but continued blinder than the Egyptian Magicians when it did so many wonders would shut their eyes against any other means of conviction which could not be expected it must also be remembred because God himself had no higher evidence to give them than this of his SPIRIT But then you must not understand this speech of our Saviour as if he meant that those persons to whom he spake these words had run themselves at that instant into this unpardonable sin but that if they still proceeded to blaspheme it when the SPIRIT had finished its testimony that is done all those things which still were behind for their conviction then they would fall into it and remain in it irrecoverably For you must remember that under the word SPIRIT is comprehended the power that raised Christ from the dead and presented him to God in the Heavens that he might receive of him the promise of the Holy Ghost which he shed upon the Apostles abundantly as a witness of his Resurrection and glorious Exaltation If after this that Jesus was risen again from the dead ascended into Heaven and showed himself to be there by sending the Holy Ghost upon his Apostles they did not believe but still blasphemed the holy name of Jesus and the SPIRIT of God saying That they were drunk who were filled with the Holy Ghost as here they said Jesus had a Devil then they were uncapable of obtaining remission of sin because there was nothing more to be done for their conversion but they must be abandoned to the hardness and impenitence of their hearts This I am sure must be the meaning because our Lord himself after he had pronounced the Pharisees unpardonable who spake against the SPIRIT whereby he cast out Devils tells them expresly that there was one sign more remaining to convince them which is a demonstration they had not yet sinned incurably nor could not till that sign was past and that was the sign as you heard of the Prophet Jonas ver 39 40. which he grants them again xvi 4. should not be denied them Now every body understands by this His Death and Resurrection with those things that followed upon it the sending of the Holy Ghost to enable his Apostle to go and teach all Nations as Jonas went after he came as we may say out of his grave and preached to the great City Nineveh But then this was still the SPIRIT that was thus continued to them by that our Lord being raised and it working wonders also at his Death which if they continued to resist when it had fully done the whole office of a witness and was all poured forth then they were under the absolute sentence of condemnation In brief To blaspheme the SPIRIT in this comprehensive sence of the Word including the Resurrection and that which followed to prove it was the unpardonable sin and none else And thus our Saviour's meaning is to be expounded if one should speak a word against the Son of man that is Him despising him because of his poor Parentage and calling him the Son of a Carpenter or some such name this though blameable might be pardoned propter corporis vilitatem as S. Hierom speaks because of the meanness of his outward appearance Nay if a man proceeded so far as to call him a glutton a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and sinners this also might find pardon because he did not hitherto speak evil of the works proper to a God but only of those belonging to a man And more than this should he call him deceiver or seducer when he heard him teach the people it would not be unpardonable because no man is to be believed merely upon his own word But if when these men saw the mighty works of the SPIRIT justifying his preaching to be Divine they still continued to speak evil of him this was a very dangerous blasphemy because they could not after this call him a seducer or false Teacher but they must reproach the holy SPIRIT as well as him and call that the work of the Devil which was performed by the power of the Spirit of God And if when the HOLY GHOST was come from Heaven upon the Apostles witnessing that he was quickned by the SPIRIT and by the same SPIRIT presented to God in the Heavens they still went on to speak evil of him then there was no hope of remission because they blasphemed the last remedy for their recovery which was the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven to perswade them to repent and believe on his name And that we must take our Saviour in this sence is further apparent from the name of the HOLY GHOST which he uses when he speaks of this unpardonable sin never calling it the blasphemy against the SPIRIT but always the blasphemy against the HOLY GHOST which you know was not as yet given when our Saviour spake these words In the beginning of this discourse xii Matth. 28. he mentions only the SPIRIT But then coming to describe the danger of blaspheming it he doth not say that the blasphemy of the SPIRIT simply that is of those present works of his was unpardonable but that the blasphemy against the HOLY GHOST when it was come should never be forgiven Which must needs be understood as I have already argued concerning the contempt and reproachful usage of those following witnesses the Resurrection Ascension and the preaching of the Apostles endowed with power from on high because though the SPIRIT now wrought among them yet the HOLY GHOST was not come to be his ADVOCATE and plead his cause and therefore could not as yet be blasphemed by them By HOLY GHOST then in our Saviour's language here I suppose is meant all that was left still to be done for his Justification and that it is so wide a word in this place as to include in it the SPIRIT also For he was speaking before of the SPIRIT and therefore when he alters the phrase he doth not leave out the testimony of that but imbraces it within the compass of a larger word which it was necessary to use that he might show when that sin which they had begun in a desperate manner would be so complete that it could never be undone And that was when the HOLY GHOST had consecrated the Apostles to their great office which supposes his Resurrection and filled them with all Divine gifts among which you know was a power xiv John 12. to do greater works than these which our Saviour is here speaking of called the SPIRIT Then if they did not believe there was no remedy but they must perish in their infidelity But till then they to whom our Saviour speaks were not arrived at this hopeless condition because they had hitherto only blasphemed the SPIRIT not the HOLY GHOST which was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified But when it was given and they reproached that as they had done the SPIRIT then they were under irrecoverable condemnation
