find him false and guilty of forgery in any other relation they had no reason to call in question his honesty and faithfulness in this report which is the more considerable because there were others who heard it as well as he who might be appealed unto and askt about it One of those who were there present and heard it together with him was S. Peter a man timorous enough and apt to deny a Truth and therefore of no such courage as to support a Lye with the danger of his life Who writing to Christian people as S. John here doth commends this voice to them as a sure witness of that Truth which he was shortly to seal with his Bloud and professes his own sincerity in the relating of it Read with attention 2 Pet. 1.14 15 16 17 18. where he tells them that our Lord having shown him he must shortly die when it is no time to dissemble with God or Man he would endeavour to settle in their minds such a solid ground of faith that when he was gone they should stand unshaken if they did but remember it And that it was not a thing he had received by hear-say much less a devised story that had been forged in his own brain but a matter of which he was an eye and ear-witness of which he and others also had a certain clear and perfect knowledge For they saw then the glory wherein Jesus was and they heard the forenamed voice come from that excellent glory which could be no other but the glory of the Father Then and there in that Mount Jesus received from the Father honour and glory when there came forth from the mouth of God this voice in all their hearing This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Here it will be necessary to take notice that the voice as all of them relate it was directed not to him but to those who were there present with him None of them say that it spake thus THOU art my beloved Son c. according as S. Mark and S. Lake report the former voice but they unanimously tell us in these four places which I have named that it was delivered in the other form THIS is my beloved Son c. As if He spake to the company that attended him and bade them observe that here He owned this person to stand in such a relation to him as he and John Baptist had professed The former voice might come for his sake but there being no need of his further satisfaction this was for theirs that they might stedfastly believe and that they might be competent witnesses of him and perswade others to the belief of that which upon their own certain knowledge they could affirm was the very mind and will of God I shall have occasion hereafter to make a further enquiry into both these Testimonies which the Father gave to his Son Jesus and therefore I shall now dismiss them with some observations concerning this which will much help to illustrate it and add to the force of it The First is that our Saviour having at this time sequestred himself with three of his Apostles into an high mountain to pray to God was transfigured before them as he was praying xvii Matth. 2. ix Luke 29. so that his face did shine as the Sun and his very garments were all glistering 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Greg. Nazianzen speaks * Orat. 35. p. 575. showing before-hand what he was to be hereafter and making an introduction to the glory in which he should shine in the high and holy place at the right hand of the Father where he makes perpetual intercession for us For to shine as the Sun is a phrase expressing something belonging to celestial Majesty in the Kingdom of the Father xiii Matth. 43. The white and splendid garments also it were easie to show were proper to Kings and those who waited on them iii. Revel 4. The Ministers and royal attendants in the Heavenly Court were wont always to appear in such radiant brightness though short of this wherein our Saviour now began to shine as the King ere long of Heaven and Earth For so S. John says i. 14. We beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father And S. Peter when he speaks of this says 2 i. 16. We were eye-witnesses of his MAJESTY Of which that they might be assured this was a true representation you may observe secondly how they saw a very great Glory appear and approach towards them called by S. Mark and S. Luke simply a Cloud but by S. Matthew xvii 5. a bright cloud which had usually been the token of the presence of the Divine Majesty And therefore it is called by S. Peter in the place before named ver 17. the excellent or magnificent glory and the voice which came out of it is said ver 18. to come from Heaven because it came forth from the presence of God of which this bright cloud was the visible sign For so He appeared anciently to the Israelites in a cloud that had a splendor or shining light in it like to the hottest fire which sometimes brightly glistered and sometimes was obscured So you read xix Exod. 18. that the LORD descended in fire upon the famous Mount Sinai and a little after xxiv Exod. 16 17. how the glory of the Lord dwelt upon that Mount and the cloud covered it i. e. the glory of the Lord for the space of six days and then on the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of that cloud And the aspect of the glory of the Lord was as fire that burnt or glowed with great ardency in the sight of the children of Israel That is on the seventh day that Glory was revealed and broke forth out of the cloud wherein for six days it had been wrapped up and hidden from their sight And so you read in the xl Chapter of that Book that as soon as Moses had reared up the Tabernacle for the constant habitation of this Divine presence the cloud covered it and rested upon it without and the glory of the Lord filled it within ver 34 35. which is presently after explained to be a fire which by night appeared upon the Tabernacle to guide them in their journey This is that bright flame which frighted them when they murmured against Moses called the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud xvi Exod. 7.10 and xvi Numb 42. threatning to devour them if they were not more obedient Such a glory but more pure and more delightful to behold there was now upon this Holy Mount as S. Peter calls it to make them apprehensive that now they were in the presence of God who as he did on that Mount to speak in the words of Tertullian initiate their forefathers in the Religion of Moses by showing his glory and by his voice so here on this * Agnosce formam loci c. L. 4.
When the LXX Elders were to receive a portion of Moses his Spirit God ordered them to be brought unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation and says he would come down and talk with Moses there and take of the Spirit which was upon him and put it upon them xi Numb 16 17. Accordingly you read ver 24. that as they stood round about the Tabernacle the Lord came down in a cloud ver 25. that is in such a manner as now the Holy Ghost descended at our Lord's Baptism But He came not down upon them who were about the Tabernacle but rather as in the next story xii 5. and at other times stood in the door of the Tabernacle from whence he spake to Moses and took of the Spirit which was on him and gave it to the seventy Elders Whereas here the Holy Ghost came down in a visible glory and pitched upon Jesus himself who was the Tabernacle now where God chose to dwell For this Schekinah as you have heard or Divine majesty not only lighted on him but rested there and remained in him as if God had told him who saw it both descend and abide on him Here will I dwell for ever for therein do I delight This demonstrated him to be more than any ever was not merely a great Prophet but the very Son of God Never was there such a Crown prepared for any mans head but his Never before did the hand of Heaven put such a Diadem of Glory upon any person as this which encircled and as I may say was bound about our Saviour This can be accounted nothing less than the testimony of the HOLY GHOST to him that he was the Holy one of God the anointed from above the King of God's people and the heir of all things Thus S. Peter you know expresses the honour which was now done him when he tells Cornelius and his company x. Acts 38. that God ANOINTED him with the Holy Ghost and with power The HOLY GHOST came down as an holy oil from the Heavenly Sanctuary which being poured on him in such a glorious Majesty gave him authority to be called the Son of God and made him his King So John Baptist acknowledged him you remember as soon as he beheld this strange sight and bare record of it unto others that this person thus anointed was the Son of God i. John 34. He was now invested with a royal power for that 's the meaning of his being ANOINTED and we ought I shall show you to look upon this as a solemn inauguration of him in his Kingdom to which he had now a title given him together with some part of a Kingly Authority And if there be any truth in the Traditions of the Hebrews concerning their own Ceremonies there was something remarkable in it that this ANOINTING him with the holy oil from above was immediately after he came up out of the waters of Jordan For Maimonides and the Doctors in the Talmud tell us that they never anointed a King of the house of David but at the side of a Fountain or of a River of water Which was the reason that David commanded his servants to bring his son Solomon down to GIHON 1 Kings i. 33. and there anoint him King over Israel For this GIHON was a little River as R. Solomon there notes or the head of a River nigh Jerusalem which discharged it self into the brook Kidron and in the Chaldee Paraphrase is called by the newer name of Siloah It was made very famous afterward by that memorable work of Hezekiah 2 Chron. xxxii 30. who to take away the advantage any Enemy might make of it in a siege stopt up the course of its water and brought it by Chanels under-ground into the City of David At this place without the walls of Jerusalem not in the City Zadok and Nathan anointed King Solomon That is one of them poured out the oil and the other anointed his head drawing a circle with the oil upon it For so they all say that Kings were anointed in the form of a Crown to denote the royal dignity Which if it be true and that they made choice of such a place to show as they will have it the perpetuity of their Kingdom because Rivers run alway though the Cities which stand by them decay and may be demolished then it is very observable that our Lord was ANOINTED or Crowned with the Holy Ghost by the River JORDAN rather than in any other place to denote him indeed to be the King of Israel who should sit upon the throne of his Father David as the Angel said for ever and ever But this I mention only by the way The chief thing to be noted is that now he began to reign and entred upon his Kingdom called the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven which John Baptist told them was at hand For this descent of the HOLY GHOST in such a visible majesty did not merely give him a title to the Divine Kingdom which was to be erected by him in the world and assured him that he was God's Christ or ANOINTED that is his King and endued him with such royal qualities as fitted him for that office But it made him a King by conferring several branches of the Regal power on him and by giving him authority to exercise them in the world It is true indeed he did not actually take possession of his Kingdom nor exercise his royal power completely and the time of his inthroning was deferred till he had accomplished the will of God other ways and by the suffering of death was crowned with glory and honour in the Heavens But that he did not act only as a Prophet all his life-time but likewise took upon him the person of a King or acted as a Royal Prophet doing many things which only the royal Authority could do is a most manifest Truth in the Holy story Which cannot be better explained than by the parallel case of his Father David who was the exact type and figure of him He was anointed by Samuel some years before he sate upon the throne of the Lord. But as that Unction was the designation of him to the royal dignity and a pawn or pledge of the possession of it in due time so ever after he atchieved very great things which spoke him to be the person designed by God for his Kingdom as it is called I told you 2 Chron. ix 8. and he also received some portion of it before he enjoyed it all entirely 2 Sam. ii 4.9 v. 3. Just thus did our blessed Saviour after he was ANOINTED with the Holy Ghost give several proofs that he was a King which is the meaning you have heard of the word CHRIST and had received some of the power belonging to that high office For first he cast out Devils and cured all diseases at any time when he pleased only with his powerful word and for nothing Which were Acts of such royal bounty
