he saw that he was condemned repented himself and brought again the thirty pieces of Silver to the Chief Priests and Elders saying I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood And they said What is that to us see thou to that And he cast down the pieces of Silver in the Temple and went and hanged himself Matt. xxvii 3 4. How could the Chief Priests themselves have contrived a better way to vindicate our Saviour's Innocence if they had never so much endeavour'd it than for one of his own Disciples after he had betrayed him instead of witnessing against him which it was natural to suppose he would have done to be so far from that as to come before them all and fling down the Money in the Temple which they had given him as the hire of his Treachery and declare publickly that he had betrayed the Innocent Blood and then to give a further proof of all this out of meer anguish and horror of Mind to go immediately from them and hang himself If our Saviour had done any thing whereby he could deserve to be put to Death Judas must needs have known it and when he had once betray'd him it cannot be supposed he would forbear to discover any thing he knew of him But when on the contrary he was so far from accusing him that as soon as he saw him condemned at the Accusation of other false Witnesses he could not bear the Agonies of his own mind but went and made away with himself this is as evident a proof of Christ's Innocence as any of the other Apostles themselves could ever give and Judas is so far an Apostle still as to proclaim his Master's Innocence in the face of the Sanedrim and then to Seal that Testimony with his Blood It has been thought by some that Judas as wicked as he was had never any design to cause his Master to be put to Death or to be any way instrumental towards it but he supposed that Christ would be secure enough against the Chief Priests in his own Innocence and Holiness or that they would not dare to hurt him for fear of the People which had been a restraint upon them in their former attempts or that he could easily make his escape from them as he had formerly done and therefore his Covetousness tempted him to believe that though he should betray his Master yet he would come to no harm by it However it is certain that Judas himself cleared our Saviour's snnocence by betraying him more than any other man could have done who had not been his Dlsciple and his making that confession and then his dying upon that account and in that manner may afford us that evidence which we must have wanted to certify us in the Truth of the Christian Religion if Christ had not been betray'd or had been betrayed by any but one of his own Disciples When he was condemned and crucify'd one of the Thieves who was crucified with him made an open Profession of him when there could be no Temptation of flattery nor leisure or patience for a man in that condition to speak in that manner but by the special Providence and Grace of God and to give an early instance of the great efficacy of his Cross and of the Mercy which it reacheth forth to all repenting Sinners our Saviour assures him that that very day he should be with him in Paradise A strange discourse upon the Cross To speak of Kingdoms and promise Paradise under so much infamy and torment That one should have the Faith to ask and the other the Power to promise so great things in that condition Who could have had the courage to promise so much upon the Cross but he who was able to perform it And as no ill could ever be proved against him but all circumstances concurred to confirm his Innocence as Herod dismissed him and Pilate often declared him to have committed nothing worthy of Death so the Devils themselves during his Life here upon Earth confessed him to be the Son of God and after his Death (b) Porphyr apud Euscb Demonstr Evang. lib. 3. c. 6. by their Oracles acknowledged him to have been an holy person whose Soul was translated into Heaven And this person thus Innocent and Holy both in his Life and Doctrine was prophesied of many Ages before his Birth and all the Prophecies concerning the Messias were exactly and in a wonderful manner fulfilled in him These Prophecies concern either his Birth or his Life or his Death or his Resurrection and Ascension 1. The Prophecies concerning the Birth of the Messias were fulfilled in our Saviour For his Birth was prophesied of in all the circumstances of the Time and the Place of it and the Person of whom he was born 1. As for the Time by Jacob's Prophecy Gen. xlix 10. The Messias was to come about the time of the Dissolution of the Jewish Government The Scepter was not to depart from Judah that is the Power and Authority of the Jewish Government was not to cease until Shilo came which the ancient (c) See Bp. Pearson on the Creed Jewish Interpreters expounded of the coming of their Messias To (d) Lightfoot's Prospect of the Temple c. 21. which purpose it is held by the Jews that the great Sanhedrim sat in the Tribe of Judah tho' but part of the Court in which they sat was of that Tribe and the rest in the Tribe of Benjamin And the Jews among all their objections never objected against the time in which our Saviour came into the World but many of them have confessed that the Messias was born at that time but say that because of their sins he has (e) Munster de Messiâ concealed himself ever since And the latter Jews have by a great many stories endeavoured to make it believed that there is a Kingdom still of their Nation in some unknown part of the world tho' if this were true it could prove nothing to their purpose the prophecy being concerning their Power and Authority in the promised Land It is certain that soon after our Saviour's coming Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews dispersed and upon severe Penalties forbidden to come to their desolate and ruined City or so much as to look upon Zion the City of their Solemnities unless it were once every year to lament their calamity and they have ever since been a wandring and despicable People And several times when they have at tempted to re-build their Temple they have not been suffered to do it particularly when they had the favour and encouragement of Julian the Apostate who out of malice to the Christian Name and Doctrine was forward to promote the work they were hindred by an Earthquake and a miraculous eruption of Fire bursting out from under the foundation which burnt down what they had erected and destroyed those that were employed in it and this we have attested not only from Christian writers
