornelius and his company were desirous to hear of S. Peter all things that were commanded him of God x. Acts 33. he refers them to this in the first place after he had mentioned his being anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power as an argument why they should believe in Jesus that he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil And he offers himself together with others as witnesses of all things that he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem Which were the more wonderful I must add 8. in the last place because he was a person of such mean education Nothing like to Moses in this who was bred up in Pharaohs Court and acquainted with all the learning of the Egyptians But Jesus was bred up privately and in an homely manner having no advantages at all from a liberal institution Which was the cause that the people of his own Country who knew how he had been trained up were astonished saying xiii Matth. 54 55. Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works Is not this the Carpenter's Son is not his Mother called Mary and his brethren James and Joses and Simon and Judas And his sisters are they not all with us whence then hath this man all these things That is do not we know him and all his kindred How comes he to be wiser and more powerful than they His parentage is poor his breeding was in a Carpenters house he never learnt of any of the Doctors and Masters in Israel nor was otherways disciplin'd than we our selves where then did he learn his skill and who gave him this power This was a just cause of astonishment but none at all of offence as S. Matthew in the following words ver 57. tells us it proved That which made them stumble should have rather drawn them to him and wrought faith in them when they saw such wonderful things done and such excellent things said by one that could not have them unless it were from God It could be no part they might easily think of the Devils craft to dispossess himself and therefore they ought to have concluded that he was the enemy of the Devil and indeed the destroyer of him whom God promised to send into the world And so they would have concluded had not their eyes been blinded with the splendour and pomp of this world and with the love of riches and such like things Which made them readier to follow a man that by the force of arms and their assistance promised to subdue the Roman Legions than him who by one word speaking they saw could cast out Legions of Devils Which naughty temper of mind is that which still prejudices men against the faith and makes their hearts indisposed to receive Christianity They prefer the world before God and love their bodies better than their souls otherwise they would find themselves inclined to believe in the name of Christ If they considered what God is what honour is due unto him and what it is that will make a Soul truly happy and desired this above all other things they would presently see that none ever glorified God so much as our Saviour none so plainly taught the world what worship honour and observance is to be given to him none ever so contrived the improvement and happiness of our immortal Spirits and so they would be disposed to hearken with due reverence and serious attention to what these Witnesses say concerning him Nay did they but prudently consult the good of their bodies only and had respect not merely to their present satisfaction but to their perpetual felicity it would certainly provoke them to examine carefully the Testimony which God hath given him because he promises to change these vile bodies and make them glorious by that power whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself And there is not the least reason to doubt of his power now that he is in Heaven since it was so miraculous while he was here upon Earth that He frequently raised the dead Which is the second thing of which I am to speak a few words II. And there is nothing of this kind like to that of Lazarus his rising to life again after he had been dead four days and was already so far putrified as his friends thought that they disswaded our Saviour from having his Tomb opened lest it should prove offensive and noisom to him For with this S. John concludes all that he had to say of our Saviours miraculous works there being nothing that could be thought of beyond it For it never entred into the mind of any man to think that a person really dead as Lazarus undoubtedly was could be restored to life by any power but that which gives us life the power of Almighty God And therefore our Lord plainly designed this as the last thing he could do for their satisfaction while he was on Earth to prove that he was the Son of God Else Lazarus had not died but he would have gone and prevented it as he did in many other cases For when he heard that Lazarus was sick he would not stir from the place where he was notwithstanding the love he had both for him and for his two sisters So S. John observes when he tells us xi John 5 6. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus When he had heard therefore that he was sick he abode two days still in the same place where he was This is a strange reason for his making no more haste being at a great distance also from him One would think that he should have said THEREFORE he began his journey presently into Judea that he might come time enough to save him whom he loved But he resolved the quite contrary because the Son of God was to be glorified
whereby the nature of things is inverted so that it appears it could not have been done by any power but only by his who is the author of Nature and made all the things we see out of nothing at all And secondly this miracle must not be wrought in secret but to gain belief it must be done before the eyes of a multitude who may see it and be satisfied of the truth of it And lastly diligent inquiry must be made and it must be examined strictly that no doubt may be left in mens minds but they may be fully satisfied it is no fancy nor done by any trick or subtile imposture Now if we consult this History of Lazarus we shall find there is none of these wanting to settle the most doubtful mind in the belief of our Saviours Almighty power and authority For to raise the Dead is a work that exceeds all natural powers There is none that can restore life as has been said already but he who at the first gave it So much the Jewes themselves acknowledge who have a common saying that the Key of the Grave is one of the four keys which is kept in the hands of the Lord of the World alone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither to Angel nor to Seraph as the Jerusalem Targum speaks upon xxx Gen. 22. that is neither to lowest nor the highest of the Celestial Ministers is this power given but it is reserved to him onely that made them and all things else Now that our Saviour indeed raised a dead man there were many witnesses as you heard before from xi Joh. 45. where it is said that many of the Jews which came with Mary and had seen these things which Jesus did believed