hath a mighty force and influence upon men but it is onely upon carnal worldlings that it hath this influence and the love of this world is generally so far from advancing piety that it obstructs it and is the root of all evil The Jew obeyed the law of Moses for the sake of worldly prosperity and when he had obtained it that would be a temptation and snare to him The very reward of obedience was a temptation to rebell And though plenty and prosperity be promised often in the law of Moses as a reward yet it is often mentioned as a snare too The Jews are often cautioned against Sinning against God when they are blessed with worldly prosperity Such promises might have some influence in inclining men to obey the letter of the law they did not move men powerfully to obey the inward and spiritual meaning of it 3. Another great defect in the law of Moses was that it did not furnish the Jews to whom it was given with power and ability to obey It did rigorously command obedience but did not help men to obey They had not that power assured to them from God's promise by which they might be enabled to obey the Moral precepts which they had received The plentifull effusion of the Holy Ghost was a blessing reserved for the times of the Messias or the latter days and is therefore promised as a future blessing by the Prophets themselves The law was written which Moses gave it was not kept from the Jews but the writing it upon their Hearts was promised as a part of the new covenant which God would make with them The Letter of the Law was that which the Jews regarded they did not give obedience to the inward and spiritual meaning of it The law of Moses made nothing perfect it did not reform as well as teach They who were exercised in the precepts of Moses were not renewed by them The law was weak and ineffectual and that which did not give life and power to obey Hence it is that it is called flesh in the New Testament to intimate the weakness of that law It was a shadow of good things to come and consequently was not attended with the power which accompanyed those better things when they were exhibited v. Isa 35.7 with ch 44.3 Joel 2.28 with Act. 2.17 Jer. 31.33 with Heb. 8.10 Heb. 7.11 18 19. Gal. 3.21 Rom. 7.8 ch 8.3 Gal. 4.9 Heb. 10.1 4. The law of Moses was defective compared with the Gospel in that it gave not the assurance of pardon nor laid that foundation for the easing and quieting the consciences of men which the Gospel of Christ is attended withall The law of Moses was a yoke which the Jews were never able to bear They were subjected to the curse of that law who confirmed not all the words of it to doe them It consisted of very many precepts and they were very nice and operose such as required great attention and heed cost and great labour very uneasie to be observed and yet the neglect of any of them exposed the neglecters to the curse of that law Hence it is that the law is called by the Apostle the ministration of death and of condemnation And that State in which the Jews were under the law of Moses is represented not onely as a State of minority but as a State of bondage and Slavery also Act. 15.10 Deut. 27.26 with Gal. 3.10.2 Cor. 3.7 9. Gal. 4.3 24. And indeed it must needs be such a condition that the Jews were under and it will be evident that such it was when it is considered that they were greatly straitned between the great difficulty in keeping and the great danger of breaking those laws They must be uneasie in their own minds who are perpetually in danger of offending and of being punished There was no way left for them for perfect ease and quiet to their conscience if the law were considered as a covenant of works There was not that provision made then for peace of mind which was made afterwards in the time of the Messias It is true there were Sacrifices allowed and prescribed in that law for the atonement expiation of the offender but there are many things to be considered which do speak the defectiveness of Sacrifices under the law and shewing the need of some better provision And to that purpose I desire the following particulars may be duly considered First that for some sins there was no expiatory Sacrifice allowed in the law of Moses and consequently the offender was left without hope of pardon notwithstanding the provision made under the law by Sacrifices for the obtaining of it In many cases the Sinner was to bear his own iniquity and could hope for no pardon from any Sacrifice whatsoever And there are very many sins of this sort Such were wilfull murther and blasphemy and many other sins of which we may see Levit. 20. And indeed all those sins which were committed with an high hand were of this sort And whatever hope there might be for the sinner who was surprized and sinned ignorantly yet if he did it presumptuously and were guilty of those sins which admitted no atonement he was left without hope from the law of Moses and was to dye the death And if the Supreme Magistrate did not condemn him God declared that he would set his face against him and cut him off But of this I have before discoursed p. 27.28 Ps 51.16 Levit. 24.17 and v. 13. Numb 35.31 32. Levit. 20.5 Secondly that where Sacrifices were not onely allowed but prescribed by God himself yet they were not things of their own nature pleasing unto God And God did to the Jews frequently declare this and did it after such a manner as might well beat them off from relying upon the Sacrifices which they brought to procure their pardon and atonement I might heap up Scriptures to this purpose I shall content my self with these that follow I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings to have been continually before me I will take no Bullock out of thine house nor He-goats out of thy folds Again I desired mercy and not Sacrifice And I spake not unto your Fathers nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt-offerings or Sacrifices But this thing commanded I them saying obey my voice c. Again To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of the burnt-offerings of Rams and the fat of fed Beasts And I delight not in the bloud of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats bring no more vain oblations c. Again He that killeth an Oxe is as if he slew a man He that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he out off a Dogs neck He that offereth an oblation as if he offered Swines bloud He that burneth incense as if he blessed an Idol Ps 50.8 9. Hos 6.6 Jer.