is translated Carthage by the Septuagint Isa xxiii 6. but is supposed to be Tartessus in Spain though St. Jerom (z) 〈◊〉 in â—â— c. 1. 〈◊〉 thought it to be in the Indies And Ophir was as many learned Men think in the Indies beyond the River Ganges in Pegu or at least Solomon's Merchants did traffick with the Indian that came from those Parts others have imagined Ophir to be Zephala or Cephala in Africa towards the Cape of Good-Hope some think it to be Ceylon or Sumatra some are of opinion that it was in America all are agreed that it must be in some very distant part of the World and where-ever it were the Traffick and Dealings which the Israelites had there was a great opportunity to the Heathen to become instructed in the True Religion The Traffick and Voyages by Sea and Expeditions by Land in Solomon's Reign rendred the People of Israel highly renowned and caused their Laws and Customs and Religion to be much observed and enquired into and even the Marriages of Solomon with Pharaoh's Daughter and other Strangers questionless through the Mercy of God might prove an happy occasion of divulging the True Religion and regaining many from Idolatry in Aegypt and other Parts of the World For all his Wives were made Proselytes (a) Maimâ—â—â—d de 〈◊〉 §. 1â— 1â— before he married them as Samson's likewise had been though afterwards they not only fell away to their former Idolatries but seduced Solomon himself into them The Gentiles were so forward to become Proselytes (b) Meimâ—â—d 〈◊〉 in the Reigns of David and Solomon that their Sincerity became suspected and the Jews tell us that the Sanhedrim would admit no Proselytes in the days of David lest they should be induced to it by Fear nor in the days of Solomon lest the Glory of his Kingdom should have been the motive to them to profess the Religion of the Israelites Nevertheless great numbers were received privately by Baptism the Sanhedrim neither rejecting nor admitting them It is the Observation of Theodoret and of St. Jerom upon Exek v. 5. that God placed Jerusalem the Seat of the Jewish Government in the midst of the Nations that it might be a Direction to the Heathen in matters of Religion from whence as from the Centre Light might be communicated to the farther Parts of the Earth But the Divisions and Calamities of the People of Israel the Destruction of their City and Dispersion of their whole Nation contributed as much to the propagation of Religion as their greatest Prosperity could do The Division of the Ten Tribes after the death of Solomon and the erection of the Kingdom of Israel distinct from that of Judah with the many Leagues and Wars which these two mighty Kingdoms had with the Kings of Aegypt and Syria and Babylon and with other Nations could not but exceedingly conduce to the divulging the True Religion in the World and give opportunity to the Prophets to declare their Prophecies and work their Miracles among the Heathen as we find they did in many Instances One of the greatest Cities of the World was converted by Jonah's Preaching Hezekiah being distressed by Sennacherib prayed to God for deliverence out of his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God even thou only and his Prayer was answer'd not only in the Deliverance but in the manner of it which was so wonderful that all must know and be astonished at it for that very night the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand 2 King xix 19. which was the fulfilling of the Prophecy of Isaiah delivered to Hezekiah in a Message to him from God in Answer to his Prayer and afterwards Embassadors came from the King of Babylon to enquire of the Wonder or Miracle that was wrought in his Recovery from his Sickness 2 Chron. xxxii 31. and at last the Captivity of the Jews for Seventy Years in Babylon made their Religion almost as well known there as in Jerusalem it self Jeremiah had foretold the Captivity of the Jews and the Conquest of all the adjacent Countries so long and so plainly before-hand that all the neighbour Nations must be sensible of it as Nebuchadnezzar himself also was for which reason he gave a strict charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the Captain of the Guard who declares the reason of their Captivity to be their sins against the Lord or Jehovah Jer. xl 3. and as the Jews say he became a Proselyte God professes that he had a regard to the Honour of his Name among the Heathen in his Mercies vouchsafed to the Children of Israel or else he had utterly consumed them Ezek. xx 9. and xxxvi 22 23 36. and the Judgments upon the several Nations prophesied against were to this end that they might know him to be the Lord Ezek. xxv 7 17. xxvi 6. xxviii 22 23 24. xxix 6. xxxv 9. xxxvi 23. xxxvii 28. I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts and my name is dreadful among the heathen Mal. i. 14. The Jews in their Captivity are commanded to make an open Declaration against the Heathen Gods and because they understood not the Chaldee Tongue the Prophet Jeremiah supplies them with so much of the Language as might serve them for that purpose Thus shall ye say unto them Jer. x. 11. that is Ye shall speak to them in their own Language and in the words which I now set down to you to bid Defiance to their False Gods Thus did he fulfil his Commission and Character who was sanctified and ordained a Prophet unto the nations Jer. i. 5. And Jeremiah was put to death in Aegypt and Ezekiel in Babylon for appearing against the Idolatry of those Places During the Captivity Jehoiachin was reconciled to the King of Babylon and in great favour with him His throne was set above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon 2 King xxv 28. The Jews were in great Esteem and in Places of great Honour and Trust and their Religion was extolled and recommended by Publick Edicts to all under that vast Empire The Almighty Power of God was manifested with Miracles and by the Interpretation of Dreams and Prophecies and his Majesty and Honour was acknowledged and proclaimed in the most publick and solemn manner throughout all the Babylonian Empire at the Command of Princes who were Idolaters and were forced to it by the meer convictions of their own Consciences wrought in them by the irresistable Power of God Dan. ii iii iv v vi Daniel had acquainted Cyrus as Josephus says with the Prophecy of Isaiah in which he was so long before mention'd by Name However the Lord stirred up the Spirit of Cyrus by this or some other means to accomplish the Prophecy which he had made both by Isaiah and Jeremiah concerning the Restoration of the Jews
a Venerable Man of about Sixty six Years of Age of great Prudence and Experience and withal very Eloquent whom he knew and had conversed with was one amongst others who followed Ptolemaeus Lagi after the Battle at Gaza in which he overcame Demetrius Poliorcetes He mention'd likewise that Mosollamus a Jew marching with him when the rest made a stand by reason of a Bird which the Augur said portended ill Luck to them if they should march on shot that Bird in the sight of them all and defended what he had done by Argument And indeed the Jews wanted neither Zeal nor Wit nor Courage upon every occasion to appear in behalf of their own Religion against the Superstitions and Idolatries of the Heathen This Book of Hecataeus was extant in the time of Josephus and he referrs his Reader to it and he appeals to the Letters of Alexander the Great and of Ptolemaeus Lagi and the Kings of Aegypt his Successors in favour of the Jews When Ptolemaeus Lagi (k) Joseph Antiqu. l. 12. c. 1 2. took Jerusalem he transplanted the Jews in great multitudes into Aegypt putting many of them into his Garrisons and allowing them equal Priviledges with the Macedonians by which Encouragement many besides those whom he transported voluntarily went to dwell there And the Captives of that Nation set at liberty by Ptolemaeus Philadelphus were above 110000. And besides the signal Favours and Honours bestowed upon the Jews by Ptolemaeus Philadelphus who likewise caused the Holy Scriptures to be translated into the Greek Tongue which was an exceeding great furtherance to the Propogation of Religion Seleucus Nicanor granted them the freedom of Antioch and of the Cities which he had founded in Asia and the Lower Syria and these Priviledges remained to them till Josephus's time after all which the Jews had done to deserve to be deprived of them Antiochus the Great sent forth his Letters and Edicts which are to be seen in (l) Joseph Antiquit. l. 12. c. 3. Josephus in favour of the Jews more-especially in what related to their Religious Worship And Seleucus Son to this Antiochus after his Father's Example out of his own Revenues bore the Cost belonging to the Sacrisices 2 Mac. iii. 3. Antiochus Epiphanes himself at last under the avenging Hand of God upon him for all his impious Cruelties acknowledged himself punished for his Sacrilege and other Mischiefs committed at Jerusalem 1 Mac. vi 12 13. 