I have fought with Beasts at Ephesus what advantageth it me if the Dead rise not Let us eat and drink for to morrow we die Since the beginning of the World Men of wordly Minds and carnal Appetites who aim only at the good things of this Life have always argued thus and indeed they would have a great deal of reason in arguing thus and pursuing their reasons were there no Resurrection of the dead Chap. XVI 21. The Salutation of me Paul with mine own hand If any Man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha He begun still and ended with Christ which evidently shews the strong persuasion of his Mind Second Epistle to the Corinthians Chap. I. 8 9. For we would not brethren have you ignorant of our trouble c. That we should not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the dead By these words we perceive what troubles they underwent and what hopes they had to sustain them in their Sufferings Chap. II. 14 15 16. Now thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savour of his Knowledge by us in every place For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ c. To the one we are the savour of Death unto Death and to the other the savour of Life unto Life and who is sufficient for these things And who is sufficient to express all the force and energy of these words unlike the false Charms of humane Eloquence yet such as are easily discerned by an Heart rightly disposed Chap. IV. 6. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the Knowledg of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The Eloquence of Men which is generally above the thing it represents has usually but one Idea to represent one single object But if that Idea be a complex one then it is composed of several others proportionable and agreeable to it There cant well be in this sort of Eloquence a mixture of various Ideas and different Metaphors together in one and the same Period But on the contrary the Eloquence of the Holy Ghost which is always inferiour to those Objects it lays before us makes use of several different Images and Ideas at once because a single one could not express what it endeavours to represent As for instance in these expressions The Sun of righteousness with the healing of his wings has visited us through his tender mercies as also in this place where the Apostle thought he could never say enough this is a light which shineth which shineth into the heart which giveth the light the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. For a Man to express himself thus he must really be very strongly perswaded of what he could say The Orators of this World are usually Masters of their own Thoughts but this Writer here was as it were filled and wholly taken up with the greatness of the Object he was about to represent Vers 15. For all things are for your sakes that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God Thanksgiving Gratefulness Acknowledgement Glory of God Charity Confession of their Frailties Prayer Exhortation c. are the only Subjects that all the Writings of those pretended Impostors are full of Vers 17. For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory No Writer ever spoke with so much energy because no Writer was so strongly perswaded of the Truth of what he delivered Chap. V. 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature What Teachers ever required such things of their Disciples What mean these Words and this strange Exhortation Chap. VI. 1 4 5 6. We then as workers together with him beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain c. but in all things approving our selves as the ministers of God in much patience in afflictions in necessities in distresses in stripes in imprisonments in tumults in labours in watchings in fastings by pureness by knowledge by long-suffering by kindness by the Holy Ghost by love unfeigned Do such Exhortations usually come from the Men of this World or rather do they not proceed from the Holy Ghost himself Chap. VIII 18. And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the Churches He speaks of St. Luke in this place and what he says of him is sufficient to make us understand that the Gospel according to St. Luke was read even in those days in all the Christian Churchès which overthrows all suspicion that that Gospel had been filled with sham Stories of certain matters of fact in a time when every body had yet fresh in their Remembrance all that came to pass in those days Chap. XII 12. Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all patience in signs and wonders and mighty deeds St. Paul wrote these things to several numerous Churches and to whole Societies And can we suppose he could perswade them that he wrought so many Wonders and Signs among them when he wrought none Chap. XIII 5. Examine your selves c. prove your own selves c. how that Jesus Christ is in you What mean these Expessions We are in Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is in us And whence come they Who first established such a strange Language And who did the Apostles learn this Stile from a Stile till then unknown to the World Had Men ever said before that time Cesar is in us No surely because they had never received the Spirit of Cesar But the Disciples had received the Spirit of Jesus Christ Epistle to the Galatians Chap. III. 4 5. O foolish Galatians c. Have ye suffered so many things in vain If it be yet in vain He therefore that ministreth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you doth he it by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith What means this Interrogation If the Miracles and the miraculous and extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghost had been only meer Fictions Is it possible we should not perceive the Truth of that matter of fact by the ingenuous simplicity wherewith this Author takes it for granted when he makes it a Principle of his Arguments and takes an occasion from thence to censure the Galatians after so sharp and severe a manner Chap. VI. 12 14 15. As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh they constrain you to be Circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution for the Cross of Christ c. But God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the World is crucified unto me and I unto the World For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor
