inconsiderable employments attend upon and publish the Resurrection of Jesus and do also secure the empty Sepulchre from the Jews that they are not able to place another body in the room of that of Jesus which was risen Matt. 28.6 Luk. 24.2 with Joh. 20.12 3. We have a divine Testimony and that a most irrefragable one a Testimony greater than that of men and Angels Our Lord had promised the Holy Spirit who should be with respect to his disciples a Comforter and with respect to our Lord himself an Advocate to plead his cause and defend his innocence Now this promise is fulfilled and this holy Ghost did bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus After Jesus was risen he breathed on his disciples and said receive ye the Holy Ghost and after his Ascension at the day of Pentecost we find the Holy Ghost more plentifully bestowed on his Disciples And from thence the Apostle argues against them who derided them as those who were full of new Wine that God had raised up Jesus who being exalted had shed forth this which they now saw and heard and afterwards concludes therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ The effusion of the Holy Ghost was a witness of the Resurrection of Jesus And this Testimony of the Holy Ghost was a divine one it was from Heaven St. Peter tells the Jews that God had raised up Jesus and exalted him at his right hand and says he we are witnesses of these things so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him Joh. 14.16 ch 16.7 8 9 10 11. ch 20.22 Act. 2.4 36 ch 5.32 4. Jesus did after his resurrection take away all cause of doubt concerning the truth of his Resurrection He gave sufficient proof that the very same body which was fastened to the Cross dyed there and was buried was raised again to life The Disciples were at first affrighted and supposed that they had seen a Spirit But our Saviour put them out of all doubt Behold says he my hands and my feet Handle me and see for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have He shews his hands and his feet And whereas at his first appearing to his Disciples Thomas was absent and did not believe that he was risen from the dead and said moreover except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hard into his side I will not beleive our Lord convinced this doubting Disciple and gives him the utmost evidence and assurance of the truth of his Resurrection Reach hither thy finger says Jesus to Thomas and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but beleiving upon which Thomas was convinced and forced to cry out my Lord and my God Our Lord gave his followers insallible proofs of his Resurrection in the space of forty days He are and drank with them exposed his body to their view and touch behold says he my hâ—nds and feet that it is my self and when after this they believed not for joy and wondred he took broiled fish and honey comb and did eat before them Greater assurance they were not capable of Luk. 24.37 39 40 41 42. Joh. 20.25 27 28. Act. 1.3.10.41 Luk. 24.39 40. 5. That the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus was abundantly confirmed by those who were the witnesses of it So it was and it was highly fit it should be so that there were a select number of men who were to be the witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus these were men whom God had appointed and set apart for this purpose and such who upon the account of their knowledge of Jesus and their readiness to part with all for the sake of the truth were sitted and disposed for this purpose Thus St. Peter tells us Him God raised up the third day and shewed him openly not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before of God even unto us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead The Apostles were now the witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus this they preach and testifie upon all occasions and this is their Character and their Office Act. 10.41 chap. 1.22 and ch 3.15 and chap. 4.2 33. ch 5.30 32. ch 10.30 31. ch 13.31 chap. 17.18 Now these witnesses did abundantly confirm the truth of this Doctrine which they preached every where both by signs and wonders which God wrought by their hands and by an exemplary and holy life And at last by laying down their lives in confirmation of their Doctrine Upon which account they were witnesses beyond all exception For we cannot beleive that men would part with their lives in Confirmation of a lye or that God would assist them to do miracles for so vile and base an end and purpose and they must be very profligate wretches who would affirm a matter of fact of which they had not good assurance The Resurrection of Jesus was a truth of the greatest moment and consequence whatsoever upon the truth of this our hope and all our Religion does depend It was fit that this truth should be sufficiently attested by persons of undoubted credit The death of Christ was publick the whole multitude were witnesses of his Crucifixion But they were not vouchsafed the honour of being the witnesses of his Resurrection the truth of his Resurrection was too valuable to be concredited to an unconstant and malicious rabble And therefore God who raised up Jesus and shewed him openly or gave him to be made manifest as the Greek hath it did not do it to all the people but to certain select and chosen witnesses These men who conversed with him before his death and after his Resurrection who had known his life and heard his Sermons and been taught by him before that he must dye and rise again these men who had power to confirm this truth with Miracles and were prepared to confirm it with their bloud and did persist in it to their last breath were witnesses indeed beyond all manner of exception I say beyond all exception for there can be no reasonable exception brought against them And if we will give our selves the leisure to consider the thing before us with due application we shall find no cause to except For if there were any such thing it must be because of the thing it self or matter of fact which is attested or the persons who do report it For the thing it self viz. that God raised up Jesus there lies no shadow of reasonable exception against it For that a man should be raised from the dead implyes no contradiction either moral or natural He that beleives that God made the World cannot think it impossible to him to raise a dead man to life again Multò minus
