by the Reader who will think them rather too few than too many But considering that unless we well understand the design of our Saviours coming into the World we cannot read the History of his Life with any real advantage for since he did spake and suffered nothing but with a tendency to that end we can never have a true notion of them unless we know the true motive and the end which he himself aimed at I judged it necessary to propound a short History of the Fall of Man and the Wounds which Men have received by it before I present them with the Medicine to heal them and teach them in a few words the happiness of that Estate wherein God Created them the lamentable Miseries into which they have faln by Sin and the means which Gods infinite goodness makes use of to save them The Discovery of these Miseries will make them more desirous to know what Christ hath done to deliver them and by how much they perceive themselves more obnoxious to Gods Justice by so much they will the more eagerly lay hold upon Jesus by Faith to save them from it II. Mans Creation and Fall by Sin When God created the Heaven and the Earth in six days he being desirous not only to provide a Governour for all his Corporeal Creatures but to put some other Beings into the places of the faln Angels in Heaven Created a Man and Woman whom he called Adam and Eve which signifies the Mother of all Living God formed them in his own Image i. e. gave them an Immortal Soul endowed them with abilities to know and love him which are two of the most noble Actions of the Rational Creature which make up the whole Life and happiness of God which is to know and love himself from all Eternity Wherefore he filled their Minds with Knowledge and their Will with Love He Created them perfect and upright their Souls in perfect submission to God and their Body to their Soul There was no darkness or trouble in their minds because God was their Light and Peace and nothing in there Bodies which might make them ashamed because there was nothing disorderly for which reason it is that the Holy Scripture saith That they were Naked Gen. 2.25 and were not ashamed In this Holy and Happy Estate they had a sound Judgment and perfect freedom of Will furnished with all Graces necessary to do that good which God required of them and to purchase that Glory which should be the reward of their Virtue which is to have a clear Vision of God They knew so much of God as Creatures are capable of and if they made a good use of this knowledge upon Earth they should be Translated to the full fruition of God in Heaven Their Innocency exempted them from Death and all other Evils which are the effects of Sin And their privileges were not only for themselves but their Posterity to whom they should communicate not only their Nature but Innocency and all the priviledges of it For the continuance of all these Temporal favours and obtaining that eternal happiness which he hath promised them God required nothing but an entire submission to his Will which that he might have tryal of he gave them a Command to abstain from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil which was in the midst of Paradise threatning them with Death if they dared to Touch it Nothing was more easy than the observation of this Commandment but they kept it not long for the Devil envying their Happiness came to Eve under the Shape of a Serpent perswading her to Eat the Fruit which was forbidden and telling her that they should be so far from dying that they shall become as Gods By these promises she suffered her self to be seduced eat of the Fruit and gave it to her Husband who thro' a wicked Compliance made himself guilty of the Womans Sin As soon as they had thus broken the Command of their God they were made sensible of their Fault by the fearful Change in themselves for they perceived they were Naked and were filled with confusion because they felt in their Bodies the disorderly Motions of their Concupiscence God shewed himself to them no longer as a Father whose presence was their Joy and Happiness but as an offended Lord who reproved their disobedience and as a severe Judge to punish their Rebellion He Condemned the Man to Toil and Drudgery for his necessary Food the Woman to Pains in Child-bearing and drave them both out of the Terrestrial Paradise in which he had placed them he subjected them to all the miseries of this Life and passed the sentence of Death upon them which he had threatned condemning them not only to a Temporal Death of the Body but to the Second Death which is more terrible than the former the Death of the Soul which is to Live eternally with the Devils in Hell and be banished from the only cause and foundation of all Happiness God A just punishment saith St. Austin for their fault in disobeying so easy a Law of so great a God! All the Race of Adam being corrupted in him as in their Fountain and Root by his Sin was also lyable to the same punishment for as if he had continued in his Innocency all his Posterity had inherited it by their Birth and all the Advantages of it after the same manner since he hath sinned all Men naturally inherit his Crimes and all the Plagues which are consequent upon it This is the Sin which we call Original because we are guilty of it from our Original and Birth and this is the Sin which brings upon us all those Evils which we feel either in our Souls or Bodies for the darkness of the Understanding the corruption of the Heart the proneness of the Will to Evil and Opposition to Good the disorderly Motions of Concupiscence the turbulency of our Passions the excessive Love of our selves forgetfulness and Aversion to God all the Sins which we commit Hunger Thirst Weariness Griefs Death and Lastly Eternal Damnation are the sad Consequences and just punishments of this Sin which we come into the World with and which make us as St. Paul saith the Children of the Wrath of God Eph. 2.3 III. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ Out of the miserable condition into which Man had plunged himself and Posterity by Sin there was no way of Recovery had not God in his infinite Mercy been pleased to find out a way which none else could do He had compassion on his Creatures and contrived this means to save them the Word i. e. the Son of God the Second Person of the Holy Trinity was made Incarnate assuming a Body and Soul like us and united to his Divinity in his own person the Humane Nature which he intended to redeem He became Man still being God and took upon him all the weaknesses and Infirmities of Man Sin and Ignorance only excepted He undertook
