two 1. Because the Apostles Power was no other than that of Our Saviour to invite men to imbrace the Kingdom of God which they themselves acknowledged for a Kingdom not present but to come and They that have no Kingdome can make no Laws It is very true They that have no Kingdom can make no Laws yet since as the same Page tells us God is the Soveraign of all the World they that have no Kingdom may Proclaim his Laws and this was the Office of the Apostles as Prophets or men Inspired by God and sent to Preach the Gospel Their calling of Mâ—n to Christianity derived not its Authority Originally from them but from God that sent them and send them he did not barely to invite Men unto it but also in His Name to Command them to receive it for now God Commâ—â—deth all Men every where to repent and this is his Commandement that we should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ Under these two heads of Repentance towards God and of Faith towards our Lord Jâ—sus Christ St. Paul comprehends all Invitations that can be to Christianity and since they both are thus plainly and Emphatically commanded it is a strange overâ—ight or worse to say the Precâ—pts of the Gospel are no Commands And yet more strange and worse than so it is to say 2. We read not any where that they who received not the Doctrine of Christ did therein sin but thâ—t they died in their sins that is that their sins against the Laws to which they owed obedience were not pardoned And therefore of Infidels St. John â—aith not the wrâ—th of God shall come upon them but the wrath of God remaineth upon them and not that they shall be condemned but that they are condemned Nor can it be conceived that the benefit of Faith is Remission of sins unless we conceive withall that the dammage of Inâ—idelity is the Retention of the same sins But do we not read that when Christ sent forth His Disciples by two and two He gave them Order that in whatever House or City they were not received and heard they should shake off the dust under their feet for a â—estimony against them and withall assuring them that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gâ—mâ—râ—â—a in the day of Judgment than for that city And do we not read of Jerusalem whose Houses were leâ—t desolate because the Inhabitants would not be gathered unto Him and do we not read that This is the condâ—mnation that light is come into the world and men love Darkness rather than light and do we not read that he who believeth not shall be Damned and do we not read that the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels in flâ—ming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and do we not read of the Comforter who was to come and reprove the world of sin because they believe not on him It is well known that if we turn to our Bibles we may read all these things therein how strange then is it and horrid to say we read not any where that they who received not the Doctrine of Christ did therein sin Is that no Sin which will make Eternal Judgment more severe and intolerable to otherwise the best of Cities than to Sodom and Gomorrâ—a is that no Sin for which God destroyed Jerusalem and cast off the â—eed of Abraham his Friend and the Children of Jacob his chosen Is that no Sin for which above all things the World is condemned Is that no Sin for which Men shall be damned Is that no Sin for which they shall suffer the vengeance of Eternal fire Is that no Sin for which the Holy Ghost reproves the World of Sin Who so blind in his apprehension or so perverse in his judgment as to think it is not even he that writ it I verily think did it with but at best a trembling Assent unto it His Allegations of Scripture and Reason to prove it are so impertinent and insufficient as that they rather conclude the contrary For what though St. John speaks in the present Tense and faith not the Wrath of God shall come but that it abideth upon him that believeth not and that he is condemned already Doth it thence follow that Infidelity is no sin who would not rather thence conclude that it is yea and that so great an one as that the Unbeliever shall as certainly be punished for it as if Gods Wrath were actually Inflicted or Eternal Condemnation had actually passed upon him this Construction of the Evangelists words is certainly far more probable than the other because He there assigns the Reason of the Unbelievers Condemnation which is not because he had sinned against the Laws of Nature and the Civil Laws of State but because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God Since then this is the moving Cause or Reason of his Condemnation it is here evident that this is his sin Nor doth the Reason that the Leviathan alledgeth to the contrary enforce any other conclusion for it cannot be conceived that the Retention of sin is the dammage of Infidelity unless we conceive withal that Infidelity doth displease God nor can we conceive it to displease Him unless withal we conceive it to be a Sin And indeed when we well consider it we cannot possibly methinks conceive it to be any other for very evident it is that Christ Crucified is either a Rock of Offence or Foolishness unto it it sets at naught the Counsel of God in contriving and despiseth the Riches of His Grace in effecting the Redemption of the World by Him it counts the Blood of the Covenant an Unholy or Trivial thing not worth minding and does despite unto or at least resists the Spirit of Grace it makes God a Lier and all the Witnesses to Christianity it impudently chargeth with Falshood in short it frustrates the whole Gospel and breaks the Commandment of God and therefore it is a great sin Nor indeed can it possibly be otherwise because it is a Notorious transgression of the Gospel and the Gospel is a Law Namely the Law of the Spirit of Life and the perfect Law of Liberty Nor can it be thought that these Apostles do improperly style the Gospel a Law for a Law being little or nothing else but an Ordinance and Preception Promulgated for the common Good by Him that hath the Care of the Community it is very easy to discern that the Gospel hath in it the Nature of a Law because all the parts of its Definition are very agreable thereto it concerns Me at present to take Notice only of its Obligation and this is so inseparable from a Law as that it receives its Name therefrom and indeed the most Essential difference of a Law
follow his Example With what vigorous râ—solutions may it inspirit us With what magnaninmity and fortitude notwithstanding all oppositions mâ—y it animate and embolden us to wressle not with â—lâ—sh and blood only but with Principalitiâ—s and Powers with the Rulers of the darkness of this World and spiritual wiâ—kedness in high plaâ—â—s Since the Captain of our Salvation all alone and that when he was at the lowest both in single Duels and when their fâ—rces were united against him hath foiled and beaten both his and our enemies and is now made perfect in glory and power over them whom shall we fear of whom nâ—ed we be afraid in the way of our duty When we consider that He who upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power by which also they are made to bow unto and ob y him doth himsâ—lf sympathize with us in all our prâ—ssures and troubles afflictions and temptations to the end that he might be able i. e. affectionately disposed to succour and therein to help us how exceedingly almost infinitely doth it prâ—ponderate and out-weigh all the discouragements that we can possibly find or fansie either from the imbecillity of humane Nature or the power of Temptation or whatever other topicks there are from whence men think to draw excuses for their disobedience how do they all vanish and evaporate into Air before this one consideration viz. That He who now governs the World and shall hâ—reafter judge it is touched with a feeling of our infirmities and is able to succour them that are tempted What incouragement can we desire or indeed can he give us greater than this to continue his faithful Souldiâ—rs and Sâ—rvants unto our Lifes end Let us then hear the conclusion of the whole matter which is this That seeing our Blâ—ssed Lord Jesus in Redeeming us hath so eâ—fectually rescued us out of the hand of the Devil and sâ— brought us into the Liberty of Gods Service as that the Prince of the power of the Air who rules in the Children of disobedience cannot now approach to hurt us without his permission and our own unworthy defection from him He hath thereby obtained such an indisputable Right of Dominion over us as that his Commands do most evidently lay the obligation of most just Authority upon us And forasmuch as Christ in the dayes of his flesh made such an All-sufficient Atonement to his Father and now lives to make such Intercession for us as have and do procure to us the most inestimable Benefits and Favours that in this life can be conferred on us the most ample and the highest satisfaction that our Reason can expect to find in our Religion together with the greatest Encouragement that our Souls can have to obey it we must of necessity by the rules of Gratitude i. e. by the Laws of our own Nature be most highly obliged so to do For that a man which receiveth Benefit from another of meer Grace endeavour that he which giveth it have no reasonable cause to repeâ—t him of his good will the Leviathan it self grants to be a Law of Nature Although this be true yet is it but an ill-favoured definition of Gratitude for it deforms the face of that fair Vertue as if it looked directly only on it self and asquint upon its Benefactour and had no design but only to avoid an impendâ—nt evil viz. his repentance of his good will but there is more in it than so for it belongs to the nature of it for a benefit received from any one presently in heart and good Will largely to requite the Donor and afterwards seasonably to do it in word and deed according to the affection of the Giver â—nd the ability of the Receiver And to this we are obliged by the very Law of our Nature and consequently this we are bound to do unto God for the Benefits of our Redemption by our Blessed Lord Jesus But alas they are so free and transcendently great as that they infinitely exceed all requital and justifie astonishment at the goodness of the Donor What then shall we render unto the Lord for them it is evident we cannot be sufficiently thankful yet the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his Name and that of our lives in keeping his Commandâ—â—nts it is manifest we may render unto him Could we do more more we should be obliged to do the very Law of our own Nature would tell us that both the greatness of the Benefits and the affection of the Giver would deserve it at our hands How just therefore and reasonable is it for us to do what we can i. e. out of a Principle of Love and Gratitude and not of fear only to keep his Commandments and what ever it costs us to walâ— in the same to our Lives end Which God of his Mercy grant all men Grace to do through the same Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Glory and Honour Power and Dominion Praise and Thanksgiving World without End Amen FINIS Books Printed for William Crook at the Green-Dragon without Temple-Barre 1679. 1. 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Mr. Hobbes's Rosetum Geometricum five propositiones aliquot frustra antehac tentatae cum censura brevi Doctrinae Wallisianae Authore T. Hobbes Quarto 8. The Carpenters Rule made easie or The Art of Measuring of Superficies and Solids c. 3 d. Edition To which is added Gaugeing by J. Darling 9. The Flower-Garden inlarged Shewing how to order and increase all manner of Flowers whether by Layers Slips Off sets Cuttings Sâ—eds c. Also how to draw a Horizontal Dial in a Garden With a Treatise of all Roots Plants Trees Shrubs Fruits Herbs in the Kings Plantations Twelves 10. The Elegant Poems of Dr. Richard Corbet Dean of Christ-Church in Oxford after Bishop of Norwich Twelves 11. Brownlows Reports Compleat in two Parts Quarto 12. The Court of Curiosity wherein by the Lot the most intricate Questions are resolved and Nocturnal Dreams and Visions explained according to the