2 Mac. ix 17. Antiochus Pius when he besieged Jerusalem (m) Ibid. l. 13. c. 16. not only granted a Truce for Seven Days during the Feast of Tabernacles but sent rich and noble Presents for Sacrifices and the City being delivered into his hands upon honourable Conditions with regard particularly to Religion Hyrcanus accompanied Antiochus in his Parthian Expedition and the Feast of Pentecost falling the Day after the Sabbath Antiochus stopt his Army those two Days for the sake of the Jews The Lacedaemonians claimed (n) 1 Mac. viii xii xiv 2 Mac. xi Joseph Antiqu l. 13. c. 9 13. l. 14. c. 16. Justin lib. 36. c. 3. Kindred with the Jews and both They and the Athenians and Romans enter'd into Leagues with them which from time to time were continued and renewed Josephus mentions a Pillar then standing at Alexandria containing the Priveledges (o) Joseph contr Ap. l. 2. granted to the Jews by Julius Caesar And when no other Religion was tolerated except those established by the Laws of the Empire the Jews only had Allowance for a free Exercise of their Religion even in Rome it self and for this and many other Edicts and Decrees of the Senate in favour of the Jews Josephus (p) Joseph Ant. quit l. 14. c. 16. l. 16. c. 4 5 10. l. i9 c. 4 6. appeals to the Tables of Brass then extant and preserved in the Capitol and other places in which they were engraven The Sufferings and Martyrdoms under the Maccabees and the Resolution and Constancy which they shewed upon all occasions in defence of their Religion rendred the Jews renowned over all Nations and besides their Conquests were very considerable and the Advantages which accrued to Religion by reason of them In the time of Hyrcanus (q) Joseph Antiquit. l. 13. c. 17. all Idumaea embraced the Jewish Religion Aristobulus having conquered great part of Ituraea caused all their Males (r) Ibid. l. 13. c. 19. to be circumcised and to observe the Law of Moses as Strabo testifies Under Alexander Father to Hyrcanus (s) Ibid. l. 13. c. 23. l. 14. c. 3. the Jews took twelve Cities from the Arabians and became possessed of many Cities in Syria Idumaea and Phenicia all which they brought over to the Possession of their own Religion and demolished Pella for refusing to embrace it The (t) See Mr. Mede's Discourse 12. Temple built by Sanballat for Manasses who had married his Daughter was an occasion of the Samaritans leaving their False Gods And after the building of the Temple in Aegypt the Babylonian Talmud says (u) Lightf Harmon p. 205. that the Jews there were double the number of those that came out from thence under Moses The Zeal of the Scribes and Pharisees though they were Hypocrites did exceedingly conduce to the propagation of their Religion for they compassed sea and land to make one Proselyte and so far they were to be commended but then they made him two-fold more the child of hell than themselves Mat. xxiii 15. yet still they taught the necessary Points of Doctrine though in Hypocrisie and with the mixtures of Superstition and our Saviour commands his Disciples to observe and do what they bid them but not to do after their works And it was required of the Fathers of the Sanhedrin (x) Lightf Excercit on 1 Cor. xiii 1. p. 783. that they should understand many Languages that the Sanhedrin might hear nothing by an Interpreter which qualified the Scribes and Pharisees who aspired to that Dignity to be the better able to make Proselytes The Jews were dispersed all over the World but chiefly seated themselves in Rome and Alexandria and Antioch the three chief Cities of the Empire in all which they had great and peculiar Priviledges and in Alexandria they had Magistrates of their own (y) Joseph Antiquit. l. 14. c. 12. and lived under a peculiar Government by themselves Never any other Nation had such various Changes and Revolutions to mix them with the rest of the World and never any People were so industrious and zealous and so succesful in the propogation of their Religion They had their Proseuchae and their Synagogues for Divine Worship and for Reading and Explaining the Scriptures which Men of all Religions were admitted to hear in all places where-ever they dwelt and in Aegypt they had a (z) Joseph Bell. Jud. l. 7. c. 30. Temple like that at Jerusalem built by Onias which continued for the space of Three hundred and forty three Years
who lived near that time (f) Ammian Marcellin lib 23. c. 1. but by an eminent Heathen Historian of the same Age. Now it was foretold by the prophets Haggai and Malachy that Christ should come before the destruction of the Second Temple and the destruction of this Temple was foretold by Daniel with the precise time of our Savour's coming and to manifest to the world that Christ is come and that therefore the Jewish Worship and Government is utterly at an end as the Prophets had foretold God has been pleased in so miraculous and terrible a manner to shew that he will not suffer their Temple to be rebuilt and whereas the Messias was to come to the Second Temple now for so many hundreds of years they have had no Temple at all for him to come to 2. As the time of Christ's Birth was foretold by the Prophets so was the place likewise and that was Bethlehem a small City and therefore the more unlikely in all humane account to have that honour bestowed upon it to become the Birth place of him who the Jews expected should be a Temporal Prince yet this when so well understood by the Jews of that time notwithstanding their mistaken notion of a Temporal Messias that when Herod gathered all the Chief Priests and Scribes of the people together and demanded of them where Christ should be born they answered him with one consent in Bethlehem of Judaea and quoted the Prophecy of Micah for the proof of it Matt. ii And many believed that Jesus was the Messias or the Christ which they then were in expectation of others made this objection that he could not be the Christ because he came out of Galilee but hath not the Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the Town of Bethlehem where David was This was the great objection against our Saviour that he could not be the Christ because he did not come out of Bethlehem but out of Galilee for they thought he had been born at Nazareth in Galilee not at Bethlehem in the Tribe of Judah whereas he was indeed born at Bethlehem and that by so strange and particular a providence as doth evidently prove him