was accepted And this passes for a general Opinion with us and not without a great shew of Reason for it seems to be founded on the Mosaick Law it self there we see that Idolatry Murder Blasphemy c. were always punish'd with Death unless the special Favour of God interposed There was no Sacrifice permitted to expiate the proâ—anation of the Sabbath for it is expresly said Everyone that defileth the Sabbath shall surely be put to death Exod. 31. 14. Nor could he that eat the Sacrifice whilst he was in his Vncleanness be pardon'd for this is his Doom That Soul shall be cut off from his People Levit. 7. 20 21. There was no Sacrifice admitted for Adultery or for disobeying of Parents In short Sins of Ignorance only were expiated by the Mosaick Sacrifices but all Sins of Presumption remain'd unatoned which they prove from Numb 15. 28 30. The Priest shall make an atonement for the Soul that sinneth ignorantly But the Soul that doth ought presumptuously shall be cut off from among his People So that Sins of Obstinacy and Malice had no Sacrifice allow'd the Offenders were either put to death by the Magistrate or cut off by God But notwithstanding all this that is alledged it seems to me very evident that the guilt of all Sins whatsoever if they were heartily repented of was atoned by the Mosaick Sacrifices For when those of the other Opinion say there was no Expiation for greater Sins it must be meant either of Internal or External Sins Now it is generally confess'd that God appointed Sacrifices and Expiations for the greatest Sins of the Heart and Mind as Unbelief blasphemous Thoughts idolatrous Imaginations desires of Murder uncleanness of the Heart c. for even some of the best Men it is likely were not free from these mental Pollutions Who can imagine that there was no atonement for these under the Law Can we think that all perish'd who were at any time guilty of these No certainly they were pardon'd through God's Mercy upon Repentance and the appointed means of sacrificing And as for visible and outward gross Enormities tho there may seem to be no provision made in the Mosaick Law for their Expiation because the Offenders were presently punish'd with Death yet it doth not follow thence that there was no Expiation for those notorious Crimes for they might be expiated tho it was fitting and necessary that they should be animadverted upon by a severe Penalty leâ—t Impunity should encourage Men in Sin and Vice When we find then in Moses's Law that such as were guilty of Adultery Murder Incest c. were not exempted from Capital Punishment we cannot thence infer that Sacrifices purg'd none from the guilt of these Enormities and that the Legal Offerings were design'd only to expiate for smaller Aberrations for the reason why those great Offenders were punish'd was not because there were no Sacrifices and Oblations to clear them of their Guilt but because it was requisite Death should be the Recompence of those Crimes lest the Common-wealth should be endamaged and ruined by suffering such to go unpunish'd But even the guilt of these heinous Sins if those that committed them sincerely repented of them was expiated by those daily Offerings which were made for the Sins of the People and by the frequent Trespass-Offerings notwithstanding the infliction of the corporal Punishment The Propitiatory Sacrifices were available even to those who suffer'd for their Sins They were able through God's Appointment to remove the Guilt the not the Punishment Is it not acknowledg'd and that because it is manifest from several Instances that the Crimes of Persons have been forgiven and pardon'd tho they themselves were not exempted from the Penalty Moses's Death was the Recompence of his Unbelief tho none doubts of his expiring in the Divine Favour David was punish'd with the Death of his Child tho we read that his Sin was pardon'd Iosiah was justly snatch'd away in Battel because he ingag'd in it against the Divine Will and Command but yet he died in peace i. e. in the Favour of God and was transmitted to the place of Everlasting Peace and Happiness Wherefore I gather hence that tho Death was made by Moses's Law the penal Consequence of Adultery Disobedience to Parents Violation of the Sabbath Day c. yet whoever among such Criminals as these turn'd unto God by an unfeign'd detestation of the Sins they committed had without doubt the benefit of the Legal Sacrifices which expiated the Offences of all true Penitents tho they were never so great And the reason is this because this Institution or Ordinance of Sacrificing was the standing means of Salvation in the Jewish Dispensation and therefore it was requisite that the influence of it should extend to all Sinners that were heartily sorry for their Offences and abhorr'd their past Crimes yea and themselves for being guilty of them This we must grant unless we will say that no heinous Sinners under the Law were ever pardon'd and receiv'd to Mercy which is an assertion that is easily baffled by a great many Instances which the Old Testament records It was in the was of Sacrifices that these Persons had their Guilt remitted and expiated for there was no other Expedient or Remedy at that time as we are assured not only from the End and Design of instituting the Sacrifices which was to take away Sin but from those express words of the Apostle which refer to this manner of Expiation without shedding of Blood there is no Remission Heb. 9. 22. This then being the only way of Remission and Pardon of Sin it was certainly efficacious and even those who were cut off from their People tho this Doom doth not always signify immature Death and therefore can't be absolutely made use of here or were cut off from the Land of the Living and their Sins atoned by the Law of Sacrifices supposing as hath been said before that they repented from their Hearts of their vile and flagitious Miscarriages And this may be further made good from that plain distinction of Chattah and Asham the Sin Offering and the Trespass Offering the one being design'd to remove the Guilt of petty Declensions the other to make satisfaction for gross and enormous Crimes And moreover this is plain from Levit. 5. 4 15. where Sacrifices are commanded to be offer'd for great Crimes as unlawful swearing and sacrilege And the Aâ—niversary Oblation in Levit. 16. 16 c. was not only for their Vncleannesses but for for their Transgressions in all their Sins But as for the sin of Presumption or sinning with a high hand as 't is in the Hebrew Numb 15. 30. it includes in this place Impenitence and final Obstinacy and therefore it is no wonder that there was no Atonement for it for even the Alsufficient Merit of Christ Jesus doth not expiate for this Sin but all other Sins were atoned by Sacrifices I see no reason to the contrary and therefore I
Vessel whilst the Israelites were in the Wilderness and so was continued till Solomon's Temple was finished and then Fire came down again from Heaven and consumed the Sacrifices 2 Chron. 7. 1. This was preserv'd till the Babylonian Captivity and afterwards renewed 2 Macc. 1. 22. Here the Difference between the Patriarchal Sacrifices and the Mosaick ones might be taken notice of The Patriarchs had no other Expiatory Sacrifices but Holocausts or Burnt-Offerings as is clear from several places Besides there were Anniversary Monthly and Weekly Sacrifices among the Iews but we know not that there was any such thing before the Law And some other Differences the Reader may gather from the particulars aforesaid But the End and Design of these Sacrifices are chiefly to be inquired into where we shall also see a further Difference in some things between the Mosaical and Patriarchal Sacrifices Let us see to What Purpose all those Bloody Offerings were appointed let us acquaint our selves with the Design of Heaven in it First They were as the Fruits of the Earth intended as Acknowledgments that God was their Benefactor He gave these Animals as well as those Fruits and therefore it was fit to offer these as well as the others 2. If we speak concerning the Continual Morning and Evening Sacrifices it is certain they were Symbolical they were a Token of God's Presence among them They were instituted as a Testimony of This as you read in Exod. 29. 38 to the end They were a Sign that the Lord would be continually with them and be their God 3. The Mosaical Sacrifices were to testifie what the Iews deserved for their Sins viz. Death By these Bloody Oblations it was signified that the Life of Beasts should expiate for the Life of Men who had sinned and were become worse than Beasts Sheep and Oxen were substituted in the room of Offenders these sinned and those were slain Though this could not be evidently discover'd by Natural Light as hath been said yet now upon God's declaring in the Law the nature of these Sacrifices it appears that this was one design of them Those Legal Sacrifices were a kind of Confession of their Guilt By killing their Beasts they did as 't were acknowledg that themselves deserved to be used so 4. The Mosaical Sacrifices were Federal Rites and design'd to signify the Correspondence and Agreement between God and Man To which purpose you may observe that as part of the Shelamim the Peace-Offerings was burnt on the Altar so the remainder and greater part were eaten by the People that brought it to shew that it was truly a Sacrifice of Peace a Ceremony of Communion and Friendship with God a Token of Fellowship and Amity between God and Man As for the Holocaust that indeed was all of it burnt but there was a Meat-Offering and Drink-Offering annexed to it to denote Familiarity and Friendship to shew that they were Guests in God's House or rather that they were of his Family and were fed at his Table and eat of his Meat as the Sacrifices are call'd in Mal. 3. 10. and Houshold Provision Again the great Design of the Mosaick Sacrifices was to Expiate and Atone Not only Burnt-Offerings or Helocausts but all Free-will-Offerings were Expiatory notwithstanding what Crellius affirms viz. that they were Eucharistical and therefore were not Expiatory But we must know that That Epithet doth not respect the End which those Sacrifices were design'd for but the occasion of their Offering them As for the name of Peace-Offerings that was given to this sort of Sacrifices not only because they were offer'd in way of Return for their Peace i. e. as the Hebrew word denotes their Safety and Welfare which were vouchsafed to them but because the offering of them did also procure Peace with God and did assure them of the like Blessing for the future from the same Propitious Hand And therefore tho in another Dispensation I distinguish'd between Eucharistical and Expiatory Sacrifices yet there is no reason to do so here when I am speaking of the Mosaick Sacrifices all or most of which have on them the evident marks and tokens of Expiation They were appointed to propitiate and appeaâ—e God's Wrath and therefore might all of them be call'd Pacifick as well as some That these Peace-Offerings were Expiatory is proved from this that here was putting the Beast to Death here was Sprinkling the Blood here was the Consumption of some part of the Beast on the Altar as an Oblation to God which are the three Ingredients of an Expiatory Sacrifice But what was this Expiation which was made by the Mosaick Sacrifices I answer It was threesold 1. In respect of Corporal Punishment The Sanction of the whole Mosaick Law is express'd in Deut. 27. 26. Gal. 3. 10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them Which Curse imports no less then Death it self besides all the miseries of this life But God was pleas'd to mitigate the rigour of this Sanction and whereas according to the strictness of the Law those who were found guilty of violating it were to Die this was not put in Execution but Beasts were appointed to suffer death for the Offenders and their death was accepted for the death of Sinners 2. These Sacrifices Expiated as to Legal and Bodily Impurities which separated them from publick Converse and Worship Such were Leprosy Touching the Dead c. Hence the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrâ—ws saith that they Sanctified to the purifying of the Flesh Heb. 9. 13. 3. These Sacrifices which is the most considerable thing of all Expiated for Moral Impurities viz. all sorts of Sins I know it is asserted by some Men of great Learning when they discourse of Sacrifices that the Mosaick Law gave no pardon to heâ—â—ous Sinners that great Offences were not expiated by Scarifices This is more especially held by 〈◊〉 who urges that the Sacrifices under the Law were available only for lesser Sins not for great ones And Volkelius and other profes'd Socinians insist upon the same thing and labour to prove that Sacrifices were offer'd only for expiating of Sins of Lgnorance Weakness and Error and that Death was the Penalty of all great and enormous Offences The same is defended by Smalcius as the Reader may find it in his Writing And we are told by one of our own Divines that the Jewish Religion allow'd of no Expiation but for legal Impurities and involuntary Transgressions such as proceeded from Ignorance and Inadvertency but not for Sins of Presumption and such as were committed with an high hand If Men sinned wilfully there was no Sacrifice appointed by the Law for such Sins And another of great repute in our Church agrees with him saying The greater Crimes under the Law were no otherwise to be expiated but by the Blood of the Offender himself whereas for lesser ones the Blood of Beast