Circumstances of that Event and it will appear that they were so far from executing so dangerous an undertaking that it was impossible such a design could have ever entred into their heads And therefore Pilate was so truly convinced of the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ that he wrote to Tiberius about it And 't was on the account of Pilate's Letter that this Emperour went â—o the Senate and proposed the insertion of Jesus Christ among the Gods We have no Reason to suspect this history especially if we consider that Tertullian himself relates it in the Apology which he addresses to the Senate and the Roman Emperour who needed only to have consulted their Registers to find the actions of Pilate as they were so often desired to do by all those who wrote Apologies in behalf of the Christians In the mean time we have no great occasion of this outward Testimony because there can be nothing more inseparably interwoven than these truths are And we need only read carefully the Gospels over to be satisfied therein We have seen the miracles of Jesus Christ with all their Circumstances we shall now shew that his holiness of life was no less extraordinary than his Miracles CHAP. VII Of the Holiness of Life of Jesus Christ IF Jesus Christ was neither the true Messias nor the Son of God and if he falsly boasted that he wrought many Miracles his Disciples must necessarily have considered him as an Impostor as soon as his Death frustrated the hopes and promises they received from him And if they considered him as an Impostor there is little appearance they should propose him as a model of Vertue and Perfection to mankind But supposing they had this design we may reasonably imagin that having neither the Learning nor Eloquence of the Authors of that Age they would have had no better success in drawing an imaginary Character of their Master than others in representing the Excellencies of those great men it was their interest to flatter Yet if we chuse the politest Writings of this kind the lives of great men composed with all art imaginable Panegyricks that cost thirty years labour add to these all the collected notionsof Vertue the Wit and Observation of the most passionate judicious and elegant Orators can furnish us with joyn the Cato's and Aristides's together nay separate their Vertues from their imperfections and ascribe to them all the good qualities we find dispersed in other men I will yet maintain that all these Ideas Notions and Characters come far short of that perfection the Evangelists make us conceive of Jesus Christ and that too without Hyperbole or Art but by a bare and simple recital of his Actions The Heroes of whose vertue the Ancient Heathens so much boast directed their Actions to no other end than the glory of their Country or their own ambition Whereas Jesus Christ referr'd all his Actions to the Glory of God It may properly be said of them that they aimed at nothing else but to furnish an infinite number of persons joyned together in a Society wherewith to satisfy their most inordinate passions as we have already observed elsewhere concerning Cato Whereas Jesus Christ design'd only to subdue the vicious desires and inclinations of mens hearts The Ancient Sages would sometimes renounce Riches and Honours but 't was only to become slaves to Glory If they overcame some small passions 't was only to submit themselves to the the Tyranny of greater They sacrificed their other affections to their Pride and Ambition of Fame Nay they were so puff'd up with the conceit of their own Wisdom that they imagin'd themselves happier than the Gods fancying they ow'd the temper and inclination of their minds to none but themselves that they were free from any passion and were sole Lords of all Jesus Christ on the contrary teaches us first to renounce vain glory This is the first principle of his Religion God says he resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble And he is so far from having us imagin we can be happy without the concurrence of God that he shews us the wretched weakness and corruption of man when separated from his Maker This the continual use of that prayer he taught us would fully instruct us in tho' his Morals and most holy Life should â—ot The Ancient Sages of Antiquity either were â—r seemed true patterns of Justice but Jesus Christ â—s the teacher and the true pattern of Charity and t is by Charity rather than Justice that we resemble â—he Deity which confers good upon men without â—eing any ways obliged thereto 'T is easy to practice Vertue when attended with Reputation and Prosperity as the Ancient Philosoâ—hers did but difficult to continue virtuous as our â—aviour did in the midst of poverty and ignominy â—nd in spite of disgraces and persecutions So â—ecessary is Esteem and Reputation in this life that â— seems to be as it were the very nutriment of mans â—eart and should men but consult themselves â—hey would find they cannot live without it How â—ft do those who think themselves uncapable of â—er obtaining it abandon themselves to such a â—espair as puts them upon the blackest villanies â—hich has occasioned some Princes already odious or Cruelty to defile themselves with all manner of oluptuousness as despairing of ever recovering â—at good opinion they have already lost in the â—inds of men To see Christ hated despised and â—posed by the most considerable and leading men â—ongst the Jews and not able to gain the least credit or esteem unless with some poor Fishermen so gross and ignorant that they could hardly understand what he taught them would not it make one think that he had all the Reason in the World to fall into a kind of despair and that since he could never hope for Reputation to give himself over to all sorts of pleasures and make his condition the best he could Yet we see that being continually in disgrace and poverty he omitted nothing of the severe practice of vertue When he was affronted he endured it with a sweet and gentle Patience When he was despised he went on boldly in his innocence Tho' his followers were simple and ignorant people he still blessed God for it I thank thee Father says he because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent but revealed them unto Babes Mat. 11. 25. But we should wrong the blessed Jesus by comparing him with the most admired persons of all ages since none can come in comparison with him who is only like himself We need only reflect upon his life and actions represented to us by the Evangelists to see whether we can find in him the least shadow of Vice Would we know whether he was addicted to Voluptuousnesâ— we need only consider that his very Enemies durâ— not cast this reproach upon him I confess thâ— Pharisees call'd him a Glutton and a Winâ— bibber a friend of Publicans and Sinnerâ—
