a Fire from Hâ—aâ—en devoured others there was not a Man of all the Congregation but must be an Eye-witness to this Judgment and there could be no Deceit nor Mistake in a thing of this nature For Men may as well doubt whether those whom they see live are alive as whether those whom they see taken away by so terrible and so visible a death are dead and unless they can know this there can be no Knowledge nor Proof of any thing They saw the Earth first divide it self and then close it self again upon these wicked Men they saw them go down alive into the pit they heard the Cry of them and fled away â—oâ— fear and they saw besides a Fire from the Lord consume no fewer than Two hundred and fifty Men and these the Men that offer'd Incense in opposition to Aaron Princes of the assembly famous in the congregation men of renown whose death was very remarkable upon the account of their Persons as well as for the Manner of it So many Men of that Rank and Character being taken away at once was a thing that would have been much observed and strictly enquir'd into if they had fain by any other death but their dying in this manner was so wonderful and so plain a declaration of the Divine Justice that it could neither be unknown nor forgotten by any Man in the whole Congregation Yet their Discontents against Moses still continued for He and Aaron were charged with killing the people of the Lord ver 41. and the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron and behold the cloud covered the tabernacle of the congregation and the glory of the Lord appeared And God's Wrath was so hot against the People for their Stâ—bbornness and Disobedience that notwithstanding the Intercession of Moses and Aaron in their behalf a Plague from the Lord raged so much amongst them that they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred beside them that died about the matter of Korah ver 49. And there were probably many Families in every Tribe which bore the marks of God's Displeasure and of the Truth of Moses his Mission and then Aaron's Rod alone blossom'd of all the Rods of the Twelve Tribes but by this time the people were weary of their contumacy and cried out â—â—hold we die we perish we all perish Shall we be consumed with dying Num. xvii 12 13. And thus was an end put to a Sedition which was the greatest and the most dangerous as Josephus well observes that was ever known among any People and such as that so dreadful a succession of Miracles was necessary to deliver Moses out of it And I would know of the greatest Infidel whether if he had lived at that time and had been in the Wilderness with Moses and had been of Korah's Conspiracy as it is most likely he would have been I would know of him I say whether he could have done any thing more to put Moses upon the utmost tryal of his power and Authority received from God than these rebellious Israelites did And if he could not as he must needs confess he could not then he ought to be satisfied in the Authority of Moses as they themselves afterwards were unless he has an ambition to shew that some Christians can be more refractary than Jews Yet again when they wanted Water the Peopled quarell'd with Moses and said Would God that we had died when our brethren â—ied before the Lord. And Moses brought Water out of the Rock before the whole Congregation in so great plenty that the whole People and their Cattle just ready to perish with thirst was satisfied with it Num. xx 3 10. At another time after a signal Victory over the Canaanites they made the same Complaints again and for their Murmurings were stung by fiery Serpents and many died till a Brazen Serpent being erected as many as looked on it were miraculously cured Num. xxi 6. And if the delivering the Law in so conspicuous and wonderful a manner if so remarkable Judgments upon those that questioned and opposed Moses his Authority and that transgressed his Law by committing Idolatry if a continual course of Miracles for Forty Years done before the eyes and obvious to every sense of so many thousands of People be not a plain demonstration that the Matter of Fact in all the circumstances of it necessary to prove Moses to have acted by God's immediate Authority and Commission was at first sufficiently attested it is impossible that any thing can be certainly testified We see how impossible it was for Moses to impose upon the People of Israel in things of this nature it he could have been so far forsaken of all Reason and common Sense as to hope to do it But if he had designed to put any deceit upon them he would certainly have taken another course he would have done his Miracles privately and but seldom not in the midst of all the People for Forty Years together he would never have made two Nations at the first Witnesses to them and then have proceeded in such a manner as that every Man among the Israelites must have known them to be false if thy had been so he would have chosen such Instances to shew his Miracles in as should have provoked no body not such as must have enraged the whole People against him by the death of so many thousands so often put to death if they had been slain by any other means than by the Almighty Hand of God And indeed what could destroy so many so irresistibly so suddenly and visibly but the Divine Power And what could be the Design and Intent of such Miracles but to fulfil the Will of God and make his Power to be known and his authority acknowledged in the Laws which were delivered in his Name and which were so often affronted and transgressed by these Sinners against their own Souls At their going out of Aegypt by a miraculous Providence there was not one feeble person among their tribâ—s but upon their transgressions they were punished by Diseases as miraculous We have other Evidence as I have before observed that Moses had no design to delude the People of Israel from the Meekness of his Disposition from his discovering his own Faults and Infirmities in his Writings and from his not advancing his Family but leaving his Posterity in a private condition and putting the Government into the hands of Joshua one of the Tribe of Ephraim But when all the People of Israel were Witnesses to so many Miracles wrought by him and particularly to so strange a Judgment as the cleaving asunder of the Earth and the Fire and Plague by which so many thousands perished we need not insist upon any other Proof to shew that the Miraculons Power and Divine Authority by which Moses acted and wrote was as well attested and as fully known to the whole People of Israel as it is possible for any Matter of
Argument Whereas if Chistians were but throughly acquainted with the Grounds of their Religion and sincerely disposed to believe and practise according to them they would be no more moved with these Cavils than they would be persuaded to think the worse of the Sun if some Men should take a fansie to make that the Subject of their Railery To have the more doubtful and wavering thoughts of Religion because it is exposed to the scorn and contempt of ill Men is as if we should despise the Sun for being under a Cloud or suffering an Eclipse not knowing that he retains his Light and Religion its Excellency still though we be in darkness the Light may be hid from us but can lose nothing of its own Brightness though we suffer for want of it and lie under the shadow of Death The Consideration of the Grounds and Reasons of our Religion is useful to all sorts of Men for if ever we will be seriously and truly Religious we must lay the foundation of it in our Vnderstandings that by the rational conviction of our Minds we may through the Grace of God assisting us bring our Wills to a submission and our Affections to the obedience of the Gospel of Christ and the more we think of and consider these things the more we shall be convinced of them and they will have the greater power and influence in the course of our Lives For tho' the Truth of the Christian Religion cannot without great sin and ignorance be doubted of by Christians yet it is a confirmation to our Faith and adds a new Life and Vigour to our Devotions when we recollect upon what good Reasons we are Christians and are not such by Custom and Education only but upon