of the true Reasons of this part of the Legal Dispensation viz. why after so long a time from the Creation these Ceremonies and Observations some of which were very irksome and burdensome were imposed by God on the Hebrew People and lasted till Christ's coming It may be expected I should treat in the next place of the Iudicial Law which was for preserving of Civil Peace and Justice among the Iews This was the Common or Municipal Law of that Nation It contain'd Precepts concerning the ordering of that People in the matter of Judgement Punishments Contracts Division of Lands and Inheritances making of War and the like These Precepts may be distinguish'd according to the different Ranks of Men and so 1. they have a regard to the Relation between the Prince or Magistrate and the People there you have the Injunctions which concern Governours and their Office and likewise the Duty which is to be paid to them 2. They have respect to the Relation and Commerce which People have with one another and there you have Precepts concerning Buying and Selling c. 3. They direct the Iews as to their Behaviour towards Strangers here are Rules concerning entertaining of Strangers going to War against their Enemies c. 4. They take notice of Domestick Relations and accordingly give directions as to the behaviour of Husbands Wives Children Servants c. It is not of this Law that I am concern'd at present to speak because it is Secular rather than Religious and so doth not properly fall under my consideration when I treat of the Dispensations of Religion Only as we observ'd before of some of the Ceremonies enjoyn'd by the Mosaick Law that they were in use before that Dispensation so here it may be noted that some of the Iudicial Laws were in force before Moses's time as punishing Adultery with death only with this difference that before the Law Adultery was punishâ—d with Fire but now with Sâ—oning Killing of a Man or Woman was punish'd with death marrying the Brother's Widow was enjoyn'd Cutting off from the People was a Sanction among the Patriarchs The Right of Primogeniture obtain'd before the Law of Moses Moreover I will remark that some things in this juncture pass for Laws which are rather and more properly may be call'd Dispensations or Permissions Thus Poligamy which was practis'd by Lamech first then by Abraham and Iacob is now permitted under the Law as in Elkanaâ— David Solomon c. And thus they permitted a Man to put away his Wife for Fornication or Adultery As for the Degrees of Consanguinity and Affinity within which the Iews were forbid to marry the 18 th Chapter of Leviticus gives us a full account of them and I shall afterwards have an opportunity of discoursing of them Therefore I will not insert any thing of them in this place for what I have said is sufficient for my purpose which was to give you some account of this distinct Administration and to let you see wherein it differeth from the rest Only here I will inquire what obligation these Iudicial Laws have upon Christians It was the opinion of Castalio and some others that these are to be perpetually retain'd in Christian Commonwealths but it is not reasonable to pronounce this in the gross for we ought rather to distinguish concerning this matter I could observe then to you that as Moral Laws viz. concerning the Poor Forgiving of Injuries Equity in Contracts Duty towards Strangers were mixed with the Ceremonial ones in Levit. 19. So several Moral or Natural Laws such as oblige all Nations were delivered on Mount Sinai mixed with Iudicial ones Such was the Law against Homicide the Duty of Men to Widows and Orphans the Reverence due to the Magistrate and others mention'd in the 21 and 22. Chapters of Exoduâ— These belong not to the Mâ—saical Polity or the Iudicial Law but concern all Persons at all Times and in all Places In the inquiry then proposed there are these two kinds of Laws 1. Such as have respect to the particular Condition and Circumstances of the Iews and concern their individual Polity and State 2. Such as are not appropriated to the State of the Hebrew People but were given to them as Men rather than Iews and consequently may be serviceable and useful to other Nations As to the former of these they do not oblige Christians in the least but expired with the State of that People but the latter are obligatory under the Gospel so far as they are of common Equity and as they may be made use of now as well as then And tho what our Church in her Seventh Article saith is to be granted namely that the Civil Precepts of the Mosaick Law ought not of necessity to be receiv'd in any Common-wealth yet where Reason and Equity commend those Civil Constitutions to any Commonwealth or Kingdom they are to be embraced and made use of For there is some Reverence to be given to those Politicks which were the Invention and Appointment of Heaven and so far as they were not appropriated to the condition of the Iewish People they may be practised among Christians without offence Thus the Law of Tithes is lawfully adopted into our Constitutions in this Nation So likewise if you look to their bodily Punishments you will see that some of them are made use of in Christian Kingdoms if not all of them in one place or other But here it will be asked May Christians inflict severer Punishments than the Iewish Law prescribed To which Sr. W. Raleigh answers thus Christian Magistrates may abate of the severity of Moses's Law and mitigate the punishment of Death but they can't make it more heavy for it becomes not the Gospel to shew more rigour than the Law But why then is a Capital Punishment iâ—flicted on Thieves and Robbers not only among our selves but in other Christian Countries whereas such Offenders were only to make Restitution or to be Sold according to the Mosaick Law I answer Law-givers have â—ound that a less punishment than Death is not a sufficient Restraint and therefore think it necessary to make use of this And as to what is alledged we return this that Thieves sometimes had a greater Punishment than a Mulct even under the Law We read that they might have been kill'd by those that found them breaking up a house in the night time Exod. 22. 2. And it appears from that Judgment and Decision of King David in 2 Sam. 12. 5. that Theft in some cases was Capital And we read that two Thieves were Crucifled with Christ which was no Punishment for Theft among the Romans and therefore we may probably think the Execution was Iewish and had â—ome foundation in the Mosaick Law according to which some kind of Theft was Felony and in this as in several other things the Christian Laws diffeâ— not from the Iewish ones It is probable that the Jewiâ—â— Cherem or Cuâ—â—ing off gave occasion to the
follow'd with the perfect enjoyment of Good and the violating of it with the experience of all Evil of Sin and Punishment It was to signify what they should know by eating viz. the difference between the Evil of Disobedience and the God of the contrary Or thus it was the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil i. e. of the Good they had before and of the Evil which was to ensue upon eating They should experimentally find what Good they lost and what Evil they fell into So that it is probable this Tree had its name from the Event and Effect of it It taught them by experience what Good and Evil was for after Man had sinn'd in eating that forbidden Fruit he saw and felt what Happiness he had lost and what Misery he had procured Some have been so curious as to enquire and so bold as to determine what particular Tree and Fruit this was It was and Apple-tree say some and they would make it probable from Cant. 8. 5. It was the Vine saith Vossius It was the Indian Fig-tree saith Goropius Becanus Most say it was a Fig-tree with the Leaves of which Adam and Eve covered their nakedness as soon as they had eaten of the Fruit. Theodoret stiffly maintains this Opinion and saith This was the reason why Christ cursed the Fig-tree Athanasius with others incline to this belief but there is no ground for it it must only pass as a Conjecture And so that Father grants in his Answer to that Demand What Tree was it of which Adam eat the Fruit No Man saith he is able exactly to discover that which the Scripture hath wilfully conceal'd The grand thing which we are to mind and which is the principal thing in this first Oeconomy is this that it was God's pleasure that the Fruit of that Tree whatever it was should not be meddled with and therefore straitly charged Adam and his Consort that they should not dare to touch it God might reasonably act after this manner For first as an antient Writer saith on this Subject God dispenseth all things sutably to the particular Time and measureth his Institutions by the Abilities and Powers of Men. Therefore he gave that Command of not eating of this Tree to Adam as it were to a new-born Babe He dealt with our first Parents as with Infants and Children he tried them by mean and low things as most agreeable to their nature But secondly tho he was thus pleased to prohibit them the Fruit of one single Tree yet this was highly accountable if you consider that God gave them the use of all the rest of the Trees in Paradise Of every Tree in the Garden thou mayest freely eat Gen. 2. 16. there was only this one Tree excepted and reserved Here was Liberty and Indulgence sufficient And they might well have contented themselves in the injoyment of it Besides the Creator can lay what Restraints he pleaseth on his Creatures He that made both them and the Garden could justly bar them of any thing which that place afforded Therefore God gave them this Precept to shew his Dominion over them as he was their Maker and Lord. He would let them see by this little Command his absolute Soverainty over them as a pious Father speaks Again God having made them reasonable and indowed them with a power or freedom of choice he might justly exercise that Faculty and put them to an actual trial of it which could not be done but by proposing something to their choice As they had a rational Nature and free Will given them by God they were able to keep that Law of Abstinence and therefore it was not unjust in God yea it was just and fit to impose this upon them as they were free and reasonable Beings This shews the reason of this positive Law which was given them to try their Obedience Likewise it was very reasonable and equitable Command that seeing God had conâ—err'd on them so many Benefits and Blessings they should be limited as to a single one that thereby they might shew their Thankfulness to God for all the rest In the next place consider also that God particularly told them what he expected from them when he gave them a Prohibition about the Tree He assured them that if they ventured to eat of it it should cost them their Lives or more emphatically in the Original they should die the death Here was fair warning and they had time to consider of it and they were sensible how greatly they were obliged to God and how just and reasonable a thing it was to observe his first and original Law that which was matrix omnium praeceptorum as Tertullian calls it yea to obey God in whatsoever he commanded Fifthly To the revealed Laws under the State of Integrity we must refer the Covenant of Works For we may gather from the Sacred Writings that there was a mutual Agreement or federal Compact between God and our first Parents wherein he promis'd to them Eternal Life and Happiness on condition of their perfect Obedience to his Laws and on the contrary Death was threatned if they disobey'd as we have heard already It is true it is not expresly call'd a Covenant in Genesis but it was one for God gave Man a Law and back'd it with Threatnings and Promises and Man agreed and consented to it which is the formal nature of a Covenant Not are we to think that those two Persons and no more were under this Dispensation Altho only Adam and Eve were in actual being at that time yet all Mankind were included in them and represented by them and therefore are to be reckon'd as under that Dispensation For God having created our first Parents without Sin and with knowledg of their Duty and strength to do it he made a Covenant or Agreement with them not only in behalf of themselves but of all their Posterity It was covenanted that if they and their Race continued in Obedience they should never die but be always blessed and happy but if they disobey'd the Divine Command they should be subject to Death and be every way wretched and miserable It is certain they consented and agreed to this for in that State of Integrity what God propounded to them could not but be acceptable God would offer that which was just and equitable as he was God Our first Parents would not disagree to it as they were induâ—d with a perfect understanding and knew that what their Maker propounded was most reasonable They could not but approve of the Condition on their part viz. Obedience and they could not but accept of the Reward promis'd on God's part viz. endless Happiness That they fully consented to the Contract in the name of themselves and their Posterity is demonstrable from many passages in Holy Writ as that Hos. 6. 7. They like Adam for so it is the Hebrew have transgress'd the Covenant which refers to God's Covenant