it will be often said lo here is Christ or lo he is there before the last day of Judgment As before the destruction of Jerusalem Jesus Christ gathered together in some Christian Churches the Elect from the four Winds of Heaven and that by the preaching of the Apostles his Mystical Angels so likewise at the end of the World he will send his Angels to raise his Elect from the Dust and Obscurity of the Grave For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and the Dead in Christ shall rise 1 Thess 4. 16. As there were seen several Comets and terrible Signs that foretold the Destruction of Jerusalem as the Smoak of the City and Flaming Temple hid the light of the day and darkned the Sun and Stars so without doubt the end of the World will be also attended with Signs and Prodigies much more terrible St. Peter saith the Earth shall be burnt up and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat c. 2. Epistle 3. 10. As the Destruction of the Jews happened after an unexpected manner so also shall the last day come as a thief in the night As Jerusalem and the Temple were utterly destroyed as soon as the Jews had compleated the measure of their sins so this World which we inhabit must perish as soon as the end or Calling of all Nations shall be fulfilled as Jesus Christ himself says in that Prophecy we now have under Consideration Besides one may reasonably imagin the Disciples to be always prepossessed with this Opinion that the End of the World would immediately follow the destruction of Jerusalem For when it was reported among the Disciples that St. John should not die because Christ had said to one of them speaking of him If I will that he tarries till I come what is that to thee They stretch'd that till I come as far as the end of the World but they might have confined it to the Destruction of Jerusalem a time which the Apostles in reality saw and in which Jesus Christ visited the Jews in his justice Further this Tradition being spread abroad that the day of the Lord drew nigh the Thessalonians were so terrifi'd at it that St. Paul to comfort them again sent them the following assurances to the Contrary Now we beseech you Brethren that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Chrst is at hand Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except first c. 2 Thess 2. 2 3. In a word there is no reason to wonder that that Prophecy of Jesus Christ so faithfully related by his Disciples should have left this Impression in their minds For Jesus Christ on the one hand had given such marks and signs of his coming that it seemed as if the last judgment was immediately to follow it saying that he should appear as the lightning that cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West and on the other hand he had declared several times that all those things should happen to that generation that many of those who were present with him should not taste of Death until they had seen all those things Since then Jesus Christ united thus two several Events in one and the same Description but two subordinate Events as like unto one another as the Copy and the Original may be it follows thence that his Prophecy must have had two accomplishments the one very nigh and the other remote This in my opinion is the true way of unravelling all those Difficulties The Disciples confounded together two very remote Events and Jesus Christ suffered them to continue in that Opinion 'T is necessary that the Event should justifie the Prophecies but not that the Prophecies should be contrary to their Event It is necessary therefore they should be obscure before their Completion but clear and easy when once accomplish'd But however probable what I 've laid down may seem to be I should be very sorry any one should think I lay the stress of my argument upon it I make a distinction between bare Conjectures and true and certain Principles and I leave all the Explanations I have just now given to the Readers judgment to use according to his Discretion I am indifferent whether he uses my Notions or those of any other Man to solve certain difficulties which may occur therein I shall only insist upon two certain Truths which in my opinion admit of no Difficulty The first is that this Prophecy is so circumstantially related that it is absurd to imagin it composed after the event or that a man took occasion from the Destruction of Jerusalem at which none but Titus and his Army were seen to make Jesus Christ say when he foretold that Devastation that he would come in the Clouds of heaven that he would send his Angels to gather his Elect from the four winds that they would see him coming with power and great glory as the lightning that cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West that all the Tribes of the Earth should mourn at his coming and that day should come as suddenly as the fire of Sodom and Gomorrah The second Truth which seems to me altogether unquestionable is that notwithstanding that little darkness with which the Wisdom of God thought fit to overshadow this prophecy it was nevertheless in all Respects so very exactly related in all its Circumstances and so clearly fulfilled that supposing it composed before the Event we cannot but acknowledge it to proceed from a Prophetical Spirit For what can we Read in the History of the Jews but what is included in this Prophecy The beginning the continuation and ending of the Misfortunes of the Jews are all to be found in it It does not foretel a particular Captivity of that people but a general dispersion of the whole Nation and they shall be led Captives into all Nations Luk. 21. 24. Jesus Christ wept over Jerusalem on another occasion at his entring into it and uttered these Compassionate Words O that thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace But now they are hid from thine eyes For the days shall come that thine Enemies shall cast a Trench about thee and compass thee round and keep the in on every side and shall â—ay thee even with the ground and thy Children within thee and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another because thou knewest not the time of thy Visitation Luke â—9 42 43 44. And can any one believe that this passage of our Saviours weeping over Jerusalem was also inserted in â—he Gospel Were all those Prophetical Parables inâ—erted too in which Jesus Christ threatned the Jews â—ith their approaching Destruction telling them â—ne while that the Lord would let his Vineyard to other