to be the Christ For it came to pass in these days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed and registred according to their Families and all went to be taxed every one into his own City into the City which belonged to his Lineage and Family And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the City of Nazareth into Judaea unto the City of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the House and Lineage of David to be taxed with Mary his espoused Wife being great with Child and so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered Luke ii 1 c. Here we see that their going from Nazareth to Bethlehem was not in the least designed by the Virgin Mary and Joseph but they were obliged to go thither by a new and strange decree of the Emperor and accordingly they went in Obedience to this Decree If the Blessed Virgin had dwelt at Bethlehem though the Prophecy had been fulfilled yet there had been nothing in the circumstances extraordinary if she had gone thither of her own accord or if some private business had called her thither this might have been looked upon as a contrivance and a design to be thought the Mother of the Messias if God himself had by an immediate Revelation sent her thither yet this still had been liable to cavils and might have been suspected of imposture But when at the Command of an Heathen Prince and such a command as had never been given out at any time before the Virgin Mary was forced upon a long and tedious Journey at an unseasonable time of the year being then great with Child and therefore very unfit for such a Journey and not in a condition to have the least inclination or thought of undertaking it when she was obliged by so unexpected and unwelcom a command to repair to Bethlehem and was at that very time delivered of her Son all these circumstances so wonderfully concurring have something more convincing in them than can well be express'd And 't is observable that this Tax or Register was designed and begun in some parts of the Empire 27 years before but was hindred by disturbances which happened upon which account anciently the Spaniards begun their Aera 27 years before the computation of other Christians supposing that the Taxing mentioned in St. Luke had been at the same time that it was begun amongst them so many years before but the divine Providence so ordered things that it should not be carried on then but should be deferred till that very time when Christ was to be born that by this means Bethlehem might be the place of his Birth And by the same special Providence it came to pass not only that this Prophecy was fulfilled concerning his being born at Bethlehem but that it should be registered in the Publick Records of the Empire to which Justin Martyr and Tertullian appeal in their Apologies for the proof of it and St. Chrysostom mentions them as extant at Rome in his time near four hundred years after the Birth of our Saviour And his being born there proves that he was of the Seed of David as it was prophesied that the Messias should be for the Decree required that all should resort to the City of their Lineage or Family and Bethlehem was the City of David So that from our Saviour's being born at Bethlehem and that by so remarkable a Providence without any humane foresight or design we have two evident proofs that he is the Christ he was of the Seed of David and was born at Bethlehem and this was attested by the Publick Records or Censual Tables at Rome which were often appealed to for the Truth of it and were remaining to be consulted for several hundred years afterwards (g) Lightf Choro Graph Centur c. 51 And the Jerusalem Gemarists do confess that the Messias was born at Bethlehem before their times 3. The person of whom our Saviour was born had been likewise foretold For not only the time of his Birth that it was to be before the destruction of the Temple and the Place that it was to be at Bethlehem but the Tribe of which he was to be born the Tribe of Judah and the Family the Family of David and the very person that she was to be a Virgin all were particularly foretold by the Prophets and accordingly expected at that time by the Jews Concerning the Tribe and Family of which our Saviour was born I shall observe that effectual care was taken by the Law of Moses to keep a perpetual distinction of their several Tribes and Families for by the Law of the Inheritances no inheritance could pass out of
c. 18. lib. v. c. 7. Quadratus had this gift of Prophecy and it continued in the Church to the time of Justin Martyr and of Irenaeus II. The Miracles wrought by the Apostles were according to an express promise of Christ to them that after his Ascension they should do even greater Works than he had done himself John xiv 12. that is they should do works that would be more eminent and observable in the eyes of the World though not more excellent and divine for nothing could be greater in that sense than to raise a man from the dead Which promise was fulfilled to them at the Feast of Pentecost when men from all parts of the world were made witnesses to it For they were commanded by our Saviour not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for this promise and he assured them that they should be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days after his being taken up from them into Heaven and that they should receive power after that the Holy Ghost was come upon them and should be witnesses unto him both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the Earth Acts i. 4 5 8. And this miraculous power was visibly bestowed not only upon the Apostles themselves but upon the (c) Monstrabatur locus ubi super centum viginti credentium animas spiritus sanctus descendisset Hieron Epitaph Paulae vid. Dr. Light exercit on Act. ii 1. p. 643. hundred and twenty mentioned Acts i. 15. I have already shewn that the Apostles were effectually qualified to be witnesses of what they delivered concerning Christ and that they could neither be deceived themselves in it nor could propose any advantage to themselves by deceiving others and that if they had designed any deceit they alledged such circumstances as made it impossible for them to have past undiscovered All which will be exceedingly confirmed by considering the miraculous Gifts which the Apostles received by the descent of the Holy Ghost according to this promise of our Saviour I shall therefore shew how the Apostles were enabled by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them to become witnesses to Christ 1. By the Miracles which they wrought themselves 2. By that power which was conveyed by them to others of working Miracles 3. By their supernatural Resolution Courage and Patience under their sufferings I. The Apostles were enabled to become witnesses to Christ by the Miracles which they wrought themselves This power of Miracles qualified them most effectually to be witnesses of the Resurrection and Ascention and other Articles of our Faith for they could neither deceive nor be deceived in these miraculous Gifts which were bestowed upon them to be an assurance to themselves and an evidence to others that it was the Cause of God in which they were engaged and his truth which they delivered They could not be deceived them selves undoubtedly in a thing of this