Principles which we have throughly considered and must abide by unless we will renounce our Reason with our Religion And what Subject can be more useful or more worthy of a rational and considering Man's Thoughts These things which are now made matter of Cavil and Dispute will be the Subject of our Contemplation and of our Joy and Happiness to all Eternity in the other World We shall then have clear and distinct apprehension of the Means and Methods of our Salvation and shall for ever admire and adore the Divine Wisdom in the Conduct and Disposal of those very Things about which we now are most perplex'd THE CONTENTS PART I. CHAP. I. That from the Notion of a God it necessarily follows That there must be some Divine Revelation THE Being of a God evident to Natural Reason p. 3. That there are wicked Spirits Enemies to Mankind p. 6. The miserable Condition of Man without the Divine Direction and Assistance and that God would not leave him without all Remedy in this Condition p. 8. The Judgment of St. Athanasius in the Case p. 15. CHAP. II. The Way and Manner by which Divine Revelations may be suppos'd to be deliver'd and preserv'd in the World The Manifestations of God's ordinary Providence insufficient and therefore some extraordinary Way of Revelation necessary p. 19. The ways of extraordinary Revelation either immediate Revelation to every particular Person or to some only with a Power of Miracles and Prophecies to enable them to communicate the Divine Will to others p. 20. I. It could not be requisite that God should communicate himself by immediate Revelation to every one in particular ibid. II. Prophecies and Miracles are the most fitting and proper Means for God to discover and reveal himself to the World by p. 29. 1. Concerning Prophecies ibid. 2. Concerning Miracles p. 33. III. Divine Revelations must be suppos'd to be preserv'd in the World by Writings p. 43. IV. They must be of great Antiquity p. 44. V. They must be fully publish'd and promulg'd p. 45. PART II. CHAP. I. The Antiquity of the Scriptures THE Antiquity of the Scriptures a Circumstance very considerable to prove them to be of Divine Revelation p. 48. They give an Account of Divine Revelations made from the beginning of the World ibid. What Moses relates of things before his own time is certainly true and must have been discover'd to be false if it had been so p. 50. CHAP. II. The Promulgation of the Scriptures 1. In the first Ages of the World the Revealed Will of God was known to all Mankind p. 58. II. In succeeding Ages there has still been sufficient Means and frequent Opportunities for all Nations to come to the knowledge of it p. 76. 1. The Law of Moses did particularly provide for the instruction of other Nations in the Reveal'd Religion p. 77. 2. The Providence of God did so order and dispose of the Jews that other Nations had frequent Opportunities of becoming instructed in the True Religion p. 90. Testimonies of the Heathen concerning the Jews and their Religion p. 115. There have ever been divers Memorials and Remembrances of the true Religion among the Heathen p. 117. Of the Sibylline Oracles p. 121. The Gospel had been preach'd in China and America before the late Discoveries p. 129. The Confessions both of Protestants and Papists as to this Matter p. 132. Christians in all Parts of the World p. 135. A Sect call'd the Good Followers of the Messiah at Constantinople p. 136. Though great Part of the World are still Vnbelievers yet there is no Nation but has great Opportunities of being converted p. 141. The Case of particular Persons consider'd p. 142. CHAP. III. Of Moses and Aaron The Sincerity of Moses in his Writings p. 146. He was void of Ambition p. 149. Aaron and he had no Contrivance between themselves to impose upon the People p. 151. CHAP. IV. Of the Pentateuch The Pentateuch written by Moses p. 152. The great Impartiality visible in these Books p. 153. The Book of Genesis an Introduction to all the rest p. 154. The principal Points of the History of the Jews confess'd by the Heathen p. 155. CHAP. V. Of the Predictions or Prophecies contain'd in the Books of Moses The Promise of the Messias p. 158. The Predictions of Noah ibid. The Promises made to Abraham p. 159. The Prophecies of Isaac c. p. 160. of Jacob p. 161. of Balaam p. 162. of Moses p. 163. CHAP. VI. Of the Miracles wrought by Moses I. The Miracles and Matters of Fact contain'd in the Books of Moses as they are there related to have been done were at first sufficiently attested p. 170. II. The Relations there set down are a true Account of the Miracles wrought by Moses and such as we may depend upon p. 188. For 1. These things could not be feign'd by Moses and Aaron and others concern'd with them in carrying on such a Design p. 189. 2. The Miracles could not be feign'd nor the Books of Moses invented or falsify'd by any particular Man nor by any Confederacy or Combination of Men after the Death of Moses p. 191. 3. The Pentateuch could not be invented nor falsify'd by the joynt Consent of the whole Nation either in
to himself thereby The greatest Masters of Decency have not thought it always improper for Men to commend themselves either because they supposed some occasions might require it or because it was a more usual thing in ancient Times when Mens Lives and Manners were more natural and sincere and they oftner spoke as they thought both of themselves and others yet we no where find Men speaking so freely in disparagement of themselvs as in the Holy Scriptures Which shews that Moses and the rest of the Inspired Writers little regarded their own Praise or Dispraise but wrote what God was pleased to appoint it being a thing indifferent to them so God might be honoured whether they lost or gained in their own Reputation by it But what we read of Moses Num. xii 3. that he was very meek above all the Men which were upon the face of the Earth which is the only commendable Character that Moses gives of himself may be translated that he was the most afflicted Man according to the Marginal Reading and if he mentions his own Meekness he mentions also his great Anger or heat of Anger Exod. xi 8. and his being very wroth Num. xvi 15. But if Moses had not had more respect to Truth than to his own Reputation he would never have left it upon Record That he so often declined the Message and Employment which God appointed him to undertake Exod. iii. 11 13. iv 1 10 13 14. and that God was angry with him upon other occasions and for that reason would not permit him to enter into the promised Land He would certainly have ascribed Balaam's Prophecy and Jethro's Advice to himself at least he would never have Recorded That by Jethro's Counsel he took up a new and better Method for the administration of Justice If he had been led by Ambition and Vain-glory he would have endeavoured by these things to adorn his own Character and would never have lessen'd it by telling his own Infirmities at the same time when to the diminution of himself he publishes the Excellencies of others The Wonders of the Magicians of Aegypt are not concealed by him and being to give an account of his own Genealogy from Levi he first sets down the Families of Reuben and Simeon the two elder Brothers lest he might seem to arrogate too much to himself and his own Tribe Some have observed that Moses relates his own Birth to have been by a Marriage contrary to the Laws afterwards by himself established which indeed is doubtful by reason of the latitude of signification in the word Sister in the Hebrew Language yet it is certain he was not careful to avoid the being thought to have been born from such a Marriage as he would have been if his Laws had been of his own contrivance lest his own Reputation or the Authority of his Laws or perhaps both might have suffered by it Exod. vi 14 20. He sets forth the Ingratitude Idolatry and perpetual Revolts and Murmurings of his whole Nation and relates the Failings and Faults of their Ancestors the Patriarchs and particularly of Levi from whom he was descended Gen. xxxiv 30. xlix 6. He spares neither his People nor his Ancestors nor himself in what he relates and these are all the Characters of a faithful Historian and a sincere Man that can be desired And as