with Mankind in the beginning of the World when Adam was their Representative And it is certain that he could not transgress it unless he had first agreed to it And this is abundantly clear from the Epistles of St. Paul which frequently have reference to this very thing And the Truth of this may be too manifestly gather'd from the miserable Effects and Consequences of it which we now experience This Covenant then and this Dispensation to which it belongs extend to all Mankind As being in Adam they were all indued with the Divine Image they were all possess'd of Life and Happiness and might have so continued unless they had in him fallen from their Primitive Integrity Hitherto Man was in honour Psal. 49. 12. being created in God's Image he was placed in Paradise he was possess'd of all manner of Felicity and he might have perpetuated it to himself and his Posterity This is the first State of Man viz. that of Innocence which constitutes the first Dispensation CHAP. II. The Nature of the Second General Dispensation The several particular Ingredients of the First Sin Its Aggravations from the Matter of it What kind of Creature the Serpent was whom the Devil made use of in seducing our first Parents It was not a firy flying Serpent but an ordinary one Wherein the Subtilty of this Animal consisted That Adam and Eve fell not on the same day in which they were made is proved from Scripture and Reason The dreadful Effects of the Fall which related to themselves Others which belong'd not only to them but to their whole Race Death was the Penal Consequence of the First Defection The Inward and Spiritual Evils that attended it are enumerated How Man became like the Beasts Eternal Death the Fruit of his Apostacy The Penalty inflicted on the Serpent Not only our First Parents but all Mankind were under this Second Dispensation THE second General Dispensation is the State of Sin and Infelicity viz. from Adam's Fall till he was Restored and Recover'd This State is doubly express'd by the Psalmist Man understood not but became like the Beasts The first represents his Sin and Fall the second the Effects of it So here are both his Fault and his Penalty As among Philosophers there is Physiology which is the considering of Bodies in their natural Temper and there is Pathology which is the consideration of Man's Body as fallen into a state of Disease so in Divinity we distinctly treat of these two the State of Innocence the primitive temper of Mankind and the State of Corruption which is a degeneracy from that first Temper and Constitution Des Cartes imagines this Earth of ours to have been once a glorious Sun but afterward to have sunk into another Vortex and to be overcast with Spots and Scum and so to move slowly and to be what it now is It is certain that Man the best Creature on Earth was once a bright and glorious Being and moved in a high Sphere and cast a most ravishing Light He had the Image of God and the Characters of Divine Wisdom impress'd upon him but he soon lost his Primitive Light and Lustre he forsook his Station and was absorp'd into darkness and overspread with Sin and Misery I begin first with Adam's Sin and here I must enquire into these two things 1. What this Sin was 2. Who were the Instruments of it As to the Sin it self it was no other than this Whereas God had commanded our first Parents that they should not eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil they wilfully despised that Command and took of the forbidden Fruit and did eat of it This was the Sin of Adam and Eve and the first Sin that ever was in the World But this I must insert that there were many undue Inclinations and vitious Dispositions in their Souls which made way for this actual and external Transgression and may be said to be parts and ingredients of this Sin and which are also great Aggravations of their Crime 1. Man being in Honour understood not which may signify that ignorance and senslesness which they had contracted by non-attention They consider'd not what Honour and Dignity they had and so discerned not what was their proper Duty in that State Incogitancy was the first rise and occasion of the Fall of our first Parents saith the profound Dr. Iackson and that very rightly And before him St. Chrysostom had determin'd in the like manner for he holds that Negligence was the first Fault they grew heedless and careless not reflecting on their state and circumstances not duly thinking what they were and what they ought to do thence arose their transgression 2. Sensuality was the previous cause of the first Apostacy The sight of the Fruit excited the Woman's Appetite When she saw the Tree was good for Food and that it was pleasant to the Eyes she took of the Fruit thereof and did eat Gen. 3. 6. And she might easily prevail with her Husband to do so too whilst he perhaps was as much taken with her Beauty as she was with that of the Fruit. There have been several Conjectures about the rise of the first Transgression and I am now presenting the Reader with them but if I should say that Lust among other Incentives was the first spring of it I think no considerate Man can disallow what I propound For tho the new-married couple were created without any tincture of sinful Concupiscence yet God had planted in them those natural Inclinations which were proper and sutable to the Conjugal State Tho these were unpolluted and void of all Vice yet God had placed the Possessors of them in such a mutable State and had endued them with such Powers and Faculties both of Soul and Body that they might make use of them to good or evil as they pleas'd And accordingly they enclined to the latter and turn'd the concupiscible part into that which was evil and vicious and so their innocent Propensions to one another were chang'd into lustful Amours and their mutual desires and complacencies occasion'd by the force of each others Beauty became instrumental to that Sin which we are treating of With Adam more especially this had a great sway for his Wise was a very fair and lovely Creature and it is probable that he look'd on her more than on the Fruit. This was not so fair as she that handed it to him and therefore he was more in love with her than with that because he saw a brightness in that Face which was more charming than what the Tree afforded But yet he had a love to this for the sake of the other and thereupon the uxorious Man after several fits of reluctancy we may suppose resolv'd to gratify his Spouse being beguil'd by her Beauty and by that amorous propension which it had produc'd in him he could deny her nothing Or to speak in more general terms his entire love and affection to her
from an inward coveâ—ing of the Goods which she left behind her or from a foolish pitying of those whom God had design'd for Destruction she stood and look'd back Which Example of hers might have produced the like Passions in others And if it had gone unpunish'd a great contempt of God's Providence would have been the effect But the chief thing which made her looking back toâ— be sinful was this that it was a direct Affront to the Command of God who had strictly charged them to fly and not to look back Gen. 19. 15. 17. And he certainly ought to have been obey'd he that so graciously deliver'd them from the flames of Sodom he that rescued them thence out of his mere Mercy and Favour he that required observance in so easy a matter as this he surely was not to be repay'd with Disobedience therefore he acted most justly when he severely punish'd it in this stubborn Woman So in the Sin of our first Parents we have shew'd before that the intrinsick Causes of it were very bad and the adjoining Circumstances might be prov'd to be as evil and pernicious but if we consider that it was a wilful violating of the Divine Command as it most palpably was it will appear to be yet more sinful and vitious It was no less than a set and voluntary chusing of Death and Misery and reâ—using of everlasting Happiness There can't be imagin'd a greater Sin than this nothing could speak them greater Rebels against Heaven For God designing that his new-made Creatures by conforming to that Prohibition should testify their acknowledgment of him and their subjection to him their acting contrary to it was a high instance of Rebellion and a downright disowning of God's Dominion and Authority And tho indeed it was disobedience to the Divine Command in a lesser matter yet even thence the baseness of the Action is more manifested and the greater ingratitude and unâ—aithfulness of the Sinners are discovered Thus you see what the Sin of our first Parents was you are acquainted with the nature of their Offence Secondly I will in a few words speak of the Prâ—curer and Instrument of it Whilst our first Parents were in their happy state of Integrity they are envied by the Spirits of Darkness the Fallen Angels a rank of Creatures that were made by God to enjoy a blessed Immortality and to be the Attendents and Ministers of the Majesty of Heaven but they soon revolted from God and for their Pride and Arrogance were thrust down from Heaven and divested of that Dignity and Glory which were confer'd upon them These wicked and reprobate Spirits being thus degraded maliciously and revengefully resolv'd to disturb the Felicity of Mankind and to betray the innocent Inhabitants of Paradise into the same misery with themselves The Prince of these Apostate Spirits it is most probable was by general consent of the rest chosen to effect this direful Project and the method they pitch'd upon was to set upon the Woman first and that in the disguise of a Serpent Cyril and one or two others of the Antients were of Opinion that he Devil appear'd in the likeness only of a Serpent but it is more probable that the entred into a true and real Serpent according to the sentiment of most of the Fathers And they have the plain History on their side which saith he was the subtilest of all the Beasts of the Field Gen. 3. 1. And besides the Cursâ— denounc'd against this Animal shews it was a natural Serpent Gen. 3. 14. One tells us that this Creature was a Basilisk Another saith it was a Viper and a third saith it was a Dragon which is an overgrown Serpent But the Devil appearing in the shape of these Creatures would have terrified rather than allured the poor Female Others on a contrary extreme think that it was a bright glorious and winged Serpent that appeared to her They fancy that a Daemon or Devil came to Eve like some Angel or Saraph for the Seraphim or Angels appear'd in form of splendid flying Serpents sometimes as they would prove from Numâ— 21. 6. where the Serpents that God sent among the Israelites are call'd Seraphim And from this place and Isa. 14. 29. they gather that these flying Serpents that were very bright and shining like Fire were usual in the Eastern Countries I have found lately that two excellent Persons of great Name and Esteem in our own Church favour this Opinion But with due respect and deference given first to their Judgment I make bold to offer these Reasons why I dissent from them in this present matter 1. We have no certain knowledg or account of the Serpents spoken of in the forenamed Texts only we know that they were raging fierce and venomous and thence it is likely they were call'd Seraphim burning because by their venomous Sting they produced an inflammation in that part of the Body which they stung And they might be said to flie because of their swift and impetuous motion wherein they exceeded other Serpents 2. If I should grant that there were such firy flying Serpents as these worthy Persons suppose and that they are spoken of in the foregoing places yet it seems not to me probable that Satan would make use of such an affrighting Creature to deal with our Mother Eve This sort of Animals in my apprehension would sooner scare than entice her Methinks his fierce and furious motion should strike terror into her his flaming Wings should make her fly from him not hold discourse with him Or at least 3. this Spectacle was too glittering and dazeling so that she could not endure the brightness of it I am apt to conceive that such a sight was fitter to amaze than to tempt 4. When I find this Serpent reckon'd among the Beasts of the Field and that twice Gen. 3. 1 14. I must needs say I cannot easily be perswaded that it was of that kind before named it seems not to me to be a winged Animal moving aloft in the Air. I do not well apprehend I confess how such a one can be numbred among the Beasts of the Field or Earth Tho the Holy Ghost in Scripture having barely told us that it was a Serpent it is most natural and genuine to conclude it was an ordinary Serpent such as God had lately created and such as among other Creatures lived on the Soil of Paradise Now the Serpent was more subtil than any Beasts of the Field which the Lord God had made Gen. 3. 1. The subtilty of the Serpent denoteth here to us the gentle familiar and insinuating nature of this Animal For the Author of the Iewish Antiquities observes that this Creature frequently convers'd and in a familiar manner associated with Adam and his Wife And so an Antient Father of the Church agrees with this Iewish Writer telling us that the Serpent before the Fall was mild and gentle and more familiar with Man
which the Apostles were falsly accused for viz. that they turned the World upside down may truly be attributed to our first Parents they have by their wilâ—ul disobedience perverted the Order of Nature and disturbed the Course of the World It is by their means become a Place of Disorder and Confusion a Stage of Affliction and Misery a Scene of Sorrows Losses Disappointments Poverty Reproach Diseases Pains Tortures and Plagues of all sorts This is Man's portion till he returns unto the Ground for out of it was he taken and unto it he shall return ver 19. Death is the last of all outward and bodily Evils this was threatned in Gen. 2. 