which he left us in the Time of his Mortal Life He lived subject to our Calamities and suffered Death which is the Punishment of Sin but he was raised in a State of Glory and entred into the Possession of Eternal Felicity He was first of the same Nature with us that we might one Day be as he is If we imitate him in his Life and Death we shall be like him in his Resurrection and Glory but we must not pretend to that Happiness he now enjoys if we do not go in the same Path he did to attain it By disobeying his Laws and not imitating his Actions we not only renounce the Glory to which he invites us but bring upon our selves inexpressible as well as everlasting Torments for there are but Two Ways the one leads to Life and the other to Death and he that walks not in the first must necessarily go into the second Jesus Christ is himself the Way that leads to Heaven and we go by him when we practise those Truths which he hath taught and regulate our Lives by the Pattern of his To live otherwise than he lived is not to follow him but to wander and destroy our selves which we do not seriously enough consider of We do not examine our selves in which Way we are we go on every Day in Ignorance and when we come to the End of our Race we find our selves on a Precipice because we have followed the Multitude which securely went before us and guided us Christians therefore cannot do any thing more important and conducing to their Salvation than to meditate continually upon the Life of Jesus Christ and to look upon it as a Mirror to discover the Blemishes and Faults of their own they ought to account Jesus Christ conversing on Earth as our Guide and Light and comparing what they do with what he hath done and taught to acknowledge themselves in a lost Estate and in Darkness so long as our Conversation is not conformable to his Examples and Precepts In Heaven they ought to esteem Jesus Christ as the End to which they continually aspire and which they labour daily to attain that they may support themselves in all the Troubles and Difficulties which they met with in their Way thither by the Contemplation of the Glory which he hath promised them They should in the last Place think always upon his First and Second Coming They are instructed by his First what they must do to fit themselves for his Second and they shall be judged at his Second Coming by the Precepts which they have received at his Second They will have no Excuses to make for following the corrupt Customs and Examples and false Errors of the Ages they have lived in when they come before that Judge who hath told them that he will judge them by the Doctrin he hath taught them himself and by the Life he lived here upon Earth to be a Model of theirs That then we may appear before him with Boldness in that Great Day when he will judge all Men let us take the Advice which S. John the beloved Disciple gives us My little Children 1 John 2.28 abide in him that when he shall appear we may have Confidence before him and may not be ashamed at his Coming And that we may know what it is to abide in Jesus Christ let us meditate upon these Words of the same Apostle 1 Joh. 2.6 He that saith that he abideth in him ought himself to walk as Jesus Christ hath walked FINIS INDEX A ABraham saw Christs coming with Joy 109. the Jews boast themselves his Children 22. Abraham's Bosom what 131. Adultery forbidden by the Law 57. punished with Death 40. The Adulteress 105. he that Marrys another Woman while his Wife is alive is an Adulterer 132. Aegypt Christs flight into 18. Agony of Christ 188. Ambition Of the Disciples reproved by Christ 98. 145 179. Almsgiving The necessity of it 119. how it must be given 58 it purifies all things to us 155. Christ commends it in a poor Widow 165 St. Andrew was John's Disciple 26. Brother of Peter ibid. goes to Christ ibid. brings his Brother 36. leaves all at Christs Call 37. made an Apostle 54. Angels Watch over Men 99. foretel the Nativity of J. Baptist and Christ 2. move the Pool of Jerusalem 50. comfort Christ in his Agony 188. open the Sepulchre 201. declare his Resurrection 208. Anointing Diseases cured by it 78. Christs Feet and Head Anointed 152. Apostles What it signifies 58. Christ chose Twelve ibid. one proves a Devil 86. their Mission and Instructions given them 76. cure Diseases 77. continue with Christ in all his temptations 179 forsake him 190. believe not his Resurrection 208. receive the Holy Spirit and a power to bind and loose 212. sent into all the World to Preach 316. and for this end are enabled to work Miracles 218. Appearances of Christ 1. to Mary Magd. 208. 2d to the Women 209. 3d. to St. Peter 211. 4th to the Disciples going to Emmaus 210. 5th to all the Apostles 213. 6th to some of them going to the Lake of Gennesareth ibid. 7th to more than 500 Brethren ibid. 8th to St. James ibid. 9th his last appearance before his Ascension ibid. Augustus's Edict which he published about the Taxing 13. B BAptism of St. John with Water 21. his Baptism does not pardon Sins ibid. a figure of Christ 14. slighted by the Scribes and Pharisees 64. Jesus receives it 23. asks the Jews whether it was from Heaven 158. Baptism of Jesus Christ with Water 31. with the H. Ghost and with Fire 23. no Salvation without it 29. the Apostles sent to Baptize all Nations with it 216. Barrabbas The great Thief preferred before Jesus Christ 196. Beatitudes The Eight Beatitudes 55. Blessing Jesus Blesseth Infants 135. breaks Bread 81. the Sacrament 177. he is blessed and praised by the People of Jerusalem 151. Simeon blesseth the H. Virgin and Joseph 18. Bethany The place where Lazarus and his Sisters dwelt 140. Jesus Christ raised Lazarus there 142. Supped with Simon the Leper 149. went thither every Night in the Week of passion 156. he carryed his Apostles thither at his Ascen 218. Bethlehem The City of David 13. Jesus Chr. born there 15. Worshipped the Magi 16. the Children of Bethlehem slain 18. Bethsaida A City of Galilee of which Peter and other Apostles were 26. Cursed by Jesus 24. there he Cursed a Blind Man 18. Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost 67. against Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion 202. he is called a Blasphemer 45. Blind-men Jesus Healed two at Capernaum 49. another at Bethsaida 91. a blind Man Possessed and Dumb 67. two at Jericho 148. several in the Temple of Jerusalem 157. spiritually blind 87. Blood Christs Blood drink indeed 85. the Blood of the Galilâ—eans mingled with their Sacrifices 121. the VVoman with a bloody-flux 48. Jesus sweat Blood 188. out of his Side came VVater and Blood 204. the Jews wish his
The History of the Life of JESUS CHRIST There were in the Field Shepherds Abiding by their Flocks And the Angel of the Lord came upon them And said Behold I Bring you good Tidings Unto you is Born a Saviour which is CHRIST the Lord. Luk. 2. The Evangelical HISTORY OR THE LIFE of our Blessed Saviour JESUS CHRIST Comprehensively and Plainly Related WITH Practical Inferences Discourses THEREUPON In Four BOOKS I. Of the Birth of John the Baptist Of the Conception and Birth of JESVS CHRIST with an Account of what passed to his Entrance upon the Ministerial Function II. The History of the Acts and Miracles of our Saviour in the first Two Years of his Ministry III. A Relation of his Acts and Miracles in the Third Year of his Preaching IV. An Account of his Acts and Preaching from the triumphant Entrance into Jerusalem Of his Crucifixion Resurrection Apparitions and glorious Ascension into Heaven With a Large Practical Introduction by way of Preface Written in French by the Learned L. E. du Pin and Englished by a Divine of the Church of England with Additions Adorn'd with Copper Cuts LONDON Printed for Abel Swall and T. Childe at the Vnicorn at the West-End of S. Paul 's Church-yard 1694. THE PREFACE I. The Design of this History SINCE the only End and Design of Jesus Christs coming down from Heaven and all the Circumstances of his Incarnation his Birth Life Preaching Death Resurrection and Ascension was to