together to believe it Were they drawn away with mere words And with the danger of their lives followed a poor despicable Preacher when they saw nothing that was wonderful for strange to perswade them to this worship What vain senseless imaginations are these Therefore they believed and suffered themselves to be torn in pieces rather than deny it because they saw all these things done by him and by his Preachers who were sent through the whole world to carry the benefits of our Father to mankind and to bestow the gifts of healing both on their Souls and Bodies But our Writers have not set these things down faithfully They have extolled small matters and ambitiously magnified them beyond their just proportions Why so I beseech you By what reason shall we believe any of your writings if this History of ours must be rejected In which but a few things of the many that were done are recorded by men of truth and honesty Did any God come down from Heaven and write with his own hand the stories that you believe Or is there any thing of that nature writ against ours Then you believe men and so do we Your Books were writ by men and so were ours And whatsoever you will say of ours look for the same to be retorted upon your own Will you have all things contained in your writings to be true so are all contained in ours Do you say ours are false the same we say of yours And how will you help your selves You cannot say that you saw the things that you believe no more than we But others saw them and therefore you believe them and so do we But ours were writ by rude and unlearned men and therefore not to be believed Consider if this be not an advantage to our cause and a stronger reason to conclude that these writings are stained with no lies but delivered with a simple mind ignorant how to amplifie things and so set them off with deceitful dresses As for that which follows concerning the trivial sordid stile wherein they said the Apostles writ it does not in the least render the faithfulness of their relations suspected and therefore I pass it over and omit his reply to it though I cannot well neglect this pertinent observation of Erasmus in his Preface to his Paraphrase upon S. Lukes Gospel The language says he of the Gospel is so simple and rude that if any body compare it with the History of Thucydides or Livy he will want abundance of things and be offended at as many How many things do the Evangelists pass by How many do they but just touch in two or three words In how many places do they disagree in the order of their Narration and in how many others do they seem to thwart one another These things might make a Reader less like them and not give such credit to what he reads For on the contrary they that wrote humane Histories how solicitous were they about their entrance upon their work How scrupulously did they weigh their words What care did they imploy to observe a decent order to set down nothing but what was plausible and exactly described And with what art do they endeavour to set things lively before our eyes With what pleasures do they intice and detain the minds of the Readers that they may not at all grow weary of them And yet these elaborate Monuments for the greatest part are lost and those that remain are not read with any assurance that they report nothing but the truth For who is so credulous as to believe that Titus Livius tells never a tale in his History But there are millions of men found who had rather die ten times than think there is one sentence false in the Evangelical story Is it not plain by this that it is not a business of humane power and prudence but conducted by a Divine vertue What Philosopher is there that ever had the confidence to propound such Paradoxes as these with hope to be believed That one Jesus was crucified and by his death saved mankind that he was God and Man born of a Virgin that he rose again from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father that he taught they were blessed men who mourned hungred and thirsted were afflicted ill-spoken of and killed for the profession of his name and that one day they should live again and see him sit in judgment to give immortality to the pious and endless pains to the ungodly What is there plausible and taking in all this And yet the humble low stile of the Gospel perswaded men of this so that thousands millions will rather forsake their lives than this plain truth which a few private unknown poor mean disciples of his delivered to the World What should move us then to distrust these records of the faithful WITNESSES of Christ which are come down to us through the hands of all Ages since so as they were delivered to them What do we see now more than our Forefathers did in Arnobius his days or those which succeeded that gives us any cause to suspect their truth Are they altered from what they were If any company of men had been so bold as to venture at such a change they would first have mended the stile no doubt and placed things in greater order and method according to the exactest rules of art But that they are untained an uncorrupted and in no material passage vary from what they were in former Ages appears by what all Christian Writers have transcribed out of them into their Books which agrees with that which we now read They are the same now that ever they were They contain a relation of those things which converted as Arnobius says the incredulous world who did not want wit nor learning no more than we but saw great reason to renounce all the fables which had been told of their Gods and to believe what they read here concerning Jesus For it is the testimony of God Almighty they evidently perceived that is recorded in those Books Which when we receive our faith will not be less divine than theirs in the first Age because we both receive the Witness of God only they saw or heard it and we read the record of what they saw and heard Which makes no considerable difference 〈◊〉 the nature of the testimony For the 〈◊〉 â—â—ny of any man standing upon aâ—â—â—â—ed record is as good an evidence 〈◊〉 he were alive in person to give it No man loses his cause when his Witnesses die if they have already given their evidence in any Court of Record And therefore there is no reason that our Lord Jesus should lose his authority among us because the Apostles his WITNESSES have left the world and so has the WITNESS of the Spirit and the Holy Ghost since that which they testified to mankind stands upon authentick record in the holy Gospel which cannot with any show of reason be