instituted in cold Blood certifies us of all these things But because an involuntary Death would argue a certain kind of weakness 't is also most certain that nothing can better evince the strength and courage of Jesus Christ than that tho' he foresaw the horrours of an infamous and painful Death yet he exposed himself to it with such a constant will and firm Resolution that by his example he shewed his Disciples how he would have them imitate and commemorate his sufferings Jesus Christ was condemned to Death by a Nation seditiously stirred up against him and by a Sanhedrin envious of his Glory but he was justified by the Conscience of Judas whose remorse for having betray'd him forced him to kill himself and by the solemn declaration of Pilate who washed his hands in the presence of the Jews to shew that he was innocent of the Blood of that just Person He was justified too by the voice of the Centurion who saw the prodigies his Death was attended withall and soon after by the mouths even of those who sought his ruin and who being prick'd to the heart cry'd out to the Apostles Men and Brethren what shall we do Act. 2. 37. And certainly 't is a very great glory to our Messias that the most guilty Conscience the most unjust judges the most insensible and hardened sort of Soldiers and the most barbarous Murtherers should even bare record of his Innocence Jesus Christ suffered but it was for our sakes he gave himself up to the sorrow and anguish of Death and made his life an offering for Sin And if those wounds are counted honourable which a Subject receives sighting in the presence of his King and if those which a King receives for the safety of his Subjects are esteemed yet far more glorious what Glory then did Christ deserve who suffered in the presence and by the will of his Father for the Salvation of his People and Children and who by his sufferings established such an Empire which no power can dissolve Lastly Jesus Christ suffered a punishment proper only to Slaves but we are also very certain that during the time of his sufferings he shewed himself to have a power over Nature her self since the Graves were opened at his Death the Rocks rent the Sun was darkened and the Vail of the Temple was rent in twain And it is impossible that the Disciples of the Lord should have invented so sensible and signal matters of fact against the fresh and publick knowledge which those men that lived in their days had of it without being guilty of such an Extravagance which is more than humane But here we will ask the Incredulous in our turn whether a voluntary Death an innocence publickly own'd the sorrows and anguish which a man suffered out of Charity to the World the homages which even insensible Creatures paid to him whom men scorned and condemned were not certain Characters worthy of the Messias that had been promised us Indeed if you take away the proofs which evidently shew Jesus Christ to be the Son of God you may then call his Cross a scandal to him and the World but whilst those proofs shall be left entire his Cross will serve the more to illustrate his Majesty and Grandeur and we shall not only then assert that it was a voluntary Death which he underwent and a Death that was foretold us but we shall also shew that it is as it were a looking-glass-like wherein we may see at once all the vertues of man and all the Attributes of God There we may find the patience of a man who suffered every thing from his equals and from those who ought to have been his Servants and Disciples the Charity of a man who pray'd for them that put him to Death the Constancy of a just man who bore the burden of the iniquities of mankind and the constancy of an innocent man who at once as it were wrestled with the fury of men and the Justice of God There we may see the Masterpiece of Divine Wisdom the designs of our Enemies frustrated and the designs of God triumphing over the vain opinions and projects of men the propitiation of sins made for us by the most dreadful parricide that was ever committed or conceived the Synagogue buried in his grave whom they barbarously put to Death in defence of their priviledges the Romans crowning a King with thorns who was to rule over all Nations and putting a Reed instead of a Scepter into his hands flesh and blood shewing us in the Death of Christ the true pattern of mortification Jesus Christ dying attended with almost infinite numbers of Martyrs who were willing to die in imitation of him who was Conquerour of the World only by his shame who crucifyed the flesh by the preaching of his Cross and procured Rest and Peace to the Souls of them that dyed by the Anguish of his Agony We may also see the Justice and Mercy of God clearly manifested in his Death For what other Victim could have better evinced Gods hatred for Sin What present could have been made unto men that could have better discovered Gods love to them The Incredulous therefore reproach us with the meanness of an object wherein the vertues of men and the attributes of God himself are shewn in their greatest height and perfection But let him that any ways doubts it consider the Resurrection of Jesus Christ which is as it were a key that opens all these Events to us To dye and remain under the power of Death is indeed an evident mark of weakness and misery but to dye and yet overcome Death by rising from the Grave is the mark of a supernatural power and a divine glory Thus Jesus Christ descended into the lower parts of the Earth for