procure Salvation for Men It is highly reasonable that they should fully understand all those Mysteries which are contained in the great Work of their Redemption and be well versed in the History of that Life and Death from which they receive so great Advantage They were Enemies to God Jesus Christ hath made a compleat satisfaction to his Father by his Death Ro. 5.10 and by his Discourses and Example hath Taught them what they ought to do return unto him They can never sufficiently meditate upon the Sufferings which the Son of God endured to expiate their Guilts that they may make a grateful acknowledgment of them by an unfeigned Love of him nor upon those Truths which he hath Taught them and exemplified by his own practice since we must be saved by the observation of those Truths and Imitation of his Actions For this Reason it is that the Church of God in all Ages hath been so urgent with Christians to receive the Holy Sacrament frequently it being a lively representation of his Death and of the Sacrifice which he offered upon the Cross for a propitiation to God and our frequent use of it being an Authentick Testimony of our Thankfulness to God for his Goodness Upon which account it is called the Eucharist i. e. a Thanksgiving But because we cannot obtain that Life Eternal which Jesus Christ hath purchased for us by his Death but by the exact observation of those Laws he hath imposed upon us and by following the Example he hath left us he requires his Ministers before the receiving of the Holy Sacrament to Instruct Men well both in the Precepts of the Gospel and in the Actions of the Son of God And by this he shews that there is nothing that he recommends so much to his Children as to meditate upon and get a full knowledge of the Life and Death of Jesus Christ either that they may give him thanks continually for what he hath done and suffered for them or know by what he hath done what they ought to do themselves for all his whole Life as St. Austin saith Is but one continual Instruction Aug. de ver Rel. c. 14. how we should lead our Lives and we never commit any Sin but by departing from his Example It is true that the Gospels are the most exact History of the Life and Death of Christ for they contain in them all that God hath thought fit to make known to us concerning the Actions and Doctrins of his Son And Men can never be too much Importun'd to Read those Books diligently which contain in them those Truths by which they must be judged at the Last Day But since it is very conducible to the Right Understanding of the Scripture-Relation concerning Christ to have the History of his Life lay'd down in a continued draught according to the Order of Time and with all the Circumstances of it which none of the Evagelists have done I thought I might do some service to the Church of God in general and to more ignorant and weak Christians in particular in composing a short but perfect Harmony of the Gospels And in my performing this undertaking I have had special care to relate nothing but the Truth avoiding all Traditional Stories and confining my self strictly to the Relations of the Evangelical Writers and have adventured to put in nothing of my own but the Style and Expression that I might render the Sense and Phrase of Scripture more easie and intelligible to the most ordinary capacities And that nothing be difficult to them I have observed these two things 1. I have related the Actions of Jesus Christ with all their Circumstances But as to his Sermons and Discourses I have set down only so much of them as are most easie to be understood and necessary to know for the improvement of our Manners I am sensible that the Sermons of our Saviour make up a great part of his Life and that the Truths he Taught are as necessary to be known as the Actions he did but since several of his Sermons especially such as concern the proof of his Divinity are scarcely intelligible by any but the Learned I have touched but lightly upon them and chose to set down more largely those Truths which are essential and of Universal concern for all Mens Salvation which as I have expressed in short so also in such words as may render them more Intelligible to the People 2. Altho' I designed to speak of nothing but what is in the Gospel and that I might not be obliged to add any thing have chosen to relate nothing that is obscure or controversal yet sometimes I have been forced to transgress these bounds meeting with something which could not be omitted tho' difficult upon which account I have added some explications of them Jesus Christ hath Taught many Moral Truths in Metaphors and Parables which are very important for all Christians to know but useless and some times dangerous unless they be accompanyed with some Reflexions which may help the Reader in understanding and applying them For this reason we have intermixed some explications without breaking the Series of the History to clear that which is obscure sweeten that which is harsh and so prepare the Bread of Truth that it may nourish the weak as well as the strong tho' these observations and remarks are very rare short and easily distinguishable from the Relations of the Evangelists and I am perswaded will be thought necessary for the most part
our Crimes By it we see how much our Offences displeased God since he punisheth it with Eternal Death and for the Pardon of it requires no less satisfaction than the abasing Tortures and Death of the Son of God Nor let us say that if God loved Men so tenderly he might have saved them without exacting of them so great a Satisfaction as Jesus Christ made but let us think rather that if God notwithstanding the love he hath for Man would not save Man any other way than by the Death of his Son God-Man he must need have an irreconcilable hatred to Sin and of all Evil that is most odious to him This is none of the least advantages which we may gain by the Incarnation of the Son of God to raise in our selves a hatred of Sin and a fear of losing the benefit of our Reconciliation with God by our fresh Sins by considering what it cost to redeem us viz. as the Apostle St. Peter says We are not redeemed with Corruptible things as Silver and Gold 1 Pet. 18. but with the precious Blood of the Lamb of God without spot i. e. by the Blood of the only begotten Son of God IV. Of the Life of Jesus Christ Heb. 12.14 Since without Holiness no Man shall see the Lord we cannot reasonably desire that God should make us happy So long as we remain in our Sins enemies to him by our wicked Works it is absolutely necessary in Order to salvation that Men should be converted from their Sins and return to him by a sincere and unfeigned Love of him Now to effect this great Work saith S. Austin God thought not fit to make use of Violence and Force Aug. de ver Rel. c. 16. but rational inducements and perswasions and of all those gentle Methods which could be possibly made use of by infinite Wisdom for that end as fit and proper for effecting this design none was thought so suitable as the Life and Converse of Jesus Christ with the Sons of Men by which not only all the obstacles of our Conversion are removed but all the sweetest allurements imaginable are tendred to us We are ignorant what we ought to do to please God and being blinded with the false Idea's of Good and Evil