Salutation to the blessed Virgin is after this manner recited in the Alcoran in the next Chapter to that before named O Mary God sends thee a good Messenger by his WORD which is out of himself His Name is Messias or Jesus Christ the Son of Mary powerful in this present World and in the World to come Where the forenamed Paraphrast says he was powerful in the present World by Prophecy and in the World to come by Intercession and Celestial preparation He should have added also what he said before that he was powerful here by that which is properly called power the healing Diseases opening blind Mens eyes and such like works of wonders the Divine Majesty resting on him and abiding in him in so glorious a manner that he might properly be called the Temple of God For whatsoever demonstrations there were of Gods presence in the Tabernacle of Moses or in the Temple of Solomon which were alike filled with the glory of the Lord xl Exod. 34 35. 2 Chron. v. 13 14. the very same tokens there were of his presence in our Saviour Nay it is easie to show that he manifested himself in all his glorious Attributes more in our Saviours Person than ever he did in either of those places And it will be such an evident demonstration of the truth I am asserting and give such light to this testimony of the Holy-Ghost who appeared in that excellent Majesty which descended on him that I think it will be worth my pains to make good the Parallel in some instances I. And first you may observe that from the holy place in the Tabernacle God declared his mind and will and made known to his People what he would have done There God told Moses he would meet and commune with him of all things which he would give him in commandment to the Children of Israel xxv Exod. 22. And we are told the manner of it vii Num. 89. When he was gone into the Tabernacle he heard the voice of one speaking to him from off the Mercy seat that was upon the Ark from between the two Cherubims From thence God gave out to Moses his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle calls them iii. Rom. 2. Oracles or such words of direction and command as were necessary for the good Government and preservation of his People whose Laws Statutes and Judgments came from the holy Oracle in the Sanctuary of God This was a marvellous favour of Heaven to them though nothing comparable to the manifestation of the wisdome and counsel and will of God by our blessed Saviour Who not only revealed his Mind more clearly and abundantly thereby showing he is the Temple of God but told us such things as never came from the former holy place things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither did they enter into the heart of man to conceive He was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or WORD of GOD in this sence as well as any other because he acquaints us with Gods mind and declares to all Mankind his sacred will and as from an holy Oracle utters things secret from the foundation of the World For the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth i. Joh. 14. The word full relates to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the WORD in the beginning of the Verse the other part of the Verse being inserted between in a Parenthesis and carries this sence in it that Jesus being fully acquainted with all the gracious counsels of God concerning Men hath declared them to us and made us also acquainted with them He was so full of truth that he calls himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the truth it self xiv Joh. 6. No man hath seen God at any time the onely begotten Son he hath declared him i. 18. That is he hath made God visible to us he as an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expounder or interpreter of anothers mind hath opened to us all his secrets concerning our Salvation and thereby declared that he is no less than the Wisdom of God When he appeared in the World then Wisdome built her self an house as Solomon speaks ix Prov. 1. Which words * Orat. 3. contra Arrian Athanasius not unfitly accommodates to our Lord Christ Whose body is the house of Wisdome And a most holy house the dwelling place of God from whence he hath revealed himself not to so few as one Nation but to all the World whom if they would open their eyes he hath illuminated with his Wisdome R. Bechai I remember will have the Ark from whence Moses heard God speaking to him to be called in their Language by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as much as to say because of the light which was there Which he will have to be the Law preserved in the Ark which was the Light of Israel And just thus writes S. John concerning this WORD of God 1.4 In him was life and the life was the light of men That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World v. 9. For so Jesus proclaimed himself saying viii 12. I am the LIGHT of the World And such a Light he was that all the wisdome which was discovered before from the Sanctuary of God was but Clouds and darkness in compare with that which was made manifest by our Saviour The best knowledge they had was covered and wrapt up in types and figures till God appeared in Jesus and rent those clouds in pieces by the brightness of his beams They had but such a confused apprehension of things in former times that S. Paul compares this discovery of God in Christ to the breaking forth of light out of the rude Chaos in the beginning of the world 2 Corinth iv 6. For God who commanded light to shine out of darkness i. Gen. 2 3. hath shined in our hearts the hearts of the Apostles to give the light of the knowledge of the GLORY OF GOD in the face of Jesus Christ Some flashes of which light and majesty of God in him came from his face not long after he entred into the World When he was but a Childe they wondred at his wisdome and were astonished at his understanding and answers ii Luk. 47. But when he was grown up and the Holy Ghost came down from Heaven upon him like the Glory of the Lord which filled the Tabernacle and Temple then his Wisdome appeared the more illustriously And was the more amazing because they knew he was not trained up in the Schools of Learning nor had any better breeding than a Carpenter's shop could give him For so his Countrymen say in S. Mark vi 2 3. Is not this the Carpenter the Son of Mary How comes he by these things and what wisdome is this which is given unto him They were astonished at his Doctrine and as S. Luke tells us iv 22. Wondred at the gracious words which proceeded out of his
shone as the Sun though this may reasonably be thought as I shewed in the former Treatise to be a representation of his Ascension into heaven where he shines at the right hand of the Father and is the Lord of glory And therefore I shall onely observe two things first the words now added to the voice formerly delivered secondly the manner wherein they were spoken in the audience of those Apostles I. As for the words now added in this second voice to those of the first wherein he had declared him as he doth here again his beloved Son in whom he delighted they are these HEAR YE HIM Which are the very words that Moses spake to the Children of Israel when he prophesied of the Messiah and said xviii Deut. 15. unto him ye shall hearken And it may be one reason why Moses was now present when God spake these words in the Mount that he might consent to this truth which was now so solemnly pronounced in his hearing that Jesus was the Great person of whom he had prophesied Now God bidding the Apostles HEAR HIM and Moses himself to whom they had hearkened all this while being content that he should take his room it is an argument of something to be declared by him that Moses had not spoken And what should that be but onely the words of Eternall Life which was but obscurely intimated and shadowed in the ancient Law but by him was preached so clearly and distinctly that the voice of the Heavens is not more audible There is nothing I shall shew in due place that our Saviour preached so frequently nothing upon which he insisted so long and earnestly and took such pains to settle in mens minds as this belief that Eternall Life shall be the portion of all that doe well And therefore when God the Father bad them hear him who made it his principall business to publish this glad tidings to the World it was the very same as if this Voice had said in express words This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased believe it He shall give you eternall life This is the Commandment his Father gave him as you heard before xii Joh. 50. This is the will of him that sent him vi Joh. 40. This is the promise that he hath promised us even eternall life 1 Joh. ii 25. And therefore he stands engaged to bestow it and we agree with him for it when we enter into his service For you may observe farther that as to hear Moses was to embrace the Covenant that God made with them by him so we can understand no less by hearing the Son of God then our entring into the New Covenant of which he is the Mediatour which is founded upon better promises then the former whereby we have a title to a celestiall not an earthly inheritance whereof he is the Lord and to which he hath engaged himself to be our Conductour And indeed Moses and Elias who were never called the Sons of God much less by a voice from heaven so termed appearing now with our Saviour in glory it was a notable sign that He should be taken up to a far greater glory then theirs and have power of changing men into such a condition as that wherein he was now transfigured and in the mean time should preach that life and immortality which they saw conferred upon those two persons to honour him Whom the Disciples you may observe again saw in a glory so much greater then the Law-giver himself now had