nature they could not be ignorant whether they were real Miracles which they wrought or not they must needs know whether their own pretences were true or false and whether they could speak the Languages and do the Wonders which the world believed them to do and speak and they could not but know by what power and means they were enabled to perform all their miraculous Works And these works were of that nature and done in that manner that they could impose upon no man by them they could not make men believe that they spoke all kinds of Languages if they did not speak them nor that they cured all sorts of Diseases if they had not cured them nothing is more easy than for a man to know a Language that he understands when he hears it or than for men that were sick to know that they are recovered when they feel themselves well And the manner oâ— their performing these Miracles was the most publick and notorious in respect of the time and place and the persons on whom they were wrought Our Saviour had been crucified at the Feast of the Passover in the sight of the Jews and Proselytes who were met together from all parts of the World at that Solemnity and but fifty days after at the next solemn Festival of the Jews in the very same City where he had been Crucified in the presence of multitudes of people of all Nations and Languages which came to keep the Feast of Pentecost the Apostles declared to them in all their several Tongues that this same Jesus was by the Almighty Power of God raised from the dead and that they were impowered by him to speak all those Languages The Apostles were at the same time taken notice of to be Gallileans men of low Birth and of new Education St. John in particular was known to the High Priest himself and the rest were all known to many that heard them their Parentage and place of Abode and manner of Life might easily be enquired into for they were no strangers nor in a far Country and from all these it appeared that it was impossible that they should be capable of speaking any of these Languages but by inspiration and to speak all Languages is a thing which no man ever could hope to arrive at by study or conversation though he should make it the whole business of his Life and therefore this could least of all be suspected of men of mean Employments and who got their Livelihood by their daily labour and industry The Miracles which the Apostles wrought were likewise in the most publick places of the City and in the most publick manner upon persons who had been most remarkable and generally taken notice of for their Infirmities St. Peter by pronouncing only these words In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk cured a man of above forty years of Age who was known to have been lame from his Birth and was carried and laid daily at one of the Gates of the Temple where there was wont to be the greatest resort of people to ask an Alms of them that entred into the Temple and this man being immediately cured went with St. Peter and St. John into the Temple and all the people saw him walking and praising God and they knew that it was he which sat for Alms at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple Acts iii. 9 10. And the Rulers of the Jews enquired into the matter and upon examination when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men they marvelled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus and beholding the man which was healed standing with them they could say nothing against it but confessed among themselves that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it Acts iv 13 14 16. By this and other evident and publick Miracles the miraculous Power of the Apostles
the Truth of what he said They stood now undaunted by to testify that their Master was again alive who had forsaken him as soon as he was apprehended and he that before so shamefully denied him thrice being startled and affrighted at the Question of the High Priest's Maid now speaks aloud in a vast concourse of people with so much stedfastness that this alone was a sufficient evidence of the truth of what he delivered They were not in the least concerned at the mockery and abuses that were put upon them the Spirit had descended on them and raised them above such mean and foolish apprehensions they were now full of the Holy Ghost and no worldly thoughts could move them they acted with the force and vigor of the Wind and Fire in which the Holy Ghost came upon them and with as much unconcernedness as if they had had no difficulties to encounter the world they very well knew and found was against them but they had the assurance of his help who had overcome the world They were pressed on every side with want and disgrace and all manner of hardships some mocked and reviled them others tormented them the rage the tumults the conspiracies of whole Cities and Countries broke loose upon them all the malice and contrivance of Men and Devils was joined against them and yet with what freedom doth St. Peter speak Ye men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you as ye your selves also know him being delivered by the determinate Counsel and fore knowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up whereof we all are witnesses Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear Acts ii 22 23 24 32 33. And in the third Chapter The God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacob the God of our Fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go But ye denied the Holy one and the just and desired a murtherer to be granted unto you and killed the Prince of Life whom God hath raised from the dead whereof we are witnesses Acts iii. 13 14 15. And before the Council O ye Rulers of the People and Elders of Israel if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he is made whole be it known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom ye crucified whom God raised from the dead even by him doth this man stand here before you whole This is the stone which was set at nought by you Builders which is become the head of the corner neither is there Salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Acts iv 8 c. And again The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a Tree him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins and we are his witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him Act. v. 30 c. With what freedom and authority doth he now speak how unlike is he now to the man he was before when he thrice denyed his Master whilst alive And what could make such an alteration in him after his Masters death but a supernatural Power What could cause him thus frequently and earnestly to make an open confession of him in the midst of the people and before their Council if he had not known him to be risen from the dead and had not done all his Miracles by vertue of that Power which was bestowed upon him and the rest of the Apostles after Christ's Ascension And the same constancy and greatness of mind appeared in St. Stephen and the rest of the Disciples which yet was accompanied with equal humility and meekness Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more then unto God judge ye for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard Acts iv 19 20. You may do your pleasure but we must do our duty