But if you say where are these Conquests of our Lord 's to be seen shew us the men that are thus redeemed from their crimes and follies I answer that there are and ever were such men in the World since the Gospel appeared But that their number is small is not from the Religion they profess but because it is not entertained It is because they are false Christians not because the Religion is not able to make them such If we would receive our Lord's precepts and beg his aids and use his assistances and helps we should find a mighty change in the minds of men Lactant. Institut l. 3. c. 26. One of the Ancients tells us that there were daily experiments in his time how far the Precepts of Religion did prevail upon the minds of men And I cannot but take notice of his words to this purpose Da mihi virum qui sit iracundus c. Give me a man says he that is given to wrath to evil speaking and who is unruly With a very few words of God I will render him tame as a sheep Give me one that is craving covetous tenacious I will render him liberal and bountifull Give me one that is fearfull of grief and death He shall soon despise crosses and flames and the torments of a Tyrant Give me one that is lustfull adulterous and gluttonous and you shall soon see him sober chast and continent Give me one that is cruel and bloud-thirsty and that fury shall soon be changed into an unfeigned Clemency Give me one that is unjust foolish and sinfull and he shall presently become just and prudent and inoffensive Thus did Religion doe in those times when it was considered and entertained Those deliverances under the law of Moses were more particular and restrained to the people of the Jews but our Jesus is the Saviour of Mankind He is the authour of eternal salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 And he that saves the World is preferrible to him that delivered the Israelites onely The time was when Religion and all the more eminent dignations and favours of God seemed to be inclosed and confined within the narrow compass of the land and people of the Jews There had God his Temple and dwelt among them to them he gave his responses from heaven There were his Prophets and they had his Law amongst them He had not dealt so with any nation and for his judgments they had not known them Psal 147.20 In Judah was God known His Name was great in Israel in Salem was his Tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion There brake he the arrows and the bow the shield and the sword and the battel Psal 76.1 And What one nation in the Earth was there like that people 2 Sam. 7.23 Among them he wrought his Wonders and the Gentiles were so far from being bettered by those Wonders that they were to their loss They were strangers to the Commonwealth and to the mercies of Israel Their land was the glorious land and the Valley of Vision when others sate in darkness Nay which is more still the Messiah was promised to them and to be of their seed The Apostle in sew but very comprehensive words reckons up their Prerogatives To whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises Whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.4 The deliverances that were wrought by Moses and Joshua c. were for the sake of them and they were but the Saviours of the Israelites But our Lord is the Saviour of Mankind of the Gentile as well as Jew He is that light which lighteth every man that comes into the world That Sun of righteousness whose light and influence is not confined to any one nation or kindred but displays it self upon all the nations of the Earth The partition wall is taken down and the difference between man and man is taken away And whoever comes to our Jesus shall in no-wise be cast out Now all the faithfull are the children of Abraham And God is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him Acts 10.34 Upon the birth of Jesus the Angel tells the shepherds Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people Luke 2.10 And the heavenly Host praised God and said Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men v. 14. Our Lord came not to save the Jews onely but all that believe And 't is worth our observing after what manner the love of God in sending his Son is expressed Not as confined to the Jews any longer but as reaching to the race of Mankind God so loved the world not the Jewish people onely that he gave his onely begotten Son c. John 3.16 After the same manner the Apostle speaks of this love of God After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared Tit. 3.4 Our Saviour is a light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the glory of the people of Israel Luke 2.32 Our Lord hath delivered Mankind Moses and Joshua delivered the Israelites onely Sampson dyed and by his death destroyed the enemies of the Hebrews Our Lord by his death destroyed the enemies of Mankind The Sacrifices of the Law at the most attoned for the whole Congregation of Israel But Christ gave himself a ransome for all 1 Tim. 2.6 He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours onely but also for the sins of the whole World 1 John 2.2 Our Lord tasted of death for every man Heb. 2.9 And would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2.4 And what the men of Dan said to Micha's Levite that it was better for him to be a Priest to a tribe than to be a Priest to one man is accommodable to my present purpose He is the great deliverer that rescues Mankind rather than one people And such an one is our Jesus the Saviour of the World By the Religion of Christ Jesus we may be justified and acquitted from that guilt which admitted no attonement from the law of Moses Though in the law of Moses several oblations were prescribed and allowed to expiate for sins of Ignorance yet there was no expiation allowed for him that sinned presumptuously but such a sinner was to be cut off from among God's people Numb 15.30 31. There were many sins of this high nature that the law was not furnished with an attonement for as may be seen Levit. 20. Among these wilfull murther was to be reckoned as a sin that admitted no sacrifice of attonement And to this sense are the words of the Psalmist understood when he prays to be delivered from bloud-guiltiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
was weak and had not this promise of the Spirit annexed unto it Rom. 7.5 Gal 4.9 Phil. 3.3 with Rom. 8.3 Gal. 3.3 Heb. 7.16 And upon the account of its weakness it is very frequently called flesh in the new Testament as the Gospel is called the ministration of the Spirit upon the account of that power enabling us to obey with which it is attended And the legal ordiances are called weak and beggarly elements or rudiments And indeed the law of Moses might be justly called weak as compared with the Doctrine of the Gospel for the law was not able to effect what the Gospel hath done it gave not life Gal. 3.21 Rom. 7.5 8. Act. 15.10 it did not furnish men with power to yield an inward and spiritual obedience Sin was forbid indeed by the law but not kept under and restrained It directed mens obedience but did not powerfully assist them It was a yoke but not an easie one as that which Jesus puts upon us but such as the Jews knew neither how to bear or to break Gal. 4.3.24 And hence it is that they who were under the law are represented as in a State of Slavery and Servility Whereas the law of Moses was weak and they to whom it was given did transgress it and were obnoxious to a curse God does promise to the Jews to enter into a new and better convenant with them Jer. 31.33 after those days saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people I shall in the next place take into consideration The assurance of pardon of sin which the Gospel gives and consequently the foundation it layes for the quieting our consciences far beyond what was done by the law of Moses I have before shewed the defectiveness of that provision by Sacrifices which was made in the law of Moses I shall shew that this is supplied in the covenant of grace made by Christ And this was foretold very particularly as a special and peculiar grace belonging to this new covenant