that if the voice from heaven had been silent it would have been an argument our Saviour should be the Lord of glory For when they desired to make their abode there and for that purpose to build three Tabernacles they say one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias putting him in the first place before the other two which they would not sure have done had not Moses and Elias done reverence to him as a greater person then themselves I shall end this with a Tradition among the Hebrews which if it signifie any thing may serve to shew that Jesus is their long-expected Christ For R. Bechai saith * in xlix Gen. 10. that when Jacob speaks of the coming of Schilo he comprehends not onely the last Redeemer the Messiah but the first Redeemer also i. e. Moses who shall have the honour then to attend upon the Messiah and enter into the holy land according to what the Masters say upon xv Exod. 1. where the words are then Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall sing And in the great Commentary upon Deuteronomy they write as the same Authour goes on that God said to Moses Because thou didst give thy life for them in this world desiring that God would blot his name out of the book of life to preserve theirs in the world to come i.e. the days of the Messiah when I shall bring Elias to them you two shall enter in together Which may possibly be the meaning of those words i. Joh. 21. Art thou Elias and he said I am not Art thou that Prophet i. e. Moses who alone was worthy of the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prophet above all others Now if there were any ground of such expectation that these two should come in their own persons you see it here fulfilled on this holy Mount where Moses who was so much in mount Horeb and Elias who used mount Carmel now appeared and had communication with him about his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 departure out of this world unto his heavenly Kingdome ix Luk. 31. The Mount where they met and where Jesus was transfigured is generally believed to be Tabor as Hermon a little hill near Jordan there is a tradition was the place from whence Elias was taken up to heaven In these two Mountains saies Proclus * Orat. viii our Lord Jesus was proclaimed the Beloved Son of God from whom we may expect immortall bliss At Hermon when he was baptized in Jordan on Tabor when he was transfigured and appeared in a glory as much greater then Elias's as the high mountain Tabor was above the little hill of Hermon And so was fulfilled says he that prophecie of the Psalmist lxxxix 12. Tabor and Hermon shall rejoyce in thy Name In both places was published this joyfull news that God had sent his Son to be the Saviour of the World First in the mount from whence Elias was transported into heaven and then in the mount where he came to attend on our Lord when he was transfigured God the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confirming his Sonship proclaimed again with a loud voice This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him For he that heareth him heareth me as Proclus there glosses and he that is ashamed of him and his words of him will I be ashamed in my glory Let us listen to him therefore and since we hear him say as I noted before Verily
verily I say unto you he that heareth my words and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life v. Joh. 24. let us take it for as express a declaration from God the Father as if that voice which required them to hear Jesus had said You that are obedient to my Son have everlasting life and are in no danger to perish being translated from the dominion of death to be heirs of life II. And now from the consideration of the words that were spoken let us pass to the manner wherein they were delivered which is so vastly different from that wherein God spake formerly to Moses and the children of Israel from another mountain that I cannot but think it was intended to signifie something of the grace of Eternall Life which Jesus brings to us When he was transfigured and his face shone as the Sun the Evangelist tells us moreover that his raiment became glistering exceeding white as snow and that a bright cloud also overshadowed them out of which the voice before named came saying This is my beloved Son c. Which if it be compared with former divine Manifestations of the same kind we may reasonably look upon as an indication that this Person came to discover 1. something more glorious then Moses had done and 2. something that expresses more abundant love and kindness of God towards men which is nothing else but Eternall Life First I say something more glorious and resplendent or as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. iv 6. the light of the knowledge of the glory of God which we behold in the face of Jesus Christ For the Mount to which Moses went up and where he and the people heard God speak to them was all covered with clouds and thick darkness Thus God himself told him beforehand he would appear xix Exod. 9. And so he did when the day prefixed for it came vers 16 18. Unto that thick darkness Moses drew near xx 21. And the people also stood underneath the mountain beholding it burn with fire into the midst of heaven with darkness clouds and thick darkness iv Deut. 11. xix Exod. 17. All which places the Reader may be pleased to consult together with xxiv Exod. 18. where we find that Moses went into the midst of this cloud and there was covered and quite obscured from their sight A very fit emblem of the obscurity of the knowledge which they then had of God and of his will and of the terrours of the Law which was a ministration of death as the Apostle speaks and so astonished them with the thunders and lightning which came out of the cloud that they fled and stood afar off xx Exod. 18. As on the other side God appearing now to our Saviour in a quite contrary manner on the top of another Mountain where there was no black cloud though it was in the night no smoak or sulphureous vapour much less a thick darkness hiding him from his Disciples sight nothing but a bright and lightsome cloud which overshadowed them and shewed them the glory wherein he shone it was a lively representation of the light which he the Light of the world came to give to them that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death and of the glory and bliss whereof he was the Minister unto which he invited mankind in words of grace and sweetness as he did his Disciples to stay here on the mountain by those chearfull beams wherewith the glory of the Lord surrounded them For this manner of appearing as I said Secondly plainly suggests some greater manifestation of the love and kindness the goodness and bounty of Heaven to mankind then had been made before in that way of revelation to Moses which was so much different from the sweetness and amiableness of this When Moses conversed with God upon mount Sinai he descended thither in Fire as the places before mentioned tell you And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire in the eyes of the children of Israel xxiv Exod. 17. v. Deut. 22 23. But when our Blessed Lord took his Apostles with him to a sight of the Divine Glory there was onely the appearance of a wonderfull bright and chearful light some mild rays from heaven which had nothing of terrour in them but ravished them with joy to find themselves in so glorious a Presence And therefore they were not left at the foot of this high mountain as Moses left the Israelites at the bottom of the other but he brought them up with him xvii Matth. 1. And they were not put into a fright as the Israelites were who removed their station at the sight of the fire on mount Sinai nor did they shriek as their Forefathers did there who cried out saying Why should we die for this great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more we shall die Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die v. Deuter 25. xx Exod. 19. But they were ravished out of themselves with the glory of this sight which was so inviting to their eyes that they wisht for no other station but desired to remain perpetually fixed there They were so far from running away that they said Let us make here three Tabernacles as if they meant to pitch there the place of their abode and never take their eyes from so beautifull a Light It is observable also that in the dark Mountain where Moses was together with the fire and thunder and lightnings there was the noise of a Trumpet exceeding loud which made not onely all the people tremble but the whole mount quaked greatly xix Exod. 16 18. And God spake likewise to the people with a great voice v. Deut. 22. wherewith both they were so astonished as to wish never to hear it more and Moses himself also so terrible was the sight together with the noise said I exceedingly fear and quake xii Heb. 21. Whereas on the Mountain where our Lord was transfigured there was not one such frightfull flash nor the least dreadfull sound nothing but his own glistering Body the splendour of Moses and Elias the brightness of a heavenly cloud and this one sweet voice which proclaimed nothing but love and grace in their ears This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him St. Matthew indeed tells us that when the Disciples heard they fell on their faces and were sore afraid xvii 6. But this doth not signify that they were seised with any horrour at the dreadfulness of the sound but onely amazed at the suddenness of the voice and the marvellous splendour of the Light And therefore the other Evangelists do not mention any such terrour after the voice which being accompanied with a glory they had never beheld might well amaze them but did not make them tremble The very