on him And the fame of it was so great that it drew a greater concourse of People thither to be satisfied of the truth of the report For he tells us xii 9. that much People i. e. a multitude of the Jews came to that place not for Jesus his sake only but that they might see Lazarus also whom he had raised from the dead Nay the Pharisees as I told you had the news of it brought to them by some that were present and had seen the things which Jesus did xi 46. who were curious enough no doubt to inquire into the business and had satisfied themselves that indeed he was dead laid in his Grave and continued in that state till according to the course of Nature he must begin to turn to corruption and stink Which was all that needed any proof for that he was now alive their eyes were witnesses And therefore they could not deny this miracle vers 47. But to extinguish the light and take away the convincing power of it they thought it was best to remove Lazarus out of the way and to put him to death as well as our Saviour For the sight of him converted a great many as you read xii 10 11. The chief Priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus It was a thing confessed then that this wonderful work had been done There was the testimony of the man himself and of his Sisters and of our Saviour's Disciples and of MANY of the Jews who were come to comfort Martha and Mary concerning their Brother xi 19. In so much that not long after our Saviour coming to the Feast of the Passover at Jerusalem Much people went forth to meet him and brought him in with a triumph due only to so great a Person saying Hosanna blessed is the KING of Israel that cometh in the Name of the Lord xii 12. And if you would know what excited them to meet him it was the fame of this miracle which the eye-witnesses of it had brought to them as you read there ver 17 18. The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave and raised him from the dead BARE RECORD For this cause the people also met him for that they heard that he had done this miracle Here it is visible were two Troops or Companies both called much people one of which went from Jerusalem to Bethany to see Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead ver 9. The other met Jesus the next day as he was coming from Bethany to Jerusalem ver 12 13. For they had been informed by those who were present at the time when it was done that for certain Lazarus was raised from his grave by the word of Jesus and now they were confirmed in this belief by the company that went to Bethany the day before to enquire of it who testified to these that came to meet him that they found it to be an undoubted truth that he had been really dead and now was alive again by no other means but those words of his Lazarus come forth which might well make them all acknowledge him to be their KING who was come unto them in the name of the Lord as appeared by this miraculous work which none but the hand of Heaven could effect What heart would not be moved to bow to him who had such power over quick and dead who could think him to be less than the Lord of all who they saw was the Lord of life None but proud ambitious Pharisees who were afraid they should lose as much authority as he got These were more startled than ever to see such crouds of people flock after him to do him honour and to hear them applaud him as the great Son of David and follow him with their Hosanna's in the highest This made them despair of blasting his fame and discrediting him with the people as long as he lived and therefore they grew the more resolved to hasten the execution of their decree against him that he should be put to death For they said among themselves as you read in the following words ver 19. Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing behold the world that is vast multitudes is gone after him followed him that is as their KING notwithstanding all that had been done to disparage him They are forced here to speak more truth than they were aware of that it was in vain to oppose him For even when they had killed him they perceived presently that they prevailed nothing but found this literally true that indeed the world went after him Men of all Nations and not the Jews only followed him zealously and became his Disciples notwithstanding the scandal of the Cross which they had cast in their way to discourage them Of which there immediately follows in this story an illustrious presage For some Gentiles desiring to see our Saviour ver 20. there came a voice from Heaven upon his prayer that God would glorifie his own Name saying I have both glorified it and will glorifie it again ver 28. The glory of God that is had appeared lately as I have explained it before in
xvii Rev. 5 6. that the mother of harlots that one City Babylon was even drunk with the BLOUD of the Saints and with the BLOUD of the MARTYRS of Jesus A Sea of BLOUD flowed from their veins to cover the Earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord for whose cause they suffered themselves to be slain as so many innocent sheep that make no resistance This gave them the name of MARTYRS in English WITNESSES because they were beheaded for the WITNESS of Jesus and for the Word of God xx Rev. 4. that is they constantly affirmed him to be the LORD and chose rather to die and seal it with their BLOUD than not preach this Truth for which S. John also was now an Exile in a desolate place 1 Rev. 9. What was it think you that made them thus hot and eager to be the most miserable of all mankind to despoil themselves of all the comforts of life and to endure perpetually the pains of death From what cause was it that their bloud thus boiled in their veins and they were so zealously forward to have it let out It could be nothing but only this that they loved Jesus ardently and were extremely desirous if he thâ—ught it best to die in his service knowing that he would hear the cry of their bloud and reward them abundantly for all their sufferings S John beheld the Souls of those who were slain for the Word of â—od and the TESTIMONY which they held under the Alâ—ar vi Rev. 9. which signifies that they were sacrifices to God when they witnessed thus unto Jesus For by Souls in the language of the old Scriptures is often meant the Bloud i. e. the life which here was represented at the fooâ— of the Altar where the bloud of the acrifice used to be poured out They died in an holy cause they were very well assured and should be an offering well pleasing and of a sweet savour unto God else they would never have thus willingly offered their throats to the sacrificing knife of their bloudy persecutors No when it came to that they would have confest the truth sure if they had not preached it before A few of their sufferings would have taught them more wit than to lose their heads for the testimony of Jesus if they had not been verily perswaded they were in the right and ought to be his WITNESSES even with their bloud The scoffs of the Heathen would have been very reasonable if they had not dealt sincerely and been