17. In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Which place alone is sufficient to refute the Socinian Conceit that Man was mortal in his first state of Innocence and that thâ— he had not fallen yet he should have died We find here Mortality pronounc'd the Effect of Adam's Transgression In the day that thou eatest of the foâ—bidden Fruit and thereby â—innest against thy Maker thou shalt surely die i. e. thou shalt immediately become subject to Death and afterwards it shall actually be inflicted on thee So we are to understand these words according to that of Theodoret God here callâ—th the Sentence of Mortality Death And so Chrysostâ—m on the place Man is said saith he to die in that the Sentence of Death is pronounc'd against him It was God's Mercy to reprieve him that he might have time to repent But he was a dead Man at first as a condemned Malefactor is reckon'd a dead Man tho his Execution be respiâ—ed for a time So is it with the whole Race of Adam they are obnoxious to Death they have the Sentence of it upon them and they daily incur that Penalty by their Sins The Great Judg is pleas'd to spare them for a time but at last the Sentence is executed on them Their Nature being corrupted and poison'd by the Fall at length the Venom and Virulency of it break forth the contrary Qualities which have been long fighting within them destroy them in the close or in some other manner their Bodies sink into the Grave and stench and rottenness are their Portion The Inward and Spiritual Evils which are the Consequences of the Fall are yet more grievous and direful Not only the Bodies but the Souls of all Adam's Race feel the cursed Effects of his Apostacy from God Hereby the Rational and Divine Moiety of Man which was the chief and noblest part of his Constitution was corrupted its original Rectitude and primitive Righteousness were defaced and all the Powers and Faculties of his Mind miserably depraved First His intellectual Powers are impaired by Ignorance and Error the Notions of Good and Evil are much obliterated Reason is weakned and can hardly do its office Man understanding not must needs be like the Beasts for it is this Faculty which differenceth him from that rank of Beings It was said of old that Man is a wise Creature And he was so questionless in the state of his first Creation and Primitive Innocency but since his vile Defection he is sunk into folly and sottishness He confutes all his Pretences and baffles all his Boastings of Knowledg and Wisdom for when he should give experiment of them he discovers plainly that he is possessor of no such thing but that his rational part is much enfeebled and that he hath very â—alse and erroneous conceptions of things especially of those which relate to the Kingdom of God Thus Man's Head is hurt by the Fall His Heart likewise his Will and Affections are exceedingly endamag'd by it There is a strange Impotency in our elective Faculty we are not only disabled in a great measure from chusing Good but we have an aversion in us to God and Goodness and an inclination on the contrary to comply with Satan and to do whatever is displeasing to our Marker We are taken captive by Satan at his will for we have lost our Liberty and we have not so much sense as to bemoan our loss This is our condition by Nature abstracted from the blessed Remedy which we have by Christ Iesus and the powerful Influences of the Holy Spirit As for our Affections and Passions they are miserably disâ—orted and dislocated they continually sally forth to undue Objects they are unruly and extravagant and put us into great disorder and disâ—raction And indeed we cannot wonder that they are very refractory and headstrong when they have slipt off that Bridle which right Reason had put upon them Our Love and Hatred our Desires our Fears our Hopes our Joys our Anger our Sorrows are all unbridled and ungovern'd they hurry us into mischief they fill us with perturbation they make us uneasy restless and unquiet and they end in vanity and vexation of Spirit These disorders in the Understanding Will and Affections make way for more visible ones in the actions of mens Lives Hence proceed Idolatry Prophaneness Blasphemy Perjury Injustice Theft Rapine Violence Slaughter Murder Drunkenness Luxury Whoredom and all kind of Lasciviousness in short Sins of all degrees Vices of all dimensions Thus it was rightly said by the Royal Prophet that Man in his lapsed condition is become like the Beasts he is sunk below his own Species He that listned to a Brute the Serpent is become like one Man the Flower and Glory of the Creation resembleth the Beasts He is as sly and crafty as a Fox as lustful and salacious as a Goat as fierce as a Lion as savage as a Bear as ravenous as a Wolf as gluttonous as a Swine as angry and barking as a Dog and sometimes as stupid and dull as an Ass. Thus Man is become like the Beasts which this Psalmist takes notice of in other places likewise where you find him representing wicked Men as fat Bulls devouring Dragons roaring Lions ravenous Dogs And this good King acknowledgeth even concerning himself that so far as he had acted sinfully against God he was not only foolish and ignorant but even as a Beast before him So Agur i. e. as some think Solomon who had been a notorious Offender confesseth that he was more brutish than any one Prov. 30. 2. The New Testament also speaks after this manner Christ calls false Prophets ravenous Wolves and Herod a Fox And Iohn Baptist stiles the wicked Jews Vipers St. Paul calls his Adversaries whom he grappled with at Ephesus Beasts he stiles false Teachers grievous Wolves and Dogs and he thanks God that he was delivered out of the Mouth of the Lion meaning Nero. And the Apocalyptick Beast is to be understood of the vilest and wickedest Body of Men under Heaven This too was the Notion and Phrase of the best Moralist among the Platonists and Stoicks They held that wicked men are a kind of Brutes that Vice transforms them into mere sensitive Animals
assuming our Nature and thereby redressing the Evils which came by the Fall and by his meritorious Death making Atonement for the Sins of Men and reconciling them to the incens'd Majesty of Heaven And it is here included that even before he was incarnate the Merit of his future Suffeâ—ings and Death should in all Ages be imputed to those who believe in him and look for his Coming For he is the Lamb slain from the beginning of the World he was appointed from Eternity to redeem and save lost Mankind by the effusion of his precious Blood This is the purport of this gracious Promisâ— made to Adam in Paradise this was the fiâ—st dawning of the Gospel-Light here were the first Tidings of a Mâ—ssiaâ— Some of the Church of Româ— understand this Promise concerning the Virgin Mary the Vulgar Latin have render'd it ipsâ— she shall bruisâ— thy Head and hence it is inferr'd by Tiriâ—us and others on the place that that Pronoun refers to a Woman and that Woman is the Virgin Mary who bringing forth Christ bruised the Serpent's Head But these Men must be reminded that the Hâ—brâ—w word which we translate It is not hi but 〈◊〉 not she but 〈◊〉 However being of the Masculine Gender it must needs reâ—er to the word before which is of the same Genderâ— and that is Zâ—rang the Sâ—â—d viz. the Seed of the Woman which is Christ. The Lawâ— of Grammar forbid us to render it she and the Laws of the Christian Religion forbid us to apply it to the Virgin Mary seeing it is the proper Work of the Mâ—ssiaâ— to bruise and break the Serpent's Head i. e. to destroy Satan This Interpretation then we quit not only as it is ungrammatical but as it is profane and blasphemously derogates from the Office and Undertakings of Christ. Of him alone we ought to understand these words to him only we can with good reason apply them Thus without doubt they were understood by our First Parents and administred unspeakable Solace and Comfort to them Hence the Messiaâ— was daily expected by them and when Eve was deliver'd of her first-born Son she thought verily she had brought forth the Mâ—ssiaâ— who should bruise the Serpent's Head I have gotten â—aith she a Man from the Lord or according to the Hebrew the Man the Lord. Not only the Iewish especially the Cabalistick Doctors but some worthy Persons of the Christian Perswasion read the words thus and interpret them concerning the Blessed Seed Helvicus hath shew'd that Eth is an Article of the Accusative Casâ— and he doth it in so many Instances in Scripture that it seems to be the Hebrâ—w Idiom And besides it is a demonstrative or â—mphatick Particle and points at some Thing or Person in a signal manner So here it emphatically refers to the Mâ—ssiaâ— who was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both Man and God Our Grandmother Evâ— was in hopes that she had born this God-man that Person who was to bruise Saâ—an's Head according to the Promise made to them It is not wholly improbable that 〈◊〉 also perswaded himself that his Son Noah should be the Messias and take away the Curse of the Fall and bring a Blessing with him and comfort the distressed World and give it Rest and Ease and therefore he named him Noah which signifies both Rest and Consolation There was without question a continual expectation of the Coming of this Person and of the fulâ—illing of that Promise concerning his destroying of Satan The seventy Interpreters understood that Text of the Messias which occasion'd their making the masculine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to answer to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Neuâ—er Gender as the Apostle also doth Gal. 3. 16. And all the antiâ—nt Iews understood this Promise of the blessed Seed Christ tho the Moderns do not You will find it thus applied by both the Targums And the New Testament approves of this by bearing witness that Christ is the Person who â—ruisâ—s the Serpent's Head He took Flesh and Blood that through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Dâ—vil Heb. 2. 14. To this purpose the Son of God was manifestâ—d that he might destroy the Works of the Devil 1 John 3. 8. and Luke 10. 18. Iohn 12. 31. and 14. 30. with many other places declare that this was he who was to bruise Satan under our feet This is the Scope of the whole Gospel and this is that Gospel which was preached by God in Paradisâ— When Adam and in him all Mankind apostaâ—ized from God and could expect nothing but the Reward of their Rebellion and therefore might have abandon'd themselves to utter Despair God reviv'd them with this Promise of the Mâ—ssias The Seed of the Woman shall bruisâ— the Sâ—rpâ—nt's Head God the Father so loved the World that he resolved to give to his Only Son to be their Redeemer who being the Eternal Wisdom and Word of God and so truly God and one in Essence with the Father was in due time to assume our Nature and become Man thereby to transact the Redemption of lost Mankind and accomplish the Designs of Grace and Mercy to undone Sinners Which tho it be not expresly on this occasion set down in the Mâ—saick History yet other passages of Sacred Scripture assure us that it was so and that the Second Persâ—n in the Sâ—cred Triniâ—y undertook to pacify the Wrath of the Deiâ—y and to reconcile Man unto God and to accomplish the New Covenant made with Adam and his Posterity even a Covenant of Grace and Mercy through his Blood Having thus shew'd the main thing in this Dispensation I must in the next place acquaint you what other considerable things made up this particular Oeconomy and Administration of the Almighty Aâ—ter this grand Revelation and Discovery made to Adam and Eve concerning the Messias to come there were several positive Precepts and Laws given to them and their Children Some reckon that as one that the Woman should be subject to the Man He shall rule over thee Gen. 3. 16. For these words they say may contain not only a Threatning but a Command Here is not only signified the Punishment consequent on the Fall that the Husband should imperiously rule over the Woman which we mention'd before but here is enjoyn'd the subjection of the latter to the former this being now become requisite in the state that Men and Women are in And tho it was a Curse to be tyrannically ruled tho a servile subjection was the Consequent of the Fall yet now it is a Duty to be freely submissive and with it goes a Blessing That also may be look'd upon as another positivâ— Law that Men should labour For tho those words In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat Bread Gen. 3. 19. carry the nature of a Commination and Curse so far as Man's Labour is with uneasiness trouble and pain yet they may likewise be understood in the way of a
permitted to eat the Flesh before it was quite dead or they were not to eat any Limb or Member torn off from an Animal alive The Reason given in another place why they must not â—at Blood is because it is the Soul or Life of all Flesh that is it is the chief Instrument of Life and therefore is properly and significantly used in making Atonement for Souls Therefore it was designed wholly for Expiation it was appointed and appropriated to that sacred Use on the Altar And for this reason it ought not to be used in a common way Again God forbad eating of Blood and that even before the Law to teach abstaining from Man's Blood They must eat no Beast's Blood that they might not thereby learn to delight in Human Blood as we see saith an Expositor upon the place Butchers who kill Beasts are generally cruel and bloody to Men and for that reason the Law suffers them not to be on the Jury of Life and Death The Athâ—nians order'd one to be flead alive because he had serv'd a Ram so The Areopagite Judges condemn'd a Boy to death because he put out the eyes of Quails and this is given as the reason because it shew'd that the Boy was of a cruel disposition and would prove very hurtful if he lived So here it was thought that Blood-eating was a sign of and preparative to inhuman Actions and accordingly was not allow'd of Therefore this Precept of not eating the Flesh of Beasts with the Blood running about it was to restrain this Cruelty The old Giants of the World before the Flood generally liv'd on the Blood of Beasts and so learn'd to be cruel and savage to Men and thence as Maimonides and Mr. Selden from him conjecture this Law had its rise God therefore commanded those of Noah's Posterity to reâ—rain wholly from Blood that they might not proceed from cruelty to Beasts to killing of Men. Besides this may seem partly to be a natural Law Blood being a gross Meat and not fit for nourishment A Third Law given to Noah was that in Gen. 9. 