was attested by chosen persons to whom he shewed himself openly And then he was lifted up from the earth in another more noble and sublime sense then he had been before upon the Cross Then Angels came in bright array to testify to him what he had said of himself xiii Joh. 31 32. that God having been glorified in him had glorified him in himself This was a very glorious testimony that indeed he hath Life in himself and shall be the Authour of eternal Life to us And therefore he is called the Prince or Authour of life iii. Act. 15. because by that which overcame death his resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c * S. Cyril ib. in xii Joh. 28. we know him to be LIFE and the Son of the living God But of this more hereafter 3. Another Act whereby this saying I will glorifie thee again was verified I take to be his Exaltation by God's own right hand to the throne of glory in the heavens This he prayed for with the greatest ardency and the most assured expectation xvii Joh. 1 2. because God the Father he saith had given him power i. e. the promise of it over all flesh that he might give eternall life to as many as God had given him This promise I understand it was made to him when God uttered this voice from heaven I have both glorified thee and will glorifie thee again Then God gave him a power to raise up all as he had lately done Lazarus and to give them immortall happiness of which as he had then the grant so he now desires in this prayer to be put in possession And therefore when he says vers 1. Father the hour is come glorifie thy Son c. I take the meaning to be as if he had thus spoke Now is the time to doe that which thy voice from heaven assured me should be done viz. to glorifie me in so compleat a manner that I may glorifie thee and give eternall life to all the faithfull This he spake with eyes lifted up to heaven from whence that voice came which bare witness of him that he should be glorified more then ever and gave him authority to lay claim to the highest power of bestowing immortality Which power when God the Father had actually put into his hands according to this prayer and his own promise of which he could not fail having ingaged himself before a multitude to glorifie him then being made perfect he became the Authour of eternall Salvation to them that obey him v. Heb. 9. Then he was made a Priest for ever vii 16 17. not after the Law which was but a weak institution but after the power of an endless Life whereby he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him He can raise up us and all that succeed us as well as he did Lazarus and others in whom he gave onely a little taste of his power to give us Life that shall never die This now is the Third Testimony of the Father who in the audience both of Friends and Strangers said He had both glorified him and would glorifie him again That he had was then very well known and it was as certain because he said it that he would doe the same again By the testimony also of sufficient persons it appears that he made good this promise even at his Death after which he raised him out of his grave and lift him up far above all heavens that he may be glorified once more 2 Thess i. 10. by raising us up from the dead and promoting us to eternall glory with himself O wonderfull News Athanasius in Assumption Christi He that was lifted up to hang on a Cross is preferred now from his grave to a glorious throne And to come at it he takes a journey through the air the clouds running under his feet become his chariot the sky opens to him and the heavens with open arms receive him the troups of Angels joyn together in triumphall Songs and persuade his amazed Disciples to keep that day a festivall on earth as they did in heaven Do not stand gazing here say they any longer but go and preach this wonder to the world By his departure represent his coming again for so shall he come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven O how wonderfull are thy works O Lord which give us hope as the blessed St. Paul said when he thought of these things that we shall then be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we be ever with the Lord. We can doe no less then to those voices which came so oft from heaven to testifie this adde our poor voice of praise and thanksgiving saying with the Angels when He came into the world GLORY BE TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST and with the multitude when they met him at mount Olivet Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord PEACE IN HEAVEN AND GLORY IN THE HIGHEST Cyrill Hieros in occurs Domini Glory be to him who is the Fountain of Life coming from the Fountain of Life the Father Glory be to him who is the River of God proceeding from the Divine Abyss and inseparably one with it the Treasure of the Father's Goodness and of ever-springing Blessedness the Water of life who gives Life to the World the increated beam of the Father of Lights from whom he is undivided who being in the form of God took on him the form of a Servant not lessening the dignity of his Divinity but sanctifying the mass of our Humanity Him the Angels praise the Archangels worship the Authorities reverence the Powers glorifie the Cherubims doe him service the Seraphims acknowledge his Divinity the Sun and Moon minister to him who hath broken in pieces the gates of Hell and opened the gates of Heaven and abolished Death and confounded the Devill and dissolved the Curse and made Sorrow cease and trodden Sin under foot and restored the Creation and inlightened the World And therefore let us sing hymns to him with the Angels and rejoyce in the light of the glory of God with the Shepherds and adore him with the Wise men and joyfully magnifie him with the blessed Virgin and confess him with Simeon and Anna who were glad to see his Salvation that so we at last may also be possessed of eternall good things through the grace and the bowels of mercy and the loving-kindness of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen CHAP. VII Concerning the Testimony of the WORD the Second Witness in Heaven IF we had no farther Witness of this Truth but that which hath been already produced we might well rejoyce in the comfort which God the Father hath given us and rely upon Jesus as the Authour of Eternall Life to all those that obey him
adv Marcionem C. 22. was going in the same manner to give testimony to them concerning his Son Jesus and to confirm them in the belief of whatsoever he should teach them For thirdly this was not Mut◠Nubes as the same Tertullian there speaks a dumb cloud a silent glory but a voice came out of it which was Novum Patris testimonium super filio the Fathers New testimony concerning his Son In which testimony He was pleased to apply those very words to Jesus which had been spoken by Moses concerning a Prophet whom he had bid them look for after him For in the xviii of Deuteronomy he tells them from God himself ver 17. that there should be raised up to them a Prophet like unto him into whose mouth ver 18. the Lord would put his own words and who should speak all that he should command him UNTO HIM SHALL YE HEARKEN ver 15. as much as to say Be sure you attend to his words and give obedience to them Now these very words and syllables HEAR HIM are by that God who made that promise to Moses spoken in this place to the Disciples with a manifest application to Jesus clearly denoting him to be the person whom Moses foretold the Lord their God would send to declare his mind unto them as he himself already had done And that this was really the voice of God as much as that voice which spake to Moses we have the greater reason to conclude from this following which is the fourth observation That Moses now stood by and heard it and from thence learnt a great deal more than he knew when he wrote his Book that this person of whom he spoke was more than a Prophet being the Son of Gods dearest love For these words which declared him so were spoken there where he was present who durst not contradict them as sure he would have done had he not known them to be the very voice of God and no delusion I need not enlarge this because the Evangelists tell us so plainly that not only He appeared in glory talking with our Saviour upon this Mountain but Elias also accompanied him which is next to be considered Who being a great Prophet might pretend as fairly as any other man to be the person designed by Moses in the words forenamed and yet consented by his silence to the same undoubted Truth that the prophecy of Moses was not till now fufilled but had its utmost completion in Jesus And indeed this voice from Heaven making such an open Proclamation concerning Jesus before him that gave the Law and before the chiefest of the Prophets who had asserted it and being heard by them with the profoundest silence without any contradiction it did as good as tell the Apostles that they might be assured this was He of whom the Law and the Prophets had spoken whom they were now to give ear unto and that the Law and the Prophets must from henceforth give way to an higher Revelation from God by this Jesus If this had not been true we cannot but think that this great Zealot Elias who had been always so jealous for the Lord of hosts 1 Kings xix 14. and this trusty servant of God Moses who was so faithful in all his house xii Num. 7. would have presently entred their protestation against it and required the Apostles in the Name of God to give heed only to their voice but not to this Which now might the rather be believed to come from Heaven because these inspired persons reverence it and dare not venture in the least to speak against it when they were highly concerned so to do if it had not been the voice of God And if any one shall ask how these Disciples could tell that these two were Moses and Elias whom they never saw I think Theophylact hath well resolved it that they knew them not by their faces but by their discourse Certain it is that persons living in far distant Countries known to others merely by their works and manner of writing have after a little converse at an unexpected meeting been challenged by the Names that their Books carried without the help of any noted character in their face to distinguish them Nothing is more common than the story of Erasmus whom his Friend here in England greeted by his name after a few repartees pass'd between them though he had never seen him and little thought then to embrace him Now we are expresly told by all the three Evangelists that Moses and Elias talked with Jesus and by S. Luke that their discourse was concerning his decease or departure out of this world which he should accomplish at Jerusalem and consequently it is very probable of the glory that was to follow it by his Resurrection Which conference the Apostles hearing they might easily know though not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by their pictures which many of that Nation held it unlawful to be made yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from their words and discourse wherein either Jesus or they before it was done had occasion to mention their Names or their offices or to describe their persons that they were none else but those two men who then appeared to them And it is possible as Theophylact adds that Moses might say I acknowledge thee to be the person whose death I prefigured by the Lamb which was slain at the Passeover And Elias might joyn with him and say Thou art He whose Resurrection I did likewise fore-show by calling again the Widow's son to life Some such kind of discourse we may reasonably conceive passed between them whereby they discovered themselves to be the one the Law-giver the other the noblest of all the Prophets who now came to wait upon Jesus and acknowledge that he was greater than they as the voice from Heaven presently testified which declared him the beloved Son of God to whom now all must attend as they had formerly done to them And therefore it is very remarkable which is the last thing I shall observe that no sooner was this voice heard but Moses and Elias vanished and were seen no more As much as to say That Jesus alone was now to be heard the Law and the Prophets were gone and had nothing to do but only to serve him So S. Mark relates ix 8. that suddenly when they had looked round about after the hearing of this voice they saw no man any more save Jesus only with themselves They turned their eyes every way to look for Moses and Elias but there was no further news of them Nay S. Luke tells us ix 36. that in the very uttering of the voice from that Heavenly glory they disappeared So those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plainly signifie While the voice was speaking Jesus was found alone The clould out of which it came covered them and took them into it At the same time it opened it self to manifest him and to obscure them that it might be evident