are not sensible that the only real Good of the Rational Soul is the enjoyment of God and the only real Evil is the loss of this Chief Good All Men are involved in this Error and therefore 't was in vain to expect a better information from any mere Man or if any had those true notions of Mans happiness yet either Mans natural pride or the differences of the Wise about it would make us either slight our Teachers or deny our assent to what they Instruct us in as dubious and uncertain That therefore we might be Instructed in this Truth without fear of being deceived the Truth it self came to dispel our Darkness and enlighten our Ignorance and hath tendred himself to us as a Master whose Disciples we need not be ashamed to own our selves because this Master is our God He was made Man and dwelt among us He hath proved to us by his admirable Miracles That he was a Teacher sent from God to Instruct us that he is Gods only Son Lastly that he is Wisdom Light and Truth and having proved himself to be God he hath dispersed the Rays of his Doctrin and Taught by his Preaching what is our true Happiness and what we must do to attain it But he did not content himself to teach us but joyned Example to his Instruction He perswaded us to the practise of those Truths by his Actions which he delivered in his Sermons He prescribed them fit Remedies for their Distempers but because they were bitter and unpleasant troublesome and nauseous for Men to take he first took them himself altho' he had no need of them that the sick person might be more willing to take them after their Physician We must be humble that we may be saved and this was the way he took to perswade the Proud to it God might have commanded his Creatures to be humble crying out from his Caelestial Throne Matth. 18.3 in Jesus 's Words Except ye humhle your selves and be converted ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven But God did not make choice of this way to bring Men to embrace this Virtue Aug. Ep. 42. but made use as St. Austin saith of a more effectual and taking way more sweet and pleasant he had rather root Pride out of our Hearts by perswasion than force and invite us to Humility by the example of the Son of God who being humble and of no Reputation saith unto us Learn of me Matth. 11.29 for I am meek and lowly in Heart What arrogance can withstand such words as these supported by infinite Dignity and profound Humility of the Speaker And who will not think it now a greater shame for him to be elevated with Pride after the manner of Men than to be humble and meek in imitation of the Son of God And the same may be said of all the Virtues necessary for Mans Conversion which I have said of Humility for whereas there is nothing more prevalent with Men than Example Jesus Christ hath made himself an exact Pattern for them and for this cause hath propounded his Life to us that he lived upon Earth as an exact Pattern of our matters Sin hath separated us from God and setting us at a distance from him puts us out of a possibility of returning to him We are carryed by our Affections which are so far from leading us to Happiness as we suppose that they hurry us headlong into our own Ruin and Destruction Who can discover the Depth of Gods admirable Wisdom in making choice of Christs Incarnation and Life to redeem Man out of this miserable condition God who is the end at which we ought to aim and from which we naturally go farther and farther is come himself to seek us We had lost the sight of him he hath made himself visible He thought it not sufficient to propose the most absolute and compleat good to their sight in his own Person as the only fit object of their Love but he would shew them the way they should go in to come to the full possession of it He became himself their Fellow-Traveller and Guide and appeared himself as a Person at a distance from God that he might carry us to God with him He went before us and restored all our Defects by his perfections i. e. he hath reform'd all our Sentiments and all the affections of our Souls by the affections and motions which he shewed in the Human Narure which he assumed for our Salvation We were not sensible what we ought to Love or Hate Desire or Fear Follow or eschew but he hath Instructed us by his Example to Order and regulate the whole course of our Lives with a
not sufficient for us to cast our Eyes upon him who is the true Light of Men for he hath discovered the Way that leads to eternal Happiness not to those who only take some Pleasure in knowing his admirable Works but to those who follow him by a faithful Imitation of his Example Before we know what Jesus Christ hath done and taught upon Earth we are like Travellers who journey in the Night and wander they know not whither because they cannot tell their Way but by reading the Life of Christ We are like the same Travellers who as soon as Day breaks perceive their Errors and return again into the right Way He came from Heaven to shew us the way thither and to bring us out of the Paths that lead down to Hell He goes before us himself that we may not wander or lose our Way nor take any other Way but that in which he leads us He assures us that all other Ways but that in which he goes lead down to Death wherefore we must read his Life to make it a Rule and Exemplar of ours that all our Conversation being a lively Expression of his we may say with the Apostle It is not I that live Gal. 2.20 but Christ that liveth in me But it is not sufficient to read the Life of Christ if we desire to profit by it but we must meditate upon it and apply all that we read because this is the only way to make the right Use and Advantage of our Reading We need lose no part of the History of the Son of God for as he did nothing but for our Salvation so there is no circumstance of his Life which we cannot gather some Advantage to our selves from if we consider upon it with serious Attention It will then be worth our while to take every Part of it into Examination and see what Benefit we may reap from it and what Motions and Affections it may excite in us for the reading of the Life of Christ must needs sometimes instruct us sometimes shame us sometimes comfort us and sometimes encourage us and sometimes inspire us with Love Thankfulness Reverence Joy Grief Hope or Fear according to the different Objects which it presents to our Observation All the Life of Jesus Christ is made up of Miracles Discourses Actions and Sufferings He wrought so many Miracles to prove his Divinity and to relieve either the Miseries or Necessities of those who either wanted or desired his Help We may make an Advantage of these by supposing our selves to be in the Number of those who saw them and for whose sake they were done The Eye-Witnesses of them believed in him admired and adored him and became his Disciples Let us do the same when we read what they saw adore Christ acknowledge him for our God believe in his Godhead and devote our selves entirely to his Service since we can never honour him as our God but by obeying and loving him And in the same manner let us apply all the Miracles he did for the Relief of others needs He healed no bodily Diseases but what were a Figure of the Spiritual Distempers of our Souls Sin is our Leprosy our Deafness our Blindness our Palsy our Death let us do