should get that name into his possession and be skilled in it would be able to doe what he pleased That their Wise-men fearing lest any of the israelitese should get that name and destroy the world made two Dogs of brass and placed them at the door of the Sanctuary That whenever any had gone in and learnt that name these Dogs were wont at their coming out to bark so terribly that they forgat the name and the letters which they had newly learnt But say they Jesus of Nazareth went in and did not onely learn the letters of this name but wrote them in a Parchment which he hid as be came out in an incision which he had made in his flesh And though through the barking of the Dogs he had forgot the name yet he learnt it afterwards from his Parchment By virtue of this name say they Jesus restored the lame healed the leprous raised the dead walked himself upon the Sea By this account it appears that the Jews did not deny the matter of fact for that Jesus did the works is confessed on all hands and so much we may gain from this fabulous narration There is nothing else in it worthy the notice of a wise man But still there is another opinion to be found among the Jews of after-times and it was this That the Messias when he came was not to work miracles and that therefore the working miracles was not to be any mark and character of the true Messiah Nor is it strange that when the Jews were not able to deny the matter of fact that they should betake themselves to these fond opinions Maimon H. Melac Milch c. 11. Maimonides tells us that we must not think that the Messiah shall work signs and miracles that he shall innovate in the things of this world or raise the dead But that the law of Moses should endure for ever and that the Messiah shall meditate in that law and compell the Israelites to observe it and that he shall manage the Lord's battels and overcome the people that are round about him The truth of this doctrine of his shall be considered in its due place I onely produce this to shew how unwilling the Jews are to allow of this argument which we draw from the works which Jesus did and how unable they are in the mean time to deny the matter of fact Besides these fond and evil opinions there is still another advanced by a late Authour and directly levelled against the force of our Saviour's argument and 't is this Tractat. Theolog. Politic. c. 6. That nothing happens in nature that is repugnant to its universal laws nor any thing which doth not agree with them or follow from them He hath also the confidence to affirm That the name of a miracle can onely be understood with respect to mens opinions and that it signifies nothing more than a work the natural cause of which we are not able to explain exemplo alterius rei solitae or at least he is not able to explain it that writes or reports the miracle And that therefore a miracle is a mere absurdity And that those things which the Scriptures truly report to have happened fell out according to the laws of nature and if any thing else evidently repugnant to the laws of nature be reported or which cannot follow from them that it is to be believed that these things were added to the Scripture by sacrilegious men This wicked principle is sufficiently refuted by our Saviour's words who makes the works which he did an argument of the truth of what he said And sure if he did no work but what other men did or might doe and what agreed with the laws of nature his works would have been a very mean proof of his coming from God He that believes God to be cannot think him confined by the laws of nature However these laws conclude the creature they do not bind the hands of the great Creatour of the Universe No man can affirm what the above-named Authour does unless he be an Atheist or an Apostate He must be a man forsaken by his reason that discourses at this rate or given over for his wickedness to believe a lie What do such abhorred principles aim at but at the subversion of Christianity And if they were guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost who affirmed our Saviour's miracles to have been wrought by the power of the Devil what shall we think of them who dare affirm that he wrought none at all Having premised these things I shall now proceed to shew that our Saviour's miracles were a good proof of his doctrine and that he was the Messias who was to come into the world And for my better proceeding First I shall shew what I mean by Miracles Secondly I shall prove that the Messias was to doe Miracles Thirdly That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine Fourthly That our Saviour's were true and unexceptionable Miracles Fifthly I shall consider what may be objected against what I shall offer upon this weighty argument I shall shew what I mean by Miracles For there are cheats and impostures and every thing is not a miracle that passeth for such We may be imposed upon by our ignorance and credulity and by the craft of others There are many things which are admired and are very strange and infrequent which are not miracles Our admiration many times speaks onely our own ignorance And many things there are which are but the effects of natural causes which we have been apt to think the effect of a supernatural one It does by no means hence follow that a miracle is a mere absurdity and