5 6. Surely the blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require it and at the hand of man at the hand of every mans brother will I require thâ— lifâ— of man Whoso â—â—eddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the Image of God made 〈◊〉 maâ— There is indeed a Treble Law comprised in these words 1. They are forbid to shed mans blood Noaâ— and his sons are commanded not to be guilty of Homicidâ— Taking away a mans life was unlawful before as in C ain but here it is solemnly denounced to be such and moreover the Punishment of it is set down If shedding of mans blood were not here forbidden as unlawful it would not be followed with a Pâ—nalty as you see it is Which is the second Sanction here the blood of your lives I will require at the hand of every beast and at the hand of every man Whether man or beast procure the death of a man their blood shall be required for it Death is here made the Penalty of Murder Yea the very Beasts that kill'd a man should themselves be kill'd There was no Law before this for the punishing of Bloodshed And thirdly here is also signified the Autâ—ority of thâ— Magistrate whose particular and peculiar work it is to require the life of man at the hand of every mans brâ—thâ—r Whoso sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed Here the manner of punishing bloodshed is set down and appointed it must be done by the Magistrate A publick Minister of Justice is here ordered and appointed to punish the guilty Here is the first Institution of that Political Order Here is the first injunction for erecting Courts of Judicature Some of the Socinian party will allow this to be a Commination but not a Precept given to Magistrates But herein they separate what they ought to have united for these words are both a threatning of Punishment and also an Order or Warrant given to the Magistrate to execute that Punishment It is to be done by Man Adam which word sometimes is appropriated to one of Eminency and Power and therefore here not unfitly denotes the Magistrate the Ruler him that hath Authority and Power above others This is the person that is commission'd here not to suffer Bloodshed to go unpunish'd but to return blood for blood which is a practice grounded on the Law of Reason and Equity which in such a case as this requires a just and equal Retribution But this and other places those of the Racâ—vian way distort to serve their own end viz. to patronize their opinions concerning Magistrates who according to them are not to use any Capital Punishment not to 〈◊〉 War c. But any unprejudic'd and considerate person cannot but see that the power of the Sword is here given to the Civil Magistrate Upon this one Charter depends the Execution of Justice against all Crimes upon this is founded the power of executing judgment upon Offenders and of cutting off of Malefactors So that you see in this forecited place are contain'd two of those Precepts which were said to be given to Adam the Titles whereof were of Iudgments and of not Shedding of Blood which both were Laws of Nature imprinted in mens breasts but when after the flood the World began anew God thought fit to revive the remembrance of these Laws and made them Positivâ— and not before that we know of Some think that under this Dispensation was introduced Slavery that men were all free before the Flood and that not long after Servitudâ— began viz. in Canaan the Son of Cham for which they alledg that Text Gen. 9. 25. A servant of servantâ— shall he bâ— Here is the first servant mention'd and because we read of none before they conclude that Bondage which is a great Curse began in this Cursed Person the Offspring of cursed Câ—am But I cannot so easily assert that Servitudâ— had its first rise here for though Canaan be the first servant mention'd yet it doth not follow thence that Thraldom had its beginning in him for silence is no Argument that there was none before But the main thing which I have to say is this that if Bondage commenc'd in Canaan it is to be understood not of himself but of his posterity So that we may truly say it did not begin in this Dispâ—nsatiâ—n but afterwards And this is plain from the place it self and the following verses where 't is said Canaan shall be the servant of Shâ—m and he was so when his posterity the Canaanitâ—s were overcome and subdued by those of the race of Shâ—m viz. the Israâ—lites Then it was that this Curse on Canaan was fulfill'd and not before But as to common Servitude we read of it long before that time Aâ—raâ—am had mâ—n-servants and maid-sâ—rvants who 〈◊〉 boâ—ght with
beg leave to dissent from those who assert that these Sacrifices expiated only for lesser Sins and Failings and not for the greater ones of external idolatry Murder Blasphemy and the like It is not to be doubted that all kinds and degrees of Sin were expiated by the legal Sacrifices not only corporal Punishment in the sense which I have explain'd and legal Uncleanness but all moral Impurity and Guilt were taken away by them But this the Mosaick Sacrifices did not do of themselves but by virtue only of the Expiatory Sacrifice of the MESSIAS to come of which they were but Shadows To speak properly and strictly they did not really and formally but typically expiate i. e. as they were Significations and Figures of that great Sacrifice to be offer'd Lastly then the grand and principal End of the Judaical Sacrifices was to typify and represent the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. Socinus denies not that the Anniversary Sacrifice on the Day of Expiation was a Type of Christ ' s Death But as for the other common and usual Sacrifices he holds that Christ was not prefigured by them but that the Spiritual Sacrifices of Christians were only typified thereby This is a gross Error for the Burnt-Offerings and Sin-Offerings and Peace-Offerings which were common and frequent were Expiatory Sacrifices as I shew'd before and they were as much Expiatory as that which was but once a Year Now being Expiatory they as such were Types of the great Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Lamb of God they prefigured Christ's Death and the Expiation and Satisfaction which he was to make for Sin It is a strange thing therefore to me that Socinus who denies Christ to be a Propitiatory Sacrifice should grant that the Sacrifice which the High Priest offer'd once a Year entring into the Holy of Holies prefigured the Death of Christ for the same reason he ought to grant that all the Expiatory Sacrifices of the Law were Types of our Saviour And he could not but see that the Holy Ghost in Scripture doth not only speak of that Annual Sacrifice as a prefiguration of Christ's Passion and apply it expresly to him in Heb. 9. 12. By his own Blood â—e entred in once into the Holy Place but the same Infallible Spirit in that Epistle applieth what is said of the other Sacrifices unto Christ Therefore the Apostle saith Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us 1 Cor. 15. 7. Therefore Iohn the Baptist call'd our Saviour the Lamb of God who takes away the Sins of the World John 1. 29. having respect without doubt to the Expiatory Sacrifices of the Old Testament which prefigured Christ the true Immaculate Lamb the Lamb that was slain as the same inspired Writer speaks from the Foundation of the World Rev. 13. 8. Christ's Offering was the Idea and Pattern of all the Levitical and Mosaical Sacrifices To this very end God instituted these that they might shadow out that to us A greater and better Sacrifice and Oblation of a higher nature was to succeed those viz. the Sacrifice of Christ Jesus by which God is appeased and all our Sins are expiated and therefore the Phrase of a sweet-smelling Savour applied to Expiatory Sacrifices under the Law is used and that properly by the Apostle concerning Christ his giving up himself for us and pacifying God's Wrath on our behalf That the Legal Sacrifices were Types and Symbols of spiritual things is acknowledg'd by Philo but we who have an infallible information from the New Testament are taught further viz. that they were Types of Christ the great Sacrifice And we have the greatest reason imaginable to assent to this because the Blood of Bulls and Goats was a poor Expiation of it self That Butchery that bloody Employment could have no real and intrinsick worth in it and therefore it must needs have been in order to something else it was to prefigure the expiatory Death and Sacrifice of the Massias And all the time that these Mosaick Sacrifices lasted they did not pacify God's Anger and satisfy his Justice and take away Sin and justify Persons by their own Force and Virtue or by their own worthiness but they did all this typically and mystically as they represented Christ and his Merit who was the Great Sacrifice they did it by Divine Order and Institution CHAP. VI. The High-Priest's Office His peculiar Attire The Imployment and Apparel of the Priests The Levites Particular Charge Whether they might sacrifice or no. Their Office in the Reigns of King David and King Solomon differ'd in some things from what it was before The ordinary and fixed Place of Worship and particularly of Sacrificing was the Tabernacle A particular Account of the three Divisions or Partitions of it viz. the Outward Court the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies with all things contain'd in them The Mystical and Spiritual meaning of the several Particulars The Travels and Removes of the Tabernacle and Ark. A distinct Account of the Parts of the Temple shewing wherein it differ'd from the Tabernacle Of the Fabrick it self and its Dimensions Houses and Chambers belonging to it The Sacraments appointed by the Ceremonial Law HAving spoken of Sacrifices we will now in the second place speak of the Sacrificers the Persons that officiated in the Ceremonial Worship under the Law There were three Orders of these the first whereof was the High-Priest For tho there were Priests before the Law who were Fathers and Heads and the First-born of Families yet we read of 〈◊〉 High-Priest This Office is now added and Aaron had it first of all to whose House it was tied by Divine Institution But it continued not long there only Eleazer succeeded his Father Aaron and upon Eleazer's Death three Priests of his Family successively were High-Priests Then the Office went out of the House of Aaron and came to Eli of the Family of Ithamar But generally afterwards the High Priesthood was by succession of Blood and lineally descended from the Father to the Son or if there were no Son to the next of the Kindred This High Priest was the great and supreme Ecclesiastical Minister among the Iews And even according to Philo and some other Iews was a Type of the Messias His Office was in common with that of the Priests of whom afterwards to pray for instruct and bless the People but his peculiar Province was to preside over the Priests and other inferior Officers of the Church to take care that they discharg'd their Function aright Whereas these administred daily he was obliged to officiate only on the solemn Day of Expiation He differ'd from them in the manner of his Consecration and was peculiar in some other things He had the singular honour to be the Metropolitan of the Jewish Church and the President of the Great Council or Sanhedrim To make him more pompous and venerable the Law took care of his very Attire I will only shew you this Sacred Wardrobe and
Scripture by the name of Hagiographa This put Holy Men upon Pious Discourses and excellent Strains of Devotion and rais'd them above their ordinary temper Yea All the Holy Penmen of Scripture were moved and actuated by this Divine Influx By this they dictated and composed those Sacred Writings This is that degree of Prophecy or Prophetick Inspiration which is call'd the Holy Spirit Tho you may observe too that all those kinds of Revelation beforemention'd are stiled in the Jewish Writings Inspiration and the Holy Spirit and sometimes they are call'd Prophecy and the Spirit of Prophecy For Prophecy Nebuah is taken either strictly or largely In the strict acception according to the Jewish Notion of it it is when any thing is reveal'd to a person when he is asleep or in a rapture or besides himself And others of them say that Prophecy properly so call'd is either in the way of Dreams or Visions Prophecy in Scripture is taken in a restrained sense for seeing and foretelling things to come and hence as well as from what was suggested before it is probable the Prophets antiently were call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seers This also is that which most usually is call'd Prophecy by the Iews But Prophecy in the largest acception is the general word to comprehend all kinds of Divine Revelation it is the way whereby all revealed Knowledg and Truth are convey'd to us Therefore the Schools of the Prophets were those places where young Men were prepar'd for all sorts of Revelation and Inspiration and out of these Schools generally the Prophets were chosen Education and Improvement fitted them for the Prophetick Office and by these Testimonials they were able to go abroad There was a way to know who were True Prophets and who False and to distinguish one from the other Indeed when a Prophet foretold things to come to pass hereafter he could not be convinced of falshood presently because his Prophecy must be known to be true or false by the Event of his Prediction Deut. 18. 21. And yet here was some uncertainty for the thing he foretold might not come to pass and yet he might be a True Prophet for God could do otherwise than the Prophet foretold Ier. 18. 7 8. But then the Prediction was conditional not absolute or rather it was a Commination But if any one by the Prophetical Spirit dictated such and such things to be done it was possible to tell and that presently or in a very short time whether he was a true Prophet or no. This might be known first from the Qualifications of a true Prophet for first he must be no way inclined to Idolatry secondly he must predict nothing against the Law If he said any thing derogatory to the Law of Moses the Moral Law chiefly and the Worship of God he discover'd himself to be a false Prophet Deut. 18. 20. Deut. 13. 1 2 3. Thirdly some add that as he was one who said nothing against the Law so neither must he do any thing against it It was a Notion of the Iews that the Spirit of Prophecy was not communicated to any but Holy Men. But there is reason to doubt as to this Besides the Qualifications a Prophet might be known to be true when he was back'd by another Prophet who was certainly known to be true when this Prophet testified of the other Further when God himself testified concerning a Prophet by some manifest Sign as in 1 Kings 13. Thus they were to judg whether Prophets were counterfeit or no. Add this also that they were deterred from counterfeiting the Prophetick Spirit because by the Law a false Prophet was to be punish'd with Death Deut. 18. 20. Lastly The true Prophets might be discern'd and distinguish'd from the false ones by this that they were plain and downright in their Predictions whereas the others were generally ambiguous and equivocating as we see in the Example of those false Prophets whom Ahab consulted The Lord shall deliver it say they into the hands of the King 1 Kings 22. 