Moses was not ambitious of Praise so neither was he ambitious of Power and Dominion For besides that he entered upon such an Undertaking as no sober Man would have attempted without a Revelation it appearing otherwise impossible to accomplish it his whole Conduct shews that he had no design of advancing his own Interest or Dominion If he had been never so Ambitious he needed not have gone into the Wilderness to seek his Preferment amongst a wandring and stubborn People when he had been bred up to all the Honours and the Pleasures that Aegypt or Pharaoh's Court could afford but he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Aegypt Heb. xi 24 25. He undertook to lead the People of Israel for Forty Years through a barren Wilderness where he could promise himself but a very uneasie and inglorious Reign if that had been his Design and by the course of Nature he could not hope to out-live that period of Time and tho' he was preserved in his Old Age in the full strength and vigour of Manhood yet upon their entrance into the promised Land he meekly resigned himself to death in the very sight and Borders of Canaan knowing before-hand that he must not be suffered to possess the Land which he had been so many years in so great dangers leading the People of Israel to enjoy though he doth not conceal how desirous he was to pass over Jordan Deut. iii. 23 c. The History of his Death is like that of his Life related with a peculiar kind of native simplicity He is not said to be taken up into Heaven as Enoch and Elijah were and as the Romans feigned of Romulus but to die and his Sepulchre was hid to prevent the Superstitious and Idolatrous Veneration which might have been paid to the Remains of so great a Person And tho' he had Sons yet they were but private Men no otherwise known to us than as they were his Sons the Government he conferred upon Joshua one of another Tribe Moses therefore was the furthest of any Man from Vain-glorious or Ambitious and Aspiring Designs and could propose no other Advantage to himself but the fulfilling the Will of God in delivering his Commandments to the People of Israel and following his Directions in his Conduct and Government Aaron was of a different Temper from Moses and was envious of him and both Aaron and Miriam murmured against him It is so notorious that there could be no Contrivance between them to deceive the People that it was the immediate and visible Power of God which kept Aaron as well as the rest in Obedience to Moses Upon Moses's Absence Aaron complied with the People in making a Golden Calf and his two eldest Sons offered strange Fire before the Lord which he had not commanded for which they were both destroyed by Fire miraculously issuing out from the Presence of the Lord And Aaron held his peace knowing that this Punishment was inflicted by God himself and having nothing to reply to Moses when he declared to him the Justice of it And both Aaron and his other two Sons are forbidden upon pain of Death to mourn for them Lev. x. 1 2 3 6. At last by the Commandment of God Aaron goes up into Mount Hor to die there not being permitted to enter into the Land of Promise Thus Moses and Aaron were sometimes at disagreement Aaron envying Moses Aaron lost two of his Sons by a
Forty Years wandring in the Wilderness their Children should be brought in to possess it I the Lord have said I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness they shall be consumed and there shall they die Num. xiv 35. And the Men who were sent out to search the Land and brought the evil report upon it died forthwith by the plague before the Lord ver 37. and these Men were the Heads of the Children of Israeâ— a Man of every Tribe being chosen out every one a Ruler amongst them chap. xiii 2 3. and but two of them agreed in giving the true Account of the Land so great an aversion they had to proceed any farther in their way thither And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people wept that night And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron and the whole congregation said unto them Would God that we had died in the land of Aegypt or would God we had died in this wilderness And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey were is not better for us to return into Aegypt And they said one to another Let us make a cantain and let us return into Aegypt And all the Congregation were for stoning Joshua and Caleb if they had not been hindred by the glory of the Lord appearing in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel Num. xiv 1 2 3 4 10. Now upon so general a dâ—fâ—ction to pronounce peremptorily That but Two by name of so many Thousands should go in to inherit the Land of Promise and that all the rest should die in that very Wilderness which they complained so much of and that no less than Forty Years were to be spent in that wandring condition which they were already so weary of This is such a Method of quelling so general a Discontent and Mutiny as never was heard of before nor since and which could proceed from nothing less than a Wisdom and Authority which could check and controul the most combined and inveterate Perverseness of men and a Power which struck the Spreaders of this false Report with immediate death before their eyes for an Example of that Vengeance which they must all expect would fall upon them sooner or later within the space of Forty Years So that hereby was taken off all prospect of Advantage and â—ll hopes of any Reward for what they now with so much regret and impatience underwent and from henceforth they were led meerly by Conviction of the Divine Power and Presence amongst them and of the Terrours of those Judgments which in all Revolts seized upon the Disobedient And now being restless and uneasie in their present condition and past all hopes of remedying it like desperate Men they were upon every little occasion thrown into violent Commotions but were as soon controlled and appeased by visible Judgments upon the chief Authors of them For when we read soon after that a Rebellion was raised against Moses by Korah Dathan and Abiram God gave such evident Tokens of that Authority which he had invested him withal and so signally manifested that what he had done amongst them was by his Power and Commission that it was impossible for any of them to be deceived in it or to doubt of it Though the truth of it is they had never from the very first doubted of God's Power amongst them but were acted now with a Spirit of Rage and Despair like the Men described by the Prophet fretting themselves and cursing their king and their God and looking upwards Isai viii 21. Korah of the Tribe of Levi and Dathan and Abiram and On of the Tribe of Reuben being Principal and Leading Men of these two Tribes with Two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly famous in the congregation men of renown gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron charging them That they took too much upon them And to clear himself of this Accusation Moses implores God to vindicate his Innocency before all the People and by agreement Korah and Aaron appeared before the Lord with Censers in their Hands and Two hundred and fifty Men besides with their Censers likewise Korah at the time appointed gathered all the Congregation against Moses and Aaron unto the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation So that here was the most solemn Appearance of the whâ—lâ— People who had entertained great Jealousies against Moses and Aaron and were now met together to see whether they could give sufficient Proof of their Authority which they challenged over them The Time and Place was appointed and they came enclined and prepared to receive any farther ill impressions concerning Moses and Aaron if they could not have made out their Pretensions in the most remarkable and astonishing manner to the utter confusion of all their Enemies First the Glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation and then Moses at God's Command charges the Congregation to depart from the Tabernacles of Korah Dathan and Abiram and declares Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works for I have not done them of mine own mind If these men