that there can be no such thing We are obliged to take care that we be not imposed upon and well to consider what is required to a miracle and to convince us of it For unless we know it so to be it cannot be expected that it should ever convince us And in this case not to appear is the same thing as not to be at all To this purpose it is necessary to a miracle 1. That it be a work above the power of nature and above the reach of any creature whatsoever It must be supernatural or else it cannot be strictly a miracle This power must come from God he being able onely to alter the course of nature who is the great authour of it But then whether this effect be brought to pass by the immediate power of God without the intervening of any natural cause or by making use of some instrument 't is one and the same thing It is an omnipotent arm that brings the effect to pass Matt. 11.20 21. Luk. 4.36.5.17.9.1 Mat. 7.22 Luk. 10.13 Rom. 1.4 And a miracles is a work that none but God can doe This is of the essence of a miracle and it cannot be truly called one unless it be such a work as is above the force of
nature and the combined power of all second causes And upon this account we may presume these works are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the New Testament and our Saviour said to be declared the Son of God with power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. That the effect be viâ—â—ble and discernible Without this they can be of no effect to us at all And where miracles are brought as a proof of something else there is great need they should be very evident and apparent Our Saviour's words to John's disciples imply no less They came to know whether he were the Christ or not Matt. 11.4 5. Jesus answered and said unto them go and shew John again these things which ye do hear and see The blind c. Our Saviour dealt sincerely with them and appeals to their senses in the case Shew John those things which ye do hear and see A miracle which is brought to prove a doctrine or doubtfull question had need be more clear than the question is which it is brought to prove And therefore when it is considered as a proof of something else it is necessary that it should be it self very evident and plain For that cannot be judged a good Medium to prove the question by which is not more evident than the question it self Our Saviour's works are brought by him as a proof of the truth of his doctrine Miracles would in this case signifie nothing if they were not very evident The Jews have a proverb to this purpose Buxtorf Lexicon Rabbin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they say of a man that brings an insufficient proof that his surety wants a surety He that is surety for another had need to be of good credit himself Hence it is that these miraculous works in the New Testament are so frequently called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. signs And those things which are signs of something had need be more plain and discernible than the things which they signifie and represent and which they are brought to prove Thus are these works frequently called in the New Testament Joh. 2.11 23.3.2.20.30 And in the Old Testament they are expressed by words of the same import and though those words of themselves do not imply a miracle Such among the Hebrews are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which see Abravenel on the Pentat f. 138. co 4. yet they are to be considered according to the subject matter and when they are applied to this purpose they do imply that the miracle must be very evident and clear For the effect can carry no conviction with it if it be not discernible They would have had no reason to believe our Saviour upon the account of his works had they not been visible in their effects He may be presumed to be raised from the dead who by the actions of a living man is able to convince the standers by 'T is a vain thing to pretend a miracle is wrought when no man is able to discern the change of things Jesus turned water into wine Joh. 2.11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him But had the water retained the taste and colour of water and not of wine he had neither manifested his glory nor would his disciples have been moved upon this account to have believed on him But the change was so discernible that the Governour of the feast perceived it by its taste ver 9. Indeed the Church of Rome pretends in the Doctrine of Transubstantiation that the bread and wine in the Sacrament are substantially changed after consecration and yet no man living can discern any such change at all Durandus tells us that there are in that change no less than eleven miracles Durand Rational Divin Offic. l. 4. c. 21. of which no express reason can be given I do not think it worth my while to reckon them up after him Sure I am we have no reason to believe any such thing And 't is a vain and foolish thing to vaunt of so many miracles when there is no appearance of any one and 't is a very unreasonable thing that the Church of Rome should oblige us to believe a miracle which we are not able to discern A miracle which convinceth us of the truth of a Doctrine must be the object of sense it must be seen or felt or discernible some such way And 't is a vain thing to call upon us to believe that which is