I shall mention two which were great proofs of our Saviour's Ascension into Heaven and of his power there and his being concerned on the behalf of his Church The first is the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost at the day of Pentecost Act. 2. Our Saviour had promised to his sorrowfull Disciples a Comforter who should abide with them for ever This he did before his death and the better to support them under the sorrow which his death would occasion Joh. 14.16 18. ch 15. v. 26. and ch 16. v. 7. He repeated this promise after his Resurrection Luk. 24.49 And before his Ascension he commands them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me Act. 1.4 This promise he made good Act. 2. To the great amazement of the multitude which from several nations were come together to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost The Holy Ghost which was then miraculously bestowed upon the Disciples of Jesus was his Advocate and pleaded his cause Our Saviour had foretold that he would bear witness of him And this the Holy Ghost did Joh. 15.26 1. As he testified that Jesus was a true Prophet when he promised this heavenly gift to his disciples and did thereby bear Testimony to his veracity and make it appear that he was not an impostor or cheat They were now convinced abundantly that Jesus had made his word good Joh. 16.7 10. And now there was no suspicion left of his being a false Prophet or deceiver 2. Of the power and autority which Jesus had He told his followers that all power was given him in Heaven and Earth Mat. 28.18 This he told them after his Resurrection and a little before his Ascension into Heaven He gave at the day of Pentecost an undeniable proof of it Jesus had said before his death to the elders and chief Priests and Scribes that asked him if he were the Christ Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God Luk. 22.69 The meaning of which words is plainly this that they should be convinced e'er long of his great power which he had in Heaven upon his exaltation to that place and at the day of Pentecost he gave a great demonstration of this power of his And St. Peter does conclude from it that he is the Christ This Jesus saith he hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear And presently afterward he concludes as he very justly might do Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have Crucified both Lord and Christ Act. 2. v. 32 33 36. Secondly another great effect following the exaltation of Jesus was the success of his Religion in the world which was a farther argument of the power of Jesus in Heaven and of his being concerned for his Church and an evident proof that this Jesus is the Christ But for the better speaking to this I shall shew First that according to the prophecies of old all nations were to serve the Messias Secondly that these prophecies have been in great measure fulfilled in our Jesus whose Religion did greatly spread over the world Thirdly that this success of the Religion of Jesus is an unexceptionable proof that Jesus is the Christ According to the prophecies of old all nations were to serve the Messias and consequently that the partition-wall between the Jew and Gentile should be thrown down Thus in those words of Jacob which the ancient Jews understand of the Messias it is said that unto him shall the gathering of the people be Gen. 49.10 That is the nations or Gentiles should obey and serve him No less is promised than this I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for a possession Ps 2.8 The Prophet Isaiah foretells also that it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all nations shall flow unto it Isa 2.2 And again In that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people To it shall the Gentiles seek Isa 11.10 And again the same Prophet tells us The Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet chuse Israel and set them in their own land And the strangers shall be joined with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob Isa 14.1 And farther we read It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation unto the end of the earth c. 49.6 To which we may add Isa 54. as also what he tells us afterwards The Gentiles shall come to thy light and King 's to the brightness of thy rising The abundance of the Sea shall be converted to thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee c. 60.3 5. We shall hear what the Prophet Hosea also tells us I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy and I will say to them which were not my people thou art my people Hos 2.23 No less perhaps is meant than this in that vision of Zechary where Jerusalem is not permitted to come under a measuring line and that because she should be inhabited as Towns without walls for the multitude of men and Cattel therein Zech. 2.4 However sure I am that the same Prophet speaks plainly in these words Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord c. 8.22 And as plainly still afterwards in these words Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Jerusalem Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having Salvation lowly and riding upon an Asse and upon a colt the foal of an Asse And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem and the battel bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the Heathen And his Dominion shall be from Sea even to Sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth c. 9. v. 4 10. To which I shall add the words of the Prophet Malachy From the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts Mal. 1.11 By which we may see that the Gentiles according to these prophecies were to submit to