THE Spirit of Prophecy A TREATISE To prove by the wayes formerly in use among the Jews in the Tryal of Pretenders to a Prophetick Spirit That Christ and his Apostles were Prophetâ— Together with the DIVINE AUTHORITY OF Christian Religion And the HOLY SCRIPTURES The Insufficiency of HUMANE REASON And the Reasonableness of the Christian Faith Hope and Practice deduced therefrom and asserted against Mr. HOBBS and the Treatise of HVMANE REASON By W. H. LONDON Printed for W. Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar MDCLXXIX TO THE Right Reverend Father in God PETER Lord Bishop of ELY My Lord WHen the Gospel was first promulgated by the Preaching of Christ and his Apostles the Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews the Philosophers and Disputers of this World among the Gentiles i. e. the Wits of that Age were some of the most eminent Opposers and Rejecters of it the one required a Sign the other sought after Wisdom the one would have Signs and Miâ—â—â—les wrought at their Demand the other would have Philosophical Reasons drawn from Natural Causes to make them believe and for lack of these as it seems they pretended Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness and that for the same Reasons such as they are he seemâ— to be so still to some of the Wits of these Times I am assured by the Wâ—itings of such Persons as want neither opportunities of Converse with Men nor ability to understand their Principles and Pretences Some there are that have heard and perhaps have read a little of the things called Miracles and Demonstrations and for want of these they seem to despise and contemn the Gospel But the tâ—uth is could these Brisk and Airy these Talkative and Dogmatical men obtain leave of themselves to be sâ—â—ious so long as to consider the nature of the Gospel and the Demonstration of the Spirit they might perhaps find themselves somewhat like those in the Primitive times who professing themselves to be Wise became Fools Nor have they any reason to look on this as a reproachful Suggestion foâ— since Life and Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel upon either of these Pretences and they can have no better to reject it is but to play the fool very wisely and to run mad with a reason for it and that not only because the Gospel acquaints us with matters of the highest and best importance that can be unto us but also because which of these wayes soever they chuse to palliate their Infidelity it will at length lead them to deplorable absurdity For the Semeiotical or Jewish Postulatum is a very manifâ—st and malepeâ—t piece of Folly not only because the Gospel was at first abundantly confiâ—med by Miracles uncontâ—ollably attested but also because if that were constituted the way of demonstrating the truth of Divine Revelation it would lead men to the impudence of prescribing to the Most High and setting bounds to the Almighty of expecting alterations in the course of Nature and of having Preachers like Juglers to shew tricks at the demand of every petulant Requirer Instances hereof we have divers in the Holy Scripture but few I think so pâ—egnant as that of the Pharisees seeking of Christ a Sign from Heaven tempting him They had no mind to be his Disciples but to make tryal of his Skill and ability and therefore they demand a Sign and that presently upon the spot and this Sign must be not that which he had given them but the day before by feeding four thousand with seven Loaves and a few small Fishes this did not please their Pallats but they must have a Sign of their own chusing and that not from the Earth the Wind or the Sea but from Heaven from thence it must come in all haste to satisfie their wanton Curiosity And was not this to expect that the Powers of Heaven and Earth should dance attendance on them at their senseless and impudent demand It is plain then that Insolence and Impiety Folly and asinine Stupidity are the Brood that this Postulatum brings forth And if this be the way of proving the Gospel to be of God how shall future Ages be secured against it Are men more wise and modest now than they were then I doubt it because there are some even in our Nation that are fallen into such as this Absurdity Whence else is it that they require a Miracle to prove that Miracles have been done but would they stand a little and consider whither they are going they might perhaps perceive that he who put them into this way hath no extraordinary Wit as is pretended And they that think to excuse their Infidelity or Neutrality by the Grecanick Postulatum seem not to me to be much wiser because they hanker after such Proof as the nature of the thing will not admit and reject that that is most pâ—oper for the Gospel we know contains matters of Faith and these matters of Faith especially those of them that are most excepted against are contained either in Historical Narrations or Doctrinal Propositions the former having received their Being from Free Agents not from Causes Necessary or of their own nature determined to the doing of that that is be Believed cannot admit of strict and rigorous Demonstration but are capable of proof only by Testimony and this we have for matters meerly Historical in the Gospel as fully as for any other of the same or as I think of a far lesser distance for not only all Christians of the remotest Regions but Jews and Pagans Heathens and Infidels of all sorts have received them for true and confirmed them unto us This is all the Proof we either have or can reasonably desire of these things because their nature will admit of no other And if they are not much less are the Doctrinal Propositions containing meer matters of Divine Faith capable of Demonstration because they are a Mystery concerning God his Nature Essence or Operations and one would think that men of Wit and Parts should not betray so much Folly Ignorance and want of Learning as to expect Philosophical Demonstration for things of that nature for such Demonstration must be either à priori or à posteriori à priori it cannot be because that supposes causes precedent to the First viz. God himself and so implies a Contradiction Nor can it be à posteriori because the Gospel is the mystery which hath been hid from Ages and from Generations if it be not whence was it that all the Learned as well as the Vulgar among the Jews and Gentiles were ignorant of it till Christ and his Apostles made it manifâ—st it seems therefore the Faith of the Gospel is a sort of Supernatural Doctrine which cannot possibly be demonstrated by the Light of Nature and for that reason were there no other it is unreasonable to demand it and sensless to reject the Gospel for lack of it such Doctrine
those Precepts which are written in the Law And why was this Comment committed to writing as well as the Text but because there was no preserving it intire without it Why then should it be set cheek by jole with the Text it self Was Rabbie Judah a Prophet as well as Moses no He lived a long time after the Spirit of Prophecy was ceased among them his writings therefore ought in all reason to truckle under the Scripture which was given by Inspiration of God and although the matters contained in them as is pretended came together with those of Holy Scripture from God Almighty yet having been for many hundreds of years most easiely subject to Corruptions Changes and Depravations for the prevention whereof he committed them to writing there can be but little or no certainty and consequently no knowledg of such Authority as is pretended to be in them and if not after much less before he wrote them For by committing them to writing without all doubt he did rather add unto then diminish their Authority and truly it seems probable that He devised the fable of their descent from God Almighty for had there been such an Explication as they say delivered by God to Moses by Moses to Aaron and his sons by them to the seventy Elders by them to Joshuâ— by him to the surviving Elders by them to the succeeding Prophets who delivered it from one to another through at least a thousand years had this I say been true it is very strange that in all that time they did not drop one word from their pens about it although certainly they had frequent occasions of so doing for a great part of their Office was to uphold the practice of the Law in the Purity and Integrity of it which they could no way have done better than by reducing Transgressoâ—s to that authentick Interpretation of it yet we find not a word of it but that that falls out most unluckily is that this traditional Interpretation of the Law doth thwrat and contradict the Exposition thereof by the Prophets this wretchâ—d Trâ—dition restrained the sense of the Law to the letter of it and taught men to believe it forbad no more than it expressed but the Prophets surely taught them otherwise whence â—lse was it that they râ—proved them for the thoughts of their hearts as well as the Works of their hands Thus did the Comment make void the Text and this Tradition made the Commandments of none â—ffâ—ct It is therefore most manifâ—st that they came not from the same hand Can infinite Wisdom speak contradictions or destroy what it builds it is blasphemy to say it can Since then this Tradition explodes the Law instead of expounding it we are sure it came not from God Was it then likely that the Divine Majesty as our Author often calls the Spirit of Prophecy should be made to hold up its hand at the Bar of this Tradition which perhaps was made worse by its keepers than it was in it self It was alwayes imprisoned in a Consistorie where no man knows what usage it had or how it might be dress'd up to serve the emergent exigence of Prophecy were tryed by Tradition and that Tradition known only in a Consistory and that Consistory consisted of men subject as doubtless they were to Error and Corruptions the Ark was more like to fall before Dagon than Dagon before the Ark I mean the Truth of God to be repelled by Vice and Wickedness oftener than they corrected by the Truth of God How easie was it for Vice to pretend to this Tradition and for Wickedness to plead Prescription by this Oral Law for its Protection And if they dwelt in the Consistory as too often they did or could make some friends there as no doubt they might they would certainly be more mindful of their concerns than to neglect so fair an Advantage and then if the Consistory declared that Tradition was for them that Prophet must die who presumed to speak against them But is it possible that the God of Holiness should make a Law so apt to establish wickedness no it borders upon Blasphemy to say he did Piety therefore as well as Reason inclines us to look on this Tradition as a meer Fiction at first invented to uphold the tottering Reputation of their Magisterial Rabbies and afterwards improved and used to patronize their Infidelity and justifie their barbarous Proceedings against Our Blessed Lord Jesus and all that adhered to him This therefore we do utterly reject But the other part of Maimonides his assertion viz. That Pretenders to the Spirit of Prophecy were not admitted to a Trial unless they made no alteration in the written Law of Moses is something more probable for doubtless an attempt to null the Obligation of a Law which God himself hath established if he that makes it gives little or no Evidence of Gods Intention by him to do it is a strong presumption yea a sufficient argument that he therein is a false Prophet But if God hath constituted a Law which in it self is mutable and withal hath declared that it shall be changed if the Pretender to Prophecy gives as great or greater Evidence of Gods Intention by him to do it then he did at first to establish it there is no more Reason to reject him than there was Moses and if so the Jews were certainly very rude and barbarous if they would not vouchsafe him a Trial but forthwith put him to Death without it What Law therefore of the Jews it was wherein our Author saith this Rule was contained is yet unknown to us however assured we are that though it might be of theirs yet it was no part of Gods Law because it inflicts Death on them who bring the broad Seal of Heaven to avouch their Authority to speak what they do in his Name I suppose therefore the Rule is seldom or never true but in case either of Immutability in the Law it self or want of sufficient Evidence of Gods Intention by the pretender to change it and that neither of these is the case now under debate will be evident by considering these two things 1. That the Law of Moses as to the Ceremonial and Judicial parts of it was not immutable for it was founded upon no immutable Reasons this methinks Maimonides himself must needs have confessed if he had consider'd what he himself hath elsewhere told us viz. That the first intention of our Law is to take away Idolatry to blot out the memory of it and of all things that adhere to it or give occasion of it And then after some digression he returns to his purpose and saith the Reasons and Causes of many of our Laws became known to me through the knowledge of the Faith Rites and Worship of the Zabians the knowledge of their Opinions and Sciences is a great Gate i. e. it serves much to let in the sight of the Causes of the Precepts for the