the motive and ground upon which we believe something else I shall as soon believe a dead man raised to life who yet lies in his grave without either breath or motion as much as the earth in which he lies or that a blind man is perfectly cured who yet hath recovered no sight at all as to believe that to be flesh and bloud which all my senses tell me are bread and wine The miracles which Christ did were wrought that men might believe not the miracles for them they saw but that he was the Christ the Son of God He requires men to believe him and his doctrine for the sake of his works But the Church of Rome would have us believe not onely a doctrine which is not revealed but a miracle also not to say more than one which is not discernible by any of our senses We must believe a miracle though we do not see it and be condemned for Hereticks if we do it not Such a Faith so Catholick and large an one does the Church of Rome require A faith which I am sure we shall never attain unto till that time come which God of his mercy prevent that we are given up to believe a Lie In the mean while we have just reason to believe the doctrine false when we find the miracle a mere pretence And 't will be time enough to believe this doctrine of Transubstantiation when we are able to discern a substantial change I shall prove that the Messiah was to work miracles when he came into the world And this I am obliged to doe because our Saviour appeals to his works as a good proof that he was the Christ the Son of God Indeed Maimonides as I intimated before denies that the Messias was to work miracles But this is not the sense of the Jewish Nation but an opinion that the Jews fly to for refuge For when they are not able to deny the matter of fact they are forced to say that the Messias was not to doe any miracles at all That Jesus lived and that he did wonderfull works they are not able to deny but then the obstinate Jew that cannot deny the works of Jesus yet will affirm that the doing of such works was not a sign or character of the Messias in whose time we are not to look for miracles I shall consider the truth of this pretence And 1. 'T is very certain
weak and very unlikely means This He did and none but He could doe and and therefore this is a sufficient proof that the Gospel comes from God and that that Jesus whom we Preach is the very Christ 2. Nor yet was the Gospel propagated by force of Arms as the Religion of Mahomet hath been which has made its way in the world by the dint of Sword But Christianity was not thus planted it denounced no War to those that refused it it gave out no menaces to that purpose This it neither did nor would nor could it do The Senate of Rome shall not need fear the Galileans Sword Jesus sent abroad no fighting men there is no Horse prepared for this battel no Spears or Bows These are the Servants of the Prince of peace who are so far from War that they come to require the nations to learn War no more and to beat their Swords into Plough-shares and their Spears into Pruning hooks The Gospel had no potent Princes or States that favoured it that stood up for its defence and maintenance there were none of these powers that took upon them the Title of Defenders of the Faith Nay and they were so far from doing it that they were its avowed enemies and drew their Sword against it So that the first Preachers came naked and unarmed into a furious and potent and idolatrous world Preaching the Gospel of peace and the severe Religion of a crucified Jesus The armour they had was Spiritual and an Armour of light an armour which the victorious Romans had neither used nor yet feared They were girt about with truth that was all their military girdle They put on the breast-plate of righteousness the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and had their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace Eph. 6. These were the armour of the first Preachers of the Gospel and who could expect that they should with these overcome mighty Kingdoms and Provinces And yet with these preparations did they succeed and overcome the greatest nations and brought them into the obedience of the Gospel Let us hear what the Apostle says to this purpose We do not War says he after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.3 4 5. This is evident then that they did not force the Gospel upon the world they did not convey it by the Sword or Battel-bow they neither did nor could do this and yet for all this it succeeded and conquered aye and triumph't also over all the power the policy the strategems of the Devil and all his instruments And got that ground without blows and force which it had never gotten with it To what then must this victory be imputed Not to the Pike and Sword but to the energy and force of Truth and to the mighty blessing and miraculous providence of God It was God that brought this to pass which men could never have done And this is a sufficient Evidence that this Religion comes from God Had it been a lye it could never have had that success by these unlikely means had it been from the Devil or the World sure it would have made use of the instruments and strategems of War to have made room for it in the world But that which is from God needs none of these assistances and helps And this doubtless is a very good argument of the