certain their Testimony was the Truth Who were wont to say as we read in Minutius Nec resurgitis miseri nec interim vivitis Miserable wretches you do but fancy you shall rise again and in the mean time you do not live You are hungry and pale and enjoy none of the pleasures of life and have no hope of being better you are dead To which he replies after a long demonstration of the evidence they had of what they believed Ita beati resurgimus futuri contemplatione jam vivimus So you see we shall rise again to blessedness and we live now in the blissful contemplation of it Yea they not only lived but they rejoyced and more than that they gloried in tribulations Which they could not have done had not their integrity been as great as this confidence and their sincere intentions upheld and supported their boldness Which was the greater you may be sure because as they bare witness to Jesus so God bare WITNESS to them as you read expresly ii Heb. 4. both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his will whereby he testified to them that they were honest men and did not cunningly follow devised fables when they made known to men the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were as the professed eye-witnesses of his Majesty Which is the next thing to be considered III. Hitherto I have only proved that they had all things necessary to make them credible witnesses being void of guile and such as could not be reasonably supposed to be mere inventors of what they preached Men who both knew what they said and did not speak contrary to their knowledge Nay men of eminent knowledge sanctity and zeal which made them more than common witnesses But still they were only humane Witnesses not divine nor could all this put it quite out of doubt and give a full assurance that what they said was true but only that they thought it to be true and were not likely to be deceived And therefore that they and those who heard their testimony might be sure and have infallible proofs as S. Lukes words are that they were not deceived and that the faith which relied upon their testimony might be Divine there followed the Witness of the SPIRIT which accompanied them as it had done our Saviour together with the Witness of the HOLY GHOST which he had promised to send them that they might be his Witnesses in all the world This was an undoubted evidence that they were men sent of God upon this message to preach Jesus and testifie that he was the Lord of all This made the faith of those who heard and believed them to be more than an humane perswasion because it relied not only on the word of men but upon the testimony of the Spirit of God It might have been a very strong faith without this because the men who reported it were persons of great vertue void of all fraud or worldly design but it could not have been Divine had not this Witness come and joyned its testimony with theirs For they would but have received the testimony of very pious and good men it was no more till the testimony of God himself came in such signs wonders miracles and various gifts as you have heard already and as you read of in many other places They went forth saith S. Mark speaking of all the Apostles and preached every where the Lord working with them and confirming the Word which they preached with signs following xvi 20. All places were filled with wonder as they were with the HOLY GHOST At Jerusalem for instance S. Steven as well as the Apostles full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people vi Acts 8. In Samaria S. Philip preached Christ and the people with one accord gave heed to the things which he spake hearing and seeing the miracles which he did for unclean Spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them and many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed viii 6 7. And at Thessalonica S. Paul tells them that his Gospel came not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance And at Iconium both he and Barnabas stai'd a long time speaking boldly in the Lord who gave testimony unto the Word of his grace and granted signs and wonders to be done
Are not the Witnesses good who affirm that Jesus is the Son of God Have we not examined them and find no cause why we should reject them Or will you receive nothing upon the credit of a Witness That 's a very strange obstinacy which rejects so certain a way of knowing many things that cannot be otherways known For the notices of things do not come to us all one way but by divers means either by our Senses or by our Reason and Discourse or by Report By all these ways the knowledge of things is conveyed to our Mind And if we refuse to be informed by any of them there are a great number of things certainly true and of great consequence to us of which we must remain ignorant That there are other Countries far distant from this where we live and that such and such things are there to be had and have been there done most Men can know by no means but only by report for there are but few that can go and see And he that will not receive the testimony of another in this case deprives himself of a considerable piece of knowledge whereof others partake and which might be as useful to him as it proves to them But if for this wilful loss he shall pretend to assign a just cause saying that he cannot believe any thing unless it be demonstrated to him by clear and evident consequences from Principles of known reason he will become ridiculous For it is absurd to expect the knowledge of any thing in any other way but that which is proper for its conveyance to us To demand a proof of a matter of reason from our senses or for what we discern by our senses from our reason is equally ridiculous and so it is to demand an evidence for things of Faith which we know by report only either from our Senses or our Reason That there are some things come to our notice only by Faith is plain from what passes every day And it is as plain that they must be proved to be true in their proper way that is by the soundness of the Testimony upon which we receive them As no man requires a reason for what he sees and feels nor asks that he may see with his eyes that of which he reasons and discourses so he ought not to seek for a testimony of sense or reason for that which he can know by no way but by report As for example no Man demands a reason to prove that the Sun shines In this his sense gives him satisfaction and if he were born blind no reason could prove to him that it was not Night Nor does any man that is in his wits require that he may behold God with his eyes whom he knows by discourse and the reason of his mind and knows him also by that to be invisible In like manner it is altogether preposterous when a man comes and reports that such a person dyed on such a day to ask for a reason to prove it or to demand that he may see it for it is impossible to see him dye again upon that day That is not a thing to be known either of those ways by sense or reason but only by the testimony of others who were present at that time and are we think worthy