self And if what he reports be that he himself has receiv'd such a Revelation from God with order to publish it to the World I say that this Report in the general is a credible Report because it is very agreeable to the Goodness of God and therefore not unlikely that he should impart to Men by a special Revelation such things as are very useful for them to know and which could not be known or not so well not so fully clearly and certainly any other Way as by Revelation and 't is certainly not incredible that he that has given us a Tongue to utter Words and Skill to express thereby our Thoughts to one another should have Power and Means to reveal and express his own Mind in such a Manner that a Man may understand his Meaning and 't is likewise certainly not incredible in its self that God intending to declare his Will to Mankind should make Use of the Ministry of a Man for this Purpose and having made known his Will to one Man give him Commission to communicate the same to others If therefore there be any thing incredible in the Report of a divine Revelation it must be in the special Matter of it But altho' the particular Matter of any such divine Revelation be such a thing as we could never have found out by natural Reason I say it is nevertheless credible as a Matter divinely revealed if it implies no Contradiction if it be not contrary to natural Reason if it be not repugnant to a former divine Revelation that is well attested and if it be a Doctrine worthy of God that is If in its true Consequences it has no Tendency to encourage Sin but on the contrary has a plain Tendency to promote the Practice of Piety and Virtue among Men. Against such a Revelation as this there can be no just Objection made from the Matter of it There is no Improbability that such a Thing as this should be the Subject of a divine Revelation Or if what he reports be that he himself was by when such a thing was privately done or spoken by another In this case the Matter of his Report is credible in its self if what he says he was an Eye or Ear-witness of be a proper Object of those senses if it be not an impossible thing if it does not imply a Contradiction And in this case the Difficulty the Strangeness the Uncommonness of the Thing it s being a thing that was never known to be done or said before or which no account can be given of by Reason or natural Causes is no just Exception to the Truth of it There is nothing in this kind absolutely incredible but what is plainly impossible But 2. The Credibility of any Report supposing the Matter of it to be credible depends in good Measure upon the Credit of its Author And then a Man may reasonably be thought an Author or a Witness of good Credit in Matters of his own Knowledge when he appears and by all his other Words and Actions shews himself to be grave sober considerate and in his right Wits when he is a Person of unblemished Reputation when he was never known to lye or feign or deceive in other Cases when he gives no just Ground to suspect that he is an intrigueing or designing Person And lastly when he himself is no Party to the Cause has no worldly Interest carrying on in it no Design of Honour or Profit or other temporal Advantage that to appearance can be served by his giving such Testimony when he will be neither the better if his Report be credited nor the worse if it be not believed Such a Witness as this cannot reasonably be excepted against 3. But 3dly Even such a Report made by such a Person is still further credible in case he gives also the best Proofs that can be given or that the Case will bear of his Veracity in that Particular And 't is one very good Token of a Man 's own firm Perswasion of the Truth of what he says if he gives his Testimony in a grave and serious Manner and if he appears to have at that Time a good sense of Religion in his Mind Upon which Account a Solemn Oath by which God is called upon to witness the Truth of what is said is reck'ned the greatest Assurance that ordinarily can be given of the Truth of any humane Testimony and therefore by Evidence given upon Oath all Questions of the greatest Consequence to Men in this World are finally decided Heb. 6.16 An Oath for Confirmation is to Men an End of all Strife Seeing therefore that the great Credit that is given to an Oath is grounded upon that serious Sense of Religion which the Witness is supposed to have in his Mind when he declares that he speaks as in the Presence of Almighty God whenever there is good Evidence given by any Person of the same serious Sense of Religion his Testimony ' tho' without the Formality of an Oath is not less credible Again It is a further Token of a Man's firm Belief of what he reports or affirms in case the Matter of his Report being such as is naturally influential upon Practice he himself lives and acts in all Respects agreeably thereto And especially if in Consequence thereof he declines making such Gain and Profit to himself as 't is probable he would have done had he been otherwise perswaded and denies himself those worldly Pleasures and Sensual Gratifications which other Men not so persuaded do freely allow themselves in and voluntarily undertakes such Labours and endures such Hardships as it can hardly be supposed any Man of another Perswasion would undergo But the surest Token that any Man can give of his Veracity is persisting in the Evidence he has once given to the last When no Promises of Wealth