truth of the Christian Religion that it did not make its way by the power of the Sword nor was it preserved that way The Religion of Mahomet indeed spread far but it was by the help of these carnal weapons To the instruments of War and the dissensions and back-slidings of Christians under God's permission it own much if not most of its success Nay what was it else that did uphold Idolatry but the instruments of War and slaughter False Religions are forced to use this force and violence which the truth which comes from God and hath his blessing does not need The pure and undefiled and primitive doctrine of the Gospel did not use nor yet need these aids Indeed the Apostatized Church of Rome which hath falsely called her self the Catholick Church since she left the true Faith of the Gospel hath betaken her self to these carnal weapons And 't is easie to know the cause of it also For when she wanted the evidence of truth she then was fain to run to the power of the Sword By this Sword she cut asunder those knots she was not able to untie And whom she could not confute she would condemn to the fire and fagot The Secular Power must be called in to uphold her grandeur and power St. Peter's Keys are not sufficient unless she unsheath his Sword she is now bolstered up by the powers of this world and when she wants aid from the sword of the Spirit she will derive it from the Sword of Princes Her proceedings shall need to be no objection against what I have said Who though she call herself the Catholick Church is very far from deserving that name and hath rather shewed herself by these her actions the Synagogue of Satan than the Church of Christ she hath declared her cause to be bad which could not be maintained and upheld without the assistance of Secular force The first planters of the Gospel used none of these weapons We read of none they burned for Hereticks no Common-wealths interdicted for hindring their worldly greatness no Navies or Armies raised against those that would not acknowledge them as their Superiours These have been the pitifull arts of that unclean Church of Rome which is an argument that however she vainly boasts her self Catholick yet she does not shew her self in these things at all Christian For the Church of Christ never got its growth by these carnal weapons 3. It was propagated by sufferings by patient enduring of tribulations Prayers and Tears were the onely weapons of the Primitive and undefiled Church of Christ The Bloud of Martyrs was that fruitfull feed that did so strangely increase and multiply Which is an argument that Jesus was the Christ and this Religion came from God Had it been otherwise it had not been possible but those first persecutions had quite rooted it out of the world Had it not been of God it must needs have so fallen out We see in the greatest Rebellions how soon they are stopped when the chief Heads and Leaders are taken and punished This puts an end to any Insurrection or Confederacy And so would it have done by Christianity also had it not been from Heaven and been accompanied with truth and righteousness So that fire and sword cannot vanquish it prisons and
harmony and agreement among them and all the marks and tokens of sincerity that we can desire It cannot be denied indeed that in the writings of these men there is some variety and they seem not to speak consistently with one another in some of their relations But then they all agree in the main story and generally speaking it is not hard to account for the seeming opposition in their relations And it is to be supposed that our ignorance of the history and the phraseology and usages of those times and Countries is the true reason why they seem to thwart with one another when really they do not Besides it is an argument that these men did not combine and lay their heads together to put a trick upon the world For if they had which they could have no cause to doe it would have been no hard matter to have avoided not onely contradiction which they have done but the very appearance of such a thing These Writers give great proofs of their sincerity They give none at all of their ostentation and vain-glory Eusebius hath well observed that S. Matthew discovers the baseness of his employment before he followed Christ Euseb demonstrat l. 3. â— 5. He alone tells us that he was a Publican And St. Mark who wrote his Gospel by the direction and with the knowledge of St. Peter speaks sparingly of those things which tended to St. Peter's praise however he enlarge in relating of his faults 4. That the Gospel hath been so generally received is an argument of the truth of it A lye hath no feet and cannot stand long without being discovered Facilè res in suam naturam recidunt ubi veritas non subest There were a great many eyes upon Christian Religion when it advanced in the world and it did not want subtile and inquisitive enemies The fraud would have been detected if there had been any It was entertained by men of wit and learning and such as made diligent enquiry after truth 5. It did not spread by force and bloud as the Turkish Religion hath done not by craft and worldly policy by humane arts and Religious cheats but by suffering and by tears by hardships and by severities Men were willing to shed their bloud in testimony of it and part with all that was