Nothing of fury and violence nor of wildness and extravagancy but a constant composedness and gravity and a rational sober zeal appeared in all their behaviour They told a plain truth and then wrought Miracles to confirm it and afterwards suffered any torments rather than they would renounce it or defist from Preaching it Though they could cure all Diseases and dispossess Devils and raise men from the dead or take away their Lives with a word speaking as in the case of Ananias and Saphira yet they were not exempted from sufferings because we must then have wanted one great argument for the confirmation of our Faith And the Gospel was to be founded upon principles of Love and Goodness not of Fear and Astonishment and there is something in the sufferings of good men which is apt mightily to work upon the affections and upon any seeds of good nature in us and therefore when by their Miracles they had raised the admiration of the Beholders and convinced them of the Power by which they were wrought their patience under sufferings not only confirmed them in the truth of Religion but laid the foundations of a Religious Life in gaining upon the inclinations and affections and in calming the spirits and preparing them by so great examples of patience to endure all the calamities incident to men Who is there that is not more affected with the meek and humble courage and invincible patience of the Apostles than with all the great Acts of the mighty conquerours and destroyers of Mankind A few poor unarmed defenceless men stand before armed Multitudes and speak with as much Authority as if all the Power of the world were in their hands and indeed all power was in their hands in as much as he assisted and inspired them who is above all They speak to Multitudes with as much freedom as to one man and to all Nations with as much ease as to one people And the same Holy Spirit who descended upon the rest of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost descended upon St. Paul at his conversion and gave that great Apostle so much confidence and resolution so much patience and zeal under his sufferings which were so severe and terrible that we can scarce read them with so little horror as he underwent them Thus did the Holy Ghost fit and prepare the Apostles to be witnesses to Christ by inspiring them with all that courage and
of Nature or that their superstition had made it customary to register all the Eclipses which happened The dumbness of Zacharias till the Circumciston of his Son John the Baptist was a notorious publick thing and the people who waited for him and marvelled that he tarried so long in the Temple perceived at his coming out that he had seen a Vision and all things relating to that History were noised abroad through all the hill country of Judea Luke i. 21. That the wise men came from the East at the sight of the Star that Herod heard of this and was troubled at it and all Jerusalem with him That he gathered all the Chief Priests and Scribes together and demanded of them where Christ should be born and that they answered At Bethlehem of Judea citing the Prophecy of Micah That Herod when he had enquired of the wise men concerning the Star and enjoyned them to bring him word where the young child was being disappointed by their returning home another way slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof from two years old and under these are things of that publick nature that it was impossible they should be feigned when St. Matthew's Gospel was first published If they had not been true thousands must have been able to contradict them and discover the salsehood of them When matters of fact are related with so many manifest and publick circumstances it is an appeal to the world for the Truth of what is written and no man of common sense would contrive a false story with such publick circumstances as that every Reader may be able to disprove it If any man should affirm that in such a City or Village in England at the command of such a King and at such a time within our memory all the Infants from two years old and under were murthered he must scarce expect to be believed or to confirm any thing else he has to deliver by such a Fiction to introduce it The Triumphant shouts and Hosanna's of the multitude at Christ's entrance into Jerusalem whereby all the City was moved Matt. xxi 10 11. immediately before the Passover when there was the greatest concourse of people was a thing that could not soon be forgotten at the same time he drove out all that sold and bought in the Temple and overthrew the Tables of the Money changers and when he was in the Temple the blind and the lame came to him and he healed them and the chief Priests and Scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the Children crying in the Temple Hosannah to the Son of David and they were sore displeased at it The Evangelists would never have brought in the Chief Priests and Scribes themselves with the whole people of Jerusalem and the vast numbers of Jews and Proselytes out of all Nations assembled at the Passover as spectators and witnesses of these things if they had not been so certain of them as to appeal to them all for the truth of what they relate so lately and so solemnly and publickly done The darkness of the whole earth for three hours together in the midst of the day the veil of the Temple 's being rent from the top to the bottom the Earthquake and the rending of the Rocks and the opening of the Graves are things that must have been generally known and could not be feigned or if any man can be so vain as to imagine they might let him but consider whether such things could now be imposed upon any people by the writings of a few men as done in the Metropolis of a Nation at a solemn time within the memory of thousands yet living who are able to contradict them from their own certain knowledge If a man should pretend that but a few years ago in the chief City of any Kingdom or Nation one part of the principal Church was rent from the bottom to the top by an Earthquake which tore asunder the Rocks and opened the Graves of the dead and that at the same time the Moon being in that position that the Sun could fuffer no Eclipe the Sun was darkned from twelve at Noon to three in the Afternoon could he hope to gain any credit or belief to any Doctrine he had to propagate by feigning such circumstances as would put it into the power of every man that heard of them to disprove him Would not this be the readiest and the most effectual way he could possibly invent to expose himself and his Cause The Death of Judas and the cause and manner of it which is so clear a vindication of our Saviour and so plain a proof that he is the Christ was known unto all the dwellers of Jerusalem insomuch as that field was called in their proper tongue Aceldama that is to say the field of Blood Acts i. 19. Matt. xxvii 8. If this field had not been so called and this had not been well known at Jerusalem would any man have written in this manner And besides the XII Apostles and the LXX Disciples who all believed and attested the truths contained in the Evangelists many persons of Authority and Note among the Jews are mentioned who would have found themselves concerned to disprove what is related if it had been false Nicodemus is said