shamefully bow down to it and worship it Let but any man remember when he reads these words LOVE NOT THE WORLD for all that is in the WORLD the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the World And the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever Or when he reads any other lesson in the holy Books let him but remember that thus says the Father of all and thus says his WORD and this is the voice of the Holy Ghost and of all the rest of the Witnesses who testifie that Jesus who teaches these things is the Son of God and then he will never be perswaded to yield to the fairest thing that ever eye beheld or the sweetest thing the mouth can taste or the greatest pleasure any other sense is capable to feel if it must be enjoyed by the breaking of any of these commandments No he will yield himself unto God vi Rom. 13. and lay himself at the feet of his WORD and submit to the dictates and sentence of the Holy Ghost and follow the example of Christ's purity and be made conformable to his Death and be led by his Spirit and think it an honour to be conquered by such Defendants of the cause of Jesus O how hateful would every sin be to us though it dress up it self never so beautifully and court us with never such promises of pleasure or greatness did we but at the same time reflect upon these Witnesses and remember what they have testified to us How should we desire it How passionately should we tear all its gaudy dresses in pieces How heartily should we despise all its temptations which would have us slight all these great Witnesses who tell us the Son of God is come and that he is come for this purpose that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 John iii. 8. Every unlawful enjoyment would look like a manifest jeer to all these and as if a man should say to them Why do you trouble your selves this is our Darling our God and all your perswasions shall not prevail with us to let it go It would appear a contempt of God a laughing of his WORD to scorn who came upon so needless at least fruitless an errand a manifest challenge to the Holy Ghost who by every sin is boldly opposed And what heart can endure to think of being guilty of such madness which throws dirt into this pure Water I mean the life of Christ and treads his Bloud under feet and miscalls the Spirit of grace as if it were not the Truth but had deceived the world when it told them that this is the will of God even our sanctification For God says S. Paul hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness He therefore that despiseth despiseth not Man but God who hath also given unto us his holy SPIRIT 1 Thess iv 3 7 8. To conclude this you know what is commonly said and it is a certain truth of those who are bit with a kind of Spider in Italy which they call a Tarantula that there is no way to cure them of their pleasant frenzy but by such Musick as is appropriate to the motions which their poison makes in the brain of him into whom it is infused Let this be an Emblem of the truth I have now delivered that the old Serpent having envenomed mens Souls poisoned their principles perverted their affections and depraved their lives there is nothing of efficacy sufficient to recover them but only such charms as these which by this six stringed Instrument as I may call it God hath provided for our Cure And this will certainly do it by infusing the Faith of Jesus into us which is the victory whereby we overcome the WORLD Do but hearken diligently to these Witnesses do but mind their sweet consent their harmony and agreement in the testimony they give to this great truth that Jesus our Master is the Son of God and there is no venome so deadly which this Faith will not expel no love to the WORLD so strong which it will not vanquish and subdue It will recover us to our selves and make nothing seem so ridiculous as the folly and frantickness of worldly men yet it will advance us to a Divine and Heavenly spirit so that we shall not be apt to receive such pestilent infusions any more but keep our selves in the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life VI. For I must add now in the last place that this Faith is so far from being unable to conquer all temptations which would hinder us from obeying our Saviour's commands that it gives us power and strength to do our duty with chearfulness So S. John here tells us when he adds to what he says of the keeping of his Commandments that HIS COMMANDMENTS ARE NOT GRIEVOUS For as Oecumenius well glosses what load is it for a man to love his Brother What great burden is it to visit him if he be in prison God doth not command thee to deliver him but only to visit him He doth not bid thee knock off his chains but see how he bears them Nor doth he bid thee cure a sick man but only comfort and relieve him Nor provide dainties for a poor man but only feed him nor give rich apparel to the naked but only cloath them And so we may conclude of the rest that it is rather an ease than a burden to be sober and chaste in all enjoyments of pleasure to be content with a small portion of those things which others desire with a greedy and ravenous eye to bear with that patiently which we cannot remedy to be careful for nothing but in every thing to make known our requests to God with Prayer and Thanksgiving to be meek and peaceable amongst contentious people to forgive those that injure us to envy no man's greatness and with an humble modesty to satisfie our selves though we be not equal to them These and such like qualities wherewith Jesus would invest us are in themselves most desirable and though richer than cloath of Gold are like our ordinary garments which are no load to those that wear them But they are the less grievous to those that believe in Jesus who are endued with power from above by receiving the testimony of so many Divine Witnesses who assure them they are in the way of God in the company of his Son under the conduct of the Holy Ghost in the direct rode to that glorious place where Jesus is and therefore why should not they rejoyce and be exceeding glad to find themselves thus happy That load which to a sick man seems intolerable if it be laid on the neck of one in health is so easie that he can run away with it with pleasure And so it is in the case of keeping God's