no other end but to ascend into Heaven as the Eye-witnesses of that great and notable Event did plainly testify But the Incredulous will not believe their report and they further pretend that they can find in history the example of a testimony very like that which was nevertheless without contradiction reputed to be a meer Imposture We read say they that after the Death of Romulus there was a certain senator who having always lived in the repute of a very honest man certified that Romulus was ascended into Heaven where he was inserted among the Gods and that this Monarch had appeared unto him c. Is not this a matter of fact not unlike that which the Disciples testify'd of Jesus Christ throughout the Universe 'T is very like it indeed only it has these following differences there you read of a single person testifying that he had seen Romulus ascended into Heaven but here you have a very great number of people who certifiy'd that they had seen Jesus Christ after his Resurrection There it is pretended that a great and triumphant Monarch during the course of his life was inserted amongst the Gods after his Death which agrees
such defects because it is wholly founded upon Instruction and Knowledge Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal Life John 5. 39. Chap. IV. 7 8 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of righteousness St. Paul was drawing nigh toward his latter end and the words of a dying Man are always to be regarded Whence then comes that chearful Joy the Apostle so naturally expresses in this occasion His Hopes had they been of this World must have been soon buried with him in his Grave and his Happiness too at an end Whence then derived he that great Confidence which he seems to have had Was it from the inward sense of a guilty Conscience which reproach'd him for having betray'd the Synagogue blemished his Country Men deceived Mankind testified of a Seducer and forg'd such fictitious Visions by the most signal Imposture that ever was Let any one believe it if he can First Epistle of St. Peter Chap. I. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead The Mind of those Writers was so full of the Salvation that was revealed to them that they were never weary of returning thanks to God for it Chap. II. 17 18 19 20. Honour all men Love the brotherhood Fear God Honour the King Servants be subject to your Masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward c. For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently But if when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God c. It is a strange thing we should be desired to own that a mutual Agreement of Malice and Falshood which really is a wonderful Agreement of Piety Charity Obedience and Righteousness Paul expressed himself like Peter and Peter spoke like Paul They both acted and suffered alike nay they bore the very same Testimony being endowed with the same Patience practising the very same Virtues and discovering one and the same Wisdom in all their words Now what have we any reason to suspect in all this Second Epistle of St. Peter Chap. I. 16 17 18. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were Eye-witnesses of his Majesty For he received from God the Father Honour and Glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And this voice which came from Heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy Mount c. This is a Witness who spoke of what he had seen who suffered Death in defence of the Truth of his Testimony who saw it not alone for several others had seen the same thing who spoke not out of any principle of Interest or concealed what he knew through any fear or apprehension of Death and who for all that did his utmost endeavours to sanctifie Mankind and bestowed all his Time his Labour and his Life in advancing such an extraordinary work which is so little to be suspected And if so what Man is there that can reasonably mistrust him First Epistle of St. John Chap. I. 1 3. That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our Eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of Life declare we unto you c. If you should doubt whether the Apostles did really go about testifying every where that they had seen with their Eyes both the Miracles and Resurrection of Christ 't is but learning it from their Epistles and their own words too Chap. II. 1. My little Children these things write I unto you that ye sin not But what was it to him whether Men sinned or not Did ever the design of sanctifying Mankind and contributing to their Salvation at the cost of ones Blood ones Liberty ones Life enter before into any Man's Heart but theirs These and the like Reflexions are of themselves sufficient to give the Reader a relish of those Truths and incite him to make some of his own as shall more effectually instruct and convince him For my part I have made several which perhaps satisfy me better than they would any body else And no question but he will also make several of his own that will convince him far better than those of another In the mean while let us pass on to the consideration of the Substance of that Religion which Christ himself did bring into the World For after having considered the outside t is very necessary to look into the inward part of the Building SECTION IV. Wherein we shall prove the Truth of the Christian Religion by the Consideration of it's Nature and Properties Several Portraitures in which it may be considered HItherto we have insisted as it were upon the Shell and Bark of Religion we have examined the proofs taken from matters of fact being the first that offered themselves to our mind It seems therefore now Expedient we should discover as it were the Substance and Spirit of Christianity and so proceed to those other proofs drawn from the Nature of it and that by shewing the truth of it by it's Beauties and proper Excellencies But because this is too copious a Subject for us who study Brevity we shall endeavour to reduce what we have to say into as small a Compass as we can and since we cannot allow our Reflexions their due and proper Extent to give at least some Plan or Draught of the same as shall supply that defect And tho the Christian Religion may be considered under several different Faces because in this respect 't is