Honour or Promotion can perswade him to forbear speaking the things which he has seen and heard when being brought before Kings and Rulers and straitly threatned to hold his Peace he is thereby rather the more emboldened to speak when being racked and tortured to retract his Evidence he continues in the midst of the greatest Torments to witness the same thing that he did before And in fine when having a certain Prospect before him of losing all that can be dear to him in this World and even his Life its self unless he will either go back from what he has said or at least forbear to repeat and confirm it he willingly and chearfully seals his Testimony with his Blood Such Assurance as this we may have of the Honesty and Veracity of a Person that witnesses a thing only of his own private Knowledge And this being the best we can have he 's an unreasonable Man that desires more or says this is not sufficient But Secondly in Case the Author of any Book or of any Report relates a Thing that was done or spoken publickly in the Sight or Hearing of many
the evil things which it threatens to deterr us from Sin are as to the Matter of them the greatest that we are capable of enjoying or suffering and consequently the most probable to raise our Hopes and to excite our Fears to the highest Pitch For the Arguments that do most strongly persuade us to any thing are from Interest from the Profit and Advantage we shall reap by doing it from the Tendency it has to make us happy and Happiness consists in being perfectly free from all Pain and Trouble and Vexation and in the full and free Enjoyment of whatsoever is pleasing and delightful to us But now both these the Gospel gives Assurance of to all those that believe and obey it that is that they shall thereby be freed from that intolerable Pain and Misery which the Wicked and Unbelievers shall be condemned to and also that they shall thereby be instated in the perfectest and compleatest Happiness both of Body and Soul In a Happiness far greater than any they do or can enjoy now nay in a Happiness much greater than any they can now have so much as a Conception or Idea of in their Minds 1 Cor. 2.9 For Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man the Things that God hath prepared for them that love him But there is besides a remarkable Circumstance which does much enhanse the Value of any Good and likewise much aggravate the Evil of any Pain or Misery viz. its Duration For how great soever the Good or Evil proposed to persuade us to any thing are in themselves yet if they be but of short Continuance if they will soon expire and be at an End we reckon it not worth while to be at much Pains to obtain such a short-lived Good or to avoid such a transient Evil But in this Respect also the Motives both of Hope and of Fear which the Gospel proposes to us do far surpass all those Persuasives or Inducements which Sin can offer for the most we can hope to escape by the Commission of any Sin is the Pain and Suffering of a few Weeks or Years or a temporal Death which last yet we cannot be so vain as to hope to escape clearly for we can at most but delay it for a short Season And on the other side the greatest Good we can propose to our selves or so much as hope to obtain by any Sin is the Pleasure of a short Life In which Hope Men are likewise very often most sadly disappointed their sinful Gratifications commonly bringing with them or drawing after them much more Trouble and Vexation even in this World than the little Pleasure they can reap from them is sufficient to compensate for But if it were not so If the Pleasures of Sin were certain and sincere yet they are but for a Moment They can be but short because our Life its self is but short Jam. 4.14 being as St. James says a Vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away But the Motives of both kinds which the Gospel proposes have in this Respect also that is in Respect of the Duration of the Good or Evil proposed all the Advantage that is possible For the Misery we shall escape and the Blessedness we shall attain by yielding Belief and Obedience to the Gospel are both of them Mark 9.46 48. Matth. 25.46 Mark 3.29 Matth. 18.8 2 Thess 1.9 Jude 13. Rev. 20.10.14.11 of eternal and endless Duration A Worm that never dieth a Fire that never shall be quenched Everlasting Punishment Eternal Damnation Everlasting Fire Everlasting Destruction The Blackness of Darkness for ever A Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they shall be tormented Day and Night for ever and ever and where the smoke of their Torment ascendeth up for ever and ever These are the Evils which the Gospel threatens to Sin And if these be not sufficient to deterr Men from it what can be sufficient What Evil can that Man be supposed to be afraid of who is not afraid of everlasting Burning A greater Evil cannot be threatned and he who is not scared by this would certainly be less scared by the Threatning of a less Evil. And on the other side Everlasting Life a Crown that fadeth not away a Kingdom that cannot be moved an eternal Weight of Glory Fulness of Joy in the Presence of God and Pleasures for evermore at his right Hand these are the good things promised to Obedience And could greater things be promised than these could we our selves if we were put to desire what we would desire more and if the Promise of unspeakable and everlasting Blessedness be not sufficient to prevail