obediâ—nce to the Letter without conformity to the Scope of it as would even tempt one to think it was a part of their Office to contradict and null the Law of Moses An instance of this we have in Isaiah who brings in the Lord thus speaking to his formal People To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrisices unto me I am full of the burnt-offerings of Rams and the fat of sâ—d Beasts and I delight not in the blood of Bullocks or os Lambs or of He-goats When you come to appâ—ar bâ—fore me who â—â—th required this at yâ—ur bâ—nd to treâ—d my Courts Bring no more vain oblâ—tions Incense is an abomination unto me the new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assembliâ—s I cannot away with it is iniquity even the Solemn meeting Your new Moons and your appâ—inted Feâ—sts my Soul hateth they aâ—e a trouble to me I am weary to bear them And elsewhere to express his detestation of their formal hypocrisie he tells them He that killeth an Ox is as if he slew a Man he that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Dogs neck he that offereth an Oblation as if he offered Swines blood he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol But why so Were not Sacrifices and Burnt-offerings Oblations and Incense the New Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies and Solemn meetings some of Gods own Ordinances in the Law of Moses Yes but whence then was it that they were thus abominable and loathsom Why it arose from the Peoples neglect of and disrespect to the End and Scope of those Precepts they 't is true conformed themselves to the Letter of the Law but regarded not that real Holiness and Moral Goodness whereunto it tended Thence it was that not only Isaiah but others also of the Prophets reproved them as a Nation that did not rightcousness but forsook the Ordinance of their God even while they sought him daily and delighted to know his wayes even while they asked of him the Ordinances of Justice and took delight in approaching to God yet even then when they seemed to be most obedient because they neglected the Scope of the Law they chose their own wayes and their Soul delighted in their abominations And the Prophets we see did as sharply reprove them for it as if they had had no respect at all to the Law of their God among them whence 't is plain that they did prefer Obedience to the Intention of the Law far before that to the Letter of it the latter they looked on as a thing of no value yea detestable and odious without the former If then Christ and his Apostles did so likewise they were not for that cause worthy of Rejection but rather of all Acceptation because they thereby gave evidence of a truly Prophetick Spirit in them by making the Scope of the Law the Rule and Standard of their Doctrine they did most excellently fulâ—ill it and by so doing they cast a greater honour upon Moses and his Law than evâ—r they received from the greatest Bigots among the Jews for the Fame of the one and the Worth of the other is hereby pâ—â—pagated to all Nations How rash then and ignorant was their Zeal how absurd the fierceness of their Devotion in rejecting them especially considering 3. That as the Prophets of old so Christ and his Apostles were strict Observers of the Law even according to the Letter of it they were not only circumcised the eighth day but in their Lives they discharged the Obligations of their Circumcision by their literal Observance of the whole Law as well the Statutes as the Judgments of it i. e. those Precepts whose Reasons were not vulgarly known as well as those that were So that touching the Righteousness which is in the Law they were as blameless as any other Jews whatever yea though they did not put the necks of the Gentiles under the yoke of Literal obedience to the Law of Moses yet they never taught the Jews to withdraw theirs but rather to keep them under and submit unto it for Jesus spake to the multitude and to his Disciples saying the Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Mosâ—s seat all therefore whatsoever thâ—y bid you observe that observe and do Nor did the Apostles ever teach them otherwise 't is true indeed it was once reported of St. Paul that he taught â—he Jews which were among the Gentiles to forsake Moses saying that they ought not to Circumcise tâ—eir Children neither to walk after tâ—e Customs the rest of the Apostles and Elders were so concerned at this News as that to wipe off the scandal they advised him by all means to purifie himself with four men that had the Nazarites vow upon them and to be at charges with them to provide such Sacrifices for them as the Law prescribed this they would have him to do that all might know that those things whereof they were informed concerning â—im were nothing but that he himself also walked orderly and kept the Law Thus careful were they that they thâ—mselves and others should keep the Law and give none offence by breaking it 'T is true indeed as touching the Gentiles which believed they wrote and concluded they were obliged to observe no such thing Nor had the Jews any reason to take it ill that they did so for Christ and they gave as great or greater evidence of Gods intention to accept the Gentiles without the Law as ever Moses gave of his Purpose to guide the Jews to Salvation by the Law That so they did is manifest by their Miracles which were so far froâ— being inferiour to those of Moses as that they did fâ—â—â—xceed them both in Number and Nature as we 〈◊〉 see hereafter And if so then thereby evident it was that they gave far greater Evidence of their Mission from God than Moses did of his How unreasonable than was it in the Jews to deny them Audience How brutish to reject them and barbarous to kill them for I know not what non-conformity to their Law Whereof by what we have 〈…〉 it appears they were only supposed and that very falâ—ly to be guilty they were so far from making void the Law as that they fulfilled it and that both according to the intention and the letter of it And this they constantly did by their Doctrine as well as Practice and therefore they deserved not to have been rejected as false Prophets but to be received as true which will yet farther appear if we consider the Antecedents or Concomitants of a Prophetick Spirit The first whereof is Wisdom Sect. 2. And these we have already granted were Wisdom Fortitude and Probity of Manners especially Contentment The Method proposed leads me to begin with the first of these viz. Wisdom which being an intellectual Virtue is without doubt in the preceeding rule of the Rabbins put to signifie those excellent endowments of mind whereof the Prophets usually
of any good after this Life was ended But the Founders of our Faith obtained a more Excellent Ministry in that they preached and made known a better Covenant established upon better Promises for Life and Immortality are brought to light through the Gospel they are thereby so clearly revealed as that among those who believe that there can be no doubt of them As all the lesser Rivers of the Earth do at length empty themselves into the Sea so all the other Promises of the Gospel although exceeding great and precious yet do bend their course towards the Ocean of Immortal Glory in the World to come even those that concern this Life teach us to look beyond it We are indeed assured that all these things shall be added to us but 't is upon condition that we seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness Our Temporal Interests and Eternal Glory the Wisdom and Goodness of the Gospel have so twisted together as we best mind the one by seeking the other And indeed the Gospel doth Strengthen our hopes of Salvation as well as Raise them for it shews us an inestimable Price paid for it and assures us that if we are not wanting to our selves we shall be raised up unto it and by Eternal Judgment bidden to take possession of it And forasmuch as in this Life we are at a Distance from it the Gospel hath given us Tokens and Pledges to assure us of it To this end saith St. Bernard were the Sacraments ordained viz. that the Invisible Grace of our Lord might be assured by some Visible Sign unto us Hence no doubt it was that one of the most Ancient Fathers called the Eucharist the Physick another the Food of Immortality because they thought it apt to purge out Despair and to cherish our Hopes of Eternal Life And what so good as Life and what Life so long as that that is eternal and what Eternity so desireable as that in the Kingdom of Glory yet this hath the Gospel most clearly revealed and firmly promised to us And in order to the obtainment thereof Christ and his Apostles have given us far better Rules than any among the Jews for the guidance of our Lives and Actions Besides the Moral Law Moses we know required obediâ—nce to a great number of positive Precepts enjoyning such things as were not good in themselves but barely because they were Commanded or else for some other Reason wholly extrinsick to Moral Goodness as we have already seen by Maimonides his account of the first End and intention the Causes and Reasons of their Law and these positive Precepts were so exceeding burdensome and uneasie as that St. Peter calls them a Yoke which neither our Fathers nor we were able to bear Let not the Jews be offended that one of our Apostles gives their Law no better Language for a Learned Rabbi of their own hath said as much or more viz. that the written Law which God gave to Moses and Moses to the Israelites from Mount Sinai is both obscure and difficult first because it speaks Contradictions and secondly because it is imperfect 'T is well he was a Jew and a Rabbi too had he been a Christian 't is like they would have accused him of Blasphemy and perhaps justly for what greater Disparagement can easily be cast upon Divine Wisdom than to say it speaks Contradictions To that therefore we cannot assent but to the Imperfection of the Law we may because a man of a more Excellent Spirit than he hath taught us that it could never make the comers thereunto perfect yea that it made nothing perfect but also because the Jews themselves insinuate as much by their zeal for Traditions all which derive their Authority from that one before-mentioned viz. the pretended Exposition which they say God gave of his Law to Moses that from him by Oral Tradition it might be transmitted to Posterity The pretence of this fictitious Exposition was founded in Necessity and this Necessity in the Obscurity and Imperfection of the Law without it which they say are so great as that without the Oral Law the whole Written Law would be in the dark for many things they tell us there are in the Scripture so repugnant each to other as that we can neither depend upon or reconcile them without the Oral Law which Moses received from Sinai It seems then for the Guidance of their Lives and Actions the Jews had a vast number of External Directions for as was before observed the Precepts of the Written Law were no fewer than 613. concerning each one whereof as to the manner of its performances c. it is not unlikely that their pretended Exposition contained divers particular Canons and so it seems it did for they say that Moses in his sorrow utterly forgot no less than three thousand of these Constitutions but afterwards Othniel the Son of Kenaz by the sharpness of his wit retrieved seventeen hundred of them and these all and it may be as many more were no less to be regarded than the Written Law it self because as they say of equal Authority therewith Was it not then an uneasie Yoke and an heavy burden that they lived under how could it be other for it was as hard to learn and remember their Rules of Living as it was to live by the Essential Rules of Holiness and yet when they had done all they did but escape the Vices especially the Idolatries of the Gentiles or at best prepare themselves for some higher enjoyments in the time of the Messias for the Law was a School-master to bâ—ing men to Christ Churches and Kingdomes as well as Men have their distinct Ages that of the Jews under the Law was but a sort of Childhood a time of Minority to this Imperfect State the Temporary or Imperfect Authority of a School-master or Guardian was most fitly proportion'd this Office the Law did them for it restrained them from the more grievous Vices of the Gentiles and gave them some little knowledge of Christ and by so doing it did prepare them for his sublimer Truths and more elevated Rules of Holy living which are chiefly comprised in the Precepts of the Moral Law according to his Interpretation of it The Excellency of which Law appears by the matter about which it is conversant viz. those things which are Good or Evil in themselves namely those wherein the Image of God doth consist and those that are repugnant to it Since theâ—efore God made Man after his own Image there can be no Law so Excellent as this in respect either of its Agreeableness to the Reason of Man or its Subservience to the Glory of God What so Rational as to preserve the glory of our Nature viz. the Image of God in us And how can we Glorifie God so much as by strenuous Endeavours to resemble him Thou shalt not honour God saith Hierocles by giving any thing unto