the same to obtain Health of our Souls that we read the diseased Persons did for their Bodies to obtain Cure let us present our selves before Jesus and say with the Leper Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean and with the blind Man Open mine Eyes that I may see and so of others Let us think that Jesus requires the same Faith for the cure of our Souls that he did of those he healed of their Bodily Distempers and let us look upon that Thankfulness Faith Love and other Passions of those who were miraculously cured as a Pattern of those Affections which we ought to have for the Graces we have received The Discourses of Jesus Christ ought to be read with great Reverence which consists in believing and practising what he teacheth He is the Truth and nothing but Truth can save us and we shall be judged by that which he hath taught We must hear him as his Disciples and be won by his Words We must discover our Ignorance to him that he may inform us and our Ways that he may amend them This must be done in applying every Word of Jesus Christ and examining our selves by it that we may condemn our selves if we find our selves out of the Way which he hath taught and we may reform our Practice by it And if there be any thing obscure in his Discourses let us make our Prayers to him to enlighten our Understandings in the Knowledge of it if it be necessary to Salvation practising those Truths in the mean Time that are plain and worthy of our Observation To profit by the Actions of Jesus Christ we must look upon them as the Rule and Pattern of our Conversations He would have us admire his Miracles but imitate his Actions for this Reason it is that he commands us to learn of him not to cure the Blind or raise the Dead Matth. 11.30 but to be meek and lowly in Heart When he commanded the Leper to tell no Man of the Cure he had wrought on him and fled from the People who would have made him a King we should learn to avoid Vain-glory and Ambition from him We should read the Actions of the Son of God with Design of conforming our selves to them when we see him washing his Apostles Feet putting on the same Humility which we see in him and when we see him eating with Sinners learn the same Charity In fine let us study the Affections of Jesus and conform our selves to them love nothing but what he loves and contemn the same Things he despised He hated Sin he despised Riches Honour and Pleasures he loved and sought the Glory of his Father and all his Care was to obey and please him for which end he refused not to undergo Poverty Affronts Disgrace Grief Sorrow yea Death itself These are the things he would have us learn from him and this is what we should think upon and imitate Nor is the Advantage less which we may gather from reading the Sufferings of Jesus Christ We must look upon them as we have already said as voluntary and it is good to consider them with relation to the Two Ends for which he suffered 1. For our Satisfaction 2. For our Instruction 1. He suffered to satisfy Justice for our Sins and endured the Punishment of our Offences to deliver us from eternal Torments The Consideration of this Action ought to excite in us â— Love to Jesus Christ who endured so much to give us a Proof of his Love to us 2. Hatred and Abhorrence of him which could not be expected but by the Sufferings and Death of God himself with relation to the Second End for which Christ suffered which was our Instruction We ought to make
out of the Temple cast the Changers Mony on the Ground and overthrew their Tables and said unto those that Sold Doves Ps 69.9 Take these things hence make not my Fathers house an house of Merchandize This Action of Jesus brought to the Disciples minds these words of Scripture The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up but it surpriz'd and incensed the Jews who required of him a Miracle to prove his Authority of acting in that manner To whom he said Destroy this Temple and in three days I will rebuild it They understood it of the Temple out of which he had driven the Traders but he meant it of his Body which should be destroyed by Death and raised again the third day He did many Miracles at the Passover in Jerusalem which continues seven days and many Persons believed in his Name but he would not trust himself with those who were won only by Miracles because he knew the bottom of their hearts and exactly discerned what was unsound and imperfect in their Faith XX. The Discourse between J. Christ and Nicodemus VVhile Jesus was at Jerusalem Jo. 3 1.-12 a Jewish Ruler of the Sect of the Pharisees came to him by night and said unto him Master We know that thou art a Teacher come from God for no man can do those Miracles that thou dost except God be with him From hence Jesus takes an Occasion to teach this Pharisee the necessity of Baptism in order to Salvation saying unto him Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God To which he adds these important Truths That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit and that the Spirit inspires whom it pleaseth Nicodemus being surpriz'd asked him how can this be Jesus reproving his Ignorance that he was a Doctor and knew not these things saith unto him We testify what we have seen and ye receive not our Witness He then discovers these Mysteries of our Religion to him Jo. 3 13.-20 That no Man hath ascended up to Heaven but the Son of Man that came from Heaven That the Brazen Serpent which Moses put upon a Pole in the VVilderness that all those who were bitten by the fiery Serpents by looking upon it might be healed of their VVounds was but a Figure of him who was fixed unto the Cross for the deliverance of all those that believe in him from Eternal Death That he was sent into the World not to condemn the World but to save it That so great was the love of God towards Men that he gave them his only begotten Son to dy for them but this Love will be a just cause of Condemnation to all those that believe not in this Son and receive not this Light that is come to enlighten them loving rather to continue in darkness because they will not bring their VVorks to the Light of Truth lest they should be convinced thereby that the Actions which they so much delight in are criminal and sinful XXI St. Johns second Testimony concerning Jesus Jo. 3 23.-27 Jesus being come from Jerusalem after the Feast tarryed in Judea with his Disciples and there Baptized at the same time that John administred his Baptism in Jordan Here the Disciples of John had a dispute with the Jews about Baptism And they came to their Master and spake to him concerning Jesus Saying He to whom thou bearest Witness doth now Baptize and all men flock to him St. John who would not have gathered Disciples but that he might resign them to the Son of God answered them A man can receive nothing except it be given him from Heaven signifying by this answer that he acted in his Ministry only by the power and command of him who had called him to it Jo. 3 28.