of belief Why do we ask then for any other proof that Jesus was born of a Virgin at such a time did such wonderful works preached such an holy Doctrine was crucified dead and buried rose again from the dead ascended to Heaven and sent from thence the Holy Ghost These are not things now to be seen or felt nor can we gather them from the meer discourse of our own reason which tells us nothing of them But we have them by report from a great many Witnesses who say they saw and heard and felt all that which they would have us believe There is no other use of reason in this case but only to examine and judge whether this report be credible and founded in the testimony of God Now that is evident to any impartial enquirer from what hath been said concerning these Witnesses whose report there is no reason to suspect as it is certain it can never be disproved Why should we then be so much our own enemies as to deprive our selves of this saving knowledge of Jesus Christ That is why do we not give credit to the report of these Witnesses concerning Jesus since by the only proper means whereby such things can be proved I have made it good that the Father declared him to be his Son and He appeared in Glory to testify to himself and the Holy Ghost demonstrated he could be no less and his Life Death Resurrection and all the rest of which there were so many upright Witnesses assure us that it is a certain truth Would we be so difficult to be perswaded to go to a Man or a Place where several honest neighbours informed us upon their word nay upon their life we should be promoted to great honor or be possessed of a fair estate Do we not believe one another in our daily traffick and drive considerable bargains merely upon the credit we give to some persons who inform us of the advantage we may make by them Do not men undertake long journeys and more dangerous voyages merely because they are told that such an one is dead to whom they are heir or that such rich commodities are to be had in exchange for meaner goods Who is there that does not desire his Witnesses may be accepted and their testimony taken for good proof either to clear his innocence or to settle his estate Now says the Apostle immediately after the alledging of all these Witnesses in Heaven and in Earth to prove the truth of Christianity If we receive the Witness of men the Witness of God is greater for this is the Witness of God which he hath testified of his Son The meaning of which is this If men whose honesty you cannot impeach give their testimony in a Court of Judicature it is never disallowed nor can you be permitted to set it by and make nothing of it but it is necessarily admitted for an end of strife The weightiest causes are decided all matters depending are determined and judged according to the evidence that is given by witnesses of unblemished faith In the mouth of two or three witnesses as the known saying was every word or rather matter is established That is brought to an issue and concluded if any controversie have arose to unsettle it Nay the testimony of one man if we have no reason to suspect his credit is in our own private thoughts though not in Law satisfaction great enough to assure us of the truth of what he says And we think it such a reproach to give him the lye that we cannot but believe him finding a desire in the same case to be believed our selves Now if things stand thus between us and
it a disparagement to their Master Moses did they not satisfie themselves with this ridiculous reason for it to be spoken unto after such a manner as the Scripture of truth relates then by their own confession it is a great honour to our Lord and Master and argues his high dignity that the Divine Majesty spake to him in such a way as they cannot but esteem most perfect and agreeable to his Divine Goodness And we may look upon this pure Light in which God is said to dwell as a sign that Heaven was to be opened by this Person and that he would restore us to the Glory of God of which we we all faln short and bring mankind to that joy and satisfaction of heart which the Disciples began to feel in themselves at this most comfortable sight And I make no question had not the holy Books told us so expresly that God spake to them in clouds and fire and vapour they would have fabled that he appeared to their Master in pure light and shone about him in the brightness of his glory without the least darkness to obscure it For I find that many of those things which the holy Story of the New Testament reports in honour of John Baptist or of our Blessed Saviour they have thrust into the Story of Moses where he himself in his Books hath not confessed the contrary to keep him in the greater credit with their Nation in this time of their calamitous desertion It being recorded for example that John Baptist was born when his parents were very old and could not believe it was possible for them to have a child which makes his birth a wonder being out of the course of Nature they have made bold to tell the same of Moses but with a large addition of years whose mother Jochebed they say was no less then an hundred and thirty years old when she was delivered of him which Aben Ezra in his Notes upon the text * A. Ezra in ii Exod. ver 1. is desirous should pass for a current truth And as we reade that when our Saviour came into the world the Glory of the LORD an exceeding great light from heaven shone round about the shepherds who had the first news of it which was intended as a note of his Divinity and heavenly descent So they have devised * R. Solomon in ii Exod. 3. that at the Nativity of Moses the house where he was born was filled with such a light that they could not see by reason of its splendour In like manner the Apostle proves our Lord to be greater then the Angels far above all principality and power c. i. Heb. 3 4. i. Eph. 19 20. and therefore Moses forsooth must be raised to this wondrous pitch â— Moses Haccozi whom some of their Rabbins all are not so immodest will have to be higher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then the Angels of Ministry far above all creatures as another expresses it both superiour and inferiour R. Joshuah F. Sobib in xxx Exod. As if they meant to equall him with that great Lord who we believe is raised far above every name that is named not onely in this world but also in that which is to come And because also our Lord we affirm and are sure is now the Minister of the heavenly Sanctuary where he presents his own bloud before God for us as Aaron did the bloud of beasts in the earthly Sanctuary therefore they likewise have feigned as Maimonides relates from the mouth of their Doctours * Ludov. Capell ex prâ—fat in Talm. Not. in xvii Matth. 