saith that if he went away he would send the PARACLETE that is his Advocate unto them whose office it should be to convince the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment Of this place I shall be able I hope to give a full account hereafter together with all those that relate to the Holy Ghost and therefore I shall say no more of it now than this That the end of the PARACLETE'S coming was to plead the Cause of our Saviour to maintain his innocence and to prove against all accusers that though he was condemned by men yet he was acquitted by God and had said nothing but the truth For observe but the crime whereof he was accused and for which he was sentenced by the Jews and you will soon see that nothing could clear him so much as this The great thing they laid to his charge as you have heard already was that he affirmed when they adjured him to speak his thought that he was the Christ the Son of the Blessed This was the blasphemy which they pretended wounded their hearts with grief when they heard it and for which they adjudged him to be worthy of death Now what could demonstrate the vileness of this calumny and prove him not guilty more than such a power possessing his followers even after he was dead as they saw in himself when he was alive Nay a far greater which declared as they truly said that he was Lord of all x. Acts 36. He could not have done such things as they beheld were wrought at the invoking of his Name if he were not truly the Son of God The Apostles might have called long enough upon him before they had made a man lame from his Mother's womb walk up and down and leap and praise God if he whom they crucified were not exalted by God's right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour And it had been the vainest thing of all for the Apostles to go and preach up the authority of a dead man and who was ignominiously crucified as a great Malefactor if they had not known that the Holy Ghost from him was ready at hand in every place and time to be his ADVOCATE and take his part against all gain-sayers This Heavenly Witness never failed to appear when there was need of him to justifie our Saviour and to set all things right in the opinion of the World by reversing their false judgment and by establishing and verifying the sentence he had passed on himself when he said that he was the Son of God The Tables were now turned by the appearance of this PARACLETE who pleaded so strongly and convincingly that many who had before accounted him an evil doer were now forced to alter their mind and confess him to be a righteous person They who had reviled him now gave him worship and honour They that cried Crucifie him said as the Centurion when they heard the HOLY GHOST speak on his behalf Sure this was the Son of God And all those who were so hardy as to resist the Holy Ghost vii Acts 51. were fain to oppose it with rage and throwing stones for in any other manner they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit whereby S. Steven a man full of the Holy Ghost spake to them and reasoned with them vi Acts 9 10. So great a testimony was this of the HOLY GHOST to Jesus that the Apostles were not fit to be his Witnesses till they had received it xxiv Luke 48. i. Acts 8. But after it came upon them and joyned its testimony with theirs then they defended his cause so successfully that a great company of the Priests the greatest enemies to it yielded themselves and became obedient to the faith vi Acts 7. Then if any one asked how dare you contradict the sentence of the High Court to which all men are bound upon pain of death to submit xvii Deut. 9 12. what can you say to justifie this presumption in maintaining his Righteousness whom the Grand Council of the Nation hath condemned to suffer death They could soon make this reply Let the HOLY GHOST answer you hear what he says to you If He do not speak enough for us and for Jesus to satisfie you then we refuse not to die you may deal with us as the despisers of God and his Law And so mightily were they astonished and perplexed by the pleadings of the HOLY GHOST that the Sanhedrim the Supreme Court of Judicature among them knew not what to say to the Apostles nor what to do with them They only clapt them in prison for preaching Jesus iv Acts 3. and threatned farther severity if they did not desist ver 21. but they durst not proceed to pass the sentence of death upon them according as the Law directed the people glorifying God so heartily for what they saw them do by the power of the Holy Ghost Nay so much were some of this great Council staggered that according to the perswasion of Gamaliel a great Master among them they let the Apostles go free after a second imprisonment lest perhaps they should be found fighters against God ver 39. If this be an humane project says that wise man do not trouble your selves about it for it will come to naught as the vain attempts of others have done who at the first drew much people after them But if these men prove to be authorized by God and he will have it so who can overthrow it We had best take heed how we proceed in a business wherein we may chance to have God against us It is better in my judgment to be quiet and see what the issue will be lest in stead of contending with men we be found to oppose God Almighty himself III. And the issue was this which is the last thing that by the power of this Advocate alone and no other our Lord Jesus actually obtained a Kingdom in spite of all the opposition that could be made against him This was the greatest testimony of the Holy Ghost to him which effectually proved him to be a King by winning him a Kingdom and perswading men to submit unto him though he was invisible and not like to reward their services in this World at all but only in another It proclaimed him all abroad in the World to be the Lord of life and glory and by the mere preaching of the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven as S. Peter speaks 1 i. 12. the Nations were subdued to him and acknowledged him for their Sovereign The High Priest and Council of Jerusalem as it there follows in v. Acts 40. desiring to discourage the Apostles in this preaching ordered them to be beaten and then commanded them to speak no more in the name of Jesus for fear of a worse punishment that might follow Alas vain men that thought to choak this Truth and bury this report concerning Jesus Did they think it was in their power to murder his