as it is distinguished from that between God and Israel by the mediation of Moses which God had promised to make God promises not onely to write the law upon their hearts and consequently to work in them the saving knowledge of himself but more especially assures them of their pardon and remission Jer. 31.34 For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more There is nothing bears so hard upon a man as his guilt does And in many things we offend all We are all guilty more or less and consequently obnoxious to the horrors of our conscience and the wrath of God This is the great torment of life and there is no trouble like it A guilty mind bears harder upon us than any outward trouble And then he that hath sinned is anxious and suspicious he is not easily assured of his pardon he that broke the Law of Moses was liable to the Curse of it And though Sacrifices were allowed I have shewed the defects of that provision But the Gospel gives us the utmost assurance of our pardon upon terms that are gentle and reasonable and by no means to be refused What-ever our sins have been yet upon our repentance and sincere obedience for the future we are sure of God's favour and of his being reconciled to us He beseecheth us now to be reconciled to him upon these gentle and easie terms This is the Tenor of this new covenant or covenant of grace of which Jesus is the Mediator He hath procured this for us he hath purchased this by his merits sealed it by his own precious bloud assured it to us by his Resurrection and powerfull intercession he confirmed it by stupendious Miracles proclaimed it to all the world by his messengers and given us the signs and evidences of it by his holy Sacraments and solemn institutions There is nothing wanting to ensure this our pardon unto us Here 's no shadow left for our doubt or anxious fears we have all the possible assurance which we can desire Rom. 5.8 9 10. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more then being now justified by his bloud we shall be saved from wrath through him For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life These last words contain an argument invincible and altogether unanswerable and such as affords the strongest consolation If God looked after us when we were his avowed enemies if even then he gave up his most dear Son to death and at so great an expence restored us to favour surely he will now not abandon us to destruction He that was so kind to his enemies will not now forsake his friends So great and dear a love will not be extinguished It was a great price and an instance of the greatest love by which we were reconciled when we were enemies 't was by the death of the Son of God We had little reason to expect this favour and this expence But now we may be saved without his giving up his Son again to death and need not therefore doubt that we shall be saved by his life The Jew under the law of Moses had great cause to fear for when he transgressed and that he did when-ever he continued not obedient to all the words of that law he put himself under the rigour and curse of the law But God hath now made a better covenant with us and given us the greatest hopes of pardon upon our repentance and sincere though it be not sin-less obedience to the laws of Christ Here is pardon to be had for all manner of sin There were many sins under the law of Moses as hath been observed for which no remission was to be had from any Sacrifice allowed by that law He that was guilty was liable either to death or to excision Mat. 12.31 We are better provided for by this covenant of grace All manner of sin and blasphemy says Christ shall be forgiven unto men Blasphemy as hath been observed before was one of those sins for which there was no expiation allowed under the law of Moses But even for this sin there is pardon in this covenant of grace For our Soviours words do not speak of the event of things but of the provision which is now made Blasphemy shall be forgiven 1 Tim. 1.13 16. i. e. there is pardon to be had for it And he who was himself a Blasphemer tells us that he obtained mercy nor does he onely tell us that but also that he therefore obtained mercy for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe Our Saviour goes on whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him Matt. 12.32 There were those who spake against Christ The Person
he took care of the Levitical Priest-hood also And where he had cleansed the Leper he takes order that the Priest should not lose the profit which in such a case he was wont to receive He wronged no man and though he were poor yet he took care to give every man his due and to reserve something for the poor also His righteousness was so exemplary that the Jews who thirsted after his bloud knew not how to effect his death They had procured false witnesses indeed but their testimony was so incoherent and so lewd that the Jews themselves were forced to use another device since that frequently made use of against his followers viz. to represent him as an Enemy to Caesar And now Pilate to approve himself to the Roman power delivers up Jesus to be crucified But still he pronounced him innocent who gave him up to be crucified He washes his hands and declares himself openly in behalf of Jesus What follows does eminently belong to our Jesus as it was spoken of the Messias Having Salvation The very name Jesus by which he was commonly known and called speaks Salvation And it was given him by the direction of an Angel Mat. 1.21 because he was to save his people from their sins And as he came to save what was lost so we shall find that he fulfilled that design and answered that blessed Name by which he was called he saved some from hunger and thirst some from diseases and possessions some from sickness and others from death and all that believe on him from Hell and the wrath which is to come For what follows in the Prophet that he was to be lowly agrees exactly to our Jesus For whether by lowly be meant poor as that Hebrew word used in the Prophet signifies or meek as it is there rendred by the LXXII Interpreters whose rendring St. Matthew also follows It is certain that our Jesus was both poor and meek in a very eminent degree So poor that he had not what the Foxes did not want where to lay his head And for his meekness and lowliness of mind he was the most eminent and unparrelled example that ever was in the world I shall proceed now to the consideration of the death of Jesus and those particulars which do more immediately relate thereunto And not to insist upon every particular which makes to my present purpose I shall take notice First of the kind of his death and that was the death of the Cross A death it was that Jesus one would have thought should not have died For besides that it was the vilest and most ignominious death a death of slaves and the most profligate villains Besides this it was not like to be the portion of Jesus Sanhedr cap. 7. I. Because it was not a Jewish punishment but a Roman one The Jewish four Capital punishments were stoning burning strangling and killing with the sword II. Because if this had been one of the Jewish punishments yet it could not by the Jewish Law have been the lot of Jesus For whereas the high Priest Pronounced him guilty of Blasphemy and they who were by him judged him thereupon worthy of death Levit. 