others are said to have seen God who beheld some very bright appearance an extraordinary light shining before their eyes which excelled all that ever they had seen or could imagine and was the token of the Divine presence Thus Moses was afraid to look upon God iii. Exod. 6. and the Elders of Israel are said to see the God of Israel xxiv 20. which places Maimonides thinks are to be understood of the Vision of God with the eyes of the mind But the Text is plainly against him which tells us there was a visible appearance of some unusual astonishing brightness And therefore he confesses that if any man do conceive those words are to be interpreted of some created light as he speaks * More Nevoch Part. 1. cap. 5. and many other places that is the visible apparition of a Divine Majesty or of an Angel there is no danger in such an apprehension And indeed no man can seriously read the Books of Moses but he will see plainly they speak of a sensible glory which was exceeding dazling and sometimes too great for the weak eyes of men to behold I have described it before when I told you it was nothing else but a flaming light which shone from that amazing devouring Fire which appeared in the cloud to the children of Israel Thus Abarbanel expounds that place I mentioned before xvi Exod. 7. In the morning then ye shall see the glory of the Lord. Which is not to be understood of the providing them bread or flesh in an extraordinary manner but of the Fire which appeared to all the people to reprove and punish them for their murmurings And so Lyra says it was an unusual refulgent brightness or lightning representing the Divine power ready to chastise them for their mutiny against his servants And it is very common in the New Testament to cal◠such a great splendour by the name of glory As the shining of Moses his face i◠called by S. Paul 2 Cor. iii. 7. the glory 〈◊〉 his countenance And in the same stile he◠speaks of the light of the Heavenly bodies when he says 1 Cor. xv 41. There is on◠glory of the Sun another glory of the Moon and another glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in glory that is in the brightness and splendour of its light Such a glory it was that now S. Steven beheld but far more splendid more pure and illustrious than the light of the Sun or any other that has been mentioned which was a representation of the presence of the Divine Majesty who used in this manner to make men sensible of his transcendent invisible glory And there in the Divine presence he saw our Lord in the most high and honourable place next to God the Father himself For that 's the meaning of his appearing at the right hand of God or of that great glory he saw in the Heavens the right hand being the principal place belonging to the Heir of the Crown when he appears together with the King his Father And therefore the Divine writer to the Hebrews says there never was any Angel seen there They only stand or minister before God or before his Throne but to which of them did he say at any time Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy foot-stool i. Hebr. 13. This is the prerogative of Christ alone the great King the Heir of all things whose glory the Psalmist describes in that place cx Psal 1. from whence these words are cited that is prophecies of his Kingly power in the Heavens as S. Paul clearly expounds this phrase of sitting at Gods right hand 1 Cor. xv 25. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet He is a King and he reigns and he hath a Throne i. Hebr. 8. but when he is compared with God the Father Almighty the fountain of all power and authority and when he appears together with him to show that he reigns under him and for him he is represented as sitting at the right hand of God or the right hand of the Throne of God For so his Kingly power is expressed in other places He is set down on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens Hebr. viii 1. xii 2. that is He reigns together with God the Father in the Celestial glory For the throne of God signifying in the Scripture phrase as the forenamed Maimonides observes that place where God's Majesty manifests it self in a visible splendour and glory the sitting of our Saviour at the right hand of that Throne or that glory denotes nothing else but his being seated in the highest honour that can be given to any one in the Heavenly places next in greatness power and majesty to God himself under whom he is the King of Angels and Men and all Creatures There was nothing of which this holy Martyr was more assured To whom this Heavenly King appeared not in his usual posture of sitting at God's right hand as one possessed of his royal power but standing there as if he was ministring in the Heavenly Sanctuary in the quality of a royal high-Priest for that was the posture of those that ministred in the Temple cxxxiv. Psal 1. for the comfort of all Christian people and of himself especially or rather as ready to come to take vengeance of those implacable enemies who had killed him and now persecuted his servants which was a notable instance of his royal power at God's right hand For there the Psalmist says he must reign till he hath subdued all those that oppose his authority and troden them under his feet And as for the second enquiry how he could know this to be Jesus whom he saw in this Heavenly Majesty It is easily resolved that He appeared to him with such a countenance as he had here upon Earth only more shining and bright as being now in the glory of the Father And so he tells the Jews I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God That very person he means who used to call himself the Son of man whom you crucified and dishonourably treated I now see so exalted that I had rather die as he did than not confess him to be the Son of God as he said he was when he died This is the first testimony which was given to this truth by the WORD Who bore witness in a most illustrious manner to himself when he appeared thus to a person of the greatest credit in the Divine glory and in the highest place of Celestial dignity as the King of Heaven that is and risen up from his Throne as if he was coming to be avenged of his adversaries to succour all his servants and to welcome this Martyr into glory with himself So S. Steven verily thought for he resigns up his Soul to Jesus with the same confidence and almost in the same words that Jesus gave up his to God the
God promised to send to rule over them He takes the Book out of the right hand of him that sate on the Throne ver 7. which signifies that he is next to God the Father of all at whose right hand he stood in power and glory As appears also by his being seated in his Throne for the thrones of the Eastern Kings to which these expressions allude were wide like one of our Couches in which more than one may sit and by his having the principal Angels the seven spirits of God at his command to imploy where he pleased Who together with the rest of the Heavenly host and with the Christian Church make their acclamations to him ver 11 12. as worthy of the most supreme power and dignity which they express in as many Names of praise as there are principal Spirits of God when they say Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 1. power and 2. riches and 3. wisdom and 4. strength and 5. honour and 6. glory and 7. blessing And then immediately he hears every Creature joyning him in their Doxology together with God the Father saying ver 13. Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever But the more fully to represent his Divine power you may observe that he appears in another Vision to him in the very same state and majesty wherein God was wont to make himself present in the times of old Then you read that the Lord made the clouds his chariot and walkt upon the wings of the wind ciii Psalm 3. that is came to them by the ministery of Angels who appeared in bright and shining clouds to do his will with great expedition every where For so it is expounded in the xviii Psalm 10. where instead of clouds it is said He rode upon a Cherub and did flie yea he did flie upon the wings of the wind That is there was a token of his presence by the majestick appearance of Angels who were ready to be imployed by him and immediately to execute his commands For to ride upon any thing as Maimonides observes * More Nevoch Part. 1. cap. 70. is in the Holy Language to rule to govern to have an absolute power over it and dispose of it as one pleases And therefore to ride upon a Cherub or to make the clouds his chariot which are the very same because the Angels appeared in glorious clouds is to send those Heavenly Ministers whither he thinks good to perform his pleasure Whence it is I suppose that the Psalmist says elsewhere lxviii 34. his strength is in the clouds because he is powerfully present by them in all places For as Andreas Caesariensis hath truly observed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. in his Commentaries upon the Revelation a cloud in the Sacred writings is ever a Minister about Divine businesses and perpetually imployed in them because they are above us and are very swift as the Angels are in their motions and are both dark and bright a fit emblem of the glory of the Divine Majesty which is inscrutable by us Now just in such a glorious Majesty and mighty power did S. John behold our blessed Saviour making the clouds that is the Angels his chariot in which he sate as a Lord to whom they were to do service So he tells us in xiv Rev. 14. And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sate like unto the Son of man having on his head a golden Crown and in his hand a sharp sickle Where by cloud the forementioned writer understands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some Angelical power of which this white that is bright cloud was a representation ministring to our Saviour For S. John saw him upon this cloud and sitting there as if it were the Throne or Royal Chariot of this Prince Who sate there with a Crown on his head denoting his Royal authority and that of Gold to show by what is most precious among us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the splendour and greatness of his Majesty and with a sickle in his hand to signifie that he hath such a power as to be able to cut down Kingdoms and States with as much ease as we mow a field of corn All these three last expressions set forth the highest dignity and most royal power and therefore so doth his sitting upon a cloud or being carried by Angels as Kings were anciently and still are in the Eastern Countries by their servants Which kind of speech and other such like phrases in the holy Language as riding upon the wings of Angels denoted by the clouds and wind signifie the exercise of his Kingly power by their Ministry Who are ready to fly any whither to convey his orders and execute them throughout the world Where he being present by them as a King is by his several Ministers in every part of his Dominions he is said to sit upon them as if whither-soever they go they carried him Thus the ancient Books speak of God the Creator and Governour of all and thus our Saviour teaches S. John to speak of him which is a sign that he is the Son of God who sends forth the Angels to minister for them especially who shall be heirs of salvation And therefore in another Vision which is all I need mention xix Rev. 11 12 c. He saw him again coming out of Heaven with the Royal ensigns of his victorious power over those who had opposed his authority For behold a white horse which was proper for a conqueror and one sitting upon him whose name was called the WORD of God Who was clothed he tells us with a vesture dipt in bloud that is with a purple garment such as Kings use to wear and his eyes sparkled or rather flamed like fire to denote how terrible he was to his Enemies and there were on his head many Crowns because he had already conquered several Kingdoms and Provinces and was now going to subdue more being attonded with all the armies in Heaven who waited upon him to minister to him in this war till as he was of right he was actually acknowledged by humble subjection to him to be KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS And what greater argument can there be of the power of our Lord and of the truth of these Visions whereby the WORD of God who hath the lineaments of future things in his mind as Irenaeus speaks represented how God would hereafter dispose of the affairs of the world than his possessing himself of a Kingdom and perswading so great a part of mankind to submit to him though a King invisible merely by the preaching of such men as S. John The event hath proved it was no delusion when he heard those great voices in Heaven saying xi 15. The Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever
is no providence or else it would have taken care in case he had been a deceiver that it should have been as evident that he did not rise from the dead as now it is that he did Though the World had been amused a long time with discourses about him and with strange things which he was thought to do yet here had been a nick of time at one stroke to have broken the force of all these arguments and blasted his credit and undeceived the People had there been nothing of God in it But since this last and greatest token did come to pass as was proved by witnesses of unquestionable truth it justified his pretences and added strength to all the former testimonies which had been given to him demonstrating him plainly to have been a man approved of God among them by miracles wonders signs which God did by him in the midst of them as they themselves knew III. And this truly was so great a sign that his very Enemies could not but confess it was satisfactory and a sufficient evidence of any truth Which may be clearly discern'd from hence that they never to this day went about to show that though he was raised again yet it was not a proof that he was the CHRIST but all their endeavour hath been to perswade the People that he was not raised again They had no other way but to deny this that so they might not confess the other They were utterly undone they knew and must lose all their reputation with the People if he was raised from the dead because it would effectually prove what they denied and therefore they hired the Souliders to say that his Disciples stole him away while they slept A story so sillily contrived as I hope to show in another place that it it is a very great evidence they shut their eyes against this light for fear it should show them that they had been the Murderers of their CHRIST They could not but say that if he was raised again he was the CHRIST and therefore were resolved to say any thing though never so absurd rather than grant that he was raised to life again which must strike them dead He was not a King for their purpose and therefore they hated him and endeavoured by any means to obscure whatsoever tended to prove his authority He never made any show of worldly greatness or gave them any hope he would fight their battles against the Romans and therefore they entred into a league against him to make perpetual war with him and sought by all the lyes they could invent to suppress his growing Name and by all the cruelties they had power to use to dishearten his followers from professing their belief in it But the Apostles of our Lord knowing the truth of this better than they could do and that it was a meer calumny which they spread abroad concerning their stealing his Body out of the Sepulchre could not be deterred by any punishment which they or all the power on earth could inflict from preaching Jesus and the Resurrection For on the one hand they saw it was confessed by malice it self that if he was raised from the dead it could not be denyed that he was the CHRIST and on the other hand they saw with their own eyes that he was raised from the dead and knew it was a malicious slander which the Pharisees had divulged of their breaking open the Monument of the dead This both confirmed their faith and inflamed their zeal If they had any doubts remaining this very tale helpt to disperse them But they were soon past all doubt by the coming of the Holy Ghost which he sent them to witness the Resurrection together with them Then it was impossible they should doubt of his being alive when they felt his mighty power in their hearts This dissipated all the mists and vapours which had gathered about them and darkned their understandings By this Jesus brake forth upon them in a fresh lustre and like the Sun rending all the Clouds in pieces illuminated not only them but the whole World in a short space with the beams of his Glory How should he do otherways after such a proof as this which is so great that they could never wish for a greater It is not above six hundred years ago since a Jew called EL DAVID gave out that he was the Christ and drew a great many followers after him Upon which he was apprehended and brought before an Arabian Prince who askt him What miracle what prodigie dost thou show that we may believe To which he answered Sir cut off my head and I will live again This he said craftily to avoid greater torments which he foresaw would be inflicted on him for affirming that which he could not prove But observe the Princes reply as it is related by Maimonides in a letter of his to the Jewes at Marseilles about this very business Thou canst not give us a greater sign than this And if it fall out so that thou dost rise again to life after I have cut off thy head I and all my People nay all the World sure will believe what thou sayest is true and that our Forefathers inherited nothing but vanity and lies which did not profit them And presently the experiment was made He commanded him to be beheaded and there was an end of his cheat And so likewise there had been of this business which we are treating of if Jesus had not risen For he said just as this El David did Kill me if you please I will live again Which sign coming to pass as we have the greatest reason to believe we ought to follow the resolution of the Prince now mentioned by submitting our selves to him and heartily acknowledging him to be the Lord. When he was upon his Cross the Chief Priests with the Scribes and Elders said He saved others let him save himself If he be the King of Israel let him now come down from the Cross and we will believe him xxvii Matth. 41 42. If our Lord had taken them at their word we cannot tell what they would have done But it is plain he intended to give them a better ground of Faith than that If they had demanded a greater thing they should have had greater satisfaction If they had said He raised others from the dead let him raise up himself after we have crucified him let him come out of his Grave if he be the KING of Israel and then have used all the care in the World to see whether he rose again or no they had been convinced and perswaded to believe on his Name It was not fit to do the other because he was to Dye for the Sins of the People But this he did though they did not ask it to fulfill his own promise and to show that he was the Person promised to their Fathers And it is so much greater than the other as it is a greater thing to
pleasures here as you may clearly discern from what hath been said consisting in a vehement motion which is very transient and quickly slips away we must rest a while before we can renew it and begin the motion again The duration of the present is short but there are long pauses made before another succeeds For no man can always eat and drink or every moment enjoy any other delight much less can he always attend to what he enjoys though the attention is that which makes the delight But now quite contrary this pleasure that flows from the Vision of God is of such a nature that it is always felt and injoy'd For being firm and steady fixt and unchangeable like God himself it is not received by piece-meal and at certain seasons as our pleasures here are but is full and all together without any space between to disjoyn its parts Which makes those happy souls live in one continued compleat happiness and joy which doth not pass away but still remains They can always love him always praise him always feel a sense of his goodness trickling down their hearts and filling them with ineffable joys without any ceasing Who would not then by a short course of Piety here which must be oft interrupted by sleep and other necessary occasions and it is well if not by many failings run towards this never-discontinued life of happiness in the other world Who would not wish and strive to enjoy such a Good as will never suffer him to be out of enjoyment None sure but they who though they cannot always eat and drink and take their pleasure yet have their hearts so sunk into such delights that they cannot receive any taste of these celestiall entertainments Do but spend a serious and stedfast thought upon them do but give your selves a true gust of them and you will sooner cease to eat and drink then to hunger and thirst after them III. For this word ETERNALL you will soon see in the most obvious acception of it denotes the perpetuity and everlasting duration of this uninterrupted and unintermitted LIFE or state of highest Happiness If we should suppose it to be but of a short continuance yet such is the pleasure of it I have shewn you so satisfying are its joys that any man of sense would chuse rather to spend seventy or eighty years there then to pass them in this miserable world Nay one day of that life is better then a thousand of ours and much rather should we wish to have the meanest place in those celestiall mansions then the greatest preferments on this Earth But besides that it is so transcendently sweet and delicious you must now consider that this LIFE knows no term nor period but lasts as long as him that is the Authour of it He never began to be the Lord and to be Good as Clemens Alex. concludes his V. Book being alway what he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor will he ever cease to doe good though he bring all things to an end Still holy Souls will enjoy the sweet fruits of his love when all things here wither and perish He is the Eternall God blessed for ever from everlasting to everlasting and changes not And such will the state of happiness be to which our Lord will bring his servants to a Crown of glory that fadeth not away 1 Pet. v. 4. to a