does it sneak into nothing when we look up unto Jesus and remember that He was the Son of God and yet endured it as he tells his Apostles xv John 18. and thought himself never the less glorious It cannot be help'd but we must be scorned sometime or other if we will follow him unless we could perswade all men to bear us company But this is our comfort and encouragement that this is the way to glory and that now we are conformed to our Saviour who by the shame of the Cross hath got himself immortal honour and that the Father at present approves us the Word delights in us the Spirit of God and of Glory rests upon us all these Heavenly Witnesses esteem and love us and are pleased to see us behave our selves worthily as Jesus did 2. And if from hence we pass through many tribulations and encounter such troubles and hardships as we are all desirous to avoid they will not be able to affright or daunt him who hath this faith thus planted in his heart For greater is He that is in us than he that is in the WORLD Did not the ancient Worthies and great Warriers against the WORLD wade through very great difficulties in the strength of a Faith which was much weaker than this of ours How did all those brave men whom you read of Hebr. xi obtain a good report but through faith when it had not received this promise ver 39. Surely we that understand more than they did we who know the Son of God is come not only by WATER but by BLOUD and who know that Eternal life is in him and have received the Holy Ghost and are made partakers of such glorious Revelations in the Gospel of his grace and who know the certainty of those things wherein we are instructed we I say cannot but take the courage in the power of such a Faith to behave our selves valiantly and with Christian resolution in such like straits and dangers as made their fidelity so remarkable Read what S. Peter says to encourage us 1 iii. 14 15. But if you suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you As if he should have said It may seem a strange folly to suffer so much as you do and you may begin to be startled at the troubles which befall you but bear a reverend regard towards God who hath called you to this state of Christianity do but stand in awe of his Authority who hath bid you hear that is obey Jesus whatsoever it cost you and do but tell every Man what reason you have for what you do and suffer and what hope you have in him upon this account And then they will either cease to trouble you or you will cease to be troubled for what they make you suffer Now what are the reasons of our Christian hope and patience but these which we are here treating of If we alledge these to our selves or to others it will soon appear that we are no fools in exposing our selves to any dangers for righteousness sake The Father hath bidden us be true to it so hath the Word and so hath the Holy Ghost every one of the other three also call upon us to be couragious for it is a worthy cause wherein we are ingaged and we shall not lose our reward Here are reasons enough and they are stronger than all their adversaries The World hath nothing to oppose so weighty as these Witnesses every one of which I might show you if it would not prove too tedious lay an obligation on us not to be moved from our stedfastness but to take up our Cross and to follow Jesus And I the rather pass by these because I think they are generally of less force than the other part of the WORLD which uses to assault Mankind more dangerously 3. I mean the alluring and inticing enjoyments here below which we are too prone to comply withall They are of an inveigling and insinuating nature and may get admittance by their soft violence when the other cannot prevail by more rough opposition We are apt to fortifie our selves against evil things and are many times angry they should attempt to over-master us but to the good things of the WORLD we lye naked and open and there is a treacherous party within that is willing they should enter nay ready to open the doors to them And they are of three sorts as the forenamed place in this Epistle tells us the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life ii 16. All that the WORLD contains in it for the captivating of an earthly Mans affections and satisfying his desires is comprehended under one of these three Names For the understanding of which you must know that the Hebrews have a manner of speech which expresses the Object by the Act and the clearest interpretation of these words is grounded on that use of theirs So that by LUST we are to understand all those things that gratifie some appetite of pleasure wealth or greatness and by FLESH which is not here as it is sometimes a general word it is most agreeable to understand the lower and duller senses which lye most in the flesh and are affected with things that have some grosness in them And then the whole phrase LUST OF THE FLESH that sort of things which give content to the touch the taste and smell such as are meat and drink and perfumes and other voluptuous enjoyments which I need not name but are sometimes particularly called FLESH And then by the LUST OF THE EYES we are to understand such things as belong to the higher and more renned sense of seeing viz. Gold and Silver precious Stones and Jewels Lordships and large possessions noble Houses and rich Furniture beautiful Pictures and fair Gardens fine clothes and costly attire all that is comprehended under the name of Riches which as Solomon observes yields only this satisfaction to the owner that he beholdeth them with his eye There is little in these things but what is all lodged in this sense and therefore they are called the lust of the eye because it loves to look upon them and when that is done they can do more for him Only they may prefer a man to that which he calls the PRIDE OF LIFE which signifies all those things that flatter and please the inward sense our fancy or imagination Such as are great offices and places of Dignity noble Titles all the Honour and Glory of the World together with the esteem at least the applause and commendation of men which is wont to follow them One or more of these three sorts of things every man naturally hunts after and his desires prick him forward in its pursuit For these are mens