-36 He then puts them in mind of the Protestations which he had made before them That he was not the Christ He tells them that he is not the Bridegroom of the Church but the Bridegroom's Friend only And in that Quality 't was his only Joy and delight to hear the Bridegroom's Voice He goes on and says He must increase but I must decrease He adds that Jesus Christ came from above and therefore is above all that he speaks what he hath seen and heard and that he that receiveth his Testimony acknowledgeth that God is true because God hath sent him and hath not given his Spirit by measure to him but because he loveth him he hath given all things into his hands That Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he that believeth in him hath eternal Life and on the contrary he that believeth not shall not see Life but is an Object of the Wrath of God which shall not depart from him XXII John 's Imprisonment St. John did not think he had discharged his Office sufficiently Mat. 14 3.-5 Mar. 6 17.-20 Lu. 3.19 20. in discovering Jesus to be the Messiah at the River Jordan but he went to the Princes Court to Preach true Morality and Piety Herod Antipas the Son of Herod the Great in whose Reign Jesus Christ was Born and his Successor in one fourth part of his Kingdom from whence he is called Herod the Tetrarch had Marryed contrary to all Laws Herodias his Brother Philips Wife John went to reprove him for this Crime and for all the other evils which he had done and told him confidently that it was not Lawful for him to have her for his Wife who was his Brothers Wife Herod was not presently angry with this Holy Man but on the contrary believing him to be a Just Man and an Holy he had a great Respect and Veneration for him yea he feared him was a diligent Hearer of him and followed his advice in many things But Herodias was not so well affected to John for she hated him Mortally and sought all Occasions to destroy him By her instigation Herod became every day more averse to him and at length to please her apprehended him and put him into Prison He had at that time put him to Death but that he feared the People who accounted of and reverenced John as a Prophet VVhen Jesus knew that John was put into Prison and that the Pharisees had heard that he made and Baptized more Disciples than John tho' he Baptized no Man himself Jo. 4 1.-4 but by his Disciples he left Judea and returned into Galilee through Samaria XXIII The Samaritan Woman Jo. 4 5.-11 About noon Jesus came to a City of Samaria named Sychar and being wearied with his Journey he sat down on the brink of a Fountain called Jacob's VVell in a parcel of Ground which that Patriarch gave long since to his Son Joseph A certain VVoman of this Countrey came to fetch VVater at this VVell and Jesus saith unto her Give me to drink This VVoman who thought him to be a Jew wondred that he
to whom he said That if they would continue firm in the Observation of his Word then they should be his Disciples indeed That they should know the Truth and the Truth should make them free The Jews reply'd that they never were Servants but free as being the Children of Abraham He answers them That every one that commits Sin is the Servant of Sin and that they could not be truly free unless he made them free That they were indeed Abrahams Children according to the flesh but that in rejecting the Truth and seeking to Kill him who had told them the Truth they did not do like Abraham but made themselves the Children of another Father by following his Example and imitating him They maintain'd that in that sense they had no other Father but God but Jesus tells them again That if they were the Children of God they would hear God's Word and Love his only begotten Son whom he hath sent That Murther and Lying being the Works of the Devil those People who sought to destroy a Man whom they could not prove Guilty of any Crime and who had told them the Truth had the Devil for their Father They made no reply to this but by railing at him Calling him a Samaritan that hath a Devil Jesus answered them plainly I have not a Devil but honour my Father adding that there is another that will do him Justice because he seeketh not his own Glory Afterwards he saith That he that keeps his Word shall never dye which he means of Eternal Death But the Jews who understood it of the Death of the Body took occasion to insult over him asking him Whether he was greater than Abraham and the Prophets that he could preserve them from Death that keep his Commandments which these great Men could not avoid and therefore desire him to tell them what manner of Man he would have them to take him for He answers them again That he honoured not himself but derived all his Honour from his Father whom they worshipped as their God but know him not That as for Abraham whom they were always bragging of he had earnestly desired to see the Coming of him whom they contemned which he saw and was filled with great Joy They replyed Thou art not yet Fifty Years Old and hast thou seen Abraham He answered them Verily verily I say unto you before Abraham was I am Upon this they took up Stones to cast at him but he hid himself and went out of the Temple escaping the Fury of his Enemies for that time that he might expose himself to all their Malice and Rage when his time appointed by his Father for him to suffer was come XXII Jesus gives sight to a Man born Blind Jesus as he passed the Streets of Jerusalem John 9 1-41 saw a Man sitting in the Streets who was Blind from his Birth and his Disciples asked him whether it was his own or his Parents Sin that was the cause of his Blindness He answered them that he was not made Blind for any Sin that either himself or his Parents had committed but that God might manifest the more the wonderful Works of his Power He adds that it is his Office to do these Works in the time allowed him for it and that so long as he is in the World he is the Light of the World After this answer He spat on the Ground and having made Clay with the spittle he rubbed the eyes of the Blind Man with it and sent him to wash them to the Pool called the Pool of Silom where as soon as he had washed he saw clearly His Neighbours and all those that knew him when he was Blind and sat in the Streets begging could not believe what they saw but doubted whether he was the same Man or one like him But he told them all that it was he himself And further related to them That a Man called Jesus had restored his sight They asked him where he was but he saying that he could not tell they carryed him to the Pharisees who also themselves examined him and he related to them how the thing happened It was the Sabboth-day on which Jesus healed this Blind Man which was the cause that some of the Pharisees said This Man is not of God because he keepeth not the Sabboth But others could not believe that a Wicked Man could do so great Miracles so that there was a great Division among them Then they asked the Blind Man what he thought himself He answered that he looked upon Jesus as a Prophet All these things much astonished the Jews and they would not believe it till they had called the Father and Mother of the Blind Man of whom they enquired Is this your Son whom ye say was born Blind how then doth he see clearly But they fearing the Jews and knowing the Resolution that they had made to put every Man out of the Synagogue who should acknowledge that Jesus was Christ answered freely We know that this is our Son and that he was born Blind but we are ignorant by what means he seeth or who hath opened his Eyes He is of Age ask him he shall answer for himself Wherefore they called the Blind