it was a more heinous sin to transgress them than the Written Law yea that whosoever dissents from his Teacher doth as much as if he dissented from the Divine Majesty and sinned against the Holy Ghost and for that Cause was guilty of Death viz. by the Scourge of Rebellion which was a sort of Punishment by cudgelling inflicted for the Breach and Contempt of Traditions Since I say they had these and many other such prodigiously wicked and cruel Inventions to uphold the Authority of their Traditions and Dictatorship it is no marvel if they proceeded against those that spake lightly of them as if Malice were the fittest Affection Vengeance and Cruelty the best Behaviour towards them Yet evident it is that Christ did not spare them but as the Prophets of old so did he detect the Hypocrisie and sharply reprove the faults of their Elders He did demonstrate the Vanity of their Righteousness and expose the cunning Wickedness of their Traditions He discovered the impiety of their Magisterial Dictates and freely unfolded the Mysteries of their Iniquity He pulled off the Guilding and Paint of their seeming Devotion and uncovered the Rottenness and Pâ—trefaction of their Hearts He despised the Pageants of a Pompous Formality and set at naught the Ceremonies of their External Performances without inward and real Goodness Though the People did rage and the Rulers take Councel together against him yet he did constantly affirm that God had sent him and as the Prophets before him so did he undauntedly shew the People their Transgressions and the House of Jacob their Sins And in so doing he strived to retrive the Law and the Prophets to rescue them from false Glosses and Misconstructions to discover the Insufficiency of Traditions and Pharisaical Righteousness to inculcate the necessity of Morality and so to reduce the Jews to the Practice of Piety in all Holiness of Living and Fervours of divine Worship in Spirit and in Truth without their numerous Ceremonies or at least their mighty Confidence in their Priviledges and Performances which both he and his Apostles taught them to place in our Lord Jesus a stumbling Block and Rock of Offence unto them and was not this a great and strange Undertaking Such as loudly speaks the Greatness of their Minds and the Bravery of their Courage Which was not in the least abated but rather increased by Opposition in their Lives it did assist them to bear all Sorts of Afflictions and to endure the rudest Contradictions of Sinners against them and at their Deaths it did not forsake them for though after some solemn Mockeries of Justice enough to move ones Indignation they were cruelly Murdered and barbarously Butchered yet their Patience and Charity those truest Signs of Mâ—gnanimity in Sufferings were conspicuous and admirable insomuch that They only of all Teachers may be compared with the Prophets or rather preferred before them for Fortitude Whereof also the Apostles gave abundant evidence among the Gentiles whom they found dead in Trespasses and sins prone to nothing so much as the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life i. e. Sensual Pleasures Riches and Honours these things they did not only love and live in but in a sort adore and deiâ—ie for not only Gods Creatures and Men that were famous in their Lives nor only the Fancies and Fictions of Poets but their own Lusts and Passions called by other names were also enrolled among their Gods Venus and Cupid Mars and Baccbus were the Names of deified Concupiscence Wrath and Drunkenness although they forbad these Vices and made Laws against them yet their Causes as Theodoret tells them they saluted as heavenly Gods and gave divine Worship unto them And was it not a sad and direful Apotheosis whereby Enmity against God was advanced to his Throne the grossest Superstition and Unâ—leanness established for Religion for in their Festivals and Solemn Ceremonies of divine Worship all manner of Vice and Wickedness was appointed to be committed such filthiness as the most salacious would almost blush at in a Closet was committed in open Pomp and Ostentation insomuch that almost all the Sacred Games but especially the Bacchanals were as one calls them the Cause and Seed-plots of the greatest Wickednesses If the Ethiopian may change his skin and the Leopard his as soon as those do good who are accustomed to do evil although their Religion teach them to do the one and eschew the other how hard is it for those to do good who have been not only accustomed but taught to do evil and that under pain of Transgression against Conscience or at least the Laws and Customs of their Country if they omit it Especially considering their most wicked and filthy Practice could plead Prescription in the Examples of their Fore-fathers and Noble Heroes yea also it had the Power and Policy the Stratagems and Devices of the Devil the Cunning Guile and Craft of his Agents the Force and Authority of Civil Powers to countenance and uphold it in despite of all Opposition Was it not then an hard thing for any much more for a few private men and strangers such as the Apostles to turn them from Darkness unto Light from the Power of Satan unto God yet they undertook to do it and pursued it all their dayes although they very well knew that not only Labours travels and hardships of divers kinds but also Bonds and Afflictions of all sorts and degrees stripes and Imprisonments yea and Death it self would abide them in so doing Yet none of these things could trouble their Minds nor discourage their Attempt nothing could make them retract their Resolution or abate their Endeavours as they were able to promote it which to me seems a demonstration of Prophetick Fortitude viz. that that same Courage and Magnanimity whereby the Prophets were acted in the discharge of their Office did assist them in promulgating the Gospel Of the Prophetick Riches of Christ and his Apostles Sect. 4. And as in Wisdom and Fortitude so also in the Riches of the Prophets i. e. in all Moral Vertues but especially Contentment Christ and his Apostles were equal yea superiours unto them Hereof we need no other demonstration than the designed End of their Doctrine which as we before saw was the Promotion and Establishment of the most Elevated Vertue and Immaculate Purity but if any farther proof of it be desired we may find it in St. Paul by whom we learn that the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation which words are but a Periphrasis of the Gospel teacheth us that denying all ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live sobâ—rly righteously and godly in this present World To this end both the Precepts and Institutions the Promises and the Threats of the Gospel are so extraordinary subservient as that they loudly speak the Holiness as well as Wisdom of its first Teachers It is no way probable that Lovers of Vice should so
study the promotion of Vertue especially when they were so far from having any Worldly Temptation to do it as that they had all imaginable Discouragements from it Who but Lovers of God and beloved of him in such a case would so strenuously propugnate his Glory by the Extirpation of Vice and Plantation of Vertue and Holiness of living Is it likely that Workers of Wickedness should be Planters of Holiness and that with design to have it spread universally and continue perpetually Yet such we know were Christ and his Apostles and so zealous were they in it as that their Labour and Industry did far out-â—trip that of the most admired Teachers of Vertue among the Gentiles for they did not only despise their Family-concerns and renounce all sinful Pleasures whatever but they endured the utmost Malice of Men and the rudest Contradictions of Sinners in the Defence of Truth and Propagation of Vertue the one they Signed the other they Sealed with their Blood Was it then possible they should be no Lovers of it Greater Love than this we know hath no man that he layeth down his Life for the Beloved and the Object of strong Love is like the green Poplar that Jacob set before the Flocks of Laban it makes the Lover bring forth something that 's like it self it alwayes hath a kind of plastick Power whereby it is able to form its own Image and work its own likeness in the Souls and Lives of the Lovers and thus it seems the Love of God and his Righteousness wrought in Christ and his Apostles As was apparent by their Deportment and Conversation among Men which was so highly becoming the Gospel as that That Heroick Vertue which in others was a meer Phantasm in them was real The Life of Christ was so unblâ—mished a pattern of Piety and transcendent Vertue as that he challenged his Enemies to convince him of Sin What he himself did to the Jews his Followers have since done to the Gentiles thus Arnobius upbraids the partiality of their Judgment and behaviour towards the Deceased Those saith he that in their Lives were prodigioâ—sly profligate and lâ—scivious after their Death you admire and extoll to the skies in your praises you repose their memoirs in the safest places of Libraries you reward them with Chariots and Statues and as much as in you lies you endow them with a kind of Eternity by the testification of immortal Titles only Christ if you could you would tear and mangle into pieces yea him only were it lawful you would chew like savage Beasts with bloody mouths and devour all with bruised bones But for what Cause I beseech you speak what Sin what Fault is it for what was there that he did which swerved from the Rule of Righteousness or might stir you up to your sharp hatred against him Thus also Origen tells Celsus divers of their reputed Gods were stained with the Vices of Men but of our Jesus there is nothing reported that he did intemperately for those that lay in wait and sought false witnesses against him would certainly have found something of probability to have put into the evidence that so for that Intemperance they might the more plausibly have drawn up their accusation against him But nothing of that nature could with any shew of probability be alledged against him for the truth hereof he refers Celsus to some Histories which it seems they then had of him and if by them or any other means either Origen or Arnobius could have been found Lyars how rash and ill-advised had they been in thus appealing to their Adversaries who wanted neither Wit nor Malice to have done it if they could but since they left it unattempted it is more than probable that they as well as Pontius Pilate could find no evil that our Saviour did Nay so far was he from it as that in some of their esteem as well as ours he was infinitely above it for they thought him a God thus Chalcidius a Platonist mentions the Star that conduced the Eastern Sages to Christ and saith of it it did not presage Diseases or Mortality but the descent of a venerable God to converse with men and settle the affairs of Mortals Apollophanes and his friend Dionysius it seems were of the same Opinion for being together at Heliopolis in Aegypt and contemplating the supernatural Eclipse of the Sun at our Saviours Passion O good Dionysius said Apollophanes things Divine now have their turn to suffer and Dionysius thought so too for he replied either God himself suffers or Sympathizeth with him that doth Afterwards Pontius Pilate gave such an account of Christ to Tiberius as that in Tertullians judgment Pilate himself in his Conscience was a Christian yea and Tiberius thought him a God and would have had the Sâ—nate declared that he was so but the Senatours because Pilate did not give them the first Notice of it were pleased to refuse him However Câ—â—sar continued in his Opinion and did threaten those that should presume to accuse the Christians And so much Reason it seems there was for this his Opinion as that his Successours would have believed in Christ if the Caesars had not then been necessary or if they could have been Christians and Caesars too Had these things been false or doubtful or capable of being proved so Tertullian had much better have spared his Apology than sent it to tell falsâ— tales of such importance concerning Emperours and that in Writing to their Successours was much more likely to betray his own Folly and Impudence than to obtain their Belief and Clemency to enrage their Anger than to acquire their Favour but whoever reads his Works will â—ind Cause enough to think Tertullian much more wise and learned than to be so bad an Advocate yea so rash and impudent a Lyar as he must needs have been if these things had not been true we have therefore much Reason to believe and none to doubt that they were so and consequently that in the esteem of the Gentiles as well as of us Christians our Saviour was holy harmless and undefiled with Sin and fully satisfyed in the enjoyment of himself for Holiness Self-sufficiency and perfect Happiness are such essential Attributes of the Deity as that whoever owns the one confesseth the other And for the Apostles though they themselves confessed they did not live without Sin yet surely they were in Holiness that which Saul was in Stature viz. higher than others by the Head and Shoulders By their Doctrine they taught men to abstain from the very appearance of Evil and to follow Holiness in all manner of Conversation and for their help in so doing they made no doubt of propounding their own Example to their Imitation most unlikâ—ly therefore it is that that did enervate their Doctrine especially considering the multitudes of their Followers and the science of their Adversaries Although our Nature be corrupt and depraved yet not so