by this sickness ver 4. Therefore he stayed so long before he would move towards him that Lazarus might be dead before he got to Bethany and He might get more glory by his resurrection than he had done by healing so many sicknesses and casting out such a number of Devils For this proved that he had power not only to break but utterly to destroy the works of the Devil and to tread him quite under foot who had the power of death For which reason he tells his Disciples that he was glad for their sakes that he was not there when Lazarus died to the intent they might believe ver 15. Have their faith that is more confirmed in him by seeing such an illustrious miracle wrought upon Lazarus after he was dead than it could have been by healing his sickness and preserving him from death They had seen many desperate diseases cured but never any man raised to life after he had been so long dead Some of the Jews indeed objected this to him that he ought to have been so kind as to have saved his friends life if he had had the power which he pretended Could not this man say they which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died ver 37. They do not by these words express their Faith but their unbelief and upbraid him with weakness or want of love The latter could not be imputed to him for by his tears just before mentioned ver 35 36. they all observed how much he loved him But from thence some of the company took occasion to disparage his power and to ask the rest of their neighbours how they could believe that he had opened a blind mans eyes as was commonly reported Chap. ix when he suffered one whom he loved so much to want his help and perish If he had done the former how easie had it been for him to do the latter In which he failing though his affection could not but move him to do his utmost for his Friend they took it to be a demonstration that he was not such a mighty Man as the People imagined This perverse reasoning moved our Saviour very much so that he groaned again in himself v. 38. to see their deplorable obstinacy and malice as much as he had done before v. 33. to hear their pitious lamentations which they made for the dead These mens condition was far more pitious because he foresaw there was but little hope that they would be moved when they saw their frivolous cavil answered by the Resurrection of Lazarus Which would show there was good reason why he let him dye that he might express never the less love to him but more to them and to all Mankind by restoring his life which was a more Divine work by much than to have saved him from Death To this therefore he immediately applies himself and bids the Sister of the deceased whose faith it seems began to stagger not doubt but she should see the glory of God vers 40. such a stupendious instance that is of the power of God in him as would move many to give glory to God that sent him For wherein could the Majesty of God appear more to their astonishment than in such a marvailous work as this which when he entred upon he first lift up his eyes to him and called him Father on purpose that the People might believe he came from God and was his Son when they saw him answer his Prayers in this manner vers 41 42. Where if you read the place you will see he gives this reason why he made a publick acknowledgment to God for hearing him so often not because he doubted of his presence with him now but meerly that the by-standers might know by whom he did such miracles and ascribing them to no other power but his might believe that he had sent him What should they believe else when they heard him after this address to God commanding Lazarus with a loud voice expressing his assurance and authority to come forth and when they beheld him who could not lately move himself in his Bed rise up out of his Tomb and walk about not only restored to life but in perfect health This struck the hearts of many of the Jewes who were there present so powerfully that they believed on him vers 45. that is concluded he was more than a Prophet no less than the Messiah himself And those Cavillers before mentioned who still persisted to maintain their infidelity by the absurdest imaginations were so startled at it that they went presently and told some of the Great Sanhedrim what Jesus had done wishing them I suppose to look to themselves and not suffer these proceedings vers 46. For they were so alarmed with this news that a Council forthwith is called and they enter into a solemn Debate what course to take with him seeing plainly how powerful this Miracle was to win him Proselytes and draw the People to him vers 47. It had had that effect upon many already as you have heard and they were afraid it would increase the number of his Disciples so much that it would prove their utter ruine For they say vers 48. If we let him thus alone all men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and Nation That is the People will proclaim him their King and thereby we shall incur the indignation of Caesar who will send an Army and cut us off till he leave neither root nor branch as it is iv Mal. 1. but destroy both us and our Temple That place they were resolved to preserve though it were with his destruction whose death they now determine as soon as ever they could catch him For so their consultation ended first they decreed v. 53. that for the publick good as they called it He should be put to death and then that if any knew where he was v. 57. they should give notice of it that he might be apprehended in order to his trial Thus their blind malice turned the most powerful means of their conversion into the ground and reason of his destruction For because he did so many miracles v. 47. they did not think it fit to let him live when-as for that very cause they ought to have believed on him and thought him worthy to live eternally For I think these Three things are very considerable wherewith I shall conclude this part of the SPIRITS testimony I. First this Miracle wrought upon Lazarus was so evident a token that he was the Son of God that it had in it all the conditions which the Gentile King whom the Jews speak of in the Book COSRI * Part. 1. Sect. 8. requires in a prodigy sufficient to perswade men to believe that God speaks by him that works it Our mind says he cannot be brought to think that God enters into society with flesh and blood unless it be by such a miracle