Man the second time and said unto him Give God the Glory we know that this Man is a Sinner and a Wicked Man He answered them I cannot tell whether he be a sinner but this I know that whereas I was Blind I now see clearly They asked him again how he had received his sight And he answered them I have already told and ye did not mind it why would you hear it again Are you desirous to be his Disciples Then were they enraged against him and reproaching him said unto him Thou art one of his Disciples but we are Moses 's Disciples For we know that God spake to Moses but as for this Man we knew not whence he is The Blind Man reply'd That it was very strange that they should not know that a Man who hath so Miraculously opened the Eyes of one Born Blind a thing the like to which was never heard of since the World began must needs be from God At this they cast him out of their Assembly with disgrace saying Thou wast altogether born in Sin and dost thou undertake to teach us Jesus heard that they had thus expelled him and meeting him he said unto him Dost thou believe on the Son of God He answered him Who is he Lord that I may believe on him Jesus saith unto him Thou hast seen him and it is he that speaketh to thee He answered him Lord I believe and immediately fell down at his Feet and Worshipped him as the Messias Jesus adds that he came into the World to exercise an amazing Judgment that the Blind may see and they that see may become Blind i. e. that they whose Pride hinders them from acknowledging their Spiritual Blindness may be blinded so as not to see the Truth for some
departed from Bethany Matth. 21 1-9 Mark 11 1-10 Luke 19 29-38 John 12 12-18 and as soon as he came to a little Village called Bethphage which was situated at the Bottom of the Mount of Olives which is distant from Jerusalem but little more than half a Mile he said to Two of his Disciples Go unto the Village over-against you and ye shall there find a Shee-Ass and with her a Colt on which no Man ever sat loose it and bring it to me and if the Owners ask you why ye do so ye shall answer them That the Lord hath need of him and they will let you bring him The Disciples exactly obeyed this Order and finding every thing as Jesus had foretold they brought the Ass and Colt to him upon which when they had set him he rode to Jerusalem In the mean Time the People which were come to Jerusalem to the Feast having received Information of the Resurrection of Lazarus from those that were Eye-Witnesses of the Miracle and hearing that Jesus was coming to that great City took Branches of Palm-trees and went in great Throngs to meet him crying out Hosanna i. e. Salvation and Glory Blessed be the King of Israel who cometh in the Name of the Lord. Jesus riding upon the Colt which his Disciples had covered with their Garments came in Triumph thus accomplishing that Prophesy of Zachary Zach. 9.9 Fear not Daughter of Zion behold thy King cometh full of Meekness and siting upon an Ass's Colt A great multitude of People did also spread their Garments in the way and others cut down Branches from the Trees and strewed them where he was to pass When they were come to the Descent of the Mount of Olives his Disciples being transported with Joy to see their Master so highly honoured gave Praise to God with a loud Voice for all the mighty Works which they had seen saying Blessed be the King that cometh in the Name of the Lord Peace in Heaven and Glory in the Highest And all the People as well those that went before as those that followed after joyned with the Disciples in their Acclamations so that he was surrounded with Shouts saying Hosanna i. e. Honour to the Son of David blessed be he that cometh in the Name of the Lord blessed be the Kingdom of our Father David which we have seen to come Hosanna Peace and Honour in the Highest Heavens II. Jesus Christ bewails the Destruction of Jerusalem Matth. 21.10 11. Luke 19 39-44 The Pharisees could not see so great Honour bestowed upon a Man whom they had resolved to put to Death without great Indignation and therefore argued among themselves Do ye not perceive that we prevail nothing Behold all the World is gone after him But some of them could not conceal their Anger but said among the Multitude to Jesus Master command thy Disciples to hold their Peace But he silenced them themselves by saying to them That the Stones would immediately cry out if his Disciples should hold their Peace Then they came near to Jerusalem and Jesus casting his Eyes upon that miserable City whose Miseries and Sins he foresaw shed forth Tears as a Sign of the Compassion with which he was affected for her and seeing her cryed out O that thou hadst known at least in this thy Day the things that conduce to thy Peace and Safety but now they are all hid from thine Eyes For the Time shall come when thy Enemies shall cast Trenches about thee and invest thee and keep thee in on every Side and demolish thee and cast thy Children out and shall not leave one Stone upon another because thou hast not known the Time wherein God hath visited thee So that he shews himself much more affected for the Ruin of Jerusalem than at the Acclamations with which they received him Being entred into the City with so great a Number of People all the Citizens were moved and every one enquired Who is this Man To whom the Multitude answered It is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth in Galilee III. Jesus Christ again foretels his Death Besides the Jews who were come to Jerusalem John 12 20-36 to keep the Passover there were also Heathens who being Proselytes of the Gates were come to worship God at that Feast Some of these having a great Desire to see Jesus did for that Reason come to Philip one of the Twelve Apostles Philip tells Andrew of it and both of them told their Master Jesus who by his Death was about to obtain Salvation as well for the Gentiles as Jews answered these Two Apostles That his Hour was come that he should be glorified And as a Grain of Wheat brings forth no Fruit till it is dead in the Earth where it is sown so should his Death be the Seed which should produce a great Harvest that the Faithful which should be produced thereby should learn by his Example to hate their Lives in this World that they may preserve it to Life Eternal and that the Service which they should pay him in following him whithersoever he goeth should be rewarded with Eternal Glory He also for their Comfort brought upon himself the Horrors of his Death and therefore stirred up voluntarily a Passion in his Soul which discovered it self outwardly by these Words My Soul is troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this Hour But considering with himself how great Glory God would gain by his Death he added But for this Cause came I to this Hour Father glorify thy Name At the same Time there came a Voice from Heaven which said I have glorified it already and will glorify it again They that were present said That it was a Clap of Thunder and others said That an Angel spake unto him but he answered This Voice came not for me but for your sakes And to let them know what Influence his Death which he should suffer upon the Cross ought to have upon all Men he saith Now is this World judged and the Prince of this World i. e. the Devil is cast out and when I am lifted up from the Earth I will draw all Men unto me Upon this the Jews asked him How the Death of the Son of Man could be consonant with the Holy Scripture which saith That Christ must endure for ever and never dye And they added Who is this Son of Man He answers them That they should enjoy the Light a little Time and advises them That since it is no fit Time to walk or act when they are deprived of it they should believe in the Light that is in him so long as he is with them Jesus having spoke these Words John 12 36-50 hid himself from them since they made no deeper Impression upon their Hearts than his Miracles did which he had done before them in so great Numbers for they were stricken with that Blindness of Heart which according to Isaiah's Prophecy Isa 6.9 hindred them from seeing that