3. that their Master Moses is not dead but ascended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and ministers to God in the heavenly places And because our Lord is here said to be transfigured on this Mountain and his face shone like the Sun they have therefore transformed Moses also who they say was found by the Angel of death whom God sent to the Mountain whether he was gone up to take away his life writing the great Name of God and his face was as the Sun and he himself like an Angel of the Lord. I have observed the same before about the Bath kol voice from heaven which spake to our Saviour whose glory they study to eclipse by spreading abroad a number of tales concerning the like approbation given to their Doctours I am bold to call these reports by that name and to ascribe them to that cause because there are no footsteps of such things in the history which Moses wrote of himself who by all just ways endeavoured to beget in them a belief that he was a Prophet sent of God and because such inventions might easily come into the minds of those obstinate persons who knew not how to confute Christianity which interest and prejudice would not let them receive but were desirous by any means though never so false to raise Moses to the same degree of greatness and esteem with the Authour and finisher of our faith But it is to be considered then that they suppose such things to be a notable sign of the excellency of that person to whom they really belong and consequently that our Lord Jesus who hath these very marks upon him which they would ingrave on Moses being thus described in those Books that are certainly Divine among us as clearly as Moses is in any other regards commended in those that are truly holy among them is a Great Prophet indeed far greater then Moses who never durst say any such thing of himself nor is so magnified by any of the succeeding Prophets the Authour of a better Covenant and of more divine Promises such as this of ETERNALL LIFE which it is most agreeable for him to bestow whose Kingdom was not in this world as Moses's was but he reigns in the other world Lord of all for evermore III. To him God the Father hath given a third Testimony unto which it is now time to pass and it is a very express Record of this Truth that we have Eternall Life and that it is in his Son It is set down you know in the xii Joh. 28. where upon our Saviour's request to God that he would glorifie his own Name a voice from heaven gave this answer I have both glorified it and will glorifie it again The particle it hath nothing answering to it in the Greek but is put in by the Translatours to supply the sense And some are of the opinion that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be understood and the meaning to be thus rendred I have both glorified thee and will glorifie thee again But there is no need of this we may as well refer the word glorifie to Name as our translation doth and it will come at last to the same sense for God's name was glorified by glorifying his Son Fragment L. viii in Joh. as appears from xi Joh. 4. And so St. Cyrill of Alexandria observed
and his wonders his mighty power and stretched-out arm all the grea◠acts of the Lord as they are called xi Deut. 7. which Chapter be pleased to reade unto that verse which were eminent tokens that GOD had taken the◠to be a peculiar or speciall people to himself as he frequently speaks and was able to fulfill his word to their Forefathers of giving them the Land wherein they were then strangers for their inheritance Just such as this is our case whom He hath called by his Son to an inheritance incorruptible and that fadeth not away reserved i◠heaven for us To obtain an eternall Redemption for us and deliver us out of the hands of all our enemies his own most precious BLOUD was shed as of a Lamb without spot or blemish Whereby also as you have heard he testified to the World that he was no Deceiver but came to them from God with the words of Eternall Life Many things concurred to make this BLOUD a witness of his Truth and of his power to fulfill his own promises And yet notwithstanding this was the very thing that offended many and kept them from following him They could not endure so much as to hear him speak of giving them his flesh to eat and his bloud to drink though he told them thereby he would give life to the World And therefore to strengthen this Testimony of his BLOUD and to convince them evidently that he was the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the World and gives life to it there was another Witness which attended it both before his BLOUD was shed and likewise afterward which was the SPIRIT That is as I shewed in the former Treatise on this subject the power he had to work wonders and the miraculous power which raised him from the dead and presented him to God in the heavens This was abundantly sufficient to prevent any offence they might take at Christ crucified and to settle in their hearts an unmovable belief that he was their mighty Redeemer who would bring them to the eternall Rest which he had promised For this is the last and greatest argument which St. John here produces ver 6. He came no◠onely by WATER but by BLOVD also and it is the SPIRIT that beareth witness for the SPIRIT is the Truth Or as Arias Montanus translates it the SPIRIT is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Witness that undoubted testimony on which we may certainly rely For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that SPIRIT which I speak of is truth an◠infallible Witness which cannot deceive you that Jesus is the Son of God And so it is likewise that Eternall Life is in him and that we shall enjoy it by his means for this RECORD of God is given to make us as sure of the one as we are of the other Let us briefly therefore consider first what his Miracles say to this and then secondly what force there is in his Resurrection and Exaltation to prove it I. And at our entrance upon the first of these let us before we go any farther weigh those words of this Apostle St. John in his Gospell xx 30 31. where he tells us that he wrote the signs which Jesus did suppose after his Resurrection in the presence of his disciples for this very purpose that they might believe that he was the Christ the Son of God and that believing they might have LIFE through his Name They were wrought by Him and recorded by his Disciples for these two ends that the World might be convinced He was the great Lord of all and that they might by faithfull subjecttion to him look for Eternall Life from his omnipotent love It was the design of all his wonderfull works throughout his whole life to which the Apostle may have respect as well as to those after his Resurrection to perswade men to believe that he would make his followers so happy For by these he manifested forth his glory as I observed before of the beginning of his Miracles in Cana of Galilee ii Joh. 11. and declared to the world he could work as great a change upon our mortall bodies as he did then upon the Water making them as much nobler then they are now as the Water excelled it self when it was become Wine They were mighty instances of his Power and of his Goodness too they made him appear to be the King of Israel who was to deliver and bring Salvation to them though much greater then they expected That our Lord did work Miracles is a truth which they that