building of God not made with hands 2 Cor. v. 1. eternall in the heavens xii Heb. 28. to a kingdom that cannot be shaken to a light that is never sullied with any cloud and can never be put out to a splendour and glory that is neither eclipsed nor ever impaired for it is the Glory of God the enjoyment of his eternall brightness which as it is not broken by sleep nor interrupted for a time by any of our earthly employments so much less shall it break off by death and cease to be for ever This is the very Crown as I said at the beginning and the perfection of the Happiness we expect This makes it to be absolute Bliss because it wants not that continuance which all our enjoyments here desire but still complain they cannot have Which some anciently thought they saw most lively represented in the History of the Creation of the World where there is a constant mention as the Hebrews observe Pirke R. Eliezer c. 18. of the evening and the morning making one day till the whole six days-work was ended The evening and the morning were the first day saith the Text i. Gen. 5. And the evening and the morning were the second day vers 8. And so you reade of all the other six till you come to the seventh wherein God ended the work which he had made and rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made ii Genes 2. But it is not said here as it is in the conclusion of all the former days that the evening and the morning were the seventh day And therefore they lookt upon the Six days as a Calendar of the severall Ages of this World in which there is a continuall vicissitude of day and night of light and darkness pleasure and grief labour and rest and one generation goes that another may come till all have an end But the Seventh day in which they found no mention of evening and morning they took to be an emblem of that happy Sabbath and perfect repose we shall have in the other Life L. vi contra Cels p. 317. when as Origen speaks we have done all our work faithfully and left nothing undone After this says he follows the day of God's Sabbath and Rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. in which all pious Souls that have finished their work as God did his ascending up to the Spectacle above and the generall assembly of the just and blessed shall feast together with God and keep his everlasting Sabbath of joy and gladness and peace without any succeeding sadness and sorrow or any conclusion of their happy enjoyments Of which also the happy condition of the Hebrews after they came out of their Egyptian bondage was some kind of figure for it is called by the name of a Sabbath or Rest which God gave them from their hard labours and when they come thither they are said to come to their rest In like manner the Apostle speaking of the Christian Happiness calls it by the same name and proves that there still remains another Rest for the people of God iv Heb. 9. And the Spirit it self saith xiv Rev. 13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord that they may rest from their labours There is nothing we can enjoy in this life but besides that it is short we must attain that short enjoyment by much labour We must not have it with perfect ease but with toil and pains and the sweat of our brows Or if it come at a cheaper rate yet it will stand
it a disparagement to their Master Moses did they not satisfie themselves with this ridiculous reason for it to be spoken unto after such a manner as the Scripture of truth relates then by their own confession it is a great honour to our Lord and Master and argues his high dignity that the Divine Majesty spake to him in such a way as they cannot but esteem most perfect and agreeable to his Divine Goodness And we may look upon this pure Light in which God is said to dwell as a sign that Heaven was to be opened by this Person and that he would restore us to the Glory of God of which we we all faln short and bring mankind to that joy and satisfaction of heart which the Disciples began to feel in themselves at this most comfortable sight And I make no question had not the holy Books told us so expresly that God spake to them in clouds and fire and vapour they would have fabled that he appeared to their Master in pure light and shone about him in the brightness of his glory without the least darkness to obscure it For I find that many of those things which the holy Story of the New Testament reports in honour of John Baptist or of our Blessed Saviour they have thrust into the Story of Moses where he himself in his Books hath not confessed the contrary to keep him in the greater credit with their Nation in this time of their calamitous desertion It being recorded for example that John Baptist was born when his parents were very old and could not believe it was possible for them to have a child which makes his birth a wonder being out of the course of Nature they have made bold to tell the same of Moses but with a large addition of years whose mother Jochebed they say was no less then an hundred and thirty years old when she was delivered of him which Aben Ezra in his Notes upon the text * A. Ezra in ii Exod. ver 1. is desirous should pass for a current truth And as we reade that when our Saviour came into the world the Glory of the LORD an exceeding great light from heaven shone round about the shepherds who had the first news of it which was intended as a note of his Divinity and heavenly descent So they have devised * R. Solomon in ii Exod. 3. that at the Nativity of Moses the house where he was born was filled with such a light that they could not see by reason of its splendour In like manner the Apostle proves our Lord to be greater then the Angels far above all principality and power c. i. Heb. 3 4. i. Eph. 19 20. and therefore Moses forsooth must be raised to this wondrous pitch â— Moses Haccozi whom some of their Rabbins all are not so immodest will have to be higher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then the Angels of Ministry far above all creatures as another expresses it both superiour and inferiour R. Joshuah F. Sobib in xxx Exod. As if they meant to equall him with that great Lord who we believe is raised far above every name that is named not onely in this world but also in that which is to come And because also our Lord we affirm and are sure is now the Minister of the heavenly Sanctuary where he presents his own bloud before God for us as Aaron did the bloud of beasts in the earthly Sanctuary therefore they likewise have feigned as Maimonides relates from the mouth of their Doctours * Ludov. Capell ex prâ—fat in Talm. Not. in xvii Matth. 3. that their Master Moses is not dead but ascended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and ministers to God in the heavenly places And because our Lord is here said to be transfigured on this Mountain and his face shone like the Sun they have therefore transformed Moses also who they say was found by the Angel of death whom God sent to the Mountain whether he was gone up to take away his life writing the great Name of God and his face was as the Sun and he himself like an Angel of the Lord. I have observed the same before about the Bath kol voice from heaven which spake to our Saviour whose glory they study to eclipse by spreading abroad a number of tales concerning the like approbation given to their Doctours I am bold to call these reports by that name and to ascribe them to that cause because there are no footsteps of such things in the history which Moses wrote of himself who by all just ways endeavoured to beget in them a belief that he was a Prophet sent of God and because such inventions might easily come into the minds of those obstinate persons who knew not how to confute Christianity which interest and prejudice would not let them receive but were desirous by any means though never so false to raise Moses to the same degree of greatness and esteem with the Authour and finisher of our faith But it is to be considered then that they suppose such things to be a notable sign of the excellency of that person to whom they really belong and consequently that our Lord Jesus who hath these very marks upon him which they would ingrave on Moses being thus described in those Books that are certainly Divine among us as clearly as Moses is in any other regards commended in those that are truly holy among them is a Great Prophet indeed far greater then Moses who never durst say any such thing of himself nor is so magnified by any of the succeeding Prophets the Authour of a better Covenant and of more divine Promises such as this of ETERNALL LIFE which it is most agreeable for him to bestow whose Kingdom was not in this world as Moses's was but he reigns in the other world Lord of all for evermore III. To him God the Father hath given a third Testimony unto which it is now time to pass and it is a very express Record of this Truth that we have Eternall Life and that it is in his Son It is set down you know in the xii Joh. 28. where upon our Saviour's request to God that he would glorifie his own Name a voice from heaven gave this answer I have both glorified it and will glorifie it again The particle it hath nothing answering to it in the Greek but is put in by the Translatours to supply the sense And some are of the opinion that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be understood and the meaning to be thus rendred I have both glorified thee and will glorifie thee again But there is no need of this we may as well refer the word glorifie to Name as our translation doth and it will come at last to the same sense for God's name was glorified by glorifying his Son Fragment L. viii in Joh. as appears from xi Joh. 4. And so St. Cyrill of Alexandria observed