with us to undertake a Godly and Christian Life certainly nothing can be sufficient If God should make never so many Revelations of his Will to Mankind he could not propose greater Encouragement to Obedience than he has done already in the Gospel And if those good things which he has promised do not move us 't is not because they are not great enough to move a wise and considering Man but because we are so bent upon Sin that we will not give way to any Considerations that might serve to restrain us from it In a Word The Gospel Motives to Repentance and Obedience comprehend all that we can fear or hope for so far therefore as Fears or Hopes can work upon us there is plainly nothing wanting in that Standing Revelation that God has made of his Will by Moses and the Prophets and especially by Christ and his Apostles to make it successfull that is to persuade Men to Repentance if they will but hear what they say and give Credit to it But 't is not perhaps the Infidels will say a better Rule that they Want than the Scripture is or better Motives to persuade them to lead their Lives according to it than the Scripture proposes but what they chiefly want is some better Evidence some greater Certainty of the Truth of the Scripture This therefore was what I propounded to do in the next place viz. To shew that we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines which are taught by it But because the handling of this Point would take up too much Time I shall chuse to deferr it and conclude this present Discourse with an earnest Exhortation to all those that do sincerely believe the Gospel to consider often and seriously of those great Motives which it proposes to persuade Men. For tho' we live in an Age of great Infidelity wherein some are bold enough to strike at the very Foundation of all Religion and to dispute at least if not deny the most evident and undeniable Truths of it and others think they pay Respect enough to the common Reason and Judgment of Mankind if they do but grant themselves to be Deists and wherein even among those that
the false Evidence they had given concerning it if it had been false might easily have been shewn other ways for what they testified was that that same Jesus whom the Jews had Crucified and whom they had seen laid into the Sepulchre was risen again and had been seen alive three Days after his Passion by several of his Disciples Had this therefore been false how very easie would it have been for the Jews to have disproved their Evidence of it by only going to the Sepulchre and taking out thence his dead Body and exposing it for some time to publick view And thither doubtless they did go and with this Design but the Body they could not find and yet they had taken all the Caution that was possible to prevent its being conveyed away Mat. 27.62 having obtain'd from Pilate a Guard of Soldiers on purpose to keep watch over it for three Days This therefore is a strong Confirmation of the Truth of the Apostle's Testimony concerning our Lord's Resurrection that it being such as might with the greatest Ease in the World have been disproved if it had been false the Jews had nothing to say against it nothing to oppose to it but only that very ill contrived that self-contradicting Evidence of the Watchmen Mat. 29.13 who said that while they were asleep that is when all their senses were bound up and when they were not in a Capacity of knowing any thing that was done the Disciples came and stole the Body away But if they saw the Body remov'd in which Case only they could be good Witnesses of it they were not as they said they were asleep when the thing was done Or if indeed they were asleep when it was removed they could not be positive how it was removed they could not say he was not risen from the Dead 6. Another thing that may be consider'd in order to shew how very improbable or rather how impossible it was that the Gospel History should ever have gained Credit in the World if it had been false is this that as it was a History of such Matters and was so contrived that it might with the greatest Ease have been disproved so the Matters therein related were in themselves and especially in their Consequences such as must needs have engaged a great many to make the strictest Examination that was possible into the Truth of them and if they had discovered any thing of Falshood therein to make known their Discovery to the World For the whole Doctrine of Christianity was grounded upon the Truth of the Evangelical History This disprov'd would have destroy'd that and this being admitted there was no way to put a stop to the spreading of that And the certain Consequence of receiving the Christian Religion in the World was the Abolishing of all the other Forms of Religion that were then any where receiv'd or establish'd even of that which had been introduc'd by Moses amongst the Jews by the Appointment of God himself as well as of the several sorts of Paganism and Idolatry that were receiv'd in other Countries Now when any Religion be it true or false is the establish'd Religion of a Country there must needs be a great many ingaged by the strongest Worldly Interest to support and maintain it For it was not only at Ephesus that a great number of Craftsmen got their Wealth by making Silver Shrines for Diana Acts 19.24 c. but in every other Country the Living of a considerable Number depended upon the Religion that was therein receiv'd