24.16 we know that stoning was the death appointed in that Case not onely by the after constitution of the Jews but also by the Law of Moses But it was foretold that the Messias should suffer this kind of death And God's decrees and Counsels shall come to pass The Jews had a figure of this in the Wilderness Our Jesus put them in mind of it in these words As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up Joh. 3.14 The story is very well known The people for their sin were bitten with fiery Serpents and many of them died The people beg of Moses in this distress that he would intercede for them that the fiery Serpents might be removed Moses prayed to God in their behalf and by God's direction he makes a Serpent of brass and put it on a pole and they which were bitten looked upon this brazen Serpent and were healed Numb 21. This Serpent that was lifted up in the Wilderness was a type of the death of Christ and of the kind of his death and the effects of the brazen Serpent upon them who looked on it did typifie the virtue received by true believers from the death of Christ To this purpose this of the brazen Serpent is applyed by our Saviour Dominicam crucem intentabat Tertullian adv Judaeos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Mart. pro Christian Apol. II. Moses made that Serpent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodor. in IV. Reg. Quaest 49. and by the ancient Christian Writers is frequently mentioned as a type of the Cross and passion of our blessed Saviour And that it is rightly applyed by Jesus and his followers I shall shew against the Jews Certain it is that the Jews do allow that this brazen Serpent was a figure of something else Vid. Buxtorf Hist Serpent Aenei c. 5. Just Martyr Dialog cum Tryph. and that it had a spiritual sense and meaning And when Just in Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew insisted upon this as a type of the death of Christ and appealed to the company what reason excluding that could be given of this matter one of them confessed that he was in the right and that himself had enquired for a reason from the Jewish Masters but could meet with none The Authour of the book of Wisedom calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wised 16.6 7. a symbol or sign of Salvation For he that turned himself towards it says he was not saved by the thing that he saw but by thee that art the Saviour of all It was an extraordinary and supernatural thing that the likeness of a Serpent should cure the venomous bite of a living one Abravenel R. Bechai in Num. 21. Philo Jud. de Agricultura Leg. Allegor l. 3. The Jewish Writers confess it to be miraculous and that there was in it a miracle within a Miracle Philo the Jew as I intimated before in the fourteenth page of this discourse does in several places mention the difference between the Serpent of Eve and the Serpent of Moses or this brazen Serpent of which I am now speaking He makes one directly opposite to the other and that which deceived Eve to be a symbol of voluptuousness and in token thereof doomed to goe upon his belly Gen. 3.14 But this of Moses to be a symbol of fortitude and temperance That was the destroyer of mankind this the Saviour of the Israelites 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. every one that sees it the brazen Serpent shall live Very true For if the mind bitten with Eve's Serpent which is voluptuousness can spiritually discern the beauty of Temperance i. e. The Serpent of Moses and through it God himself he shall
might not attend unto their pain Maimon H. Sanhedr c. 13. viz. Frankincense in a cup of Wine For this they ground themselves on the words of Solomon Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish and wine to those that be of heavy heart Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more This was the constant practice of the Jews and there is a tradition among them that the Ladies of the City of Jerusalem were at this charge of their own good will towards the poor Sufferers But for all this practice what God foretold was fulfilled Matt. 27.48 with Psalm 69.21 Joh. 19.28 29. Prov. 31.6 7. The Souldiers when they had crucified Jesus part his garments and made four parts to every Souldier a part but when they came to his coat which it seems was woven and without a seam because they could not part that they said among themselves let us not rend it but cast lots for it whose it shall be And so this seemed to be a very casual and contingent thing yet was this not without the particular providence of God in order to fulfill the prophecy of the Psalmist they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture Psalm 18.22 with Joh. 19.23 24. The Psalmist predicted of the Messias in these words All they that see me laugh me to scorn they shoot out the lip they shake the head saying He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him let him deliver him seeing he delighted in him Let us hear now what the Evangelist tells us as to the verifying of this prophecy He tells us that when Jesus was crucified they that passed by reviled him wagging their head and saying thou that destroyest the Temple and buildest it in three days save thy self if thou be the Son of God come down from the Cross There were others that said He saved others himself he cannot save If he be the King of Israel let him now come down from the Cross and we will believe him He trusted in God let him deliver him now if he will have him Psalm 22.7 8. with Mat. 27.39 The Psalmist reports the very words which the Christ should speak upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And we find that Jesus about the ninth hour cryed out Eli Eli Lama sabacthani i. e. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And if the Prophet Isaiah tell us when he reports that he poured out his soul unto death that he did also make intercession for the transgressors I am sure St. Luke tells us that Jesus when he was upon the Cross interceded for his greatest Enemies praying for them and saying Father forgive them for they know not what they doe Psalm 22.1 with Mat. 27.46 Isai 53.12 with Luk. 23.34 The same Prophet describes the patient sufferings of the Messias in these words He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a Sheep before her Shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth Never was this Scripture so eminently fulfilled as it was by Jesus He endured his pain and contempt with a most unparallelled patience He was betrayed by a false Disciple and with a fraudulent kiss Another swears he does not know him the rest leave him in his extremity He is stricken by the hand of a rude Officer oppressed in the place of Judgment condemned to die without sufficient Evidence he is spit upon buffeted hooted at and reviled They carry him from Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate before whom he answers with silence and an unheard of patience From Pilate he is conveyed to Herod and is silent before him also thence he is returned to Pilate neither one nor the other could find any fault with him His enemies thirst for his bloud are loud and clamorous our Lord who suffers holds his peace Isai 53.7 Mat. 27.14 Luk. 23.9 11 14. Though the sufferings of the Messias were particularly predicted as hath been said and they were very severe yet we are assured that a bone of him should not be broken This was intimated in the Law of the Paschal Lamb a very remarkable type of the death of Christ by which it was provided that not a bone of the Lamb should be broken Abravenel in Ex. 12. This is said to have been so appointed for the honour of the holy oblation and was of perpetual obligation and not peculiar to the Passeover of Egypt Now this was actually fulfilled in the body of Jesus though it were very unlikely it should have happened so For besides that our Saviour's enemies were barbarously cruel towards him they had a custom among them to break the legs of the crucified and were at this time especially carefull about it because of their approaching Sabbath and had actually broken the bones of the two Malefactors which hung by him and were come to the body of Jesus for the same end But finding him dead they pierced his side but brake not his bones not without a very remarkable providence of God And this was done that the Scripture might be fulfilled A bone of him shall not be brokea Exod 12.46 Joh. 19.36 If what hath been said be considered duely we shall have great cause from the sufferings of Jesus to believe him to be the Christ I come now to enquire into the causes or reasons of the sufferings of Christ For it cannot be supposed that Christ who was a most innocent person should suffer a most painfull and ignominious death without some weighty cause and great ends And what those are you may learn from the following particulars 1. He suffered in our stead and to procure our pardon and acceptance and Salvation We do believe that he suffered for us men and our Salvation and maintain against the followers of Socinus that this death was a piacular Sacrifice and that his sufferings were a vicarious punishment upon the account and for the expiation of our sins Or that he died to make satisfaction for our sins For the proving of this let us consult the holy Scriptures and we shall find that they do abundantly teach us this truth It is granted on all hands that the Prophet Isaiah Chap. LIII speaks of the sufferings of the Messias And he gives us such an account of them as speaks them to be undergone not onely for our sakes but in our stead also Thus he is said to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows v. 4. And if those words do not import this sense yet those which follow do very much confirm us in this belief He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed v. 5. These words do plainly import that the fault was ours and that for that fault the Messias suffered It was our transgression and our iniquity but the wounds