like unto its Object which has no Bounds to confine it's Extent yet methinks we may give an Idea just and adequate enough to our present design by considering it in eleven different Draughts or Portraitures I. In the Multitude of Testimonies given in favour of it which we shall touch upon cursorily because we have already partly examined them all II. In its essential opposition to all false Religions that ever were III. In it's Effects which can only justly be referred to a Divine and Supernatural Cause IV. In the Purity of its end V. In it's Suitableness to the Heart of Man which it undertakes to reform VI. In the Relation it has to the Glory of God which it should advance VII In it's Morality VIII In it's Mysteries IX In the conformity of it's Mysteries to the light of Reason X. In that exact proportion it bears to the Jewish Religion XI And lastly in that proportion it bears to Natural Religion I hope these Portraitures will like so many
us humble that fits it self to all the Conditions of Life and satisfies all the Desires of our Hearts In a word it is the Christian Religion that sanctifies us exalts us and compleats all our Wishes and tho Men and Angels should jointly endeavour to contrive a more excellent one and more suitable to our Wants and Necessities than this 't is certain they could never accomplish their Design VI Portraiture of the Christian Religion as it is consider'd in the Relation it bears to the Glory of God IT is with the Deity as with the Sun which being bright in it self diffuses abroad it's Glory by it's Beams and imprints upon the Clouds or Waters an imperfect Image of it self which Image tho it wants the full Splendor of it's Original is yet pure agreeable and adorn'd with sufficient Brightness and Majesty The Deity has an essential Glory consisting in it's supereminent Virtues and infinite Perfections to which nothing can be superadded and the Brightness of it is more than Man can bear This Glory streaming from the eternal Author of All things diffuses it self abroad in all his Works and forms out of the bright Efflux of those Beams which strike by reflexion upon us and are united into the Heart of Man an Image of that refulgent and immortal Sun which Image tho it has not all it 's full perfect and dazling Splendor is yet pure bright lively and transcendent And this Glory is what we call the Christian Religion easily prov'd to be so in that it refers it self solely to the Glory of God and is as it were a lively Image and Transcript of His Perfection and Our Duty This Religion is alone capable of undeceiving Man by removing those false Notions they had so long entertain'd of the Deity This alone discovers the true Nature of God removes all Symbols Types Shadows material and sensible Appearances under which he was Worship'd all which were more proper to disguise than discover the true Nature of the Deity It gives us some insight into that Nature by assuring us that God is invisible and removes him from our Senses to make him the Object of our Vnderstanding 'T is this Religion alone that discovers that Eternal Counsel of God so full of Mercy and Consolation to us that he sent his Son into the World that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life 'T is this alone that glorifies God in his Attributes and shews distinctly their infinite Perfection By this alone we are taught that God governs all things by his Providence that he makes Evil it self instrâ—mental to our Good that by his Goodness he supplies all our Necessities that our Sins being inconsistent with his Truth and Justice he cannot consequently bear with them and yet that his Mercy and Compassion is without Bounds It teaches us not only that we are bound to Worship God and serve him but assures us also that this was the End of our Creation It teaches us to ask of him above all things the advancement of his own Glory and to begin our Petitions with this Form Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done It requires of us that we should glorify him not only with our Lips or barely by our spiritual Songs but with all our Thoughts Words and Works It shews us that there is no Creature but what is under his Providence no Sin but what may fall under his Justice no Sinner but what may experience his Mercy no motion or inclination to â—â—â—ty but what ought to be attributed to the Efficacy of his Grace nor no unlawful Action but what will one day fall under his Judgment It discovers to us such Miracles as glorify his infinite Power such Events as clearly manifest the Wonders of his Providence such Benefits as evince his Goodness and Mercy and it allows all his Divine Attributes a thing before unknown to Man their just Extent that is an Extent without Limits Now from whence can proceed those Ideas we have of the Eternity of God of his Immensity Omnipotence his infinite Knowledge and Immutability c. but from this Divine Religion No other Religion could at once elevate both God and Man It shews us how admirably Man is united to God and God to Man It alone induces us to submit our Will to God to acquiesce without any murmuring to the Decrees of his Providence and to direct all our Desires and Affections to him as our supream Good Men indeed heretofore endeavour'd to honour their Deities by Offering Beasts as a Sacrifice But was it ever known before that they were to glorify God by the Sacrifice of themselves And what other Religion but this could incite Men to Offer such a Sacrifice in which there seems to be so much Pain and Reluctance Certainly unless we wilfully blind our Selves 't is a thing incredible that we should not perceive that the Christian Religion is as it were a pure and spiritual Communion between the Perfections and Attributes of God which make Man sensible of their effects and the inward sense of Man's Heart which glorifies God Neither Flesh and Blood Neither the World Nature or Education were forcible enough to produce so great and sublime an Effect and this can be the Work of none but him who perfectly knew the agreement of all things and was certain that our Hearts were wholly made for the Glory of God and that the Sentiments of his Glory were to be imprinted in our Hearts only by the help of Religion VII Portraiture of the Christian Religion as it is considered in its