die the common death of all men or if they be visited after the visitation of all men then the Lord hath not sent me But if the Lord make a new thing and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up with all that appertain unto them and they go down quick into the pit then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And it caâ—e to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words that the ground clave asunder that was under them And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods They and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation And all Israel that were round about them sled at the â—ry of them for they said Lest the earth swallow us up also And there came out a fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense Num. xvi Thus Moses vindâ—cated himself and proved his Divine Mission and Authority in such a manner as it was impossible but that the whole People of Israel must be convinced of it They were very suspicious and jealous of him tho' they had had so much experience of his Favour with God and of all his mighty Works done in the midst of them but when this dreadful Vengeance fell upon his Enemies before the whole Congregation who were met together on purpose to see whether God would declare himself for him when the Earth divided it sâ—lf â—o swallow some of these Men and
Fact to be known to any single Person 2. Having shewn That the Matters of fact and Miracles contained in the Books of Moses as they are related to have been done were at first sufficiently attested and that if we may credit that Relation all the Miracles there mention'd were certainly wrought by him since they are of that nature that the People of Israel could not be deceived in them I now proceed to shew That the Relations there set down are a true Account of those things and such as we may depend upon For if these Matters of Fact or Miracles are either feigned or falsified this must be done either in Moses's his time or afterwards and if in his time then either by Moses and Aaron with others who were concerned in carrying on the Design or by the whole People of Israâ—l together And if it were done after Moses his death then again it must be done either by some particular Man or by the contrivance of some few or more together or it must have been by the joint Knowledge and consent of the whole Nation I will therefore prove 1. That the Miracles could not be feigned by Moses and Aaron and others concerned with them in carrying on such a Design 2. The Miracles could not be feigned nor the Books of Moses invented or falsified by any particular Man or by any Confederacy or Combination of Men after the death of Moses 3. The Miracles could not be feigned nor the Books invented or falsified by the joint Consent of the whole Nation either in Moses's time or after it 1. These Things could not be feigned by Moses and Aaron and others concerned with them in carrying on such a Design It is plain that they could never invent such an Account as that of their miraculous Escape out of Aegypt and their Travelling in the Wilderness under the conduct and support of the same miraculous Power and then impose it upon the People of Israel for Truth For the People are supposed to be chiefly concerned in the whole Relation Moses appeals to their own sense and experience The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers but with us even with us who are all of us here alive this day Deut. v. 3. And know you this day for I speak not with your children which have not known and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God his greatness his mighty hand and his stretched-out arm and his miracles and his acts which he did in the midst of Aegypt unto Pharaoh the king of Aegypt and unto all his land and what he did unto the army of Aegypt unto their horses and to their chariots how he made the water of the Red-sea to over flow them as they pursued after you and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day and what he did unto you in the wilderness until ye came into this place and what he did unto Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the son of Reuben how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their housholds and their tents and all their substance that was in their possession in the midst of all Israel But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did Deut. xi 2 3 4 5 6 7. Here is a Recapitulation of all the Miracles that had been wrought with an Appeal to their Senses for the Truth of them And Moses would never have made such Appeals as these if they could possibly have disproved him they could never be persuaded that they â—ame out of Aegypt after so many Plagues inflicted upon the Aegyptians to procure their Deliverance if there had been no such thing or that they were so long time in the Wilderness and that so many and so great Miracles were wrought in their sight if they had never been done before them Though Men may perhaps be persuaded to believe that their Ancestors a long time ago saw and heard things which they never saw nor heard yet a whole Nation was never supposed to have been persuaded out of their Senses at once and Moses could not attempt to make so many Men believe what they must all have known to have been false as well as himself if it had been so but he would have lard the Scene at a greater distance of time and not have brought those in as chiefly concerned in the whole business who were then alive and present to convince him of falshood And therefore if the Particulars set down in the Pentateuch be false and as ancient as Moses his time they must be invented with the knowledge and received by the consent of the whole Nation For Moses and Aaron could never so far delude so many thousands as to make them believe such variety of Matter of fact in so many and so wonderful Instances set forth and with such notorious Circumstances and appeal to the Senses of those whom they deceived whether they had not seen and perceived and had the experience of what had been done for so many years if it had been all but Fiction 2. The Miracles could not be feigned nor the Books of Moses invented or falsified by any particular Man or by any confederacy or combination of Men after the death of Moses If the Miracles were feigned after the death of Moses either the Laws must likewise be invented or altered after his death and the Miracles inserted to procure them Authority or the Laws remained as they had been delivered by him and the Miracles only were added For the Books of Moses may be considered either as containing the Laws delivered by him or as relating the Miracles by which these Laws were ratified and established in each of which respects there could be no Forgery or Falsification For 1. The Laws themselves could not be invented nor altered or falsified because the whole Jewish State and Policy was founded upon them and could not subsist without them and therefore they must be as ancient as the Jewish Government which is confess'd on all hands to have been first erected by Moses For not only their Religious Worship but their Civil Rights and Interests depended entirely upon the Laws of Moses their Publick Proceedings and their Private Dealings one with another were all to be regulated and governed by these Laws and when any Laws are brought into constant use and practice in any Nation it is ridiculous to imagine that they can be altered and falsified and a new System of Laws introduced instead of them without the knowledge of the People governed by them or any remembrances of it left amongst them No material Alterations can be made in Laws which are of continual use and which concern every Man's Interest but they must be taken notice of and discovered by such as shall find themselves aggrieved by such Alterations But this was less practicable amongst the Jews than amongst any other People 1. Because the Distinction of their Tribes and the Genealogies which