detect the Forgery in such a case the silence of Adversaries seems more demonstrative than the Testimony of Friends Especially considering they had not only the advantages of time and place but also provocations to have done it if they could for such was the Confidence and noble Magnanimity of those that first avouched it as that though they were stript of all Succour and Support from other men and exposed to Contempt and Scorn Curses and Execrations Persecutions and Afflictions Stripes and Imprisonments in short to all manner of hardships and Death it self in giving this Testimony yet were they not moved with fear or diverted from it but they did constantly avouch it and often appeal to the Consciences of their implacable Enemies concerning the Truth of it Thus St. Peter as it were in the name of all the Apostles tells the men of Israel That Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of God among them by Miracles Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of them as saith he you your selves also know The Jews therefore could not and Arnobius tells the Gentiles that they dare not attempt to convince it of Falshood the reason I suppose was because as Origen tells Celsus it was not possible to deny that the Miracles reported of Christ and his Apostles were done In this case wherein the Christians had all imaginable motives to be silent and their Enemies to speak yet that none of them either Jews or Gentiles should be able to contradict their Testimony how strange is it how clearly and plainly doth it speak the truth of their Testimony and vindicate them from all shadow of Suspicion they had a design to cheat the World into belief of Lies how evidently doth it shew the triumphant force of Truth and Energy of Conviction that Christ and his Apostles wrought Miracles Which Energy of Conviction discovered it self by Concessions as well as by forced Silence for so apparently true was the Churches Tradition in this particular as that some of his Enemies have added their suffrages to hers that Christ and his Apostles wrought Miracles The Jews it seems do openly confess it in their Jerusalem-Talmud and their Midras Cohele where they tell us that the Grandson of R. Jehosua the Son of Levi having swallowed Poyson was recovered from danger of death thereby through the Invocation of the Name of Jesus but the Father understanding by what means his son was cured was so maliciously ungrateful as to say it had been better for him to have died than to be so cured whereupon his ingratitude was presently avenged by the Death of his Son To this Story they add another the sum whereof is that R. Elazar the Son of Duma being bit with a Serpent was healed by St. James Among the Gentiles the very bitterest of the Christians Adversaries did acknowledge as much for Celsus protested himself to believe the Stories of Christs miraculous Cures oâ— the Sick and raising the Dead and feeding the Multitudes with a few Loaves and the Fragments that remained all these things and whatever else the Disciples reported as he thought to amplifie the greatness of his Miracles he professeth to believe were true and grants we may believe they were done It seems also that Iulian did acknowledge the Lame and the Blind were healed and those that were possessed with Devils received help in Bethsaida and Bethanie and to enrage others against Christ and his followers Porphyrius undertook to tell them the reason why the City was so long afflicted with sickness and that in his judgement was because neither Aesculapius nor any other of the gods could have access unto it for saith he since the time that Iesus was worshipped no man can get any publick help from the gods And from that Gallimalfry of non-sense and errors viz. the Alcoran we may gather this Truth that Messias Iesus the Son of Mary gave sight to the Blind healed the Leprous raised the Dead and taught the Living and that the Apostles did the same in his absence If then Reason or Tradition the testimony of Friends or the Writings of Enemies will satisfie we have one would think enough of all sorts and that when some were vomiting Lyes and belching Blasphemies against Christ his Person and his Doctrine yet even then they confess that He and his Apostles did those things which we take to be Mirâ—cles Obj. But here perhaps it will be said that we are mistaken it was of old objected they were not real and true Miracles but lying Wonders Delusions of Satan and Effects of Magick thus the Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews and thus also many among the Gentiles and this was thought so apparent as that Celsus himself although he had formerly written many books against Magick was yet in a sort constrained to retract his Opinion and confess that it had a Being in the things that were done by Christ and his Followers for having granted the Truth of the Report that such and such Wonders were indeed done by them he immediately subjoyns a comparison between them and the sleights of Juglers who promise greater matters and more wonderful yet are they but such as they learned from the Aegyptians and for a few Farthings will shew in the midst of Markets boasting that by their Arts they can cast out Devils heal Diseases recall the Souls of the Dead prepare Tables sumptuously furnish'd with all manner of Dainties and raise Ghosts that seem to move though in truth they are void of all motion Ans And so is this odious comparison of all Truth and Probability for what communion hath Substance with Shadows What agreement have substantial Changes with bare Appearances Could Celsus have proved that the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles were meerly Phaenomena of Fancy as he calls these impostures of Juglers which he basely compares therewith he had said something to the Purpose but he had not the impâ—dence to affirm that nor so little wit as to attempt the Prooâ—â—f it this therefore as Origen justly tells him is not the part of a Disputant but of the unlearned Vulgar an effect of Passion unworthy of a Philosopher whom it becomes not impertinently to rail at but candidly to examine a matter that lyes bâ—fore him which if Celsus had done impartially he would without doubt have found that sweâ—t Waâ—â—r and bitter might be sent forth from the same Fountain as well as the Miracles of Christ and the Delusions of Inchanters from the same Cause viz. the Devils Malice For so evident it is to the Reason of all men as that it was almost a Proverb among the Greeks and Romans as well as Jews that every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to Desolation and every City or House divided against it self shall not stand and manifest it is that if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself how then shall his Kingdom stand 'T is true
well as Christians have observed that they were always accompanied with Alienations and Abreptions of mind But that the Testimony of Jesus was so in Christ and his Apostles who so absurd as well as impudent to affirm In pretending to the Spirit of Prophecy therein how then can it be Thought that they were deceived by Enthusiasme or the Spirit of Divination What madness or Phrensy What Alienations or Abreptions of mind can impartial Reason charge upon them where can we find such admirable Wisdom so becoming the Attributes of God and agreeable to the Reason of Man so Transcendent to others and Coherent with it self as in their Doctrine and where was Wisdom ever Taught with so great temper and Moderation calmness of Spirit and presence of mind as in their delivery of it What shadow than of Enthusiasme or of any other such Delusion can there be found in them and if not by such Delusion much less probable if possible is it they should have been deceived into a conceit that they were Prophets by the perswasions of others It seems noâ— in the power of any meerly by Moâ—al suasion as this was if any way because opposed by all the Powers and the fury of the people then in being to beat it into the heads of wise Men or the hearts of good ones so to believe that they themselves were Prophets as to Jeopard their lives in pursuit of the others suggestions and that under the Notion of Divine Revelations can Wisdom be seduced into such folly or Holiness be guilty of such lies and wickedness since therefore they were Wise Strong and Rich in contentment and all Vertue it is at least Morally impossible they should be so deceived by any such slie insinuations 3. Hence also it follows that they had no design to deceive others for how was it possible for wise Men that feared God and eschewed Evil ever to consent to and prosecute so wicked and improbable an undertaking It is no way likely that Men whose rejoycing was this the Testimony of their Conscience that in simplicity and Godly sincerity not with fleshly Wisdom but by the grace of God they had had their Conversation in this world it is I say very unlikely if not impossible that such Men as these should be Impostors in the main Work of their lives had they bin Men of Artifice and fineness of Lewd lives and dissolute examples that followed cunningly devised Fables of Fleshly Wisdom it might have been suspected that they contrived a story but such was the plainness of their Speech and openness of their Carriage among Men as that they not only Preached but lived down deceit and forgery and was it possible for such Men to lay out their Lives against their Conscience and all in pursuance of a Cheat and to begin it at Jerusalem where if there had been any Fraud it best might and certainly would have been discovered Yea and there to be so confident and daring as to Challenge their enemies to convince them of Sin and Appeal to them concerning the Truth of what they avouched How Foolish and Mad had they been in so doing beyond all Example if they had not been far from a design of Threatning the World out of its Old Religion into a New One of their own devising But by the Wisdom and Prudence we before observed to be in them it appears without Shadow of probability that they would have Engaged in a design so dangerous in the attempt and so unlikely to take Effect unless they had had Divine Warrant and Command for it No prudent Man contented with his condition Studies his own death and Misery it is hope of obtaining some Good or avoiding some Evil which makes Men expose themselves to danger but Christ and his Apostles being stript of all manner of Defence and Succour from Wealth Friends or Honour whence could they hope for any such thing what Gain or Glory what Ease or Plâ—asure what Safety or any thing else that Allures the minds of Men were they like to get Yea rather what losses and poverty what infamy and disgrace what Hardships and Labours what Perils and Evils of all Sorts did they not Forâ—see were like to befal them in their Enterprize Yet were they not moved with Fear or diverted from it but all their days they pursued it even to the effusion of their Blood which one thing to an impartial considerer ought in all Reason to perswade him that since they were Wise and sober Men no ways misled by the Dâ—lusions of Enthusiasm or any other Phanaticism it was the force of Conviction and Energy of the Prophetick Spirit that wrought in them so mightily What else could possibly be the cause or reason of their admirable Fortitude and Magnanimity in the Propagation of the Gospel for how is it imaginable that Wise Sober and prudent Men whose understandings were perfected and advanced beyond examples both of Former and Latter Ages how I say can it be imagined that these Men continuing such should be so rash and Brutish as to live contradictious to the propensities of Nature and Injunctions of their own Doctrine among the Phaenomena of Nature there is none more manifest than that it dictates its own preservation so far as Lawfully it may and among the Articles of our Faith there is scarce any more plainly Taught us than that though Christ be over all God blessed for ever yet He was sent in the likeness of sinful Flesh Not that he so took the likeness of sinful flesh as if he had assumed only the Image not the Truth of a body but by the likeness of sinful flesh the Apostle is to be thought to mean that that very Flesh which Christ assumed although in Him it was innocent yet was it like to that which in us is sinful like it in the kind not in the Vice of Adam and consequently that it had all the Parts Properties and general Infirmities Sin only excepted of our mortal bodies surely therefore he had as we have a Natural appetite to Meat and Drink and other supports of human Nature in this its Estate of Mortality and imperfection and that his Apostles were men of the like necessities appetites and passions there is none that make a Question how then was it possible but that Nature should prompt them to put some esteem on those persons things and callings which were most likely to supply thâ—ir Natural nâ—cessities and there is nothing in their Doctrine that teacheth a neglect of them but much otherwise for it obligeth every man to abide in the same calling wherein he was called and prohibits those to eat that will not Work and declares that they walk disorderly and are therefore to be withdrawn from Now 't is no way probable that wise Men labouring under the natural necessities and common infirmitiesof human Nature should Abandon all their worldly interests and concerns disoblige their Friends and forsake their Callings throw away