which being destroy'd and their Trade or Profession thereby at an End they must of necessity be hard put to it to get Bread by taking up some new Employment And besides there is nothing that all Men of what Trade or Profession soever they are are generally so zealous and concern'd about nothing that they are so afraid of any Change or Innovation in as Religion This be it well or weakly grounded yet if it be that Form of Religion that they have receiv'd from their Fathers and been bred up in from their Childhood they will not easily let go So that I said too little when I said before that a great many must needs have been engaged to set themselves to discover the Falsity of the Evangelical History for this was in truth the common Concern of all Mankind except only of those few Persons who had been Instructed by our Saviour and believed him to be the Christ All others whether Jews or Gentiles Rich or Poor Learned or â—gnorant Priests or People were engaged either by Interest or Prejudice or Conscience or upon some other Account to convict the Apostles of Falshood in their Relation of the Matters contain'd in the Evangelical History and if any Falshood had been therâ—in it is impossible considering how obvious it must needs lie to Discovery and how many were at Work to find it out that they could have failed of their Aim And if any one had made the Discovery it can't be imagin'd he would have been long before he had imparted to others a Piece of News so very welcome as that would have been to the Generality of Mankind or that such a Discovery of the Falsity of the Gospel History in any one particular once made and publish'd should ever after have been stifled or suppress'd because the same Reasons that put them at first upon making the Discovery were of the same Force afterwards to engage them to preserve the Memory of any Discovery of that kind that had been made And therefore I add in the last Place And 't is that which gives Weight and Strength to all that has been said before upon this Subject and fully compleats that Argument which I am now upon for the Proof of the Truth of the Gospel History 7. That notwithstanding the Easiness of the Disproof of this History if it had been false and the incessant Endeavours of the Adversaries of Christianity to find out some Falshood therein to do which â—hey were not only prompted by their own Interest â—nd Inclination but also frequently and boldly chalâ—enged by the Christians themselves as may be seen in â—he ancient Apologies for the Christian Faith it is nevertheless a History of very good Credit now cavilled â—t perhaps but not denied not pretended to be disproved either by Jews or Mahometans or any other â—ort of Infidels and that it has been of the like good Credit for many Hundred Years past even ever since â—he first Publication of it and that 't is not so much â—s contradicted in any Point by any other Historian â—hat living in or near the Time of its Writing was in a Capacity to contradict it upon good Grounds viz. upon either certain Knowledge of his own or very credible Information from others that any Matter therein had been falsly related True perhaps the Infidels will say There is indeed no History of competent Antiquity now extant by which the Gospel History can be
is enough in all Reason and as much as could be expected in this Case supposing there Facts to be true that they are not by any Historians that were of another Religion contradicted or attempted to be disprov'd more than this would have been too much And should we now in some ancient Manuscript History new brought 〈◊〉 Light and bearing the Name of some Jewish or Heathen Author find a large and formal Account of any of those Facts relating to the Christian Religion that are recorded in the Gospel this would give very just ground to suspect that the whole History whatever other Appearance it had of Truth was forged and counterfeit or at least that those Passages speaking honourably of the Christian Religion or the Author of it were knavishly foisted into the Book by some Christian Transcriber For this is indeed the best Argument that is brought to discredit some Passages of this kind that are now to be found in some Heathen or Jewish Historians and particularly in Josephus viz. that they say more than was proper or likely to be said by Heathens or Jews that if those Passages are genuine and the Authors had believed what they themselves wrote they must have been Christians Now this I 'm sure is not fair Dealing that the Paucity and slenderness of those corroborating Testimonies to the Truth of the Christian History that are to be met with in other Historians and that the Multitude and Fulness of such Testimonies should both be urged as Arguments against Christianity And therefore when they are both urged as they are and have been by our Adversaries we may reasonably conclude that the Truth is in the Mean and that there are indeed no more nor no fewer Testimonies of this kind to be met with in other Writers and that they are not either more or less to the Purpose than supposing the Christian History to be true might fairly be expected It only remains then that we enquire whether there be in the Gospel History any intrinsick Evidences of Falshood And 't is pretended by the Adversaries of our Religion that there are many such For there are they say some things related in the Gospel History that are altogether incredible and there