6. So we render that place but the Relative it is not in the Hebrew and so the words have two senses either the Lord shall deliver Ramoth Gilead into the hands of the King of Israel or the Lord shall deliver thee and thy forces into the hands of the King of Syria This was frequently imitated afterwards by the Heathen Oracles and was of some advantage for from the ambiguity of the words mistakes might easily arise and by that means the credit of the false Prophets was salved But however this rendred their Predictions uncertain and wavering whereas those that had the true Prophetick Spirit were sure and fix'd and thus there could not but be a certainty of Prophecy among the Iews But at last the Spirit of Prophecy ceased and as the Jewish Writers and Christian Fathers agree ended in Malachi who was the last Prophet But this way of Revelation was afterwards restored by Christ as shall be shew'd afterwards To the foremention'd ways of God's communicating his Will and Pleasure may be added that Impulse whereby persons are stir'd up by God to undertake some extraordinary Enterprize and to accomplish some very notable Act. Thus Maimonides reckons it among the several kinds of Prophecy that Moses by a particular intimation from God slew the Egyptian Exod. 2. 12. So by the same Divine Motion Phineas knew it would be acceptable to God to kill those two notorious Sinners and he was stir'd up accordingly to do it By the same Heavenly Impulse Sampson was excited to destroy the Philistines tho with the loss of his own life And several other Instances might be produced of this nature in the Old Testament Thus you see what were the Ordinary ways of Revelation what was the frequent and usual manner of God's communicating his Will in the several Dispensations before treated of In the next place I will enumerate the Extraordinary Means of revealing God's Will As 1. That way of Revelation whereby God conversed with Moses on the Mount when he gave him the Law and whereby he was pleas'd to communicate himself to him at some other times The Jewish Doctors cry up This for the highest Degree of Revelation that ever was and some of them talk such strange things of it as are next to Blasphemy But this we are sure of that the Sacred Spirit represents this as an Vnusual and Extraordinary Revelation and such as was peculiar to Moses alone for it is said The Lord spake to Moses face to face as a man speaketh to his friend Exod. 33. 11. Indeed Iacob testifieth of himself that he had seen God face to face Gen. 32. 30. But tho he had seen God so yet we do not read that he talk'd with him after that manner which implieth something more I know Moses tells the people of Israel that God talked with them face to face in the Mount Deut. 5. 4. But this he means of himself viz. that after
the same Or suppose this Phrase from the foundation of the World doth not denote Eternity yet it is enough for our purpose that Christ the Lamb of God was slain from the beginning of the World for from thence we may gather that it was designed and appointed to reach to all following Generations 2. The way and method of Salvation was the same under all the Dispensations of Grace for Christ instructed his Church in all Ages the Gospel was preached to them aâ— well as to us Heb. 4. 2. All the Patriarchs and Prophets and Holy Men of past ages arrived at Heaven and Happiness by the Conduct of this great Guide Iesus Christ the same yesterday 〈…〉 day and for ever are words appliable to Christ nor only as he is King and Priest but also as he is Prophet and Teacher of his Church Which Sacred Office he hath faithfully performed in all Ages and there hath been no Time since the Church was founded but he hath been the Instructer of it The Covenant of Grace was made first of all with Adam in Paradise and God hath from Age to Age renewed that Covenant to his Church and the Grace of God in Christ was common to the Antient Patriarchs and Iews with us So that from the Fall of our first Parents to the end of the World the way of Expâ—ation and of obtaining Salvation hath been is and shall be the same viz. by Christ and by his Merits The Virtue of his Death altho he actually died long after commenced with the first Promise made to Adam The Socinians oppose this and generally hold that the Godly who lived before the time of the Messias were not saved by Him they assert that they knew nothing of it and that there were other means of being saved under the Old Testament than there are under the New But this is a Doctrine deservedly exploded by all Persons who are of the Orthodox Faith and who own the True Christian Religion They all agree that the same way of Salvation hath always prevailed that all who were saved under the Old Testament were saved by Virtue of Christ's Death and Satisfaction There was Justification under the Law tho not by it or by virtue of it Those that believed with their whole hearts on God and faithfully serv'd him were justified and obtain'd Remission of their Sins and Eternal Life by that Grace which was couched in the Law i. e. promis'd in the Messias and figured and represented by the obscure Types of the Law By virtue of the Grace to be exhibited by Christ even those who were before his arrival were saved This is the Doctrine which St. Peter preach'd Acts 15. 11. We believe that through the grace of the Lord Iesus Christ we shall be saved even as They i. e. the Fathers before Christ as is clear from the foregoing verse The Holy Men then were acquainted with the Substance of this Covenant viz. the Promise of Restoration by Christ and consequently the Old Testament Saints were saved by him Thus we are told by another inspired Author that by means of Christ's Death there was Redemption for the Transgressors that were under the first Testament Heb. 9. 15. For tho the Redemption of Mankind was not actually wrought by him till he died on the Cross yet the Virtue and Benefit of it were in all Ages as the Sun spreads its light and illuminates our Region before its glorious Body appeareth above the Horizon 3. As to the Conditions and Qualifications on our part all the Dispensations of Grace were the same All substantial Duties towards God and Man are the same now that they were then Even Faith in the Messias is as antient as that Promise on which it was first founded that the Blessâ—d Seed should break the Serpents head Gen. 3. 15. They who lived before Christ's Incarnation conâ—ided in this Promised Deliverer by whose Merit they hoped to be reconciled to God Faith in Christ was a Duty under the Old Testament because there were Promises concerning the Messias then as is evident from Luke 1. 72. and what were these Promisessor but to be credited and relied upon Therefore it is recorded that Abraham Believed Rom. 4. 3. Gal. 3. 6. And our Saviour witnesseth that Abraham rejoiced to see his day and he saw it and was glad Joh. 8. 56. The Reason was because as the Apostle saith God preached the Gospel to Abraham Gal. 3. 8. and discovered the Messias to him The just lived by Faith in Habakkuk's time Hab. 2. 4. which by the Apostle is applied to the Evangelical Faith in Rom. 1. 17. Gal. 3. 11. Therefore when Socinus tells us that Faith in Christ was not comprehended in the Mosaick Covenant and when one of his Scholars confidently avers that it is a gross Error to think that the Fathers under the Old Testament believed in Christ to come and were justified by that Faith we know whence to confute these bold Men. That the Evangelical Righteousness and Justification were in the Old Testament is clear because the Apostle brings Examples of this free Justification out of the Old Testament Rom. 4. 3 6 c. That Salvation by Faith in Christ was no New thing is evident from other places as Acts 10. 43. To him give all the Prophets witness that through his Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins And Rom. 3. 21 22. The righteousness of God withâ—ut the Law is manifested being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Iesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe Aâ—d St. Peter 1 Episâ— Chap. 2. ver 6. proves that Chrisâ— is the foundation whereupon all the Saints are built from Isa. 28. 16. Behold I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone elect precious and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded From all which it may be undeniably infeâ—'d that under the Law they believed in Christ for Justiâ—â—cation and that the Fathers before Christ were saved by Faith in him and in a word that all from the beginning of the World have been Justified and Saved the same way viz. for Christ's Merits and upon the Gospel-terms of Sincere Faith and Obedience and of persevering in the same unto the end Thus in respect of the Designation the Way and the Efficacy of Salvation the Evangelical Dispensation differs not from the preceding ones This the Antient Fathers speak of particularly they defend the Antiquity of Christianity and prove it to be as old as Moses yea as Adam Iustin Marâ—yr reckons Abraham and Elias but he goes too far when he reckons Heraclitus and Socrates among Christians in answer to that Objection that those were Christians only that lived within a hundred and fifty Years This Pious Father in another place argueth from the Antiquity of the Christian Religion and the Authors of it That Religion which hath the best Authors and is oldest is
that Christ's words here are not oppofed to Moses's that he doth command nothing contrary to the Law but that he vindicated the Law from the false and corrupt Glosses of the Pharisees you may be convinced that Christ is here no New Legislator but an Interpreter of the Old Law that he only explaineth and cleareth it and more fully delivereth it to the World and consequently that the Precepts of the Gospel are the same in substance with the Decalogue that Christ enjoineth no New Virtue as to the kind of it that he hath made no addition of New Laws and Precepts to the Old ones unless in those respects which I have before mentioned and on the account of them it is that the Legal and Evangelical Dispensation differ so much Being now employed in shewing the Difference between the Old Dispensations before Christ and that which he introduced I cannot finish what I intend unless I particularly handle that noted Question What is the difference between the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace or between the Old and New Covenant and why they are called so I have said something already which may give light to this but now I will purposely insist upon it Indeed the Discourse of the Old and New Covâ—nant might have been inserted in the beginning when I enter'd upon the General Oâ—conomy of Grace when I spoke of the first Discovery made to Adam concerning the Messâ—as but then I must have antedated some things which I have mention'd since and I must have treated of the Evangelical Dispensation long before it came in my way It is therefore pertinent and most proper to treat of the Câ—venants in this place and to shew the true difference between them We must call to mind then what I said before that God covenanted with Man 1. When he was in the State of Innocence 2. When he was fallen The former was the Covenant of Wâ—rks the latter was the Covenant of Grâ—ce As to the first it was properly a Covenant for a Covenant is a mutual Agreement betwixt Party and Party with reciprocal Obligations of each other So that Covenant was a Contract between God and Adam and in him with all Mankind wherein God promised Everlasting Life and Happiness to Man if he continued in his Obedience to him And Man having a sufficient Ability given him by God ingaged on his part to perform perfect Obedience and to persevere in all good Works without sinning whence it was call'd the Covenant of Works Upon this Agreement God gave Adam a particular Commandment as a trial of his Obedience that he should abstain from the Fruit of a certain Tree in the Garden where God had placed him But Adam soon broke this Covenant by eating the forbidden Fruit and so brought a Curse on himself and all his Posterity Hereupon the First Convenant or Covenant of Works was succeeded by a Second viz. the Covenant of Grace This is that Covenant which God made with Adam and his Posterity just after his Fall when they were in a state of Sin and Misery Christ was promised forthwith the Seed of thâ— Woman shall break the Serpent's Head Gen. 3. 15. As soon as this Promise was given and made the Covenant of Works expired then began the Covenant of Grace and so was in succeeding Generations more and more revealed till Christ came and fully revealed it This is called the Covenant of Grace as hath been said before because it proceeded from mere Grace and Favour and because a more abundant Grace and Love are discovered in this Covenant for Man's restoring than in the other for preserving him Now a Covenant being a mutual Contract and Stipulation of both Parties as hath been suggested this Covenant as well as the other was made up of something on God's part and something on ours As God is tied to Man so Man is tied to God God promised to send his Son to take our Nature and to make known to us the Will of his Father thus he is a 〈◊〉 and also to satisfy God for our Sins and by this means to redeem us from Hell and Eternal Damnation and to obtain for us forgiveness of Sins and the favour of God and Eternal Life and Blessedness Sinners are justified pardoned and restored to what they lost by 〈◊〉 they are reinstated in the Right and Privilege they had before their Apostacy This is done by Chrrist's Death thus he is our Priest he offers himself a Sacrifice for our Sins Further he inables us to discharge our Duty by sending his Holy Spirit into our Hearts he rules and governs us and so is our King This is the Covenant on God's part On ours it is to hearken diligently to our Prophet and to be desirous and ready to learn his Will to accept of rely upon and apply unto our selves the meritorious Satisfaction of our Priest and to be ruled by him as our King to submit to him and to obey his Laws which briefly are these that we acknowledg his Soveraignty over us that we believe in him and that we repent and forsake our Sins These are the Conditions of the Covenant of Grace on Man's part Or take the whole in a briefer way thus To give Ability and Power to believe and repent and perform Acts of Holiness is the New Covenant on God's part But personally to do these by virtue of the foresaid Power is the New Covenant on Man's part which yet God alone can make effectual It is said by some that Faith and Obedience are not the Conditions of this Covenant on Man's part because they are promised in the Covenant for the Condition of the Covenant must be a distinct thing from the Covenant But this is a mere Nicety for tho in the Gospel-Covenant Faith and Repentance are prâ—misâ—d i. e. God hath ingaged to give us strength to exert these Graces yet so far as they are consider'd as our Acts and coming from 〈◊〉 for God cannot be said to believe and repent they are Conditions They are promis'd by 〈◊〉 upon 〈◊〉 as all that we are to do is promis'd but since we on our part engage and promise to do them they are rightly stiled and really are Qualifications without which we shall never partake of the Divine Favour Neither do these Conditionâ— of Faith and Obedience which are required of us hinder the freeness of the Gospel-Grace as is objected for God promised pardon of Sin and Eternal Life freely and it is the same free Grace which first appointed and afterward accepteth of these Conditions It is mere Favour and Good-will that God was pleased to give Salvation and Everlasting Happiness by Christ on condition of believing and obeying him But you will say it is the Language of the Covenant of Works Do this and live whereas the Gospel saith Believe and be saved I answer The Covenant of Grace as well as the Covenant of Works requires doing and so in effect saith Do this and live But yet