if we observe as we may easily from what hath been said that as they wanted the express promises which we have so what they understood of the nature of this Felicity by the light they enjoyed was but very dull in comparison with what is revealed to us Who can see more even in their Books then they could do themselves and find out that by the light of the Cospell which was wrapt up in dark figures and clouds under the Law and the Prophets As they saw Christ in Isaar and in a Lunb so they beheld Heaven under the figure of Paradise and in a Land flowing with milk and honey and in the â—â—oly city and the Temple of stone the greatest glory whereof was when it was filled with the cloud 1 King viii 10 c. But now in the Church of the New Testament there is no Temple but the Lord God Almighty and the Lâ—mb are the Temple of it xxi Rev. 22. And he saith not now I will dwell in thick darkness but as it follows there ver 23. the glory of God inlightens the Church and the Lamb is the Light thereof who hath made us with open faâ—e to behold his glory in the heavens and given us full assurance that we shall be changed into the same image from glory to glory 2 Cor. iii. 18. This he published so clearly that the dullest and most illiterate fouls saw there was no Master comparable to him who had the Words of â—â—ernall life and by his Death Resurrection and Ascension opened to all believers the Kingdom of heaven That 's a word St. Austin confesses * Tom. vi L. xix contra Faust Man cap. ult he could not find in all the Old Scriptures and St. Hierom says the same There are Testimonies there saith he of Eternall life whether plain or obscure it matters not though the places he alledges would have been obscure if we had not been inlightned before we reade them by the Gospell but this Name of the KING DOM OF HEAVEN I can meet withall in no place Hoc enim propriè pertinet ad revelationem Novi Testamenti For it properly belongs to the Revelation of the New Testament And it is a word as the Authour of the Answers ad Orthodoxos teaches us which doth not simply siguifie the Resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the state of things after the Resurrection when we shall be so marvell ously changed as to be fit companions for the Angels and reign with our Saviour in his glory Of which things the Jews have now so little knowledge that they expect onely to rise again to feast here upon earth with the Mâ—ssiah whom they look for and after they have spent some years in the enjoyment of the good things of an earthly Paradise then they think their bodies shall die and their Souls onely live for ever * Vid. Jacchâ—ades in viii Dan. 14. L'Empereur ib. Let any one that is able but reade what Manasseh ben Israel hath writ of the Resurrection and he will find it such poor stuff that the best use that can be made of it will be to put our selves in mind how much we stand ingaged to the Divine love for acquainting us so plainly with the Happiness he will give us at the Resurrection of our bodies to an immortall life Our Saviour indeed saith they might have learnt better out of the Scriptures then to imagine there will be eating and drinking and marrying after the resurrection but there was none of their books could teach them that we should be companions of Angels and shine like the Sun and see God and be coheirs with Christ and such like things which by the Gospell are now so clearly discovered to us that the most ignorant know more then the wisest that want this Revelation R. Tanchum who would fain prove the life of the World to come from the words of Abigail who speaks of the binding David's Soul in the bundle of life 1 Sam. xxv 29 * D. Pocock Not. miscell c. vi p. 91. observes that this Mystery which was a stranger to mens understandings in other nations and far remote from their thoughts to the knowledge of which none but very wise men came by much labour and exercise and after long disquisitions and difficult reasonings was known then among the Jews and manisest even to the Women An argument saith he that wisedom was much spred in our Nation and that as Moses speaks iv Dent. 6. we are a wise and understanding people Which is far truer of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus among whom even the most simple are taught such things as whatsoever such a wise woman as Abigail may be supposed to understand in ancient days their greatest Doctours have been so ignorant of since that we see the words of Isaiah xxix 14. sulfilled in them The Wisedom of their wise men shall perish and the undâ—rshanding of their â—â—ndent men shall be hid Where is the wise as St. Paul triumphs over them 1 Cor. i. 20 27. where is the Sâ—â—â—â— where is the disputer of this world God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise Made use 〈◊〉 of such men as the World for waâ—â— of humane learning accounted no better 〈◊〉 fools to publish so clearly and with such evidence the doctrine of Lternall Life that it may justly make men of the greatest repute for learning blush who could not speak one wise word about it But suppose them all to have been indued with a clearer sight then indeed they had of the Life to come yet of the Blessedness which God intends for us there that of St. Paul 1 Cor. ii 9. will still be true Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him There is a passage in the Prophet Isaiah very like this lxiv. 4. which the Jewish Doctours themselves expound in the mysticali sense of the future life and from thence St. Paul is supposed to have borrowed these expressions Though the very words â—â—â—mselves of St. Paul being found in the Apocryphall Book of Elias it is probable as Grotius thinks that this was grown a common saying among the Rabbins who had been taught by ancient tradition to expect such things in the days of the Messiah as never any eye had seen nor ear heard nor had entred into any man's heart to conceive Which is verified in the whole Revelation of God's will in the Gospell especially in this part of it No man had so much as a thought or a desire of such things as God hath done for us and intends to doe by our Lord Jesus That he should send from heaven his own Son his onely-begotten Son begotten of him before all worlds to be incarnate of a pure Virgin to die for our sins that he might rise again to sit at God's right hand where our Nature shines far brighter
and the way to it This was the great end of our Saviour's appearing who brought that glimmering light that was in mens minds of the other world to a more perfect day And upon this errand the Apostles were sent as you have heard to call men to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thess ii 14. Which made the Jews so unexcusable that they would not come unto our Lord that they might have life v. Joh. 40. though there was the greatest reason in the world to believe this Record that God hath given us Eternall life and this life is in his Son A voice from heaven I have shewn you often testified as much and so did the Holy Ghost which descended on our Saviour at his baptism and the many signs and wonders whereby God the Father sealed him and set as it were his mark stamp and character upon him that all might know who he was and believe his word as undoubtedly as if they heard God the Father himself speaking to them continually with his own voice out of heaven From thence our Saviour came it was apparent and therefore did not pretend to discover things of which he had no certain knowledge but onely revealed that happy Country from whence he descended So he professes to a very wise man among the Jews who was convinced by his many Miracles that he was a Teacher come from God iii. Joh. 2. Verily verily I say unto thee We speak that we do know and testify that we have seen ver 11. For as he came down from heaven as he farther tells him ver 13. so at that very moment he was there and had a most intimate familiarity and communication therewith and therefore might well say he had seen the things he reported from thence What they were you may reade in the following verses 15 16. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life c. The very same as I have likewise shewn John Baptist testified ver 36. And so did Moses and Elias who appeared in glory and discoursed with him concerning his return to the other world after he had done the will of God here ix Luke 30 31. At that time our Saviour was transfigured an evident token of the glorifying even of our bodies in the other state as three persons of integrity witness who saw his glory and the two men that stood with him ver 32. and were themselves overshadowed with a bright cloud an emblem of the glory to come in another World and so ravisht with the sight that they wisht they might always remain in that happy place Neither was this onely a sudden transport but it made such a lasting impression upon their minds that ever after they lookt upon it as a notable proof of the majesty and glory of our Saviour 2 Pet. i. 16 17. And so did the ancient Christians as appears by the Syriack Translatour of the New Testament who before the Epistle of St. James takes notice that now follow the Epistles of the three Disciples before whom our Lord was transfigured This we are to mark diligently and take it for an eminent token of the glory to which our Lord was to go and which he should be able to give For it relies upon the report of those who were persons of known worth and uprightness of heart who had no design in the world to serve but onely to promote such an important truth of which they were fully assured They appeal to all that had any acquaintance with them whether ever they saw or had reason to suspect any false or double dealing in them and had not rather been witnesses of their honesty and simplicity in the whole course of their Ministry For we are not as many saith St. Paul 2 Cor. ii 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that sell the word of God and make merchandize of it to inrich themselves thereby such might not stick to corrupt God's word as we render it and mix their own dreams with it but with all sincerity as men who are authorized by God and have him before our eyes to whom we must give an account of our actions we publish the Gospell of Christ Whom they accounted it a great mercy and favour from God to serve And therefore having received this ministry saith he iv 1 2. we are not sluggish in doing our duty nor do we perform it in a base unworthy manner but have so renounced or thrust away far from us all secret devices of inriching our selves that we do not blush to think of our designs for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are such practices as for mere shame men hide and cover pretending for instance onely the good of Souls when they intend nothing but to get their money nor do we walk in craftiness appearing one thing and being another nor corrupt the word of God by mixing any of our own inventions with it but in a free open and plain manner we commend our selves to all mens consciences as having God looking on us All that know us cannot but approve us if they be not led by passion more then reason and if they do not God doth This he repeats again Chap. vi where he gives a proof of their sincerity in the exercise of their Ministry from these two things first that they got nothing by it but many afflictions and then that they did nothing but good to others in recompence for all the trouble they gave them Of the former he speaks ver 4 5. of the second ver 6 7. and then returns to the other again Which argument he handles also at large towards the conclusion of the same Epistle xi 23 24 c. and once more xii 10. And thus he writes also to the Church of Thessalonica 1 Thess ii 4. who knew very well how faithfully they had discharged their trust and that they did not accommodate themselves to any man's humour but plainly delivered the message which God had committed to them No body could say that they had used any flattering speeches to sooth them up in a vain conceit of themselves ver 5. nor used any colours to hide a covetous design no as to their words and addresses the Thessalonians could testify the contrary and as to their mind and heart which God onely could know they call him to witness it never entred into their thoughts Nor did they seek glory and fame either from them or any body else but despised it as much as riches unless it were the honour of obliging them by communicating the blessings of the Gospell to them and receiving no reward from them ver 6. They might indeed have put them to charge and lived upon their cost as other Apostles of Christ did and that honestly too But He and his companions were among them with more gentleness ver 7. they parted that is from their own undoubted right to spare the Thessalonians and as a good nurse cherishes her children so they