crucified him can no more deny then that he died The wisest of them could never find any colour to affirm that the Gospel-story was but a fabulous Legend which related Wonders that were never done For if they had been able to say this Maimonides the very best of them would not have been put to such distress as to let fall these words which we reade in his Treatise of Kings Cap. xi Do not imagine that the King Messiah shall have any need to work wonders or alter the course of Nature or restore the dead to life again with such like things that fools talk of Had he not known as well that these things could not be denied which are related of Jesus as he did that their force to prove any thing being granted they would be an unanswerable testimony to him he would never have thus slighted as he doth in many other Books things of this nature which brought the greatest reputation to Moses among their ancestours and were the cause why they believed on him though he attempted no such wonder as the raising dead men to life again Our Saviour he was not ignorant very often appealed to his works as the testimony of God to him and thought it sufficient to tell John's disciples when they came to inquire who he was that he opened blind mens eyes cleansed lepers and raised up the dead by which they might answer their own question And therefore something was to be said by this Jew to disparage these upon which he saw the credit of our Saviour in great part relied Now had it not been the readiest way to deny that there were such Miracles wrought Nothing but the notoriousness of the facts made him wave that course which drove him upon this wretched shift of denying utterly that Miracles are credible witnesses to him that works them By this means he thought to rob our Saviour of the glory they brought him and was so blind as not to see that at the same time he took away from his own Master the greatest support he had of his Authority And therefore herein he is deserted by his own Country-men particularly by Abarbinel who as I observed before makes the power of working Miracles one of the principall gifts of the Messiah In which our Lord it is apparent to his very enemies was so eminent that one cannot imagine why he did not believe on him unless with the
hath so contemned it as to prefer a little of this World before it be used as favourably in hell as if he had never heard of it What doth our Saviour mean then when he saith It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment then for those places where the Gospell of God's grace was preached This very thing will make the fire more devouring to think for what poor pleasures or gains they set at nought so stupendious a grace and that withall they have lost those things for which they lost Heaven When they see how inconsiderable all their past delights were it will make the madness seem greater and the more distract and torment their inraged Minds to think how dear they now pay for them The miserable Soul will then continually pour upon it self the hottest and most scalding thoughts of its own gross stupidity and senseless negligence It will flame with anger and burning wrath against it self for the frantick choice which it hath made And rolling it self in the fire of its own fretfull and impatient displeasure will take such a furious revenge upon it self as to become its own dreadfull executioner In this misery it will lie frying for ever sibique perpetuum pabulum subministrabit and afford to it self perpetuall fewell to keep alive the boiling rage and fierce displeasure it hath conceived against it self The stings thereof will be sharper and more frequently returning then any pain which we are now sensible of can represent The flashes of Lightning are not so searching and they will be as quick as the thoughts of a Spirit And what the hideous and dolefull groans of a Spirit are we cannot tell especially that lies under the load of this thought that it might have been as happy as now it is miserable You may take a review of what was said in the beginning concerning ETERNALL LIFE and by that make some judgment of the Misery of those who are so unhappy as to lose it They will be deprived of all that Bliss which the Souls and bodies of the just shall injoy and not be able to avoid the sorest pains which even from thence will necessarily arise For the greater you can suppose their knowledge of God to be in the other World which is the Life of pious Souls so muâ—â— the greater will their sorrow and heaviness be to think that they have lost the favour of the Creatour of the World the Fountain of all Good And when they behold the glory wherein the just appear with our Blessed Lord this will be a new grief to them and most miserably afflict their hearts whensoever they think what praise is given to those holy men whom they despised in what glory they shine and unto what dignity they are preferred and on the other side consider their own shame and reproach and how vilely they lie under a perpetuall curse pronounced against them before Angels and men by the Lord of all And it will increase the torment to consider that they are the cause of all this misery which they have drawn upon themselves Their negligence will come to mind which gave no heed to the Divine illuminations Their contumacy also which resisted the Divine motions Their horrid wickedness into which they ran against the cries even of their own consciences And these considerations they will not be able to avoid nor put off the thoughts of the greatness of their misery But they will stick close to them and perpetually sting them so that all their Knowledge which is so comfortable to others will breed in them the most exquisite grief and sorrow This our Saviour means by outer darkness into which they shall be cast From whence we may guess in what conditions their Wills and their Affections must needs be in which there will be no love of God at all nothing that we can conceive but envy at the glory of the blessed hatred of themselves as the cause of all this mischief vexation of heart to see how great it is and desperation of seeing it grow less But I shall pursue it no farther because it would take up too much room in this discourse which already begins to grow too big I shall onely adde that none knows what flames the breath of the Lord will kindle The power of his anger is inconceivable especially when incensed by the slighting of his love And therefore what can we say of the dolours which the fire that never goes out and the worm that never dies when they meet together will cause both in the Souls and bodies of such contemptuous sinners Who will begin then to wish they had never been acquainted with the glad tidings of Salvation that so they might have lain in some more private corner of the miserable World in a bed of softer and more gentle flames and without that open disgrace to which they will be exposed What an ease would they think it if they might but have the favour to houl among the poor Indians and shriek no louder then other wicked Pagans and have no worse Devills