Religion which Christ himself founded and deliver'd to his Apostles and Disciples The Tradition of these things is true and certain and we may safely rely upon it For tho the Authority of divine Truth depends not wholly on the Testimony of the Church for then the Authority of the Scripture would not be Divine but Humane and consequently not the Word of God but of Man yet the Church doth yield its Testimony to the Scripture and that Testimony or Tradition is a good Ground of Belief For Tradition is one way of communicating Matters of Faith and Fact to us By it we have them transmitted to us but this is neither the grand Motive nor the Rule of our Faith yet it is the Medium or Channel to convey the Belief of such things to us and we are to use it and prize it as such and to thank God that we have this among other Means to establish us in the Truth of the Gospel Hitherto I have consider'd the Testimony of Friends I will shew you in the next place that even Strangers and Enemies viz. Iews and Heathens bear witness to the Truth of Christianity First as for the Iews if Christ had not been thought by them to have been some extraordinary Person yea to be of the Holy Ghost miraculously why did they not prosecute Mary for an Adulteress The Sin of Adultery was severely punish'd by their Law and it was a very reproachful Crime You may be sure they would have urged this hard to the disgracing of the Son through the Mother But tho Ioseph denied him to be his Son and consequently she fell under the Law yet you read no where that the Iews made use of this against her which sheweth their tacit approving of Christ and that his Birth was extraordinary and divine Suidas tells us that Christ was chosen one of the Priests of the Temple at Ierusalem upon the death of one of the two and twenty for his singular Piety and excellent Doctrine Iosephus his Testimony of Christ is well known and St. Iohn Baptist his forerunner is made mention of by most of the Hebrew Writers with exceeding Praise and Admiration of his Holiness But I will conâ—ine my self to those Instances which are recorded by the Evangelists St. Luke observes that when he taught in their Synagogues he was glorified of all Luke 4. 15. And in the following Verses he subjoins a particular Instance of his preaching in one of their Synagogues at Nazareth and then adds all bare him witness and wonder'd at the gracious Words which proceeded out of his Mouth ver 22. Even some of the Jewish People who believ'd not in Christ cried out he is a good Man John 7. 12. Others said of a truth this is the Prophet ver 40. And others this is the Christ ver 41. And the Jewish Officers who were sent by the High Priests to lay hands on him admired his wise Deportment and excellent Discourse and freely declared that never Man spake like this Man ver 46. No one ever spoke Matters of greater moment and concern and with that Simplicity and Plainness that Authority and Efficacy which he did When Herod harangued the People they cried out It is the Voice of God But it was only the flattering Voice of the Multitude which made his such Here it was otherwise it was the real Voice of the true God and his very Enemies attest the unparallel'd Efficacy of it Christ was confessed and owned by the Iews in a most signal manner when he rid into Ierusalem on an Ass and when they strewed the way with Palm-branches and when all the People applauded him and treated him as some great Conqueror or mighty Prince Mat. 21. 8 c. For they were wont to congratulate the coming of such Persons to a place after that manner So the valiant Simon was receiv'd after his Military Success 1 Mac. 13. 51. So the Old Grecians in their Olympick Games after Victory wore wreaths of Palms as a reward of Conquerors And sometimes they bore the Branches of Palm-Trees in their Hands as the Emblem of Victory because the Branches of this Tree grow streight and stately as the Hand extended and tho they be loaded with much weight yet they bear up against it and shoot upwards Hence it was that this Honour of bearing Palm-branches and sometimes Branches of other Trees besides the Palm was given to Princes in Triumphs Thus Heliodorus saith that Hydaspes the King sent before him Harbingers of his Victory shaking Boughs of Palm in token of it Hence he that was generally applauded and received publickly with the Acclamations of the People was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they did not only strow Boughs but Leaves and Flowers in his way which sort of Honour was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor were they contented with this sign of Favour but they used to affix on the Doors of great Men the Boughs of Palm especially which Honour Lucian takes notice of telling us that green Palm-branches were set up at the Doors of the Rhetoricians Many more Testimonies might be alledged to this purpose And I could add also that this bearing of Branches was used in the Worship of the Pagans it being a Testimony of Honour to their Gods How fitly then did it come to pass by the over-ruling Hand of Providence that the Messias who was truly God and King was receiv'd by the People with Palm-branches He came in this triumphant manner into Ierusalem and was saluted with Cries of Hosanna and with that Gratulatory Benediction Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord John 12. 13. to testify that his Kingdom was come that he was to be victorious over Death and Hell and that he was to be a mighty Saviour and Deliverer I will briefly add two or three other Testimonies of the Iews Caiphas the High-priest prophesied of Christ John 11. 50 51. One of the Thieves on the Cross if he were a Iew which some have question'd acknowledg'd Christ and cleared him This Man saith he hath done nothing amiss Luke 23. 41. And even Iudas who betrayed our Saviour confess'd his Innocency I have sinn'd in betraying innocent Blood Mat. 27. 4. Secondly Heathens bear witness to Christ and the Truth of the Christian Religion He was acknowledg'd and ador'd by the wise Men that came from the East Tho he was condemn'd by Pilate yet he was first acquitted by him he declaring that he found no fault in him at all John 18. 38. And his Wife sent to him when he was on the Bench to have nothing to do with that just Man Mat. 27. 19. When a Title was to be set over the Cross Pilate wrote Christ the King of the Iews and would not alter it tho he was told of it Iohn 19. 22. The Centurion who had at that time the Sheriffs place and was to see the Execution perform'd when he saw
not of Human Race And further it is remarkable that this People endeavour'd in the Emperor Adrian's Reign to restore and reedifie their Temple but were forced to desist from it And afterwards when Iulian out of hatred to the Christians set them about that Work as they were laying the Foundation an Earthquake shatter'd all they had done and Fire flash'd out of the ground wherewith many thousands of the Iews were destroyed as is testified not only by several Christian Writers but by Ammianus Marcellinus who was a Heathen But by the way it may be observ'd when the Christians built a Temple in the same place they were not molested but finish'd it and made it the Patriarchal Seat and flourish'd five hundred years till the time that Ierusalem was taken by the Saracens This Iewish People now have neither Temple nor Priest Altar nor Sacrifice their Rites and Ceremonies are ceas'd their Tribes are confounded their Prophets are extinct they have no certain State or Commonwealth no Laws no Prince no Governor of their own they are scatter'd over the face of the whole Earth and are a despised and loathed People This cannot but be thought to be the just Iudgment of God upon them for their murdering of Christ. And there cannot be a more visible Evidence of the Truth of Christianity than this viz. the Destruction of the Iewish Poliâ—y and the miserable Dispersion of that People for these sixteen hundred years It was observ'd by the Enemies of the Iews heretofore how they prosper'd above all other People They are a certain sort of Men saith an Historian who tho they have been often diminished yet they have so increas'd that they have been too hard for the Power of the Roman Laws and they have almost arrived to the Confidence and Liberty of making Laws for the rest of the World But this singular Providence of God towards the Iews is long since changed and they have been through many Ages the remarkable Example of Divine Justice and Vengeance such as no Story can parallel Tully is not to be regarded when speaking of the Iews he saith That Nation doth sufficiently declare by its being conquered and made Tributary and by being reduced to the utmost Servitude how dear it was to the Gods He speaks this after his Pagan manner But Sulpitius Severus who was a better Judg of Religion and of the Issues of it speaking of the Destruction of Ierusalem by Titus and of the dispersion of the Iews thereupon gives us this Remark This last overthrow of the Temple and Captivity of the Iews whereby they are banished from their Country and are daily seen to be scatter'd over the whole Earth are a Testimony to the World that this Punishment hath befallen them for no other cause than for laying their wicked hands upon Christ for when at other times this People were deliver'd to Captivity for their Sins they never underwent that slavery beyond seventy Years But now these Persons who were the Dear Off-spring of those that were the Darlings of God Almighty the Beloved of the Lord his Chosen People his peculiar Charge and the singular Care of Heaven have been for sixteen Centuries forsaken of God and all Men and are the very Offscowring of the World This utter Extermination of the Iews is an unanswerable Argument against them and shews that they lie under the Curse of God for their rejecting the Saviour of the World and for putting to Death the Messias Two of their Rabbies seriously pondering this Argument urged upon them by Luther were convinced of their gross Error and Sin and were the day after baptized at Wittenberg in the face of the whole University And truly this must be said that the total dispersion of the Iews can never in all its Circumstances be reconciled with the Providence of God his Goodness Wisdom and Promises if they continue the People of God still and are in favour with him For can it be imagined that God would leave his Beloved People so long and wholly disown them Is it worthy of God and agreeable to his Wisdom and Mercy which are interested in the Salvation of Men to let the True Religion so they count Iudaism fall to the ground and be utterly abolished and to set up another a False one so they reckon Christianity to be in its place This is plain and convincing I think It is harsh and incredible that the God of Order and Righteousness should deal thus that he should cause this Confusion in the World and throw down and even break in pieces a Religion which is the only True one according to them It cannot enter into any Reasonable Mans mind that God would let his own Religion and People be thus confounded It is evident therefore that the Iewish Religion was but for a time and that the Christian Religion was to succeed that and that this is the True Religion likewise that God sent this severe Punishment on the Iews for their refusing of Christ the True and Only Messiah and for their Opposing and Persecuting and at last Crucifying this Holy One. Thus the Christian Religion is attested and vouched by the dreadful Plagues and Iudgments on the Persons and Nations that opposed it Vengeance hath pursued the Enemies of the Gospel Lastly from the Excellency of the Christian Religion and of all the Principles Doctrines and Truths that belong to it I gather the Reality and Certainty of it This is another Divine Testimony which might be enlarg'd upon Never was Holiness so strictly urged as now never was there an Institution that was so Heavenly and Sublime as this never was there any that directed Men to such Noble Ends and afforded them such Joys and Solaces Wherefore it cannot proceed from any but God A Religion that so immediately leads to him must needs come from him Since Christianity doth fit us for Heaven we have Reason to believe that it came from thence But because I had occasion to insist largely upon this Particular when I undertook to assert the Divine Authority of the Scriptures and afterwards when I demonstrated the Excellency and Perfection of them I will say no more of this last Argument of the Truth of Christianity And thus you see the firm Basis of it These arâ— the Testimonials to prove the Truth of our Religion and that it is a Dispensation different from all the rest These are the Proofs whereon we found this Oeconomy and there is no other evidence that a Reasonable Man can desire I say no other becausâ— here are all kinds of Evidience Christianity is proved by the Witness of credible Men and by the Attestation of God himself It is proved by Natural and Supernatural Arguments by Reason and by Faith We have the Certainty both of Human and Divine Testimony which may be call'd a Demonstration for a thing is demonstrated when it appears that there is an absolute Impossibility that the thing should not be thus