dear to flesh and bloud All our ancient books tell us that this was the duty and practice of Christians men do not use to be forward to lose their lives and all the comforts of life to confirm a lie And we must think those men void of all sense that would dye to confirm a forgery and lie when their death would serve to confirm a Religion which severely forbids all Lying and dissimulation And though some men may have died in a false belief or a belief of some principles which are not really though to them they seem to be true yet it is not credible that a great number of men should be content to die in confirmation of a matter of fact which they knew to be false or did not know to be true When Arrius Antoninus persecuted the Christians in Asia they came about his Tribunal and offered themselves to death which made him cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. O wretched men Tertullian ad Scapul can ye not find precipices or halters to take away your lives 'T is a great argument of the truth of these things that men were forward to confirm them with their bloud CHAP. VII The CONTENTS That the Messias according to the predictions of him was to suffer This proved against the Jews Of the vanity of their twofold Messias the Son of Joseph and the Son of David The reason why the Jews make use of this pretence That Jesus did suffer That he suffered those things which the Messias was to suffer Luk. 24.26 46. and Act. 3.18 considered Zech. 9.9 to be understood of the Messias this proved against the Jews at large Of the kind of Christ's death Crucifixion was none of the Jewish capital punishments Of the Brazen Serpeat Numb 21. St. John ch 3.14 considered The Jewish Writers acknowledge that the brazen Serpent was symbolical and spiritually to be understood Of the time when Jesus suffered that it did exactly agree with the type of the sufferings of the Messias A large digression concerning this matter Exod 12.6 considered Castalio justly censured for his ill rendring that place Of the two Evenings among the Jews The ground we have for it in the Scriptures The testimony of R. Solomon Of the practice of the Jewish Nation as to the time of offering their evening Sacrifice and the Passeover This shewed from their best Authours An objection from Deut. 16. v. 6. answered Jesus died at that time when the Paschal Lamb was to be slain Of the place aâ—d many other particulars relating to the sufferings of Jesus Of the great causes and reasons of the sufferings of the Jesus Of the Burial of Jesus I Shall now proceed to the consideration of the Sufferings of Jesus and from thence prove that our Jesus is the Christ That Jesus did suffer the Jews do confess and they make to scruple to grant it And he is upon that score reproached by them and upon the same account his Disciples and Followers have been scorned by the world who professed a Faith in a Crucified Saviour and expected to be saved by him who did not so much as save himself from the most painfull and ignominious death When I speak to the suffering of Jesus I mean his sufferings in the largest sense and not onely his Death However I shall principally consider his death here and from that especially shall prove him to be the Christ And for the better speaking to this whole matter I shall proceed in this method First I shall shew that the Messias who was promised was to suffer Secondly that Jesus did suffer Thirdly that from the sufferings of our Jesus it does appear that he is the Christ Fourthly I shall enquire after the causes or reasons of the sufferings of Christ Lastly I shall direct you to some practical application I shall shew that the Messias promised of old was to suffer And this especially against the Jews who do not deny that Jesus suffered but do deny him to be the Messias the Son of David because he suffered This is the scandal of the Cross at which the Jews stumble and fall Here they are offended and at a stand Now that the Messias was to suffer and Jesus not to be rejected upon that account will appear if we consider the following particulars First I must premise that it is a very unreasonable thing that Jesus should be reproached or rejected upon the score of his sufferings The Jews have no cause for this reason to scorn him as they commonly do For his sufferings do not speaking him an evil person or one unfit to deliver and save his followers from the greatest evils viz. from
the power and evil effects of our sins I grant indeed he was mean and very poor And what then Was not the Jewish Law-giver Moses so also Was he not exposed to the waters forced to fly his Country and tend upon a flock in a foreign Country Was not Jacob the Father of the Jewish tribes a poor Syrian ready to perish had he any thing more than his staff when he went to Padan Aram Was not David from whom the Messias was to descend a keeper of his Father's Sheep If Jesus suffered and were put to death what then Have not these been the lot and portion of the most righteous men in the world Was not righteous Abel killed when wicked Cain lived and built a City Is it any blot upon the memory of David that he was persecuted of Zechariah that he was stoned of Isaiah that he was sawn in sunder Are the holy men and Prophets of old to be rejected because they suffered reproaches or were put to death Why should Jesus then