to prove the truth of that which the person that wrought them delivered And therefore as their miracles demonstrated the truth of that message which Moses and the Prophets brought from God So our Saviour's evinced the truth of his which was that they were only the Servants but He the Son of God This was as strongly attested by what he did as any thing the Men of God taught in former times was by their works Yea his miracles bare as fair a proportion in their bigness and number to this high and great thing which they were to prove that he was Gods Son as the miracles of Moses and the Prophets bare to those lesser truths which they were brought to establish And here for to put a period to this part of my discourse it will be very useful to observe the different way of proceeding for the establishing and promoting a Religion instituted by men and a Religion whose author is God This I find very well noted to my hand in a learned Writer of the Jewish Nation whom I have already mentioned * Sepher COSRI Part 1. sect 80 c When men says he make Laws and setle a Religion whose original is from their own minds and devised by themselves though they may pretend that it comes from God yet they are not able to make it take place without the power of the Sword or the countenance and assistance of some Prince who by his Authority shall cause it to be received But a Religion that is indeed Divine is planted in a Divine manner When Laws are derived from God he establishes them by his power and might and over-aws men by such wonders as without any humane force procure obedience Thus says he our Religion began When the Children of Israel were in grievous servitude and when the Land promised to their Fathers was in the hand of potent Kings God sent Moses and Aaron armed with no power but that of working miracles changing the ordinary and usual course of Nature and inflicting in a moment grievous plagues upon the Water the Earth the Air the Plants the Beasts and the Bodies of Men throughout all the Land of Egypt whereby the Prince that kept them in bondage was forced to let them go And in their Journey they were conducted by the guidance of a bright Cloud and they passed through the Sea and they were fed with Manna in the Wilderness XL. Years and saw one Miracle after another which convinced them they ought to submit to that Word of the Lord which Moses spake unto them To this purpose that Writer very rationally discourses Now just as He shows that Moses proved his Mission from God so I have briefly related how our Saviour likewise demonstrated that he was the Royal Prophet whom Moses foretold God would send into the World In an Age when they not only groaned under the Roman Yoke but were also superstitiously inthral'd to a number of Rites and Ceremonies devised by their Elders superadded to all the burden of the Law of Moses and moreover grievously oppressed by the Devil as all the rest of the World likewise were far more than they God raised up a mighty Salvation to them out of the house of his servant David Our Lord that is on a sudden appeared as a Redeemer and Deliverer from the bondage in which they lay not with any worldly policy or force but meerly with the Spirit and Power of God 1 Cor. ii 5. who sent an Herald but without the power of Miracles to proclaim his coming And as soon as he had done crying his mouth being stopt by Herod's throwing him into Prison our Lord presently came forth shining most gloriously in the illustrious works that he did every where which were such as that time called for as Moses his miracles were proper to the occasions and necessities of his days And some of them were very like those wrought by Moses and others bear as great a resemblance to them as twins are wont to do to each other who lie together in the same womb He healed more than Moses killed He turned their water into wine as Moses did the water of the River into bloud He walkt upon the very surface of the Sea and called one of his Disciples to accompany him there He fed multitudes with a little quantity of bread as Moses had fed the Israelites in the Wilderness This he did more than once and that in a Desart too showing what he was able to do if there had been the like need that there was in former times Then they should not have asked what sign shewest thou equal to Moses they mean what dost thou work vi John 30. For it was plain enough he could have fed them forty years in that manner as well as once which was the thing they seem to desire when they say in the next words ver 31. Our Fathers did eat Manna in the Desart as it is written He gave them bread from Heaven to eat That is He did not feed them for one day or two as thou hast done but a long time and that from Heaven let us see thee do so that we may leave him and follow thee And if he had not done enough already to work faith in them and they had lived now alway in a Desart as their Fathers did then no doubt he would for that he could was evident else how should he have fed them thus miraculously at all Many other miracles also declared that he had the same power in the Air that he had on the Earth and could as easily have brought bread from Heaven as multiplied the Loaves which had now filled so many of them The very Devils were as subject to him as the meanest creature in the World And He raised the Dead by his powerful word which Moses never did All which is recorded by the Apostles to show what cause they had to believe in Jesus and how his Religion was planted and propagated in the world as the other wonders are recorded by Moses to show with what authority he came and how he setled the Israelites in the belief of his Laws And there is no more cause to question whether Jesus be the Son of God the Lord of the World who came with such a SPIRIT than there was then to doubt whether Moses was his servant and the Lawgiver of that people among whom he did such wonders Nor so much neither for the greater his pretences were the greater reason there was that they should have been discountenanced by such a SPIRIT as was in him if they had not been true It is incredible that God should let the world be abused so long by so many miracles and so great that never was the like without any the least confutation and abused by a lye of so dangerous a nature and so reproachful to his Name and so directly opposite to his Government which this Person if he were an Impostor and said he was his Son