the same time believe him to be the Christ and consequently that his precepts are divine that his promises are certain and his power and authority uncontrollable This is indeed the faith peculiar to Christians The Jews and the Heathens believed some other points relating to Religion That Jesus rose that he is the Christ the Son of God this is the great Article of the Christian faith Hence it is that so much is imputed to this faith and to the confession of this truth in the New Testament Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God And afterward whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God Whoever believed this believed all the Christian Religion and he that when those words were written did believe and profess this truth when 't was greatly dangerous so to doe as he gave proof of a sincere faith so he might be truly said to dwell in God and to be born of God Ro. 10.9 1 Joh. 4.15 2 Joh. 5.1 Had not Christ been a man he could not have died and had he not been Christ the Son of God he could not have risen from the dead Had Jesus been a deceiver he must have lain in the grave till the general Resurrection Nothing less than a divine power could raise him to life again it was the Godhead which raised the humane nature and then Christ raised himself as he foretold he would and gave a great proof of his Divinity Joh. 2.19 21. It is an easie thing to destroy life but to restore it again speaks an almighty power It is nothing short of Omnipotence which can bring so great a thing to pass The Key of the grave is one of those which God keeps in his own hand The Apostle in very Emphatical words expresseth the power by which Jesus was raised from the dead for speaking of the exceeding greatness of God's power to us-ward who believe he adds according to the working of this Mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead The words are very great as a learned man hath well observed on the one hand there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and on the other there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here 's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 two words to express power and that the power of God and as if these were too little 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added to the one and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the other and still as if this were too short there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to this is added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all this mighty power is actuated and exerted also And who can now believe that God would have shewn such a power in raising up Jesus from the dead if he had not been the Christ But I proceed to consider the time when Jesus rose from the dead viz. the third day The death and Resurrection of Jesus were necessary toward our redemption and the belief of both these is necessary to our Salvation It is therefore fit we should be well assured of the truth of them both and to that purpose that there should be some distance between the one and the other For as he could not have revived if he had not first died so it was fit that we should be well assured of the first before we could be obliged to believe the second If Christ had revived as soon as he had been taken down from the Cross it might have been questioned whether or no he were really dead But for the better speaking to this matter I shall First enquire into the reasons why there was this distance of time between the death and resurrection of Jesus Secondly that Jesus did rise the third day after his death Thirdly I shall consider the third day as it was the first day of the Week I shall enquire into the reasons of this distance of time between the death and Resurrection of Jesus And we may take them in the following particulars 1. It was very fit that there should be some competent distance between the death and resurrection of Jesus that men might be assured that he dyed without which they could not be obliged to believe him risen from the dead 2. It was not fit that the body of Jesus should lie so long as to be corrupted It was enough that he was so long a time dead as might give assurance that when he did appear he was really risen from the dead Had he lain any longer in the grave he had continued so long there as would have brought corruption and putrefaction upon his body Martha tells Jesus concerning Lazarus By this time he stinketh and for a proof of it she adds for he hath been dead four days This long stay in the grave would have made too great a change in the body of Jesus Besides there was a Prophecy of the Messias to this purpose that though he should dye and be buried yet his body should not lie so long in the grave as to putrefie Thus St. Peter applies that prediction Thou shalt not leave my Soul in hell nor wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption to the resurrection of Christ Joh. 11.39 Act. 2.27 31. 3. That this precise time of the resurrection of Jesus is according to the Scriptures or writings of the Old Testament 1. Cor. 15.4 Among those persons who in the Old Testament were types of the Messiah Isaac was an eminent one He was born against the laws of nature the Son of the Promise called the onely Son and the beloved Son and the Heir He was given up by his Father to death and he bore the Wood which was to bear him and in these things he was a remarkable type of Christ And the Bereshith Rabboth expresseth his carrying the wood by his carrying his Cross upon his Shoulder Bereshith Rabb in Gen. 22. The same Authour upon those words on the third day c. reckons up a great many places of Scripture which mention the third day and many particulars for which the third day was remarked viz. the giving of the law c. and then tells us it was remarkable for the Resurrection of the dead and cites to that purpose the very words of the Prophet which we Christians alledge to the matter in hand After two days he will revive us in the third day will he raise us up and we shall live in his sight The same Authour in the same place mentions the third as remarkable upon the score of Jonas who was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale Than which nothing could have been said more appositely to our present purpose that being an express type of the Messias as hath been noted before And 't is enough in this matter that we can shew the express prophecy of Hosea and the eminent type of the Prophet Jonas