to have come to Christ by night who was a Pharisee and a Ruler of the Jews John iii. 2. vii 50. xix 39. and to put this mark upon him three several Times That he came to Jesus by night and durst not own his coming to him was no flattering character or such as might engage Nicademus or his friends to dissemble the injury if it had not been true that Nicodemus was his Disciple The like is said of Joseph of Arimathea a rich man and an honourable Counsellour Matt. xxvii 57. Mark xv 43. that he was Disciple of Jesus but sâ—retly for fear of the Jews John xix 38. Herod and Pontius Pilate Annas and Caiaphas and several other persons particularly named and most of them with no commendation but with that Character which the Truth of the History required would be concerned themselves or their Friends and Relations for them after their decease to expose any falshood that could have been discovered in the History of our Saviour The other Books of the New Testament are explicatory and consequential to the Gospel or History of Christ and besides they contain many memorable and publick Facts as the speaking of all sorts of Languages and working all kinds of Miracles at the solemn Feast of Pentecost and the conversion of many thousands thereby the frequent examination of the Apostles before the Council at Jerusalem their Preachings and Miracles in the most publick places as in the Temple in the Streets c. these are things that could not be imposed upon the world in that very place and in defiance of that very people before whom they are said to have been done Gamaliel Dionysius the
Vers 13. The Sun stood still or was silent and the Moon staid where the Word applied to the Moon signifies properly to stay or stand still but the Word used concerning the Sun is Metaphorical as if it had been purposely so ordered because the Moon moves but the Sun only seems to do so which is further confirmed by the following part of the same Verse where in the Citation from the Book of Jasher the same Word is used of the Sun which was before used of the Moon signifying that the Sun properly stood still For the Book of Jasher is cited in its own words but when Joshâ—a who wrote by Inspiration set down the words of the Holy Spirit he exprest the thing so that it cannot be from thence inferr'd that the Sun must be supposed to move but rather the contrary tho' immediately after in a Citation from another Book he inserts the Expression of an Author who had followed the vulgar Opinion III. Gen. i. 6. And God said let there be a Firmament in the midst of the Waters The Word translated Firmament is in the Margin rendred Expansion by which seems to be meant this Orb in which the Earth is placed and by the Waters above the Firmament or Expansion may be meant the Waters beyond the Circumference of our Orb and belonging to the Planets and by the Waters under the Firmament may be understood the Waters belonging to the Earth and contain'd within its Expansion For at first all was one confused Heap of Waters without any Distinction of Orbs the Mass of Waters being extended throughout before the several Orbs were appointed but then the Waters belonging to each Orb were caused to subside towards their several Centers till they being gathered together in their proper Channels and Receptacles the dry Land appeared I confess I once thought this had been only an Explication of my own but I have since found that it is of equal Date with the Modern Philosophy and that it has likewise been lately used by others Indeed it seems to be so easy an Exposition that I believe it would come into most Mens Minds who would consider how this Text may be explain'd according to the new Philosophy Others suppose the Firmament to signify the Region of the Air and by the Waters above the Firmament they understand the Vapours contained in the Clouds When he uttereth his Voice there is a Multitude of Waters in the Heavens and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the Earth Jer. x. 13. IV. The Sun and Moon are called Two great Lights Gen. i. 16. But this doth not imply that either of them is greater than the fixt Stars which are not spoken of till the latter end of the Verse But the Sun is the great Light that rules the day and the Moon the great Light that rules the Night the Moon being in respect of the Light which she gives us bigger than any fixt Star for She gives us more Light than they do in some sense however and with respect to us the Moon is the greater Light tho' the Stars are the greater Luminous Bodies Consider this Luminary as it concerns us and it is in that conception greater than the biggest Star Yet the Sun and the Moon are not said to be greater Lights than the fixt Stars nor as great as they are But are only called great Lights which they certainly are tho' every Star should be bigger than either of them The Stars are plainly spoken of by themselves and apart from the Sun and Moon without any comparison or relation to them And God made two great Lights the greater Light to rule the Day and the lesser Light to rule the Night He made the Stars also That is besides the two great Lights which are the Sun and Moon He made the Stars which are distinguished from these and not reckoned with them but are spoken of by way of Parenthesis The Stars being of another Division of Celestial Bodies and belonging to other Orbs are mentioned here distinctly and not with any comparison to the Sun and Moon But will any Man deny that the Sun and Moon are great Lights because the Stars are great Lights too and as big perhaps as the Sun and bigger than the Moon There are in Europe many great Cities and there are great Cities likewise in other parts of the World Doth therefore he that says there are great Cities in Europe to Rule the Neighbouring Countries and Cities in other parts of the World also say That the Cities of Europe are greater than any Cities in the rest of the World Or if any one should say God made four great Rivers to Water Paradise and Rivers in other places also would he thereby affirm that the Rivers of Paradise were larger than all the Rivers in the World besides V. 1 Sam. ii 8. We read of the Pillars of the Earth but this is spoken Metaphorically and by Pillars of the Earth may be meant the Power of the Princes of the World mentioned but just before In the like sense it is said Psal lxxv 3. The Earth and all the Inhabitants thereof are dissolved I bear up the Pillars of it We find mention made of the Pillars of the Earth Job ix 6. which is to be understood of the Earth's unmoveable stability (x) Colamnas hoc loco pro stabilitate terrae intelligamus quam Deuâ—super semeâ— ipsamiâ—â—anbilissimâ— mole â—daviâ— St. Hierâ—â— ad Job ix 6â— as St. Jerom observes and so the other Texts may likewise be understood by the Pillars of the Heavens Job xxvi 11. we are to understand that Power which supports and upholds them VI. Job xxxvii 18. The Sky is said to be strong and as a Molten Looking-glass that is to be durable and resembling a Molten Looking-glass But however they be taken these are the Words of Elihu And Job's Friends sinned in what they charged him withal and therefore he may be supposed to make so innocent a mistake as to think the Heavens solid or at least he as well as the rest might speak the Language of those that did think so VII Job speaks strictly according to Philosophy when he saith that God hangeth the Earth upon Nothing Job xxvi 7. And we read Psal xxiv 2. That the Lord hath founded the Earth upon the Seas and established it upon the Floods and Psal Civ 5. that he hath laid the Foundations of the Earth that it should not be removed for ever All which is as exactly as any Philosopher can speak For the Foundation of a pendulous Globe can be nothing but its Center upon which all the parts lean and are supported thereby And the Waters continually flowing thro' the Bowels and Concavities of the Earth from the depths of the Sea by a constant Course and Circulation constitute an Abyss of Waters in the lowermost parts of the Earth So that with great Propriety of Speech the Terraqueous Globe is said to hang upon nothing and the