is they say oftentimes great Difference in the several Relations of the same Story by the several Evangelists And not only so but there are they say besides in their several Histories compared together some flat Contradictions and Repugnancies I intended therefore at the End of this Discourse if I had had time for it to have spoken largely upon this Subject But because I have not must referr you to those Books that have been written on purpose to give an Account of the difficult Texts of Scripture and to reconcile those that are seemingly repugnant Or for want of such Books to any good Commentary on the Bible in which you will hardly fail to meet with Satisfaction in any Difficulty of this kind if you read it with a Mind disposed to receive satisfaction And I shall conclude this Discourse with only observing in General 1. That the pretended Impossibilities that are said to be related in the Sacred History are only Difficulties They are indeed Events above and beyond the known Power and common Course of Nature but they are such as are easily Credible when they are ascribed as they must be to the Almighty power of God 2. That the Difference that may sometimes be observ'd in the several Relations of the same Story by the several Evangelists is very inconsiderable consisting only in this That one perhaps relates the Story in a different Order of things than another does Or that One tells it briefly another more at large Or One with a few another with more Circumstances Or that some Circumstances are mentioned by each of them which the other had omitted So that this Observation is so far from being a just Objection against the Truth of the History that it is rather a Proof and Confirmation of it For 't is an Argument that the Evangelists did not conferr together in the Writing of their Histories and that they did not Copy or Transcribe from one another but that every one of them reported the Story he wrote in such manner as he himself remembred it to have been and with such Circumstances as he himself took most notice of And 3. As to the Repugnancies and Inconsistences that are said to be in the Evangelical History These we absolutely deny I have not time now to consider or attempt to reconcile all the Places that are pretended to be contradictory to each other but those Passages which seem most liable to this Exception are I think the Relation of Judas's Death and the Account of our Saviour's Genealogy But as to the first There is plainly no Impossibility no Contradiction in it if we should say that after he had hanged himself as St. Matthew Mat. 27.5 Acts 1.18 says he did fall down and his Bowels gush'd out as St. Luke affirms Or it may be that he did not hang himself but only was * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 choaked or suffocated by the violence of his Grief and that the same Passion by which he was strangled made him also fall down headlong and burst assunder in the midst so that all his Bowels gushed out And as to the other when 't is remembred that by the Jewish Law the next of Kin was to raise up Seed to his near Relation that died without Issue Deut. 25.5 by Marrying his Widow and that the First-born of the Woman after such second Marriage was reputed in Law the Son as well as he was the Heir of the Deceased so that consequently the same Person might be the Legal Son of one Man and the Natural Son of another Man tho' it may be difficult perhaps impossible for us at this Distance of Time to say with certainty which of the two different Lines by which our Saviour's Pedigree is deduced from David is the Legal and which the Natural Line it is very easie nevertheless to believe that one is the Legal and that the other is the Natural Line and if so there is plainly no Contradiction between the two Evangelists altho' St. Matthew Mat. 1.16 makes our Saviour to be descended from Solomon and St. Luke from Nathan altho' St. Matthew says that Joseph the Husband of the Blessed Virgin was the Son of Jacob and St. Luke Luâ—e 3.23 that he was the Son of Heli. And now the Truth of the Gospel History being as I hope by what hath bâ—en said sufficiently established I should proceed to shew That if the Matters of Fact related in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein Taught But I am sensible that I have trespassed too much upon your Patience already and so shall reserve this for the Subject of my next Discourse FINIS ERRATA IN
Prophecy And indeed it was as certain an Evidence of his divine Mission as could be desir'd For it was a Matter of the greatest Concern to the World to discern the promis'd Messiah that so they might know in whom to Believe and from whom to expect Salvation And to this End God was pleased by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the World began to give several Marks and Characters of the Messiah by which he might be certainly known and readily distinguish'd from all Impostors for they foretold exactly the Time of his Coming his Pedigree and the Place of his Birth the manner of his Life the Things he was to do the Sufferings he was to undergo and all the remarkable Accidents that were to befall him in this World all which Predictions were punctually fulfill'd in the Person of our blessed Saviour as must be granted by every one that allows the truth of the Gospel-History And this is an undeniable Proof that he was the Messiah for it is manifestly inconsistent with the Wisdom of God