1 King xiii 2. and this was foretold by a Prophet who came out of Judah purposely to denounce the Judgments of God upon the Priests of the Altar and upon the Altar it self which Jeroboam had newly set up at Bethel when Jeroboam stood by the Altar to burn Incense and his Prediction at the same time was confirmed by Two Miracles one wrought upon Jeroboam himself by drying up his hand which he stretched forth against the Prophet and which by the Prophet's Prayer was restored again whole to him as it was before the other Miracle was wrought upon the Altar by rending it and pouring out the Ashes from it And a Prophecy delivered in the presence and to the face of an enraged Prince against the Religion of his own setting up to secure to himself the Kingdom he so lately became possessed of at the very time when he was offering Incense upon his New Altar And this Prophecy confirmed by an immediate Judgment both upon the King himself and his Altar in the sight of so numerous an Appearance as must be present on so solemn an occasion and these Enemies to the Prophet who came from Judah and to his Religion a Prophecy thus delivered had all the Circumstances to make it remarkable and notorious in all the Tribes both of Israel and Judah then at hostility with each other that can almost be conceived And yet the strange Death of the Prophet of Judah for transgressing by his own confession the Word of the Lord to him and his Sepulchre with its Title or Inscription still remaining at Bethel when Josiah demolished the Altar there gave a further confirmation to it The fulfilling of this Prophecy by Josiah was no less remarkable 2 King xxiii 15. Josiah was the Son of a very wicked King and born at a time when the People were exceedingly corrupted by the Idolatry of his Grandfather Manasses and his Sons likewise proved wicked so that he was so singular in his Piety and so wonderful an Example of it that no Man of his own Age could have imagin'd that of him which had been fo retold so many hundred years ago In all humane appearance this was a very unlikely time to see that Prophecy fulfilled and that which had been wonderful in any Age was much more wonderful in this and in so wicked an Age this good King set about the Work of Reformation very young to shew that it was not of Men but of God The Deliverance of Judah at Jehoshaphat's Prayer was foretold by Jahaziel in the midst of the Congregation and was accomplished accordingly by their Enemies destroying one another 2 Chron. xx Elijah foretold that the Dogs should lick Ahab's Blood in Jezreel where they had licked the Blood of Naboth which as (b) Joseph Antiquit. l. 8. c. 10. Josephus says was objected by Zedekiah one of the False Prophets against Micaiah who foretold that Ahab should be slain at Ramoth-gilead but he was brought home in his Chariot from Ramoth-gilead to Samaria and there the Dogs licked his Blood in Jezreel 1 King xxii 38. so that both the Prophecy of Elijah and Michaiah was fulfilled And when one Prophet seems contrary to another one foretelling the principal thing and another some accidental circumstance which those that were present and most concerned in the Action could not imagine till it happened and False Prophets in the mean time watch the Events to take all Advantages from it against the True Prophets and can find none nothing more can be desired to assure us of the Truth of any Prophecy The same Prophet foretold the like Judgment upon Jezabel and that the House of Ahab should be like the House of Jereboam and like the House of Baasha the Destruction of both which had been foretold by other Prophets and their Prophecies fulfilled as this of Elijah's also was Elijah by a Writing sent to Jehoram King of Judah foretold his Death and the strange manner of it viz. That after the loss of his Children and his Wives and all his Goods he should be afflicted in his Bowels and that his Bowels should fall out by degrees 2 Chron. xxi 12. The same Prophet not only foretold the Death of Ahaziah but caused Fire twice to come down from Heaven upon those who were sent to Apprehend him 2 King i. And at his Prayer Fire descended from Heaven and consumed the Sacrifice in the sight of Baal's Prophets being Four hundred and fifty to whom Elijah who was the only Prophet of the Lord there present had made this Proposal The God that answereth by fire let him be God And when Baal notwithstanding all their hideous Cries and the cutting themselves did not hear them then upon Elijah's Prayer the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench 1 King xviii 38. which was the same Miracle repeated in the midst of Idolaters who were so enraged and provoked against the Prophet Elijah that had been before wrought in the sight of the People of Israel in the time of Moses Lev. ix 24. and of David 1 Chron. xxi 26. and at the Dedication of Solomon's Temple 2 Chron. vii 1. (c) Cyril contra Julian l. 10. And this Miracle of Elijah in bringing down Fire from Heaven to consume the Sacrifice and that of Moses in like manner were both confessed to be true by Julian the Apostate himself The miraculous Cure of Naaman's Leprosie must be notorious throughout the Kingdoms both of Syria and Israel 2 King v. The wonderful Deliverance of the Israelites when the Syrians heard a noise of Horses and Chariots and therefore raised the Siege of Samaria and the Plenty which followed was foretold by Elisha with a Judgment upon that Lord who doubted of the Truth of his Prediction The same Prophet foretold the Death of Benhadad King of Syria and that he should neither recover of his Sickness nor die a Natural Death And the Reign of Hazael who succeeded him is describ'd in such true and dreadful Characters that Hazael thought it impossible for him to be guilty of so much cruelty 2 King vii viii The Leprosie inflicted upon Vzziah for presuming to burn Incense unto the Lord which it was lawful for the Priests only to do was a permanent Miracle for his Leprosie continued till his death and for that reason he lived separately and his Son from that time had the administration of Affairs 2 King xv 5. and this Miracle of the Leprosie was accompanied with a terrible Earthquake mention'd Zech. xiv 5. Amos i. 1. and the (c) Joseph Antiquit. l. 9. c. 11. Ruines which were caused by the Earthquake remained as a perpetual Memorial of the Judgment An Hundred fourscore and five thousand of the Assyrians were slain by an Angel of the Lord in one Night 2 King xix 35. and this Deliverance was foretold by Isaiah when the Assyrians were in
Christ was risen by the Omnipotent Power of God Besides St. Matthew writes that the Graves were opened and many bodies of Saints which slept arose and appeared unto many Mat. xxvii 52 53. Many saw them who are appealed to as Witnesses of their Resurrection And the miraculous events at the Death of our Saviour which were so many certain presages and fore-runners of his Resurrection as the Earthquake and the darkness of the Sun for three hours together in the midst of the day contrary to the course of Nature the Moon being in the full the rending the veil of the Temple and the like these were things which must be notorious and which could not have been pretended to have happened but the whole People of the Jews must be appealed to as Witnesses of them And it being a custom for the Deputies of Provinces to certifie the Emperor of whatever happened considerable under their Government the Resurrection of our Saviour with the Miracles which accompanied it were so remarkable that Pontius Pilate gave an account both of his Miracles and his Resurrection to the Emperor Tiberius who thereupon proposed it to the Senate to have him taken into the number of their Gods and made it punishable to accuse any Man for being a Christian during his Reign And this information of Pontius Pilate was entred upon Record at Rome to which Justin Martyr appeals in his Apology to the Emperor Antoninus Pius and the Senate and Tertullian in his Apology which was likewise presented to the Senate of Rome or at least to the Governours of the Provinces They both lived in the next Age and were both educated in a different Religion and upon these and such like Proofs became Christians and they were Men of excellent Learning and Judgment but no Man who could write an Apology can be supposed to have so much confidence and so little understanding as to appeal to that account which Pilate sent to Tiberius concerning the Resurrection of Christ in Apologies dedicated and presented to the Roman