Morality WEre we never so little acquainted with what passes within us we should not only find that the two principal Faculties of our Soul the Sensitive and Intellectual Apetite by consent alternately deceive one another but we should also perceive that it is almost impossible to undertake to rectify the one without increasing the Disorders of the other If by the Knowledge of those things we were before ignorant of we remove the Darkness of our Understanding we usually then grow proud of our Learning And if we satisfy our Desires by soothing our Passions we often cherish the most dangerous Principles of Errour and Prejudice that obscure the Light of the Understanding And 't is a Truth but too well experienced that the Knowledge which enlightens the Understanding often corrupts the Heart and a Sin indulg'd in which satisfies the Heart corrupts the Understanding And this is the cause of the ill Success those Men have met with who endeavour'd to regulate the Desires of Man For some observ'd not the Dictates of Right Reason in being too indulgent to their Passions as the Epicureans who making Pleasure the only End of Man debase him to a Brute to render him more happy Others were puff'd up with a kind of Spiritual Pride in ascribing the knowledge of too many things to their Reason such were the Stoicks who forgot that they were Men because they had
stifle them even in their Birth We may also affirm that it comprehends all in one word and that our Saviour by giving this Command thou shalt not Covet its full extent and so carefully enjoyning the Purity of the Heart and Conscience in opposition to the false Gloss and Interpretation of the Scribes and Pharisees who neglected the Inside and took care only to keep the Outside clean has established the true Principle of our Sanctification which few People were before acquainted with and none put themselves to any great trouble or enquiry to find out V. And this is another divine Character of the Christian Morality that in two words it establishes the Principle of all Christian Virtues A little knowledge of Mans Heart will teach us that Self-love ascribes every thing to it self and prefers us before God to whose Glory all our Actions should tend as to their common Center It sacrifices every thing to it self It desires every thing and blindly led astray by its own Inclinations seeks even those things that are contrary to its own good All its Motions are but so many Mediums to this End so many eager Wishes for what is not its own so many Transports for Glory or Pleasure its greatest Object so many secret Steps to attain them or so many Hypocritical Self-denials whose chief End is to carry that by surprize which they seemingly refuse Whether the Body wallows in voluptuousness or whether there is such a false pleasure in Pride as obscures the Light of the Understanding and casts a Mist before the Soul whether Interest makes us steal or Hipocrisy teaches us to over reach People or Ambition makes us attempt to gain what is not our own Give things what Name you please both Virtues and Vices in the Hearts of Worldly-minded Men are but so many Means which Self-love makes them interchangably use to carry on their Interest What then is to be done to reform these Irregularities and establish a Principle of Virtue as true and equitable as Self-love the Spring of them is impure and corrupt Oblige Men only to love God above all things For as the Preference of our Selves before God is as it were the Source and Spring of all Vices so without doubt the Preference of God before our Selves will give life and rise to all other Virtues The Love of God will reform all the Irregularities of Self-love which will be no more culpable in ascribing every thing to it self when we shall dedicate and give up our Selves our Thoughts and Actions to God Self-love will no longer be blindly ignorant of its true Interest which consists in carefully pleasing him from whom we have received all things A Man can't love God without delighting to reflect upon him nor reflect upon him without humbling himself before him He that loves God will certainly raise himself above his Passions disdain to indulge every vitious Inclination of his Heart and by living conformably to the Divine Will in all Justice and Temperance endeavour to be like that perfect Deity whose bright Image he bears Thus we see what solid Virtues proceed from the love of God But how comes it that Christ made so happy a Choice and had so good Success in establishing the Foundation of his Morality VI. To be satified in this and be assured of his Success we need only follow the Notions his Morality gives us of Virtue to attain to the true Principle of Happiness Men had too long in vain expected the happy conjunction of two things which Nature and Reason tell us ought to have been joyned together And because they had no solid Virtue therefore had they no real Felicity Their Happiness was answerable to their imaginary Virtues and as those Virtues were but a Compound of Pride so their Felicity was but a false vain Joy pleasing yet empty overcoming and deluding the Senses but not satisfying the Mind And this Brutus himself freely owned at his Death But the Satisfaction we reap from the Christian Morality is excellently suited to the Solidity of those Virtues it prescribes and the Spirit of Holiness is the Essential Principle of our Felicity In following the way to Virtue which Christ has set down we follow also that which leads us to Happiness If we take away Concupiscence we cut off a fruitful Source of Misery and remove an infinite number of Cares and Troubles which tend to that as to their Center If we love God as we ought we shall take as much pleasure in the Advancement of his Glory in the Contemplation of his infinite Perfections and Felicity as if we possessed them all our selves We shall delight as much in the Contemplation of the Beauty and Magnificence of the World as a Son in the sight of the Greatness and noble Magnificence of his Father's Possessions The Glory of God will then be our Glory his Advantages will seem to be ours and by making him the fole Object of our Love we shall at last be made partakers of his infinite Felicity Reason and Experience teach us that these are most undeniable Truths For since Experience