Again if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Again he appears in the presence of God for us Heb. 7.25 Rom. 8.35 1 Joh. 2. 1. Heb. 9.24 After this manner is that care and concern expressed which Jesus hath for his followers Shall he after all this be called a Metaphorical Priest onely Heb. 8.2 Shall he that is the Minister of the true Tabernacle be himself but improperly a Priest shall Aaron the type be truly a Priest and shall the Anti-type be one improperly so called Can any thing be said by the followers of Socinus upon weaker grounds than this There need to have been no change of the Law if the change of the Priesthood had onely been into that which is figurative Heb. 7.11 12.8.4.8.3 Christ might have been a Metaphorical Priest upon earth and very consistently with the order of Aaron What need had this High Priest as well as those of the order of Aaron to have something to offer if he had been onely Tanquam Pontifex Crellii Paraphras in Heb. 9.14 as it were an high Priest for such an one never can want an offering Spiritual Sacrifices are always at hand to every good man Shall the High Priest of this order of Melchisedeck not deserve this name which was justly due to the Sons of Aaron And the Anti-type be less real than the Type is It is evident that Jesus is a Priest of the highest order and nothing is wanting to speak him so in the most perfect sense For he wants not power with God nor compassion for his people and then he ever lives and is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck And the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on the day of expiation was but a Type of our high Priest and his concern in Heaven for us And this leads me in the next place To shew that the divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews does chap. 9.24 and elsewhere infer this truth from the avowed principles of the Jâ—wish writers For we find he spends much time in discoursing of the Priesthood of Christ and of his concern for his people now he is in Heaven and infers this from what the High Priest among the Jews did in the Holy of Holies and it will appear that this discourse of his is so far from being inconsequent and impertinent that it is founded upon principles allowed by those Jews to whom he directs that Epistle and especially upon these two First that the High Priest under the law of Moses was a type of the Messias Secondly That the Holy of Holies was a type of the highest Heavens into which Christ entered he being said to have entred into that within the veil Heb. 6.19 First that the High Priest under the law of Moses was a type of the Messias And that he was so and a most eminent one no Christian can deny and it would be no hard task to prove it at large and shew a great many correspondences between the type and the anti-type But to doe that is no part of my present business All that I am to doe at present is to shew that the Jews have no reason to quarrel with the way of arguing which the divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes use of because the high Priest was among them esteemed a type of the Messias To this purpose I shall not trouble my self in searching after the opinions of the latter Jews touching this matter I shall content my self with the Testimony of one of their ancient writers who for his antiquity for his singular wit and learning for his being unsuspected of any bad design and interest in the question we are now speaking of is more valuable than some scores of their later Authours and that is Philo the Jew And I find in that Authour three considerable Testimonies to my present purpose Phil. Jud. de Profugis This Authour discoursing of the Cities of refuge under the law of Moses inquires the reason why the man-slayer was not to be released till the death of the High Priest and thereupon he does expresly affirm That the High Priest was not a man but the divine word free from all sin both voluntary and involuntary The meaning of which can be no more nor less than this that he was in this the type of the divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ph. Jud. de Victimis by whom alone we obtain our redemption which he hath wrought for us by his death The same Authour elsewhere speaking of those words Lev. 4.3 if the Priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people tells us that the latter part of those words do insinuate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. That he who is truly the High Priest and not falsely so called is free from sins And he adds that if he do chance to slip that it happens to him upon the peoples account and not upon his own And in another place speaking of the vestments of the High Priest he adds That it was necessary that he who was a Priest to the Father of the World and bore the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on his breast Ph. Jud. de Vita Mosis l. 3. of which he speaks just before should make use of his most perfect Son as an advocate to procure pardon of sins and a plentifull supply of good things Secondly that the Holy of Holies was a type of the highest Heavens into which Christ entred he being said to have entred into that within the veil I shall consider what the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews says of this matter and afterwards shew how agreeably he discourses of it to the Hebrews and their sense of this matter Christ is not entred saith he into the holy places made with hands Heb. 9.24 which are the figures of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear in the presence of God for us By the holy places made with hands rendred by the Vulgar in that place Manufacta Sancta is meant the Holy of Holies or the Holiest of all as it is v. 3. And if we compare v. 8. and v. 12. with what we read Levit. 16.2 16 20. We shall find the Holy of Holies is sometimes expressed by one word viz. the Holy or Holies which we render here by the holy places and might perhaps as well have been rendred by holies onely This holy place is said to be made with hands and indeed the whole Sanctuary was made by the hands of men and the name of the workmen are upon record and it is called by Philo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ph. Jud. de Vita Mosis l. 3. the Sanctuary made with hands And is by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews called a worldly Sanctuary Heb. 9.2 ch 8.2 and that in respect to the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man These holy places
these all having obtained a good report by faith received not the promise God having provided some better thing for us This is the great perfection of the Christian institution that it gives the clear promise and sure hopes of Eternal life And 't is mentioned as doing so when it is compared with the Mosaical institution Heb. 7.19 For the Law made nothing perfect i. e. it did not perfect those very men who lived under it and submitted to it For it not giving a full pardon for offences and not affording express assurance of Eternal life it was not powerfull enough to perfect those who were under it But then follows what the Gospel doeth But the bringing in of a better hope did by the which we draw nigh unto God Where we find the Gospel called the bringing in of a better hope and that must be the hope of Eternal life for the hope of temporal good things was brought in by the Law of Moses Agreeably hereunto it is also said of Jesus that he was made a surety of a better Testament Heb. 7.22 And a Mediatour of a better Covenant which was established upon better promises Heb. 8.6 And it is elsewhere said of Jesus that he hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 2.10 And the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks to the same purpose elsewhere Heb. 9.6 7 8. He tells there were two parts of the Sanctuary which he calls two Tabernacles and that the Priests went always i. e. constantly twice every day into the first Tabernacle accomplishing the service of God viz. to offer incense and to take care of the Lamps But into the second went the high Priest alone once every year not without bloud which he offered for himself and the errours of the people Thus the High Priest at the day of expiation onely was admitted into the Holy of Holies The meaning of this is expressed in the following words The holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing The meaning of which words is plainly this That the holy Spirit by this appointment in the Mosaical institution Pag. 332. 