Messiah the Jewish Law was to become impracticable and impossible to be observ'd For if the City and Temple were not destroy'd the confinement of the Jewish Worship to one certain Place must necessarily imply an alteration in their Worship upon the coming of the Messiah and the calling of the Gentiles who could not all be supposed to assemble thrice every year at Jerusalem and therefore the Prophets foretold That Jerusalem should then be no longer the only place of God's Worship but that Men should Worship him in any place of the World 'T is true the Prophets often mention the resort which should be made from all Nations to Jerusalem and to the Temple or the Mountain of the Lord. But then these are Mystical Expressions for the City of Jerusalem and the Temple are used by the Prophets as Types of the Christian Church and therefore Ezekiel (m) Lightfoot 's Prospect of the Temple ch 2. describes the Temple larger than the whole City of Jerusalem and the City in greater dimensions than all the Land of Canaan to shew that we are not to understand these Expressions literally A Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedeck different from that of Aaron was Prophesied of Psal cx 4. and a New Covenant different from that which was made with the Children of Israel upon their coming out of the Land of Aegypt Jer. xxxi 31 32. And this Covenant was to extend to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews For from the rising of the Sun even unto the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offered unto my Name and a pure offering for my Name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts Malach. i. 11. If against all this it be alledged That the Mosaical Law was to endure for ever it ought to be considered what sense that expression bears in the Law it self And that expression is there used to denote the continuance of any thing which was not designed for some particular occasion or season only but was to last as long as the nature and general design of its Institution would admit The Servant whose Ear was bored was to serve his Master for ever Exod. xxi 6. by which is to be understood not all his Life but only till the year of Jubilee whereas he that had not his Ear bored was to be set free in the seventh year ver 2. And even before the year of Jubilee he whose Ear was bored might be freed with his Master's Consent (n) Grot. ad loc either by Manumission or Redemption and was at liberty upon the death of his Master not being bound to serve his Son Their anointing shall surely be an everlasting Priesthood throughout their Generations Exod. xl 15. which can be understood to extend no farther than as long as their Genealogies were preserved and the Tribe and Generations of the High-Priests could be distinguished I will abide in thy Tabernacle for ever Ps lxi 4. or in other words all the days of my Life Ps xxvii 4. Samuel was brought by his Mother to abide before the Lord for ever that is during his Life 1 Sam. i. 22. And by parity of Reason those Statutes and Laws are said to be Established for ever which were designed to be perpetual and standing Laws not temporary during their journeying in the Wilderness only as others were but to continue as long as the Constitution of the Government was to last and in this sense the Jews themselves (o) Id. de Veritat Lib. 5. §. 7. have taken the word and it is sufficiently explain'd Deut. xii 1. These are the Statutes and Judgments which ye shall observe to do in the Land which the Lord God of thy Fathers giveth thee to possess it all the days that ye live upon the Earth or as we read ver 19. as long as thou livest upon thy earth that is their Law was obligatory to them as long as they had possession of the Land of Canaan or retained any right to possess it by God's donation But those Statutes and Judgments which were to be observed in the Land which the Lord had given them to possess can no longer be of any obligation to them when they are finally deprived of that Land The Ceremonial Law therefore by its Original Design and Institution being to continue in force but till the coming of Christ he gave the accomplishment to it and put a final period to its Obligation Instituting his Gospel in its stead which had been pre-figured by the Law and foretold both by Moses and the Prophets CHAP. XVII Of Sinful Examples Recorded in the Scriptures AS some have endeavour'd to excuse their own Sins by alledging the Sinful Examples which we find mention'd in the Scriptures so others who are no less fond of imitating them yet have from hence taken a pretence for Objections and Cavils I shall therefore shew that the bad Examples in some actions of Men whom we find in all other respects commended in the Scriptures are far from being proposed for our imitation but there is great reason why the Faults and Miscarriages of the best Men should be deliver'd down to us in the Scriptures for our Caution and Prevention as well as upon other accounts I. Several passages of the Scriptures contain only Matter of Fact and that very briefly express'd and a bare Narrative of any Action implies neither the Approbation nor the Censure of it but only declares that such a thing was done and in such a manner but the Nature of the Fact it self with the Circumstances of it or some Command or Permission or Prohibition in Scripture must discover the goodness or lawfulness or the wickedness of the Action No Historian is supposed to approve of all which he relates but he must report bad as well as good Deeds who will do the part of a faithful Historian II. The Rules of Good and Evil are plainly delivered in the Scriptures by which we are to judge of Actions and we are to conform our Actions not to the Example of Men but to the Law of God We are forewarn'd to follow no Man's Example when it is contrary to the Divine Law and therefore it could not be necessary in the relating of every evil Action to set a mark of Infamy upon it and a Caution against the imitation of it III. The Relation of the bad Actions of Good Men may be of great use and benefit tho' we are not to follow but avoid them Because 1. This shews the sincerity of the Pen-Men of the Scriptures that they spare no person whatsoever but relate the plain Matter of Fact even tho' themselves be concern'd when it is never so much to their disgrace as in the Denial of St. Peter and other instances 2. By this we learn the Frailty of Humane Nature and the necessary dependance that the best Men must have upon God for his Grace in