Saviour as well as a Comforter with relation to his Disciples Joh. 16.8 The spirit did plead the cause of our Lord and by the mighty works of this divine spirit men were convinced that Jesus was no Impostour but that he was what he professed himself to be the Christ the Son of God A Miracle hath always been a good proof of a Doctrine and ever acknowledged to be very convincing When Elijah had restored to life the Widow's Son she concludes him a true Prophet 1 King 17.24 By this I know says she that thou art a man of God and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth A true miracle is an attestation from Heaven We cannot think that God will set his seal to a lye or to a truth of little moment and concern And as miracles are a good proof of the truth of a Doctrine so our Saviour had great reason to reser the Disciples of John Baptist to his miraculous works especially when it is considered that the law of Moses was confirmed by miracles and it is very reasonable to believe that the ordinances of Moses should be removed after the same manner that they were established and confirmed And therefore that Jesus should doe greater miracles that Moses ever did Besides our Saviour designed the destruction of the Devil's Kingdom in the world For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.8 And upon that account it was needfull that he should doe miracles The Devil had gotten a great and ancient possession over mankind he had got into the hearts and bodies of men and dwelt in the Temples of the Heathen world And whoever considers the largeness of his dominion the power and malice of his instruments will easily grant that there was need of a mighty power to dispossess him Now our Saviour and his followers made use of no carnal weapons they armed no legions raised no fighting men by sea or land And yet it is not to be believed that the Devil could be driven out of his ancient possession and strong holds without a greater power than what he was possessed of and that must be a divine power The power of the Devil was great at our Saviour's appearance He dwelt in the Heathen Temples answered in their Oracles an idolatrous worship obtained in the world many were there who were possessed by him Our Saviour stopped his mouth in the Oracles overthrew his Kingdom destroyed the idolatry and superstition which had overspread the world and threw the Devil out of the bodies and which was a greater work out of the hearts of men The Gospel set forward with great disadvantages The preachers of it had not riches or power or great birth or strong alliances or wordly wisedom to recommend them On the other hand they were poor men and despised But yet they were endued with power from above of working miracles and dispossessing the Devil where ever they came Chrysost Tom. 3. p. 276. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Had all this been done without the working of miracles this would have been the greatest miracle of all It was necessary that this power should be employed against the Devil's Kingdom The Jews indeed seem to be blamed by our Saviour for seeking after signs Mat. 16.4 But certain it is that they were not blameable nor blamed by our Saviour for demanding signs and wonders This demand was not unreasonable in it self nor blameable in them In this they were to be blamed that they did not require them with a mind prepared to receive the truth and were not content with such Miracles as our Saviour wrought H. Melach c. 1. Maimonides tells us that there were three precepts which did oblige the Israelites when they came into the Land of Promise viz. to set over them a King to destroy the Amalekites and to build a Sanctuary or Temple And yet when the Israelites demanded a King we find God displeased with them But then it was not because they desired to set a King over them but because they desired it amiss and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in order to obey the law but because they were weary of Samuel a good Governour And so in the case before us The Jews require a sign and it is not to be supposed that our Saviour was upon that account displeased with them For their law being confirmed by Signs and Miracles it was very reasonable for them to require signs before they consented to relinquish it But that was not their fault that they required a sign But they came to our Saviour tempting rather than as sincere learners Matt. 16.1 Mark 8.11 and nothing will serve their Turn but a sign from Heaven The Jews ask our Saviour what they should doe that they might work the works of God Our Saviour answered and said unto them Joh. 6.28 29 30 31. This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent 'T was their great Duty to believe that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God The Jews do not stop here but proceed and demand of him a sign What sign shewest thou then said they that we may see and believe thee what dost thou work This was not unreasonable all this while their fault was that they would chuse what kind of Miracles our Saviour should work and they must be signs from Heaven and no less seems to be intimated in the following words Our fathers did eat Manna in the desart As it is written He gave them bread from Heaven to eat They must have Miracles of this sort they are for just such signs as Moses wrought There was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud at the giving the Law upon Mount Sinai They had Manna from Heaven in the wilderness They must have such signs as they pitch upon themselves and thus they tempt God by indulging their Curiosity Our Saviour wrought many signs and wonders and did mightily outdoe Moses as shall be shewed afterward and all their Prophets And therefore our Saviour did enough to confirm his doctrine and left the Jews without excuse Miracles are then a good testimony provided we are sure that they are miracles strictly so called For it hath often happened that the World hath been cheated with lying wonders Magicians and Impostours have imposed upon men And it is a matter of some difficulty to discern the difference between a true miracle and a false one between that which is indeed the finger of God and that which is the fraud and artifice of the Devil If Moses turn a rod into a Serpent so do the Sorcerers also and it might perhaps have puzled the wisest stander-by to discern the difference between them It will be very hard many times ex parte rei to Judge what miracles are true and what are falsly so called But though there be a difficulty in judging ex parte rei