Emperor himself and to the Senate or the chief Magistrates of the Empire if no such account had ever been sent or none had been then extant to be produced But by the special Providence of God both the Birth and the Resurrection of our Saviour were inserted into the publick Records at Rome and were to be seen there for a long time after and the Heathens in whose custody they were are desired by the Primitive Christians to consult them for they were content to put the matter upon this issue (d) Justin Apol. ii Tertul. Apol c. iii. xxi that if they were resolved not to believe what the Christians said yet they would at least credit their own Records Upon these Proofs and Reasons by the clear evidence and power of Truth the word of God mightily grew and prevailed against all that Prejudice and Malice and every Vice could do to oppose it in Rome and in Jerusalem it self for in this very City where our Saviour had been Crucified and where it had been impossible to have made Proselytes if his Resurrection had not been evidently proved beyond all possibility of a confutation great numbers were daily added to the Church A Church was forthwith sounded at Jerusalem and a Bishop appointed by the Apostles and both the body of the People and their (e) Euseb Hist lib. 4. c. 5. Bishops being xv in number to the final Destruction of Jerusalem by Adrian were Jews by Nation We see then that as the Testimony of the Apostles is in it self beyond all exception so it is of such a nature as to make it impossible for them to deceive if they had intended it but indeed no Men could have proceeded in that manner or would have endeavoured it who had had any intentions to deceive and the event shewed that it was the direct and plain evidence and force of Truth which supported it self notwithstanding all the prejudices and advantages which its worst Adversaries had against it CHAP. XV. Of the Apostles and Evangelists THE Principal Articles of the Christian Faith being matters of Fact as the Passion Resurrection and Ascension of Christ upon which the rest depend the great thing to be enquired into is whether the Apostles had all the qualifications requisite to become Witnesses of matters of Fact This has been already shewn as to the Resurrection and if in general we examine whether we may safely rely upon that credibility wherewith they Preached the Gospel to the world the enquiry will fall under these heads I. Whether they were Men of sufficient Abilities to discern and understand what they testified II. Whether they had sufficient means and opportunities to know it III. Whether they were Men of Integrity that without Artifice or Design truly declared what they knew I. That the Apostles were Men of sufficient understanding to become Witnesses of a matter of Fact was never doubted by any one nor can it be questioned by such as peruse their Writings and indeed who is there of any common sense that is not a competent Witness of what he sees and hears and has the experience of for so long time together For II. By their conversation with our Saviour both before his Passion and after his Resurrection the Apostles had such opportunities of knowing what they attested that it was impossible for them to be deceived in any part of it It was a necessary qualification of all the twelve Apostles that they should have conversed with our Saviour before his Death and have seen him after his Resurrection For when one was to be ordained in the room of Judas to be a Witness with the rest of Christ's Resurrection he was to be one that had companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them beginning from the Baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from them Act. i. 21 22. They saw his Miracles and heard his Doctrine and knew his manner of Life and had all the opportunities and used all the means to inform themselves that it was possible for Men to do they were eye-witnesses of His Majesty 2 Pet. i. 16. they had heard and seen with their eyes and had looked upon or beheld and discerned for a long time together and their hands had handled that which was the subject of their Testimony 1 Joh. i. 1 2 3. They had made all the search into it and had used all the exactness that could be and were as distrustful and as hard of belief as any Men could have been who are most suspicious and jealous of being imposed upon And of these Apostles two wrote the Life of our Saviour and all bore witness to the Truth of what these wrote and Preached the same things where ever they came Of the two other Evangelists St. Mark had his information from St. Peter whose Disciple and Companion he was and St. Luke wrote his Gospel from the account
and Aids of Grace to avoid the Punishments and are as earnestly invited and as sufficiently enabled to obtain the Rewards God hath no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live as he solemnly and with an Oath declares by his Prophet Ezekiel xxxiii 11. It is His principal Intention and Desire that all Men should be saved He has proclaimed Himself to be the Lord The Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping Mercy for Thousands forgiving Iniquity and Transgression and Sin but then it is added that he will by no means clear the guilty that is the obstinate and impenitent Sinner Exod. xxxiv 6 7. He exhorts he invites he promises he threatens he promises eternal Happiness and threatens eternal Misery to give all the Discouragement to Vice and all the Enducement to Religion and Vertue which is possible Last of all he has sent his Son to instruct us in our Duty and to confirm all this to us and to purchase our Redemption with his own Blood God deals with Men in the plainest and most condescending manner He lays their Duty before them with the Rewards and Punishments annex'd and both eternal the better to secure them in their Obedience and force them to be happy and then he takes Men at no Advantage but makes all reasonable Allowances in consideration of the frailty of Humane Nature and in condescension to their Infirmities He exacts not absolute Perfection nor any impossible Obedience but requires that tho' we cannot live without Sin yet we should not sin wilfully and obstinately that we should not allow and indulge our selves in Sin and should repent if we have done so He requires a faithful and sincere Diligence in all the Parts of our Duty which is no more than what every Father and Master expects from his Children and Servants When Men have sinned God admits of their Repentance and if after Repentance they sin again yet still they shall be accepted upon a renew'd Repentance nay after a long course of Sin a sincere Repentance may reconcile them to God and no Repentance can be too late that is sincere It is extreamly dangerous indeed to defer our Repentance for one Moment because our Lives are so uncertain and we may provoke God to that degree that he will no longer afford us an Opportunity to repent nor bestow that Grace upon us which is necessary to Repentance But this is after repeated Provocations and an obstinate rejecting of the Goodness of God which leads Men to repentance And these are the Terms of the Gospel that when the wicked Man turneth away from his Wickedness that he hath committed and doth that which is lawful and right he shall save his Soul alive There is Great Joy in Heaven over one Sinner that repenteth and the returning Prodigal is received with the greatest Favour and Tenderness If we will be obedient we have the Assistance of God's Grace and if we have done amiss yet His grace is offered us to bring us to Repentance and we may be pardoned upon sincere Resolutions of Obedience for the future But if Men either disbelieve or disregard all these things if they neither care for God's Promises nor fear his Threatnings if they trample under foot the Blood of his Son and grieve his blessed Spirit if all the Methods of his Mercy and Goodness be lost upon them there remains no other Remedy but Justice must have its course If when they are told so long beforehand what danger they are in Men will continue obstinate in their Disobedience after so many Invitations and Encouragements to Repentance and after so great Importunity and Forbearance they can have no reason to