333. did intimate that the way to Heaven was not laid open during that dispensation And this will evidently appear from what hath been said before to this purpose 2 Pet. 1.3 4. St. Peter blesseth the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope Or an hope of life as it is in another Greek Copy and that of Eternal life also as appears from the following words by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you Here we have an encouragement incomparably great and such as will sufficiently move us to obedience The hope of eternal life is enough to engage us to obey the precepts of Jesus and to reconcile us to all the labour and difficulty which may at any time attend upon our obedience Eternal life imports more than we can express or comprehend something more excellent than what our eye hath seen our ear hath heard or our shallow mind is able to conceive Crowns and Scepters Feasts and Triumphs worldly Success and prosperity are but little and faint resemblances of the eternal unspeakable and inconceivable happiness This it clearly revealed the promise is often repeated the thing promised is expressed by words of the highest import and in such a manner as speaks the thing it self too big to be expressed and too glorious to be comprehended by men who dwell in the body It is a reward stupendiously great and therefore very powerfull it is spiritual and therefore engageth us to be so too it is conditional and therefore is fitted to secure our duty The faint hope of riches of honour of temporal good things hath a mighty force The hope of Heaven where it is well grounded where believed and considered with due application will be of great force to render us patient and diligent and fervent in our obedience I proceed to consider The help and power to obey this Religion which the Religion of Jesus is attended with The laws of our Saviour have the promise of Divine assistance annexed to them The effusion of the Holy Ghost was a blessing reserved for the days of the Messias Our Saviour promised this Divine aid and made good his word as hath been shewn before Joel 2.28 Isa 35.7.44.3 Joh. 14. The Prophets of old did foretell what our Jesus made good And when Jesus did promise the Holy Spirit to his followers he did promise him as a Comforter who should abide with them for ever Indeed the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were not designed to continue in the Church any longer than the reason and the necessity of them continued When the Christian Doctrine was planted and Vniversally received Miracles ceased But the Holy Spirit continues still in the Church of Christ and does renew and purifie the hearts of the sincere believers We have the utmost assurance that we shall receive this Holy Spirit who helps our infirmities Lu. 11.13 Rom. 8.26 1 Joh. 44. and is greater in us than he who is in the World The Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit and of such a spirit as does not kill as the letter of the law did but giveth life 2 Cor. 3.6 8. Gal. 2.3 5 14. 'T is by faith and not by the law that we have the promise and the assistance of the Spirit Gal. 4.6 Rom. 8.3 The Gospel is a state of liberty of ingenuity and freedom We are by this Spirit freed from the greatest slavery and bondage from the Dominion of our lusts and the dread and horrors of our conscience We are enabled to obey and endued with power to doe what our Religion does command Hence it is that the Gospel Rom. 5.21 Gal. 5.4 Tit. 2.11 as it is considered in opposition to the law is called grace or the grace of God in the new Testament because it is accompanied with power or grace enableing us to yield obedience to the precepts of Jesus Christ And our obligation to conquer our sins under the Gospel is now inferred from our having embraced it Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have Dominion over you For ye are not under the law but under grace i. e. Sin shall no longer over-power you now for ye are not under the law which did indeed rigourously require obedience but not help you to obey but ye are under grace that is ye are now admitted to a covenant of grace where you have not onely assurance of pardon upon your sincere repentance but are encouraged also by the promise of eternal life and offered assistance to enable you to obey On the other hand the law
renown to shew that as some other things which are little in bulk or quantity yet in other regards are of more esteem and value above others in sight greater so it was with Bethlehem though perhaps otherwise little in number bigness or account among the thousands of Judah or as St. Matthew among the Princes of Judah Which in sense is all one alluding to the custome of the Israelites of dividing their tribes into thousands as among us the Shires are divided into Hundreds over every one of which thousands was a Prince or Chief Thus is the difficulty of reconciling St. Matthew and Micah abundantly removed and that by a way which the Jews themselves cannot reasonably reject Thirdly I consider the stupendious manner of his birth For this was also foretold of the Messias that he should be born of a Virgin This God had promised long before to the house of David I say to the house of David for that is to be very well heeded 'T was to the house of David not to Ahaz that this promise was made Indeed God said unto Ahaz Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God c. But this Ahaz refused to doe and said I will not ask neither will I tempt the Lord. And then follows the promise not to Ahaz but to the house of David And he said Hear ye now O house of David is it a small thing for you to weary men but will ye weary my God also Therefore the Lord himself will give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you a sign 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. contra Cels l. 1. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call his name Immanuel Isa 7.11 14. By which words it is very evident as one of the Ancients hath observed well that what is said here is said to the house of David Now the Virgin Mary though she were indeed espoused to Joseph yet before they came together she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost Matt. 1.18 And the same Evangelist tells us expresly All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet saying Behold a Virgin shall be with Child c. v. 22 23. It was under the character of the seed of the woman that the first promise of the Messias was made Gen. 3.15 And this was made good in the birth of Jesus of a Virgin who was in the strictest sense the seed of the woman for though the Virgin Mary were espoused to Joseph yet before they came together she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost Thus as sin entred by a woman so did salvation also And God made a Woman the instrument of the greatest good as the first Woman was the occasion of the greatest evil The Woman was then first in the transgression and now she is also made of God an instrument of the greatest blessing to mankind we are saved now by the fruit of a Woman's womb as we were made miserable at first by a Woman's rebellion And thus the Apostle tells us that the Woman shall be saved in Child-bearing And there being a difficulty in that expression I shall offer something upon this occasion towards its explication The Apostle requires that the woman should learn in silence with all subjection 1 Tim. 2.11 and adds But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence v. 12. This may seem hard on the woman's side and therefore the Apostle to shew that what he required of the woman was not arbitrarily done gives the reasons why he enjoins the woman this silence and subjection and gives two reasons The first is that the woman by God was made subject to man and was so even by the very law of her creation and would have so continued had mankind continued in innocence For Adam was first formed then Eve v. 13. The second reason for this injunction of silence and subjection is the woman's transgression This rendred her condition more mean and worse than it was by the law of her creation She is now subjected for her fault and depressed lower than she was upon the score of her transgression God said to the woman upon her fall Thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over three Gen. 3.16 Thus saith the Apostle And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression v. 14. By all which it appears that the woman's