Christian Observances in the first Ages Tertullian who flourish'd in the beginning of the third Century frequently joins Christianity and Iudaism together and particularly in his Dialogue with Trypho the Iew he declares there is Salvation in both There were the Coelicolae mention'd in the Code those that worship'd God as he had commanded from Heaven i. e. according to the Precepts and Rites of the Mosaick Law and according to the Precepts of the Gospel for they held that Heaven i. e. God was the Author and Institutor of both and intended that both should be observed Thus the Mosaick Law and Ceremonies were a good while going off they gradually and gently vanish'd away for the Church was then but in its Childhood and was tenderly to be treated It is not to be denied that the Iewish Rites were nail'd with Christ to the Cross they died when he gave up the Ghost But tho they were dead and were of no efficacy yet Men were left free to use or not use them as they saw fit After their decease they were not presently buried but as one of the Fathers speaks were to have an honourable Interment In brief Iudaism staid some time with Christianity and then took its leave Here it must be observed in the next place that extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit were peculiar to this Period of the Christian Church which is a certain Argument of the weak State of it and that it had not outgrown its Childhood but that Knowledg and Faith were feeble in many and that Unbelief had wholly possessed others and there was need of some very great Power which was in those days exerted in a wonderful manner Among the extraordinary Endowments of the Holy Ghost which were then bestowed Prayer was one i. e. an infused and supernatural Gift of Prayer was given to the Apostles and primitive Christians which is call'd Praying with the Spirit 1 Cor. 14. 15. and those who were blessed with this singular Gratuity had Matter and Words dictated to them by a special Afflation or Inspiration from Heaven Prophesying was also after an extraordinary and supernatural manner as the fourteenth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians will inform us It was a Power to interpret and explain the darkest Scriptures to unriddle all sacred Mysteries to urge with great efficacy the Duties of Christianity on the Consciences of Men and sometimes to foretel Futurities of great Importance all which was effected by the immediate Influence of the Spirit This Gift expired soon after the second Century After which they tell us there is little or no mention of the Prophetick Spirit in the Christian Church To which perhaps that passage of the Apostle relates and is Prophetick even of the expiration of Prophecy 1 Cor. 13. 8. whether there be Prophecies they shall fail And as there were in the first Times inspired Prayers and Prophesyings so there were inspired Hymns which is call'd singing with the Spirit ver 15. But the working of strange and wonderful things above the Power of Nature which is most properly doing of Miracles was a great part of the Dispensation of those Days Not only the Apostles but their Followers in the Ages immediately succeeding were indued with this Power Hence Lucius King of this British Island hearing of strange things done by Christians in many places about the end of the second Century sent to Eleuâ—herius Bishop of Rome to receive the Christian Faith of him and was the first Christian King in the World From Iustin Marâ—yr Tertullian and Cyprian's Writings it is evident that Miracles were frequently wrought in the Church and these Persons appeal to them as things that were of common notice and could not be denied Gregory Bishop of Neocaesarea who lived in the third Century purchas'd the Title of Thaumatâ—rgâ—â— by the miraculous Acts which he did Even in the next Age Miracles were done by many as is testified by Ruffinus Theodoret and Sozomen From several passages in Chrysostom's Writings it may be gather'd that they ceas'd in his time more especially from his 32d Homily on St. Matthew where he replies to the Objections of the Pagans against the Christians viz. that they did not confirm their Doctrine by Miracles And so again in his 40 th Homily on the Acts he gives the Reason of the cessation of Miracles But tho he doth this he must be understood of the common and ordinary use of them for sometimes and rarely Miracles were wrought in that Age or else St. Augustin and other Fathers misrepresent those Times Particularly St. Augustin who lived in St. Chrysostom's time bears witness that Miracles were wrought at the Monuments of the Saints in those days But yet from this Father 's own words in another place we may gather that Miracles were then at an end in some parts of the Christian Church The short is this that for three or four hundred Years in one place or other Miracles were generally done in confirmation of the Christian Faith viz. as long as the Church was in her tender and childish Years And it may be observ'd further that there was a Power in the primitive Times bestow'd on the Church of punishing the Disobedient in a strange and dreadful manner viz. by inâ—â—icting suddeâ— Diseases nay Death it self sometimes upon Offenders as is evident in the Relation concerning Ananias and Saphira Acts 5. 1 c. And some such thing as this it is likely is meant by those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 done by the Apostâ—les Acts 2. 43. And indeed it was necessary that in those primitive Times they should have such a power of inflicting extraordinary Judgments on Criminals if you consider the state of things then for the Magistrates being at that time Heathens did not animadvert on those who offended against the Christian Laws on which account likewise the Condition of the Church was weak and low And it may be further observ'd that in order to this Gift or Ability of striking with bodily Maladies or Death those that were gross Offenders there was another Gift bestowed viz. Discerning of Spirits 1 Cor. 12. 10. by virtue of which the Apostles had an insight into the Secrets of Mens minds and could tell whether their hearts were right towards God Hereby it was that they could make a discrimination between true and counterfeit Professors of Christianity and thence accordingly receiv'd or rejected them and if they saw occasion punish'd the latter This was a requisite Gift in those days because it was suted to the nature of that Dispensation at that time wherein Christianity was not grown to any perfection and therefore there was need of these extraordinary Means to nourish and uphold it it wanted these adventitious Aids to support its weakness 2. The Christian Church proceeded from Childhood to Youth This is the Second subordinate Dispensation of the Gospel or the present Period we are now under This began when all the Legal Ceremonies and Jewish Observances
questionless are to be understood of this Kingdom of the Messias which is yet to come The Close of the Prophecy plainly shews that it is meant of this for 't is said they shall no more be pulled up out of their Land which I have given them They have been pull'd up out of that Land that we are certain of and they are not yet return'd to it But when God shall bring them again to that Place they shall no more be pull'd up they shall remain there 'till the End of the World I will add that famous Prediction of the Prophet Zachariab Ch. 12. v. 10 c. I will pour upon the House of David and upon the Inhabitants of Terusalem the Spirit of Grace and of Supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn c. That this Chapter is spoken of the Tews is agreed upon by all and that this Portion of it is more especially so appears from that first thing which is said of them viz. that they shall look upon him whom they have pierced for it refers to the piercing of our Saviour's side with a Spear John 19. 37. where upon this Action this Scripture is said to be fulfill'd Upon this Account their looking upon Christ and mourning for him cannot be meant of what they did presently after their return from the Captivity in Babylon of which some imagine most of the Prophets speak for Christ was not then come and therefore they could not pierce him And besides this Zechary prophesied after the Captivity and the Restauration of the Iews and consequently could not speak of these as future things as here they shall look they shall mourn Nor can this Prophecy be understood as some conceive of the Conversion of the Iews in the Apostles Times when several of them imbrac'd the Christian Faith and particularly in one day there were added to the Church about three thousand Souls Acts. 241. some of whom had been Crucifiers of our Saviour v. 36. for this is far different from a National Mourning and Repentance which are here foretold Not only Ierusalem but the Land shall mourn v. 12. the whole People of the Jews Neither is this Prophecy to be interpreted concerning the Day of Judgement as several Expositors have thought telling us that then there shall be a General Mourning and Lamenting for the Crucifying of Christ when they shall look on him whom they have pierced But this Exposition cannot be admitted because these Words speak of the true and hearty Repentance and Conversion of the Iews which no considerate Man can expect shall be at the Last Day If they have not the Spirit of Grace and Supplications poured on them before it is too late then to have it Nor can the Iewish Families mourn apart at that time as is related here Therefore I conclude seeing none of the foresaid Interpretations are well grounded that the Words are to be understood of the Days of the Millennary Reign when there shall be a National and Universal Call of the Jews The whole Land i. e. all the People shall mourn and every Family apart to shew the Sincerity of the Mourning The Spirit of Grace and Supplication shall be bestow'd on these True Penitents they shall be effectually moved by the former to hate their past Enormities and by the latter to beg Pardon for them They shall in a sincere and saving manner bewail the execrable Wickedness of their Forefathers who put the Blessed Iesus to Death and as cordially grieve that they themselves cruciâ—ied him by their Sins This is looking on him whom they pierced Thus on all Accounts this Prophetick Passage is to be interpreted concerning that Last Conversion of the Jews which is one main Ingredient of the Messias's Kingdom toward the World's End when the whole Body of that People disperesed over the several parts of the Earth shall be brought home to the Flock of Christ. Thus it is apparent that this is one of the most considerable Texts in the Old Testament to this purpose I will now pass to the New Testament which chiefly recounts the wonderful Grace of God in the Conversion of Persons to Christianity in the Times of our Saviour and his Apostles and therefore speaks but little of this future Call of the Iews but two or three Places are very Remarkable which I will Produce The first is that of Luke 2. 30 31 c. where we read that Aged Simeon took the Child Iesus up in his Arms and blessed God that his Eyes had seen his Salvation viz. the Saviour whom God had sent into the World whom he had prepared before the Face of all People i. e. whom he had from Eternity decreed and appointed to make known in due time to all the Nations and People of the World And because Gentiles and Iews are a dichotomy of all the People of the World this Great Blessing is more particularly and distinctly expressed thus that he shall be a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of his People Israel Where we are assured that the Gentiles shall first share in this Blessing of the Messias and then the Iews which manifestly shews that this latter is to be understood of the General Conversion of the Iews for in our Saviour's Time the Iews were first call'd and then the Gentiles It shall be otherwise afterwards the way of Salvation and Happiness shall first be discovered to the Gentiles and then to the Iews But observe how differently this is express'd it is said Christ shall enlighten the former but he shall be the Glory of the latter It is a very high Word and lets us know how great how renown'd how glorious the State of the Jews shall be hereafter For this must necessarily be meant of their future Condition because they have never since these Words were spoken been a Glorious People yea they have been above Sixteen hundred years an inglorious base despised People Therefore there remains a Time when these Words of Simeon shall be fulfill'd viz. when the Gentiles are converted to the Faith then Christ shall be the Glory of his People Israel And it is probable that this is meant by those Words that follow Behold this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel that is the Jewish People shall be rejected but they shall afterwards be recovered and restored We have seen the first part of this Prophecy accomplished and at this very day the Truth of it is manifest the Jews are fallen they are cast off and cease to be a Church or Nation The second part of the Prophecy is yet to come when this People shall rise again and be receiv'd to Mercy and Favour The next Text is that which I had occasion to mention partly before but now I will set it down in full Luke 21. 24. where our Saviour after he had been discoursing of the several Fore-runners of those Judgments which were to befal the Iews