to satisfie Justice for the Sin of Men and to pacifie God for the offence committed against him by suffering himself for it He condescended to be conceived by a Virgin Born in a Stable become an Infant converse with Men and live among them such a Life as we shall hereafter relate He preached did Miracles suffered Affronts and Injuries endured an Infamous and painful Death was Buryed in a Tomb rose again and Lastly ascended into Heaven After he commanded his Disciples to go and Preach in his Name thro' all the World and all this to perform and Compleat the Great Work of our Salvation Behold how great Love God hath shewed to Rebellious Man The Father hath given his only Son and this Son gave himself for them Let no Man ask the reason why God did not make choice of some easier way to save us which might cost him less It is certain that the Almighty could have found out some other means but it is also certain that we ought to look upon this which God hath made use of as the most advantageous for us and most agreeable to our needs since that God hath preferred it before all others who is not only the most Powerful but Wise Being who cannot be mistaken in the fittest means for attaining the End he aims at Let us not then examine what other ways God might have taken to effect this Great Work but let us devoutly consider how Glorious to himself and how profitable to us that way is which he hath taken And 1st God in the Incarnation of his Son hath magnified his Power and Goodness for he hath demonstrated to Man that tho' he is pleased to permit the Evils which he could hinder he can produce great good out of them and make those very Sins which dishonour him to be serviceable for his glory in it He hath shewed his Mercy and his Justice for he pardons the Guilty and at the same time he received a satisfaction equivalent to the Offence committed By it he hath discovered to us the admirable and unsearchable strength of his Wisdom which hath found out a way to satisfy at once both his Justice and his Love and hath so ordered it that the Criminal may be saved and yet God who hath been offended not be dishonoured for by the Death of Jesus Christ God is revenged and Mans Sin punished He bore our grief in his own Body and offered such a Sacrifice to his Father as could not but be accepted because it was Pure and Innocent and which payd him as great honour as he had received affront by Man's Sin for it was of infinite value being united to the God-head The perfect submission of the Son of God even to the Death of the Cross hath made sufficient amends for the Disobedience of a mere Man Men are saved because another hath undergone the punishment due to them and God hath lost nothing of his Honour since he was offended by a mere Creature but hath been infinitely Honoured by a God And as it is glorious to God so also is 2. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ as advantageous to Man by the wonderful fitness which it hath to all the defects and evils from which the Divine Wisdom hath thought fit to deliver him for Gods anger was not only to be appeased but Man who was diseased was to be cured Now as the perfection of Man consisted in knowing and loving God so the disease of Man was to be stripped of these so that he neither knew God nor loved him but laboured under blindness of Mind and corruption of Heart which Christ by his Incarnation hath removed and cured For 1. He hath restored Man to the knowledge of God He hath opened the Eyes of Man to make him know the true God for the Word who is the Light of the Soul John 1.14 was made flesh and dwelt among us The Light which we shut our Eyes against came down from Heaven to present it self to us accommodating it self to the weakness of our sight and because we were able to discern nothing but Corporeal things he cloathed himself with a Body that so by our Senses he might insinuate himself into our Souls and disperse our darkness and blindness Jesus Christ being thus become visible he conversed sometime with Men did Miracles to make them believe on him and by sensible benefits healing the Sick freeing the Possessed drawed them to him and so having insensibly link'd them to his Human Nature which he assumed to work out Salvation for them he Preached the Truth to them They heard his Word with pleasure and this Word purifying their Hearts by Faith which they had in this Man who Preached to them prepared them by little and little and at last led them insensibly to the knowledge of the-God-head which was hidden under the Vail of the Humanity 2. But since it is not enough for Man to know God unless he Love him Jesus Christ by his Incarnation hath healed our corruption of Heart and hath drawn our Affections off from the Love of the Creature to that of the Creator for being Cloathed with a Body he placed his God-head among those Objects which the Soul in the State of Corruption doth naturally fix its Love upon and by sensible benefits and kindnesses endeavoured to bring it to the Consideration and Love of Invisible and Eternal good things He shewed it what it ought to love as its true Happiness and not only raised its hopes to attain it but Taught it the proper means of arriving at it Lastly He convinced it of the great Love God had for it and consequently how much it ought to love him for what greater sign of love could he have given us than in sending his only begotten Son to Dye for us who were his Enemies And what more effectual Attracture to oblige us to love him again who hath thus loved us first What Heart is so hard as not to be melted with such immense kindness A slight reflection upon it will make us resolve with the beloved Disciple and say Let us Love God for he hath first Loved us 1 Jo. 4 19. And as the Incarnation of Christ gives us an ample proof of Gods love to us so also it shews us the greatness of the Crime with which we have offended him The greatness of the Satisfaction discovers the greatness of our Guilt Man could never have conceived the heinousness of his Sin if God had not required so great a satisfaction We usually look upon Adam's sin as a small sin and are apt to accuse God of injustice for punishing a momentary Action with eternal Torments not considering that the Person who was threatned with eternal Torments for his Rebellion might have enjoyed an eternal Happiness for his Obedience But the Incarnation of the Son of God hath justified the Justice of God for his Blood which was shed for the expiation of our Sin is a faithful Mirrour to represent the greatness of