the Staff of Life and neglect their own Bodies to promote a â—iction of their own or others fancies that if such could have assured them of nothing but contradicton and gainsaying yea the worst of usage from all sorts of men that were otherwise minded yet herein to take unparallel'd pains and travails to undergo the greatest miseries and perils tortures and death it self how wonderfull was their constancy how admirable their resolution whereunto can it rationally be imputed but to the Spirit of Prophecy Which being in their hearts as a burning fire shut up in their Bones made them weary with forbearing and unable to hold speaking Of which Spirit in them we are yet farther assur'd by the Nature of the Wisdom which was peculairly Theirs for we have found it to excell not only that of the Gentiles but of the Jews also and surely 't was impossible for them without Revelation to have Taught a sort of Wisdom more excellent than that that was revealed can Man be Wiser than his Maker or his Wisdom more excellent than that of his Creator That 's impossible Or is not the Foolishness of God iâ— I may so call the most imperfect of his Revelations wiser than Men Yes surely that it is Why else was it made known unto them since then the Wisdom discovered by Christ and his Apostles is more excellent than that Revealed by Moses and the Prophets they could not have attained unto it but by Revelation Whence else was it possible that these Men should have this Wisdom surely 't was neither from Themselves nor any other Creatures They themselves in the Eye of the World were very unlikely to be Authors of so Excellent a Production for they were ignorant and unlearned men their Education had not raised them above the Vulgar nor their Callings distinguish't them from the common sort For to say nothing of our Saviour his Apostles were Fishers Artificers and Rusâ—icks or such like unlearned men and were these Men likely of themselves to bless the World with a sort of Wisdom more excellent than that both of Jews and Gentiles no surely 't is therefore evident they had it not of themselves no nor yet of other Creatures either Men or Angels good or bad not from oâ—her good Men or Angels for these neither would â—or could without loss of their goodness devise a Religion and impose it on the World for Divine so Fathering their Lies on God himself much less could they have it from bad Men or yet from the Fiends of darkness it is utterly inconsistent with their Lusts and Interests to be Authors of so much Glory to God and Good to Men or of such Destruction to themselves and their Impiety as we find designed and effected by the Gospel of Christ and his Apostles If then these men had not this Wisdom from any Creatures we must conclude with St. Paul that God revealed it to them by his Spirit But that Christ and his Apostles were prophets we have yet greater evidence than that of the Antecedents or concomitant Attendants on the Spirit of Prophecy Namely that of their Predictions and Miracles That the exact accomplishment of Predictions concerniug future Contingencies were looked on as Infallible Proofs of a Prophetick Spirit and that Christ and his Apostles were Authors of such Predictions we have already seen All therefore that now remains will be to shew the reason of the Consequence viz. Why from thence we conclude them to be Prophets what strength or force is there in the accomplishment of such Predictions to shew that the Authors of them were Divinely inspired What cause or reason is there on that account to conclude that they were Prophets Hereto I Answer the reason is Because thereby it appears they were intrusted with some knowledge of Gods Secret purpose concerning future Contingents To discover the force of this Reason it will be needful to observe that Contingents are twofold viz. either such as happen as we call it by Chance Namely such as have their Being from the concourse of diverse natural causes in some sort hindering as well as helping one another or else such as come to pass according to the purpose and intention of some free Agent There is no natural nâ—â—â—ssity of their Production in such a manner the Ability of their cause might otherwise have produced its effect there is no necessary connection between them and the Series of natural causes their Being depends wholly as to their Contingency on the will either of God himself or of his reasonable Creatures These things are most properly contingent and if so then evident it is that the fore knowledge of them cannot come within the compasâ— of any art or Science whatever because all Arts and Sciences being habits of doing or demonstrating from things natural and necessary they neither do nor can reach those that have no necesary connection with them or dependance on them Yet by the Predictions concerning them evident it is that God foreknows them If not how could he foretell them I may therefore say with Tertullian that Gods foreknowledge hath as many and great Witnesses as he hath made Prophets Now this his foreknowledge must needs be though not the efficient yet the directive cause of all future contingents otherwise there would some things come to pass which neither of themselves nor yet by any superintendence of Providence would have any subservience to the Supream end of all things viz. The Glory of their Maker But this is absurd and unworthy of God For t is not credible that the infinitely Wise and Almighty Creator who at first made and still upholds all things in their Being and vertues for his own glory should suffer any thing to come to pass that neither of it self nor by his direction is subservient thereunto For Providence being the reason of the Order of things as well as the actual gubernation of them in reference to their end especially the last it must needs belong to the perfection of it to dirâ—ct all things as well contingents as others to the glory of God and for this cause 't is necessary that of all the contingencies within the vast Circuit of Possibility those that come to pass should be if not predefined i. e. absolutely willed yet as I may say pre-permitted i. e. in the prescience and eternal Order of all things in the Divine Intellect allowed to come to pass in their respective seasons Which 't is evident they cannot be without some secret purpose concerning them of which secret purpose it is as evident by the exact accomplishment of Predictions that the Prophets had some fore-knowledge but whence I pray had these men this knowledge Were their souls themselves without Revelation able to attain unto it No surely for though the mind of man walks in all the Paths of Arts and Sciences as well those that lye dâ—ep in reason as those that are usual and beaten and though it compasseth
their fault if they do not receive benefit by them The Miracles of Christ and his Apostles are so sufficiently attested as that were it not for Prejudice or Laziness Inadvertence or one such Vice or other I verily think there neither is nor ever was any considering Man in the World but either he was or might thereby have been câ—nvinced of the Truth of their Doctrine and so blessed by the excellencies of their Religion as that his mind should no longer be blinded with Superstition or Fluctuate in Uncertainties but should know assuredly where to have the most perfecting Objects of all His faculties How great then I say is the goodness of these Miraclâ—s that confirm such a â—reasure unto us how plainly doth it shew their descent from the Essential and Eternal Goodness viz. God Himself For who but an Almighty Goodness can be Author of such Productions Such unparalleled Instances of Love and Kindness such inimitable Beneficence so Immense and immixt a Goodness from whom can it come but from God who is Love and Goodness it self In mine apprehension therefore the Goodness of these Miracles shew as plainly that they were the Works of God in Testimony to His Word as the Image and Superscription on the Money did that the Coin was Cesars Let 's then Lay all these things together viz That Christ and his Apoâ—â—les did take upon them the Office of Prophets and that having the Antecedents to or Concomitant Attendents on the Prophetick Spirit they therein neither were deceived nor had a design to deceive others and by their Predictions exactly accomplished it appears that they had such certain Fore-knowledge as no Man by any Art or Science whatever could possibly have of Gods Eternal Purpose concerning future Contingences And besides this Supernatural knowledge to confirm their Doctrine or Demonstrate their Mission from God to Teach it they wrought such Miracles as in the Truth and Reallity of their Nature and the incomparableness of their Number greatness and goodness did most Evidâ—ntly and Eminently appear to be the Works of God and consequently Christ and his Apostles who did them being Teachers of such an excellent Wisdom as the World knew not before were therein inspired by God and so Prophets CHAP. VI. Some Use that may be made of this Doctrine THUS have we passed through the several parts of the proposed Mâ—thod and in so doing have I hope found the Truth of our Assertion sufficiently evinced And if so it be then thence surely we may see the Divine Authority of Christian Religion and of the Holy Scripture the insufficiency of Humane Reason and the Reasonableness of Christian Faith Hope and Practice Sect. 1. 1. The Divine Authority of Christian Religion It is not of so base and low an Extraction as to spring from an Opinion of Ghosts or ignorance of second Causes Devotion towards what Men fear or the mistake of things Casual for Prognosticks but it is an Heaven-born thing it descends from the Father of Lights it derives its Pedigree from God Himself and hath the Image not only of his Wisdom and Goodness but likewise of his Dominion and Lordship instampt upon it in so much that it brings its own Obligation along with it and makes it not only convenient but nâ—cessary not only Prudence in us but Duty to receive it for Christ and his Apostles being Prophets did not only Teach it by Gods commandement and direrection but also in so doing they laid the highest Obligation that can be on all to receive it God we know is the Supreme Lord the Fountain of all just Authority is in Him as therefore Watâ—rs drink sweetest out of a Fountain so those Laws that come as the word of prophecy doth immediâ—tly from God have the highest Majestie and Authority Instampt upon them For this Cause the Jews when they were Assured of any mans Calling to the Prophetick Office thought Themselves obliged and bound to obey him in all things except Idolaâ—ry yea though he required the omission of the Affirmative or the doing of the Negative Precepts of their Law Notwithstanding their mighty zeal for their Law and the profound Reverence they had for Moses their Master yet they Judged it their indispensable Duty in all things to obey the Prophets and whosoever would not they held Worthy and Guilty of Death by the immediate hand of Heaven This is the opinion of their Wise men in the Talmud where they say in all things except Idolatry if a Prophet say unto thee transgress the Law thou shalt obey him and good Reason too for a Prophet being Gods spokes-man to the people his Herauld to Proclaim his Laws there is good Reason he should be heard and attended to whosoever else be neglected the Reason is because the word of Prophecy coming immediately from God is cloathed with his Authority and if where the word of a King is there be Power much more methinks is there where the Word of Him is by whom Kings Reign had not this been the dictate of Natural Reason Numa Pompilius and other antient Lawgivers among the Heathens had been very Foolish as well as False in pretending to have received their Laws from the gods but Mens Natural Reason telling them that the Highest Authority of Man is far inferior to that of God this Politick pretense was thought a very effectual Engine to make Men obedient to their Laws and this Engine we see was to stand upon the ground That God above all is to be obeyed Since then Christ and his Apostles were Prophets those are no good subjects unto God yea they are worse than Jews or Heathens that deny the Religion that they have Taught us to have Power of binding us to receive it Yet the Leviathan would have it in and of it self to have none for it faith expresly the Preceâ—ts Repent be Baptized keep the Commandements believe the Gospel come unto Me Sell all that Thou hast give it to the Poor and follow Me are not Commands but Invitations and Callings of Mâ—n to Christianity like that of Esay Ho every man that thirsteth come ye to the waters come and buy Wine and Milk without money The difference between Precepts and Commands especially in point of Obligation I am hardly so subtle as to understand I have Read indeed that the Jews put a difference between Laws Statutes and Judgments but hardly ever that either they oâ— the Gentiles found any between Precepts and Commands but this is a matter too trivial to be debated whether therefore it be a profound piâ—ce of Subtilty or a Contradiction I shall not now take upon Me to determine but letting it pass as a Specimen of that Extraordinary Wit which the Treatise of Humâ—ne Reason observes in that Author we shall enquire why he â—aith so viz. Why he â—aith that the Precepts of the Gospel or its callings of Men to Christianity have not the Obligations of Commands in them his Reasons are