condition since the fall is very bad and upon some accounts worse than that of the man's But yet though it be much depressed 't is not deplorable and hopeless It follows Notwithstanding she shall be saved in Child-bearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety v. 15. She shall be saved in Child-bearing not that the woman's bearing of children were either a means or condition of her being saved this would be small comfort to those who bear none But she shall be saved by this Saviour who was born of a woman and is the promised seed 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by this Son born of the Virgin Mary this promised seed who is the foundation of faith and hope And then what follows If they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety does but insinuate the condition required on the woman's part The principal object of faith is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or promised seed this is the mean of our salvation and the foundation of our hope but faith and charity are required as conditions and charity are required as conditions on our part Fourthly I consider the time in which the Messias was to come according to the promises and predictions of the old Testament And here I shall consider what the time predicted was and then shew you that 't is past long since and that our Jesus did appear at that time according to the general expectation I shall begin and shew what the time was in which the Messias was to come according to the predictions of the old Testament And to that purpose commend to your consideration those places of Scripture which give us an account of that time And I shall begin with the words of Jacob The sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet untill Shiloh come Gen. 49.10 That those words are to be understood of the Messias the ancient writers of the Jews do confess and the modern Jews know this very well And several of them have also interpreted the place of the Messias Though there have been some among them who have used their wits to elude the force of that divine Testimony The meaning of those words of Jacob is as if he had said The Jews who near the time of and after their return from their captivity of Babylon received their denomination from Judah shall not cease to be a people nor be quite deprived of the use of their Laws and Religion untill
the Messias shall come among them This is the natural and unforced sense of these words Now we know that forty years after the death of Jesus the Jews were overcome by the Romans their City and Temple burnt since which time they have been dispersed and scattered and are not at this day nor have they been for many ages any distinct Polity or Commonwealth Let them in this confute us if they can Let them tell us where their Nation dwells where it is that they are either a Kingdom or Republick or Body Politick Let them shew us their Sceptre their marks and ensigns of government and authority We know they are a scatter'd people that their City and Land are in the possessions of strangers and that they live under the laws and government of the several Countries in which they are The Prophet is more particular and precise in this affair Dan. 9. Gabriel informs that Prophet of the time of the Messias For there we shall not need to be beholden to the Jews to grant us that Gabriel speaks of the Messias for he calls him Messiah and Messiah the Prince His words to Daniel are these Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteoâ—sness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy Know therefore and understand thâ—t from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks And threescore and two weeks the streets shall be built again and the wall even in troublous times And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself And the people of the Prince shall come and shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a floud and unto the end of the wars desolations are determined And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate even untill the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate v. 24 25 26 27. That the time mentioned by Gabriel hath a particular reference to Christ must be granted it being express And then let men but compute the time and they will soon find that Gabriel's words give an account of a time that is long since past and that they are words that give such a description of time as must have its expiration about that time when our Jesus was in the flesh Another testimony we have from the Prophet Haggai chap. 2. It is well known that the second Temple came very much short of the glory of the first and yet there we find a promise that the glory of that second Temple should be greater than that of Solomon's which could not be otherwise true than that the Messias a greater than Soloman was to come into it and honour it with his presence Let us consider the words I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts v. 7 8 9. The glory must be with reference to the Messias or upon some other account Upon other accounts this house was so far from exceeding the glory of the first Temple that the Jews mention several particulars in which this second Temple fell short of the first And therefore the promised glory must refer to the coming and presence of the Messias And thus we reade in Malachy chap. 3. The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to this temple even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of hosts v. 1. It will appear by what hath been said that the time is lapsed long ago in which the Messias was to come For Daniel's weeks they are expired whatever Epocha we frame for their beginning And the people of the Jews have been vanquished and dispersed and their City and that very Temple into which the Messias was to come were committed to the flames above sixteen hundred years ago But then our Jesus lived when the Jews were a Polity and while they lived by their own laws and in their own land He went into that Temple which the Prophet mentions and did appear among the Jews before their Sceptre was departed and at an age and time when there was a great expectation of the Messias among the Jews and of some great person among the Gentile world That there was at that time when Jesus appeared a great expectation of the Messias among the Jews I have shewed already And I shall now observe farther still that there was even among the Heathens an expectation of some great person that should appear in that age in which our Jesus lived And of the truth of this we have very good testimonies from sundry Authours I shall not insist upon the predictions of the Sybils which were among the heathen people Thus much is certain that there was in that age a great expectation of some extraordinary person When Augustus in whose time our Saviour was born sent to the Oracle to know who should reign after him he received an answer to this purpose That an Hebrew Child had commanded him whom Augustus consulted off from his seat and remitted him to his sad doom and that therefore he should forbear making any farther addresses to him I will not lay any great stress upon this testimony There have been those that think that Virgil hath some passages that iusinuate the perfections of this person that was expected in that age Virg. Eclog 4. and that his words point at our Saviour however they were applied by him or others to the Son of Pollio And indeed there are some parts of his Poem that seem to look that way viz. Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto Te duce si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras But be all this as it will we have other testimonies from approved Authors among the Heathens of the truth of what I have said Sueton. in vita Vespasiani Suetonius tells in the life of Vespasian to this purpose of a great expectation of some eminent person from Judaea about that time that should come into the government and administration of affairs His words are these Percrebuerat oriente toto vetus constans opinio esse in fatis ut eo tempore Judaeâ profecti rerum potirentur This agrees very well with what I