when he meant to give Marks and Characters by which the Messiah might be certainly known to give only such as might belong to another Person no less than to him and it is no less inconsistent with his Goodness that his Providence should ever permit that all the Marks and Characters of the true Messiah should meet together in an Impostor because by this Mankind must have lain under an inevitable Necessity of being cheated in a Matter of the greatest Consequence to their Eternal Salvation But the ancient Prophecies of Christ were many of them in Types or Figurative Expressions not readily to be understood 'till they were accomplish'd nor then very easie to be applied by every one to the Person of the true Messiah without the Help of a Teacher How can I understand what I read said the Eunuch Acts 8.31 even when he was reading one of the plainest Prophecies of Christ that is in the Old Testament except some man should guide me And therefore God was pleased to give a yet more certain and distinct Knowledge of him to the Men of that Generation in which he appear'd And this he did 2. By the Testimony of John the Baptist who was a burning and a shining Light and did not as the former Prophets had done only lay down Marks and Characters by the wise Application whereof Men might discern the Messiah when they saw him but pointed to him as it were with his Finger as he stood before their Eyes so that the simplest among them could not but know whom he meant Behold says he the Lamb of God Joh. 1.29 30. which taketh away the Sin of the World This is he of whom I said after me cometh a Man which is preferred before me And to this Testimony of John our Saviour himself frequently appealed as to a Testimony that was full to the purpose and could not be denied Ye sent unto John says he and he bare witness unto the Truth Joh. v. 32. Mat. 21.23 c And when the Chief Priests and Elders question'd him about his Authority he perfectly confounded them by only asking them whether the Baptism of John was from Heaven or of Men for that John was a Prophet altho' he did no Miracles was so evident to all by the wonderful manner of his Birth and the miraculous Circumstances that attended it that they could not and he was also so generally receiv'd and accepted among the People as a Prophet that they dared not deny it If they say we shall say of Men all the People will stone us for they be persuaded that John was a Prophet and yet had they granted this which they could not deny they had answer'd their own Question and seen clearly by what Authority our Saviour acted and taught for no Testimony of his divine Mission could be plainer and clearer than that of John was and it was a thing granted by the Jews that he is a Prophet without all doubt and needs no farther Trial unto whom another Prophet bears Witness 3. Another way by which God gave Witness to our Saviour that he was sent by him and that he was the Messiah was by a Voice from Heaven which Testimony was given him three times Mat. 3.16 17. Mar. 1.10 11. Luke 3.22 First at his Baptism when being come up out of the water the Heavens opened and the Spirit like a Dove descended upon him and there came a Voice from Heaven saying Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And of this Voice 't is highly probable St. John Baptist was an Ear-witness for 't is said expresly that he saw the Spirit descending like a Dove from Heaven and abiding on him John 1.32 and that was at the same time that the Voice was utter'd A Second time was at his Transfiguration on the Mount when the Glory of God appearing in a Cloud Ex. 24.15 c. Mat. 17.5 Mar. 9.7 Luke 9.35 as it had anciently us'd to do there came a Voice out of the Cloud which said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him And at the uttering of this Voice three of his Apostles were present 2 Pet. 1.17 John 1 14. 1 John 5.7 two of which have witnessed the same to us under their own Hands A Third time was after the raising of Lazarus when were present not only his Apostles who constantly accompanied him Joh. 12.20 28. but several others both Jews and Greeks And this Voice was so loud as to be heard by all that were present tho' not by all so distinctly and articulately as it was by some who as 't is probable were nearer than the rest which was the occasion of that Difference that was among the People concerning it some saying that it Thundered and others that an Angel spake to him Ver. 29. To doubt therefore of his divine Mission whom God thus testified to by Voices from Heaven is to make God himself a Lyar as the Apostle speaks 1 Joh. 5.10 because we receive not the Record that he gave of his Son 4. Another way by which God gave Witness to the divine Mission of our Saviour was by enduing him with the Gift of Prophecy or foretelling things to come Mat. 16.21.20.17 c. Mar. 9.31.10.33 Several Instances of which we meet with in the Gospel-History for he foretold very often his own Sufferings and Death with all the remarkable Circumstances thereof He said that he should be betray'd by one of his own Disciples Mat. 26.21 John 6.70 when none of them suspected that there was a false Brother among them and the Traytor himself knew not yet the falseness of his own Heart Mat. 26.34 He told Peter but a few Hours before that he should deny him thrice when He at the same time was very confident of his own strength and declar'd himself resolv'd to die rather than deny him once