be rejected because he was put to death This does not speak him an evil man The Jews very well know what the Psalmist says of the sufferings of God's own people Psal 79.1 2 3 4. O God the Heathen are come into thine inheritance thy holy Temple have they defiled they have laid Jerusalem on heaps The dead bodies of thy Servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the Heaven the flesh of thy Saints unto the beasts of the earth Their bloud have they shed like water round about Jerusalem and there was none to bury them We are become a reproach to our neighbours a scorn and derision to them that are round about us These were indeed severe sufferings and upon whom did they light The Text informs us that they fell upon God's inheritance upon his servants and Saints And what ever reproach this were to the Heathen who inflicted these sufferings it is none at all to the Sufferers themselves In a word very excellent men among the Jews and the best among the Heathens were poor and suffered the greatest evils and no wife man ever thought the worse of these Sufferers and it is therefore very unjust to reject Jesus merely upon that account I add Secondly that it was foretold by God himself that the Messias should suffer I shall not give in all the particulars which make for this purpose That of Isaiah Chap. 53. is most clear and remarkable to my present purpose In that Chapter the sufferings or the Messias are graphically described And there never was any people or person to whom all those particulars recited in that Chapter could belong but to our blessed Saviour who is the Messias there foretold The Jews I mean the more ancient among them understood that place of the Messias and whereas among the later Jews we shall find some Interpret them to another sense whether of the people of Israel Josiah L'Empereur refutat Abravenel Comment in Isa c. 53. or some other person yet it is manifest and hath been made so that the words must be understood of the Messias and were never fulfilled by any people or any other person whatsoever To whom else can those words belong but to the Messias and in whom were they ever fulfilled but in our Jesus onely where it is said He is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs For never was there a sorrow like that of our Jesus Where shall we find a person to whom the following words can belong He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed All we like Sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all And as these sufferings could be the sufferings of none but of the Messias onely so the patient bearing them must belong to him too and was remarkably accomplished in our Jesus He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a Sheep before her Shearers is dumb so he openeth not his mouth I may afterward have occasion to shew how remarkably the following words also were fulfilled in our Jesus as they were foretold of the Messias where 't is said that he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death In the first promise of the Messias it was intimated that he should suffer it being predicted that the Serpent's seed should bruise the heel of the seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 I might to this purpose shew at large from the Old Testament that the Messias was to suffer Those persons who were the most Eminent Types of him were very great sufferers And though all the sacrifices were slain yet those sacrifices which did typifie his death most eminently were most intirely consumed by the fire and as their bloud was carried into the holy place so their body was burnt without the camp as our Saviour himself suffered without the gate If we look into the Psalms and Prophets we shall find frequent predictions of the sufferings of Christ Thirdly this is so plain a truth Abkath Rochelim l. 1. and so undeniable even by the Jews themselves that the later of them have devised a suffering Messias the Son of Joseph of the tribe of Ephraim And now they speak of a twofold Messias one the Son of Joseph to suffer death if need be another the Son of David to save and to deliver them This indeed is a vain conceit 't is groundless and 't is novel It hath no foundation in the Holy Scriptures nor in their most ancient and genuine Writers 'T is destitute of all reason and all fair pretence And we may by the same pretence That the Messias was to suffer Trypho does acknowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Trypho in Just Marr. aswell set up a great many as two But as vain a conceit as 't is it will serve our turn against the Jews For they betake themselves to this refuge because they cannot deny that the Messias was to suffer And though it serve to no other purpose yet it serves to this that we have gained the point we contend for against themselves viz. that the Messias was to suffer and that therefore our Jesus ought not to be rejected upon that account That our Jesus did suffer This is confessed on all hands The Jews deny it not but mention him frequently with scorn upon this account I should be very vain if I should be operose under this head He must be very ignorant who hath not heard of the sufferings of Jesus His whole life aswell as his latter end was almost a perpetual suffering He was born in a stable and he died upon a Cross He suffered from his first