profanation This was a preface as he calls it to the utter subversion and extinction of the rest of their Ordinances and their legall Worship The consequence of which was as he likewise notes that the knowledge and service of God according to the Law which had been so long circumscribed and shut up in one city and country being to be abolished that worship which by the Passion of our Saviour was revealed was to be established and spred to the uttermost parts of the Earth And therefore the rending of the veil did as good as proclaim to all the world and cry with a loud voice saying Come hither and behold the invisible things Come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the sight of the divine Mysteries from whence you have been so long excluded Here is free leave for you all to enter who have as much right as any to that which before was inaccessible And since this most holy place was a type of Heaven God commanding Moses to make all things according to the pattern in the Mount the shutting up of this from the people and hiding the things contained in it by a veil drawn before their eyes was an acknowledgment that by the legall worship there was no entrance into the heavens but the way was unpassable by those that stuck onely to its rites and ceremonies And therefore the tearing of this veil by the death of Christ signified as plainly that the obstacle was removed and preached to the world as with the sound of a trumpet that every one of us by his BLOUD may hope to come thither For He that emptied himself for this very cause as the same Photius writes and took upon him our flesh and suffered all things for our sake Christ I mean our God hath opened a new passage into the kingdom of heaven by his life-giving death Which both dissolved that old Religion as the very same thing you see foresignified and introduced such an one as will certainly bring us into the high and holy place whether Jesus our forerunner is entred for us And that this tearing of the veil in sunder was the effect of our Saviour's passion and precious BLOUD-shedding is visible from the relation which the Evangelicall story makes of this Prodigy So I call it because you reade that it was not rent from the bottom to the top as it would have been if the Earthquake as some may be prone to suspect had been the cause of it but from the top to the bottom xxvii Matt. 51. This evidently shews it was an hand from above that made this breach which following immediately upon our Saviour's giving up the ghost was as sensible a token that it depended upon no other cause but that The most impious are not able to devise any other reason of so strange an accident Which could have no naturall cause as an Earthquake may but proceeded from a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Photius his phrase is Divine vengeance which gave the veil this stroke and cut it quite in two as an indeleble proof that it was the BLOUD of an innocent person which they now had shed And indeed the Earthquake there mentioned was so far from being the cause of this rent that it followed after it that Power from on high which first slit the veil next of all shaking the earth and cleaving the rocks in sunder To which I think it may be fit to adde that the Jews themselves tell us the gates of the Temple used after this to open of their own accord forty years before its destruction * Tzemach David ad an 3785. Which made R. Jochanan ben Zaccai cry out O Temple Temple why dost thou affright thy self I know that thou shalt be destroyed in the end for Zachariah prophesied of thee Open thy doors O Lebanon that the fire may devour thy Cedars xi 1. Which new prodigy confessed by many of their Writers together with the extinction of the Lamp that used to burn there was a witness that God was going away from that place and intended no longer to dwell in it but would shew his Glory which for many years had heretofore filled that house to all the Earth Now then if the Partition-wall was thus broken down through the BLOUD of Jesus and all laid open and common that we might enter upon the possession of the Divine promises as well as others it is certain by the Witness of this BLOUD that there is an Heavenly Inheritance for us for Earthly there is none Either we must obtain Eternall Life by him that died for us or nothing at all For there is no land of Canaan nor any thing like it given to us Gentiles who are now called to inherit the promises We have no assurance of any worldly purchaces no portion of money vine-yards olive-yards or other goods of that nature assigned to us as there was to the ancient Israelites But quite contrary they that enjoyed the very first-fruits of the Divine Love were told that every one who would live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution and take up their cross and forsake all if they would be his followers Accordingly we have examples of those who sold their lands and when they had done gave away the price of them so far were they from thinking of any temporall rewards Undoubtedly then the Blessing which Jesus purchased for us by his BLOUD whereby he laid waste all former inclosures can be nothing else but great Possessions in another World where we have the promise of an eternall Inheritance This we ought to expect with the most assured confidence for we cannot make any doubt of it unless we will look upon the BLOUD of Jesus as more ineffectuall then the bloud of bulls and goats whereby they held the Earthly Canaan VIII And now let us once more look upon the BLOUD of Jesus as the bloud of a Sacrifice whereby all Covenants were anciently sealed and without which there could be no entrance no not for the High-priest himself into the Holy place where God dwelt Those inspired persons whom as I said before our Saviour bids all men hear and reverence frequently call his Death by this name And common reason also leads us to have the same thoughts of it For if it was not the BLOUD of the most precious and acceptable Sacrifice which He offered upon the Cross how could it put an end as it hath done to all the old Sacrifices which had stood so long by God's appointment and make all the bloud that was afterward offered of no force at all for their preservation from ruine That it did so is manifest by the experience of near sixteen hundred years And the Hebrew Writers themselves confess that the scarlet tongue as they call it that is the list of that colour and figure which was hung between the Scape-goat's horns or as others will have it at the door of the Temple and always used to turn white according to that in Isaiah