to lash them then the leud Mahometans who never had a thought of any thing higher then a fleshly Paradise And yet the Pagans themselves thought their condition would be bad enough if they lived impiously and that it was impossible to escape a just punishment in another world As appears among a number of other records from that discourse I mentioned of Gobryas who saith the first place men come into when they depart this life is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Field of truth So called because there Judges sit to examine how every one hath passed his life and there is no way to evade their sentence by subterfuges or lies as his words are but they will dispose of all men with exact justice according as they deserve What they had some dark fancy of is now plainly and clearly revealed unto us who are instructed that God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead xvii Act. 31. And therefore we ought to be afraid of treasuring up unto our selves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God Who will render to every man according to his deeds To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory honour and immortality eternall life But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish upon every Soul of man that doeth evill of the Jew we may say Christian first and also of the Gentile ii Romans 5 6 7 8 9. VI. Consider then I beseech you once more which is all the questions I shall ask what you are now resolved to doe Will you put it to the venture whether you be immortally happy or no Is it
this testimony x. 34. Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in your selves that you have in heaven a better and enduring substance This consideration made them look upon the rapine which the seditious people committed in their houses without that dejection which on such occasions appears in other countenances And yet they were men like our selves who walked by faith and not by sight that is did not enjoy the thing it self which they expected 2 Cor. v. 7. And therefore what should hinder the same effect in our hearts if we believe as they did And to shew the mighty power of this heavenly principle these three things may be here pertinently noted out of the records they have left us of their spirit in all their sufferings I. And first I find that when the heaviest cross lay upon them the sense they had of things to come supported them under it with admirable resolution This was the least effect of their holy Faith which made them when the hearts of others sunk under the load and fell down as we say into their knees stand like a strong pillar which bears up the whole weight of the house and never yield at all The thoughts of what our Lord had promised not onely preserved them from murmuring and repining at their present condition knowing what good provision he had made for them hereafter but from fainting and being sluggish in their Ministry For which cause we faint not or do not grow lazy saith St. Paul knowing that is that he who raised up the Lord Jesus would raise up them also for though our outward man perish or wear away yet the inward man is renewed or grows more youthfull day by day 2 Cor. iv 14 16. And 2. this faith also preserved them from swounding fear either of disgrace or pain or death being in nothing terrified by their adversaries saith the same Apostle i. Phil. 28. who seeing them undaunted under all their sufferings had reason to look upon this as an evident token of their perdition and of the Salvation God would give to these his valiant Champions And 3. from sorrowing also and lamenting the loss of any thing because this Good they found was still secure 2 Cor. vi 10. Which made them as he there saith again to be always full of joy though in the eye of the world they lookt very sorrowfully And so lastly they kept their stedfastness and turned not away from the holy commandment delivered unto them Whereby they marvellously promoted Christianity And the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternall glory by Christ Jesus after that they had suffered a while made them perfect stablished strengthened settled them 1 Pet. v. 10. II. But the hope of Eternall life did not merely support and uphold their spirits it wonderfully refreshed and comforted them in all their afflictions so that they durst confidently promise to all other suffering Christians the same heavenly comforts from God Who comforteth us saith St. Paul in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God And our hope of you is stedfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so shall ye be also of the consolation 2 Cor. i. 4 7. Their comfort and rejoycing was the testimony of their conscience that every-where they acted sincerely ver 12. and that they served a good Master who had promised them better fare in the next World where he reigns in full power and glory His Kingdom they knew was not of this World even as he was not of the World and therefore they did not expect he should give them a portion of good things here No He told them plainly in the World ye shall have tribulation but adds in the same breath be of good chear I have overcome the World xvi Joh. 33. III. Which victory of his over death and the grave incouraged them to follow him in all their tribulations not merely with simple comfort but with joy as I have observed already and more then that made them exceeding glad and even shout for joy So our Saviour himself required them to doe when they were reviled and persecuted for his Name sake v. Matt. 12. Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven And so they did as St. Paul tells us v. Rom. 2 3. We rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and not onely so but we glory in tribulations also For they had this strong consolation as the Divine Writer to the Hebrews calls it First that nothing either in this World or the other could take away that heavenly Good from them As St. Paul also testifies in that triumph of his viii Rom. 38 39. I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. When their goods were taken away they could make their boast in Christ and say Our inheritance is immovable When they were driven from house and home as we speak they could triumph and say Our house is eternall in the heavens from which none can exclude us When they were in pain they still remembred our Saviour's own words Your joy shall no man take from you In death it self they could glory and say Jesus our Life dies not and because he lives we shall live also And 2. as they knew they could not lose their future Happiness so they knew it to be incomparably greater then all their sufferings viii Rom. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory 2 Cor. iv 17. Where there is a Third Reason of their exceeding great joy because these afflictions which they endured for Christ's sake would increase their glory hereafter and make their crown beyond all expression heavier And more then that 4. hereby not onely their present afflictions were alleviated and seemed triviall but they gave them a clearer sight of that most excellent glory beforehand while they looked not as it there follows ver 18. at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen The removall of these things here below from before their eyes fixed them more stedfastly on the invisible World Now their joy was full as our Saviour speaks xvi Joh. 24. now it overflowed when all things else had forsaken them and nothing else but those unseen enjoyments remained to comfort them This heavenly glory shone brightest in the dark and horrible pit where their afflictions brought them sweeter contentment then ever was the fruit of any earthly pleasure And so we may still