complain of the Severity of that Sentence which they have been so often threatned with and have as often despised Since the Rewards are eternal on the one hand and the Punishments on the other the Rewards being proportionable to the Punishments the Terms are on both sides equal and since it is in our Power by the Help of the Divine Grace to avoid the Punishments and obtain the Rewards the Condition is such as that any wise Man would be thankful for it and would be glad that such a Prizee is put into his hands so far would he be from complaining that the Terrors of Punishments are join'd to the Encouragement of Rewards that all Motives concur to make him happy and that God has used all means both inward by his Grace and outward by his Promises and Threatnings to bring us to Salvation I repeat it again for God himself often repeats it in the Holy Scriptures God hath no Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but hath used all means to prevent it he hath provided Heaven for us and threatned Hell if we will not be perswaded to go to Heaven If Men will neglect the Means of their Salvation and will not repent and turn to him notwithstanding all his most loving and compassionate Exhortations and the Death of his own Son for them if neither Heaven can invite nor Hell frighten them from their Sins they must thank themselves only for that Destruction which they bring upon themselves The Appeal which God so long ago made to the House of Israel may at the last Day be alledg'd to Sinners Ye have said that the way of the Lord is not equal Hear now O ye Sinners Is not my way equal have not your ways been unequal And the ways of God shall then appear so equal and the ways of wicked Men so unreasonable and perverse that their own Consciences shall bear Witness against them and He that died to save them will pronounce the Sentence of eternal Damnation upon them CHAP. XV. Of the Jewish Law THere is nothing which vulgar Minds are more surprised and offended at nor at which Men of Understanding and Experience are less enclin'd to wonder or take Offence than the several Laws and Customs of divers Nations in the different Ages and Climates of the World The Habit the Language the Letters and manner of Writing the Food the Complexion the Features of the Body and Disposition of the Mind are various in different Countries and Ages And theresore it is no wonder that the Political and Ceremonial Part of the Jewish Law which was given so many Ages ago and in a Country which is at this Day very different in its Customs from ours should be as different from the Customs in use amongst us as the Age and Climate For when God doth appoint Laws for Men he must be supposed to appoint such as are suitable to the Necessities and Occasions of those for whom they are made And some who have travelled into the Eastern Countries which are not so variable in their Fashions and Way of Living as the Western Nations are have found great advantages both from the Nature of the Inhabitants and of the Climates and from the Customs and Manners of
humanae vitae speculum constitutum est Novatian de lib. Judaic c. 3. signification of such Prohibitions is implied in the Proverb alleged by St. Peter concerning Dogs and Swine which are two of the Animals prohibited the Jews 2 Pet. ii 22. Sacrifices and Offerings were to represent to them that they depended upon God for all they had and therefore they were to offer something of every kind in Acknowledgment that they had received all which they enjoyed from him They were likewise designed to signify to them that their Sins deserved Death even Everlasting Burnings The daily Sacrifices were to be Remembrances to them of that Acceptable and Living Sacrifice which they were to offer to God a broken and a contrite Heart and an Innocent and Blameless Life Ps iv 4 5. Cxli. 2. And the Scriptures frequently testify how little Pleasure God took in the Sacrifices of Beasts and in Burnt-Offerings Incense and Oblations and how small Regard he had to them He never required these things for themselves and upon their own Account or because there is any thing acceptable to him in them Psal xl 6 4. l. 8 li. 17. To do Justice and love Mercy is more acceptable to God than all Sacrifices Prov. xxi 3. Jer. vii 22 23. This is so evident throughout the whole Old Testament that the Scribes and Pharisees in the most superstitious and corrupt Age of the Jewish Church could not but confess that the Love of God and of our Neighbour is of more Account in God's sight than all the Sacrifices and Oblations in the World Mark xii 37. The Ceremonial Part of the Law was always to give place to the Moral thus Acts of Charity were to be done tho' it happened that they were performed by the violation of the Jewish Sabbath and the Prophets were upon necessary Causes held exempted from the Legal Observances For I desired Mercy and not Sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than Burnt-Offerings Hos vi 6. 3. All the Jewish Worship appointed by the Mosaical Law was Typical of Christ and his Gospel By a Type we are to understand the Likeness and Resemblance which one thing has to another as that of the Impression to the Seal or of the Shadow to the Substance or of the Picture to the Man whom it represents Thus the Death of Christ was typified or resembled or represented and prefigured by the Death of the Beasts which were Sacrificed they were signs appointed to keep up the Remembrance that Christ was to be Sacrificed and were very apt and proper to put Men in Mind of it It was acknowledged by the Jews and received from the Beginning as a certain Rule for the Interpretation of Scripture that there was a Typical as well as a Literal Sense of it relating to the Messias and his Kingdom Circumcision was to signify to them that Christ was to be born of the Seed of Abraham to whom Circumcision was first enjoyned upon the Promise made to him of Isaac from whom Christ was to descend And the Blood shed in Circumcision was Typical of that Blood which Christ was to shed for us The most probable Account of the Origiginal of Sacrifices is that they were at first of Divine Institution and were appointed soon after the Fall of Man as Types of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ who was promised to be sent to die for the Expiation of Sin For tho' there be a natural Reason why we shouuld not Offer unto the Lord our God of that which doth Cost us nothing but should Honour the Lord with our Substance 2 Sam. xxiv 24. Prov. iii. 9. and should present some part of the best of what we have in Devotion and Gratitude to him from whom we have received the Whole Yet no sufficient Reason can be given why Beasts should be Slain in Sacrifice before they were used as far as it appears for Food by Men or how it should be imagined that God would accept of the Blood of any Creature or be pleased with the taking from it that Life which he had given it or why a peculiar Efficacy towards the Expiation of Sin was supposed to be in the Blood unless it had been upon the Account of the Blood of Christ which was Typically prefigured by the Blood of Beasts By Faith whereof Abel offered his Sacrifice and was accepted Heb. xi 4. The Paschal Lamb was a plain Type of Christ for which Reason Christ is styled the Lamb of God and our Passover which is Sacrificed for us Jo. i. 29. 1 Cor. v. 7. And for the same Reason the Feast of the Passover was appointed to the Israelites just before their Escape out of Aegypt to be a Type to thâ—m of that Deliverance which Christ was to accomplish of which their Deliverance out of Aegypt was but a Figure Aaron was a Type of Christ and all the Sacrifices he offered were Types of Christ's Sacrifice upon the Cross They were appointed to take away the Legal Uncleanness to restore Men to a State of Legal Purity which was Typical of Moral and Spiritual Purity and to put the Legal Worshipers into such a Condition as the Law required to qualify them for the Legal Service and Worship and herein they were Figures of that one Sacrifice which was to be offered up once for all in Attonement for the Sins of all Mankind Hebr. ix 14. whereby Men might be rendred Capable of paying God an acceptable Service in Spirit and in Truth Legal Purifications were Typical of that Purification which is by the Blood of Christ Tit. ii 14. 