these qualifications as we have also seen took away all cause of suspition that the Prophets either were deceived or had a design to deceive others in their Prophecies And besides that either by Predictions or Miracles they gave such evidence of a Prophetick spirit as could possibly come from none but God and therefore in Motives of credibility a Word of Prophecy doth far exceed a Voice from Heaven because for ought we know the Prince of the power of the Air may deceive us with something like it or the pretended hearers of it were it may be themselves deceived or had a design to deceive others Since then Christ and his Apostles as we have largely proved were a sort of Prophets that most eminently had all the qualifications requisite to the spirit of Prophecy and both by Predictions and Miracles gave thâ— clearest evidence that ever the World had of it we have the highest reason whereof a Revelation is capable most firmly to believe the doctrine that they have taught us What though the mystery of Godliness be as without controversie it is very great yet the Theists of our Age have no reason on that account to disbelieve it for though peâ—haps it is reasonable to expect that our Religion should befriend our Reason yet not so far as to make it the Rule and measure of Divine Revelation the reason is because the divine Intellect is infinite and ours finite although therefore without an experiment or other demonsâ—ration there seems to be no obligation on us firmly to assâ—nt to any thing in Philosophy yet are we not permitted to be such Virtuosâ— in Religion The reason is because things in themselves uncapable of a demonstration are revealed with a command to beliâ—ve and we ought not to make them a râ—morâ— to our Belief for as after all our Searches into Nature and greatest Discoveries of things therein we are forced to confess there may be more in her dark bosome than we can discover and we on that account have no reason to deny the Being of Nature so also in things revealed if after all our hardest study we cannot comprehend them we thereupon have no reason to deny the Being of them because God who hath made may also reveal things that pass our Understanding if therefore there be evidence sufficient to convince the Understanding as in the case now before us there is that the Revelation came from God there is no reason on the account of its mysteries to reject it And indeed the mysteries of Christianity are so far from giving just occasion of Unbelief as that they are apt to strengthen our Faith in it for the Gospel teaching us to glorifie God in our Spirits as well as Bodies it is very reasonable and convenient that it should require us to honour Him by the Submission of our Understandings to indemonstrabâ—e Revelations as well as by the Obedience of our Hearts and Lives unto his Laws and therefore as it is fitting for us to obey the divine Law though our Wills reluct never so much against it so also is it for us to believe whatever God hath revealed thoughâ— never so improbable to our Understandings for unless we do so we shall undoubtedly fall short of our Duty which in this Case without dispute is to tread in the steps of our Father Abraham who gave Glory to God by being so strong in Faith as to believe that That was impossible in Nature and therefore incredible unto Reason If we will believe no more than what we can demonstrate to be true our Assent is not Faith but Science for it is not built upon the Foundation of Gods Testimony but on Demonstrations from the Nature of the things testified and so it honours not God at all because it receives not the Truth for His sake but Him for the Truths sake and so it pays no respect to his Word but only to our own Ratiocination But forasmuch as the mind assents to Testimony as well as Reason and the divine Prerogative extends it self to the whole Man that Religion that becomes God and it is suitable to Man must have somthing in it to exercise this his innate Power about and for this Cause the Mysteries of Christianity ought to be looked on as a Motive to believe rather than to reject it for were there no Mysteries in it we should have some Reason to entertain a Temptation to think that it is not of God because whatsoever else we are assured there is hath somthing in it that exceeds the reach of our Reason yea and Conjecture too for if we contemplate the Works of Creation things that we dayly see and handle which â—eem to lye level with our Understandings yet after our most accurate Researches into their nature we shall find that the most piercing Judgment or profoundest Reason is not able to solve all the Phaenomena or attain to a perfect knowledg of them And who is there that observes well the Dispensations of divine Providence but may therein find such Riddles as his Reason cannot unfold Such Mysteries as baffle his Understanding and confound his Curiosity in his enquiring after the cause of them The Ends and Reasons of Gods proceedings with Men although always most Just and Righteous yet very often are so secret and hidden as that they convince us his Judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out And from the Works of Creation and Providence results a Natural Religion the chief Principle whereof we know is That there is a Being Infinite in all Perfections this is the Dictate of Reason as well as Conscience yet Reason cannot fâ—thome the depth of it for it hath only a Negative conception of Infinity and whatever there is that it hath no Conception of doth undoubtedly surpass its reach and Comprehension so that Natural Theology as well as revealed hath its Mysteries if therefore Christianity had none how unlike would it be to all things else in the world that have God for their Authour How just a prejudice would this be to the reception of it as divine Truth and Revelation Who would believe it to be of God when he sees nothing that surpasseth Man in it How decent then and useful are the Mysteries of Christianity Since they make it like to all things else of Gods making they beautifie and adorn it with fairer Characters than otherwise it would have of Gods Image on it and the fairer the Characters of His Image are upon it the more Legible is his Truth in it for infiniteness of Truth is inseparable from right Reasons Idea of Deity and where there is infiniteness of Truth there is no possibility of a Lye Mistake or Deceit and where these are excluded there is no room for Hesitance or doubting but the strongest Reason imaginable to believe Since therefore our Chriâ—â—ian Faith hath the impression of Gods Image on it and the Word of Prophecy revealed it it is most highly reasonable to believe it Sect. 5.
did as far exceed the power of Nature as the Donation of Blessedness or any thing else contained in the Promises by them therefore it appears that all things requisite thereunto are in the Power of Him by whom or in whose Name they were done and the Goodness of his Miracles declare Him as Willing as Able to bestow them on us and where both Power and Will do concur to make men Blessed it is very evident there is no place left for Diffâ—â—ence or room for Despair Since then the Miracles of Christ do Demonstrate both his Ability and Willingness to make us Blessed and all the Promises of the Gospel do empty themselves into Blessedness it thence follows that on that account we may and in Reason we ought to have stâ—ong confidence in the Promises But here perhaps some will say no because the performance of them in Order to the acquisition of Blessednâ—ss includes a general Resurrection from the Dead whiâ—h is impossible because if some Men have not been nourished by feeding on the Flesh of others yet surely Fish eat Men and Men eat those Fish so that That which formerly was the Flesh of one Man is frequently taken into the substance of anothers body and because it cannot be that the same numerical matter should constitute divers bodies it seems impossible that these men should have a Resurrection Be it so that a general Resurrection seems incredible yet ought not that to prejudice our Hope any more than the Mysteries of Christianity do our Faith because that He who made and revealed things that pass our comprehension may propose the like to our Hope and forasmuch as it is our duty to honour him by the submission of our irascible faculties as well as rational it ought not to seem strange that so he should But why should it be thought impossible for God to raise the dead If the Loadstone can so extract the filings of Steel out of dust as that nothing thereof shall be lost why should it be thought impossible for God to gather together and raise up every the least Particle of each mans body wheresoever hid or intermingled with others and there is no fear of a Contention at thee Rsurrection among the Canibals or others for their respective bodies for it seems to me more than probable that Infinite Wisdom Power and Justice will so order the matter aâ— that humane flesh which men have devoured shall be as St. Austine faith restored unto them in whom it first began to be mans flesh and they from whose Bodies the restitution is made shall have no cause to be troubled at it for as the Imperfâ—ctions or the defects of strength and Nature in the bodies of Infants at their decease shall by the Almighty Power and Wisdom be supplyed at the Resurrection so may and so I believe shall theirs Nâ—r doth this Supply make them cease any more to be the same Bodies than the cure of an old Ulcer in the Leg makâ—s it cease to be the same Leg although in order thereunto the putrefied flesh be removed that sound may be restored In all this there is nothing impossible and since Christianity doth so clearly assert a future Resurrection and we have so much Reason to believe it it is not only possible but probable that so it shall be However since so it may be there is no truth or force in the Objection to make our Christian Hope unreasonable but since it grasps at nothing that is really impossible and withal is so well founded on Promises of whose Truth and certainty we are so abundantly assured it must be concluded to be very rational Sect. 6 Lastly since it is thus reasonable to believe the Doctrine and to hope in the Promises of Christianity it is also very reasonable for us to keep its Commandments Faith and Hope are so great Engines of Action as that in Natural and Civil affairs scarce any man omits doing of any thing whereby he believes and hopes to obtain some good or to avoid some evil and if in those Affairs all the World think it reasonable for Faith and Hope to set us on doing why is it not so also in Religious Since therefore in these affairs we have as we have seen very fair ground to plant these Engines on it is very reasonable to set them on work in keeping the Commandments And not for this cause only but especially because Christ and his Apostles who revealed them to us and imposed them on us being Prophets it is thence manifest that they have no less than divine Authority instampt upon them and so indisputably evident and transcendently great is this Authority as that the whole Earth Heathens and Turks as well as Jews and Christians acknowledge an obligation to obey it and since Gods Commands have so confessed an obligation in them it is certainly a part of the Synteresis or habit of prâ—ctical Principles wherewith Nature hath indued all mens Consciences that God is to be obeyed Since then because Christ and his Apostles were Prophets the Precepts of that Religion that they have taught us must needs be the Commands of God we are self-condemned Wretches perhaps worse than Infidels if we do not obey them But here to demonstrate at once both the nature and the greatness of our obligations to Obedience it will not be amiss though it may seem a Digression to enquire Whence our obligation to obey God doth arise If we consult the Philosophical Rudiments concerning Government and Civil Society for an Answer to this Question we shall there find it affirmed that the obligation of yielding God obâ—dience lyes on men by reason of their weakness If this shall seem hard to any man the Author in his Annotation desires him with a silent thought to consider if there were two Omnipotents whether were bound to obey And well may it seem hard since it admits of no proof without the supposition of an Impossibility viz. that there may be two Omnipotents which cannot be because the one is or it is not able to destroy the other if it be then the other is not Omnipotent because it is not able to resist it if it be not then is it not Omnipotent because there is something which it cannot do so that the Being of two Omnipotents is impossible Let a man therefore consider his arguing with never so silent a thought he shall find but little or no force in it And truly though our Saviour admonishing Paul who at that time was an enemy to the Church that he should not kick against the pricks seems to require obedience from him for this cause because he had not power enough to resist yet doth it not thence follow that his Weakness was the formal reason of his obligation to yield Obedience because there may be many motives to obey besides the basis and radix of our obligation so to do In the advice of a Friend there is no obligation at all