to lurk in the dark and put off their stuff when no body can see what it is who know it is deceitfully wrought and will not abide the light They do wisely and as cunning Merchants who make up in words and great assurances of their honesty what is wanting in the goodness of their wares But why we should have so little wit as to take their words who can tell We must answer for this folly no doubt to Almighty God who hath given us more understanding if we would use it and taught us by himself to call for good witnesses of that which is offered to us for a truth And the more strictly we examine these which S. John here alledges the better we shall be satisfied that they intend not to deceive us Which is a mark we should always have much in our eye when we are enquiring after Truth If the more we search consider and ponder the proofs which are brought the better they appear and the clearer they grow it is a very good sign there is nothing wanting to make it fully entertain'd but only longer thoughts and greater and more serious consideration As on the other hand we have great reason to suspect and turn away from that which the longer we weigh its proofs the lighter they seem and the propounders of them also begin to shift and shuffle till they have put all into a mist in which we can see nothing but that they are at a loss and are fain to puzzle us because they cannot clear that which they were about Thanks be to God there is nothing of this in the evidences we give for the true Christian Religion They are plain and perspicuous and show themselves in a greater brightness the more we look upon them and the better we are acquainted with them Search and try what has been said and the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ will shine with greater lustre in your eyes and you will confess with S. Peter 2 i. 3. that he hath called us to the knowledge of him by glory and vertue that is by a most amazing power of God which declared him to be his only Son our Lord. II. Let us therefore in the next place consider seriously how excellent and perfectly rational the Faith of Christians is There is nothing founded upon such Authority as our most holy Religion It is no childish silly thing to be a believer A man doth not betray his weakness and easie credulity when upon examination and search he suffers his Soul to be planted with these new Principles but demonstrates the strength the nobleness and ingenuity of his mind which can discern and judge aright for nothing can pretend to so much reason as they There are a vast heap of things which I could here accumulate beside those which I have treated of to make good this assertion But because the method of the Apostle which I have followed is so clear and easie and the Witnesses so full and pregnant that every one of them affords us many evidences I will content my self with a brief review of what hath been said Which will be sufficient to convince us that our Faith is the highest improvement of our Reason and doth not debase but clevate and raise our understanding upon the surest grounds of Divine demonstration For if you consider what Testimonials they brought along with them who have pretended to speak in God's name you will find there is nothing comparable to the Witness which God hath given of his Son No not in that Religion which was really founded by his Authority much less in that where there was only the Name of God pretended without any Power I. Mahomet I mean to begin first with the latter of these took upon him to be the Apostle and the Prophet of God greater not only than Moses but than Jesus himself And such was his confident brags of Revelations from God that among a company of wild Arabians whom Algazel acknowledges to have approached the nearest to Beasts of all other men He made some proselytes to his belief But what proof did he give that he was divinely sent Was it ever heard that God spake to him so much as once as he did often to our Saviour At what time or in what place and in whose audience did God say to him Thou art my Prophet When did a voice from Heaven come to any three or but one man and say This is the Apostle of God hear him It is a marvellous Providence of God that this Impostor who wanted no confidence should never adventure in all the relations he hath made of himself quite contrary to our Lord who wrote nothing of his own life but left all to his Disciples to tell any such story as this for his greater credit and glory among his followers We read indeed of some idle tales which he reports of an Angel speaking to him and of his ascension into Heaven I know not how many millions of miles But what witness was there of these things what was his name who saw the Angel appear to him or who stood by when he was transported and carried out of sight as he dreamed Or when and to whom did Moses or any one else appear and verifie it that he had been with them in glory If we must take his own word which is all we can hear of to vouch it then we must not refuse to believe every foolish fellow who has impudence enough to pretend to prophesie But what then will become of the faith of Mahomet himself if the sword were out of his hand Let us hear such a man as John the Baptist whose piety and vertue is attested by those who were no Friends of our Religion affirm that he heard and saw such things as he reports and we will be content to abate them the Apostles and such a multitude of people as heard God say he would Glorifie his Name in our Saviour And in what Glory hath that false Prophet appeared since he left the World Whose eyes hath he struck out with the brightness of his countenance Nay by whom hath he been so much as seen since he was buried I need not put the question about his Resurrection for they never pretended it Only the sottish people would not believe when he died that he was really dead but said he was taken up to Heaven as Jesus was And Omar one of his successors threatned death to them that should say he was dead for he was only gone away as Moses did into the Mount and would return again From whence perhaps arose that vulgar error among us that the Mahumedans expect the return of their Prophet * See Poceek in Gregor Abul Phar. p. 180. 264. But Abu Becri proved to them out of the Alcoran that He was to die as other Prophets before him and so appeased Omar and the multitude And was it ever heard that the Holy Ghost sell down upon him in a