1 John i. 9. And the smoak of the Incense ascending signified how the Prayers of the Saints come up before God Rev. v. 8. viii 3 4. The State and Dispensation of the Gospel is exprest by the Prophet Malachi under the Figure of Incense and a Pure Offering Malach. 1.11 The whole Epistle to the Hebrews is written upon this subject to shew that all the Legal Rites and Ceremonial Worship were but Shadows and Types and Figures of Christ and of that Redemption Righteousness and Sanctification which was to be wrought by him and that therefore they were to cease when in him they had received their Accomplishment Their Incense and Purificatitions their Sacrifices their Temple and the Priests themselves were all but so many Types of Christ and his Kingdom under the Gospel Christ had been promised to our first Parents immediately after their Fall and this Promise had been renewed to Abraham with an Assurance that he should descend from Isaac and Circumcision was instituted as a perpetual mark in the Flesh of that Covenant and all Sacrifices from the beginning of their Institution were as so many Types and Memorials of the Sacrifice of Christ which was promised before any Sacrifice had been offered And more especially that of the Passover at the deliverance of the Israelites out of Aegypt was a lively Representation of our Redemption by the Death of Christ They had ever
suffer the wicked to go unpunish'd in contempt of those Laws which he had appointed and under that dispensation which was establish'd upon Temporal Rewards and Punishments They were not allow'd to indulge their anger and desire of Revenge yet they might pray that God would avenge himself of his Enemies and rescue his Laws from that contempt which they must lie under from wicked Men if they did not feel those punishments which the Laws of God threatned them withall But under the Gospel the Case is different for now we are not to expect that Temporal Rewards and Punishments should constantly follow upon the performance or transgression of our Duty but both of them may be commonly reserved to a future State A Christian may not pray for Judgments upon his Enemies because God has not so peremptorily declared by the Gospel that he will inflict his Punishments in this Life as he had done by the Law and we have our Saviour's Command and Example to pray for their Repentance that they be not punished in the next But a Christian may right himself in due course of Law and in order to that may Petition the Judge without any breach of Charity and this was all that the Jews did when they pray'd God to execute his own Laws by inflicting such Punishments as he had threatned to inflict upon the Transgressors of them in this Life they invoked and appealed to God as their Political Judge and Sovereign and pray'd Judgment against Offenders V. Those which seem Imprecations are oftentimes Predictions or Denunciations of Judgments to come upon Sinners as we may learn from Acts 1.20 And it can be no uncharitableness to foretell or denounce God's Judgments against Sinners but rather an effect of Charity towards them for their Repentance and Amendment Most of those places of Scripture may as properly be rendred by way of prediction in the Future Tense and when they cannot they may be look'd upon as denunciations of God's Wrath. For Prophets were sometimes employ'd to execute the Divine Judgments as we see in Elijah 2 Kings i. 9 10. and as they sometimes executed God's Judgments so they at other times denounced them and this had nothing of uncharitableness in it but is fully agreeable with the Gospel it self For thus we read that Ananias and Sapphira were punished with present death by St. Peter Acts v. But if St. Peter had denounced Death without inflicting it immediately upon them this had been less And St. Paul prays that the Lord would reward Alexander the Copper-Smith according to his works who had done him much evil 2 Tim. iv 14. which was no uncharitable imprecation but a leaving him to God's Judgment and a denunciation of punishment to befall him without Repentance it was an Authoritative Act and in consequence of that excommunication which the Apostle had inflicted upon him 1 Tim. 1.20 And when God had inspired and empower'd Men to denounce Judgments this was no more against Charity than the inflicting of them would have been or than Excommunication it self is If Magistrates are empower'd in the King's Name to give Sentence and to inflict Punishments certainly Men may be so empower'd and authoriz'd by God himself and may act or speak accordingly without breach of Charity VI. The Expressions Ps lxix and cix are to be understood concerning Judas as we find them applied Acts 1. and all other Expressions of the same nature may be understood either of him or of some others like him whom the Psalmist by inspiration might know to be hardned in Sin past Repentance and therefore might pray that God would rather cut them off than suffer them to do more mischief in this World and increase the number of their Iniquities here and of their Miseries in the World to come VII Lastly This Supposition is tacitly emply'd in Imprecations if they will persist in their Sins if they will not repent and the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures might in some Cases know by Revelation that Judgments were the only means to reclaim those Men against whom they pray'd and then it was the greatest Charity to pray that God would be pleased to make use of that Remedy which alone was lest for their Amendment aâ— Psal lxxxiii 15 16. So persecute them with thy tempest and make them afraid with thy storm Fill their faces with shame that they may seeâ— thy Name O Lord. There is nothing therefore inconsistent with the Doctrine of Charity and the Love of ouâ— Neighbour in those places of Scripture which have been liable to the mistakes of unwary Men. For either they are Prayers to God to enable the Isâ—aelites to do what he had appointed as in the destruction of the Canaanites whom God was pleased for wise and great Reasons to punish by the Sword of the Children of Israel rather than by Pestilence or any other Judgment Or they are Prayers to God to assist them in the doing what both Justice and Charity will allow to be done either by Persons in Authority as King David or even by private Men as in the prosecution of Offenders and bringing them to condign punishment and this may be without any degree of Malice or the least breach of Charity since Punishment it self may be not only an act of Justice but of Charity likewise towards divers Men. Or these Expressions may be Appeals to God as the Political Governour and Legislator of the Jews Or they are Predictions or Denunciations of God's wrath against Sinners And they may be directed against impenitent obstinate Men hardned in their Wickedness Or lastly they may be only Prayers to God â—hat he would inflict such Punishments upon Mon as may bring them to Repentance And tho' the Jews in latter Ages perverted some passages of their Law to serve their own Pride and Revenge yet as it is evident by many instances never any Law but that of Christ oblig'd Men to more Humanity towards Strangers or more Charity towards Enemies They were certainly to Covert no Man's House or Wife and therefore the word Neighbour is not to be limited to signifie only an Israelite or a Proselyte but is to be understood of any Man whatsoever Exod. xx 17. Thou shalt love him the Stranger as thy self Lev. xix 34. The Aegyptians are stiled the Neighbours of the Israelites Exod. xi 2. And Ps xv 2 3. where acts of common Justice towards Neighbours are spoken of by Neighbour must necessarily be understood any person for to all Men Justice is due Not only Justice but Charity was enjoyn'd towards Enemies If thine Enemy be hungry give him bread to eat and if he be thirsty give him water to drink for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head and the Lord shall reward thee Prov. xxv 21 22. which words so fully express our Duty of Christian Charity that St. Paul could find none fitter to describe it by Rom. xii 20. and Exod. xxiii 4 5. If thou meet thine Enemies Ox or his Ass going