But besides Allurements and enticements unto Sin the Devil sometimes by especial permission from God hath other wayes of provoking men thereunto And this he hath power to do by bringing afflictions perhaps the â—orest pains both of Loss and Sense that possibly he can upon them Thus we read of Gods Servant Job whom he tempted by great and grievous afflictions in his Person Goods and Kindred And thus it pleased God to permit him to do by our Blessed Saviour It was we know at first foretold that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head and the Serpent should bruise his heel i. e. that the Messias should destroy the power and authority of the Devil and the Devil should sorely but not irrecoverably wound the Messiaâ— Now in order hereunto there was to be a time wherein the Devil was to be permitted to do his utmost against him this bitter Conflict with the Devil it is thought our Saviour apprehended at his triumphant Ingress into Jerusalem three dayes or more before he entred upon it This seems it he spake of when he said Now is my Soul trâ—ubled and what shall I say Father save me from this hour No this he himself upon a little deliberation seems to disapprove because for this cause saith he came I to this hour he resolved therefore to say Father glorifie thy Name Hereby he commits himself to his Father's disposal and prayes him to make the Contest glorious unto Him A little while after Jâ—sus knowing that this hour was come said unto his Disciples hereafter I will not talk much with you fâ—r the Prince of the World cometh Satan it seems would again try his strength upon him and that not as before with subtilty and snares but with greater force and violence than formerly had been permitted to him and accordingly so it seems he did in his Agonie and Bloody Sweat at which time saith a great Divine his Fathâ—r permitted Satan to exercise the utmost of his power against him only over his Soul or Life he had no power Yet doubtless during this Agonie he suffâ—red pains more than natural such as neither the Prophets before him nor the Apostles or Martyrs after him either felt or could indure the pains of Hell they could not be because the Prince of the World having nothing in him he was not a Patient rightly disposed to indure those pains yet doubtless as the glory of our Saviour Christ is now much greater than the glory of all his Sâ—ints which have been or shall be hereafter so no doubt his Sufferings did far exceed the sufferings of all his Martyrs But what they were is it seems best expressed in the ancient Greek Liturgies by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unknown Sufferings Hereby the Devil tempted him to Impatience or some other obliquity in one kind or other but his design was frustrate for when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death he was heard in that he feared The Paroxysme was over the sharpness of the pain was abated if not quite extinguished by tâ—ese means at this assault in this battel also the Devil was beaten he ceased therefore from farther attempts by way of single Duel But the Contest bâ—â—ng for no less than the Crown and Empire of the whole World Satan resolvâ—d not so to leave him but once again to attaque him and it should be in that manner wherein throughout all Ages he had found himself most successful in doing mischief and that is not by himsâ—lf alone and immediately but by his wicked Instruments Men being left to the freedom of their own Wills are not under so strict a restraint as the Devil is â—ereupon he hath tempted them to be executioners of his Malice and they at his suggestions have often acted greater cruelties than were permitted to him to do by himself immediately Judas therefore and the Jews he most eâ—fectually tâ—mpted to the most barbarous and unnatural cruelty that they could possibly execute on the Holy One of Israel Thence was it that when he was apprehended He said unto them that took him This is your hour and the power of darkness whereby it is plain not only that at that time our Dear Lord was delivered into their hands to do what they would with him but also though the Devil did not appear yet he was the greatest Actour in all the Scenes of that sad Tragedy from the Apprehension to the Crucitixion of our Lord Jesus his Darkness was in its power his Will was then done his Pleasure was fulâ—illed The Outrages and Barbarisms that men then committed upon him were but the Venom which that Old Serpent spit at him and by so doing did the worst he could against him viz. he bruised his heel i e. he crushed his Humanity to death yet neither so could he conquer him by obtaining the least Sin to be committed by him Had he effected this he had obtained his purpose and done his own business viz. he had deâ—cated our Salvation and established his own Throne for ever but blessed be God the Captain of our Salvation was Victorious and by so doing he â—ath cancâ—lled all the Claim that the Dâ—vil can pâ—ssibly make unto us and hath uttâ—rly dissolved and â—ispâ—â—sed all Shadow of pretence to the Right of Conquest over us and since he received his Commission from God and in all his Temptations and trials he fought his Battels against the Devil it is evident that his Right hand and his holy arm hâ—ve gotten God the victoâ—y and so indisputable is the Right of Conquest as that by the Law of Nations Conquerours are always and every where Lords and Sovereigns over them that they have taken in just and lawful Wars since therefore in the War between Christ and the Devil most justly and graciously designed for our Redemption our Blessed Saviour was the Conquerour he hath thereby undoubtedly renewed if not also augmented Gods Rigâ—t of Sovereignty over us and by so doing hath laid as we shall see in the Sequel fâ—esh Obligations of Allâ—giance and Subjection to Him upon us Neither is that all for by his sufferings he did not only â—eâ—â—ore us into the freedom of Gods service but did also propitiate and make him gracious unto us For God sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins or he set him forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood and so the Son Himself tells us that his Blood was shed for many for the Remission of Sins As a farther proof and illustration hereof it will not be amiss to observe That the Law of Moses had this severe Sanction Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them the matter of this Curse was a violent death without mercy so that whosoever transgressed it was for that
Cause liable to be put to death this Law then was severely Penal and known it is sufficiently that Law-Givers on earth much more may the Supreme one in Heaven admit of a Relaxation of their Laws and accordingly so hath God done in divers Cases as for instance in case the high Priest or the Congregation or a Ruler of the People sinned through ignorance although according to the Rigour and utmost severity of that Law the Sinnâ—r ought to be put to death yet God accepted of a Sacrifice Concerning which Sacrifice we shall do well to observe three things viz. First that the thing Sacrificed whatsover it was was substituted in the place of the offender and this its Surrogation was usually signified by the imposition of his hands upon it and then secondly the Bullock or Kid of the Goats thus substituted in the stead or room of the offender was killed and offered in Sacrifice unto God and hereupon thirdly Gods Wrath was appeased by the Offering or oblation of this Sacrifice the Offender obtained pardon for his fault and his life was to be spared for the Priest thereby made an attonement for him concerning his Sin and it was forgiven him The suffering of a viol nt death was remitted he was no longer bound over to it he had no cause to fear it from the hand either of God or of the Magistrate Now know that the Law having but the Shadow of good things to come these things were Types of our state by Nature and deliverance therefrom by our Blessed Saviour a violent temporal death the penalty of transgressing the Ceremonial Law did Typifie or at least not Inelegantly adumbrate Eternal death the Sanction and Curse of the moral Law whereunto both by Nature and Practice we are all obnoxious but it pleased God to admit a Relaxation even of this Law and thereupon to send his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins i. e. to be a Sin-offering a Propitiatory Sacrifice or Sacrifice of Atonement and Expâ—ation for them and this he was in his sufferings especially his Bloody Death and Crucifixion for the three essential parts of such a Sacrifice but now mâ—ntioned were all evidently contained therein as first his Surrogation in â—ur stead this is very plain to be seen in his Death for He gave his life a ransome for many his Body was given and his Blood was shed for you Christ dyed for the ungodly i. e. for all He did tast Death for every Man He suffered for us i. e. for our Sins the Just for the Unjust From any much more from all these Texts of Scripture the Surrogation of Christ in his sufferings is so plain and evident as that the Socinians with all their Criticisms and distinctions will never be able wi h any Probability to gain say it The like also we may observe concerning the second thing in a Sin-offering under the Law namely the Oblation thereof unto God this likewise is evident in our Saviours sufferings for through the Eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to God And that this Oblation of himself to God was not made as some would have it by his entrance into Heaven but by his sufferings on the Cross appears if not from the Apostles making it the same or almost all one thing therewith by calling his offering of Himself in one verse his suffering in the next yet from the Comparison he makes between the condition of Christ and other Men it is appointed unto Men once to die so saith he Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many so that Christ in dying wâ—s offered and in being offered he dyed so that 〈◊〉 are saâ—ctified throâ—gh the Offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all and this offering of his bâ—dy to God was antecedent to his Glory in Heaven for after he had offerâ—d one Sacrifice for Sin for ever he sat down on the right hand of G d it is nâ—t therefore to be doubted but our Saviour upon the Cross offered Himself a Sacrifice to satisfie divine Justice and so to appease the Wrath of God against us For lastly his Sufferings had the Effect that was natural and necessary to a Sin-offering namely the Atonement and Reconciliation of God to Sinners for when we were enemies we were Reconciled unto God by the death of his Son and you that were enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death hereby then methinks it is so plain as that nothing can be plainer unless it be to those that can see knots in a Bull-rush than that Reconciliation and Atonement was made to God for us in and by the death of his Son Thus fully do we see that our Blessed Saviour in his Temptations and Sufferings hath redeemed us from the power of Satan and the Curse of the Law or the Wrath of God against us But these things I confess are not sufficient for to any one that shall consider the imbecillity of humane Nature now in its state of Mortality and imperfection it must needs methinks be evident that after this great Salvation thus far wrought out for us and revealed unto us we still shall want Grace and Mercy to help in time of need Grace to help our Infirmities and to enable us acceptably to perform our Duty And Mercy to forgive us our Sins and to succour us in our Miseries Both these it is manifest that we want Know therefore lastly that both these Christ is enabled to give unto us by his Temptations and Sufferings for us for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted But was not he able to succour us before he suffered and was tempted Yes doubtless that he was as he is God over all blessed for ever but Infinite Wisdome and Goodness condescending to our infirmities were pleased to constitute another way of shewing mercy and affording Succour to us in miseries and temptations When we consider the Infinite distance between God and us together with our manifold sins and odious miscarriages against him we may well be afraid to approach him or else void of confidence in our approaches To the end therefore that we might have the highest assurance that may be both of Grace and Mercy and of their accommodation to our Nature under its abasing reflections on it self it seemed good to Infinite Wisdome so to order the matter as that the Divine Grace and Mercy should in some sort be made Humane for being conveyed to us through the Heart of our Lord Jesus the Mercy of God is so assimilated unto and made the Mercy of a man as that though we cannot conceive how the Divine Nature is disposed to shew Mercy yet by the familiar experience of our own hearts towards others we may conceive how Christ will be merciful unto us viz. by way of Pity