assures us that he who loves any Object derives his Satisfaction from the knowledge of it a Man must doubtless necessarily be happy in loving God since he finds in that single Object every thing that is capable of supplying his Necessities He lives securely because he relies upon God He fears not the loss of any thing knowing that every thing passes away but that God alone remains always the same The consideration of futurity disturbs him not in the least because God abideth for ever He delights in Solitariness because he has thereby the greater opportunity to entertain himself with God He is not dejected with Fear or Despair at any Afflictions looking upon them as so many fatherly Chastisements or Trials of his Patience which all conduce to his Welfare and Preservation He is certain that he shall possess Joy and Immortality because he knows that all those things are eminently in God Turn the Matter which way you please it is impossible for us to love God without being intirely pleased and thus delighted with him which we cannot be without a full and entire Satisfaction such a one as those Men have who think they want for nothing and that they have found comprehended in one Object whatever they could desire It is therefore certain that the Idea of our Duty leads us to the very Principle of Happiness a clear Demonstration of the Justness of that Duty and an undeniable Proof that the Morality which so recommends it to our practice and observance must necessarily be pure sound and true VII But 't is not sufficient that the Measure of Virtue which Christ prescribes us as the Foundation of the Law and the Gospel should be the Measure of the particular Happiness of every individual Person it farther establishes the Prosperity and Welfare of publick Society and by a happy Privilege it has above all other Virtues it causes
this Necessity and it is to no purpose to alledge his Meanness and Wretchedness for that Circumstance rather aggravates the Crime than excuses it it being impudent beyond all pardon for a Traytour to plead Innocence because he is a Peasant and not a Lord. It will be also in vain to lay the Fault upon the evil Temperament of Body and Mind For if either submits to those Reasons which you have for committing no indecent action before a Sovereign and if that and all its Passions are calm when you fall into any Danger or expect Sentence of Death there is the same Reason that the Presence the Will and Judgments of God should have the same effect upon it Nor will Ignorance be any Excuse It would indeed justifie you if it were not only a bare pretence as it does Brutes Children and Ideots But what Man knows not his Duty 'T is also in vain to rely on the Mercy of God for that extends not to impenitent Sinners and the Almighty saves only those that desire and endeavour to be saved Lastly 'T is meer folly to assert that eternal Punishments are disproportionable to the weakness of our Nature For is not God himself eternal whom you have offended And is not your Soul also eternal that has Sinned against him Self-love however blinded thinks not life eternal a thing disagreeable and imagins nothing in it disproportionable to our Condition But 't is shock'd at the Thoughts of everlasting Pains and therefore willing to believe them improbable Dreams and Whimsies But why it does so is hard to be imagin'd unless we suppose its design to be at any rate to impose upon it self In the mean while since you can neither destroy the Eternity of God or the Soul which Reason it self forces you to acknowledge you must either suppose that the Soul is to dwell eternally with God or that it must be eternally banished from his Presence that is that it must live or die eternally For to live with God is to enjoy the greatest Perfection of Happiness and to be banished his Presence is certainly the greatest Misery that can be thought of As soon as we know the Existence of God that the Soul has no Parts and that 't is incapable of any Dissolution that its Nature altogether distinct from that of Matter cannot be buried under the Ruins of the Body it is then very hard for us to oppose the Doctrin which the Gospel teaches us concerning the State of the Soul after Death Nay we are so far from impugning of it that there is even a Necessity incumbent upon us readily to embrace the same For if the Souls of the Wicked together with those of the Good are equally to be banished the Presence of God then Reason Nature and all our other Knowledge impose upon us in giving us Hope of a future Reward And if the Souls both of the Wicked and the Good are to enjoy alike the Presence of Almighty God then too those very Principles delude us in making us dread his pretended Judgments and so Gods Justice and Veracity together with all our other Knowledge are at an end To avoid therefore falling into such an impious Assertion we must own that the Souls of the Good are to dwell for ever with God but that contrariwise those of the Wicked are to be banished his Presence and in owning this we affirmthe only thing in the World that is most agreeable to all our Knowledge and most visibly flows from the nature of things themselves The Blessings of God excellently answer his liberal Promises and the formidable Severity of his Punishments All the Creatures of this visible World conspire together to do us good And besides all the temporal Blessings daily conferr'd upon us besides the whole Earths being replenished with the Knowledge of the true God the Hearts of Men are sanctified their Souls comforted the Gospel preached throughout the whole World the Son of God died for our Offences and was raised for our Justification our crucified Saviour came out of the Grave to bring us Peace from God and seal the Truth of his Gospel by his frequent Apparitions after his Death there was a visible and frequent Effusion of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost upon Men a multitude of Martyrs sent from God to reclaim the World by their Examples and Conversation from Vice and Idolatrous Superstition all these things I say are such Blessings as are wonderfully suitable to the Promises and Threatnings of God and fully convince us that the Christian Morality has as many Objects to exalt and comfort Men's Souls as it has to excite and terrify their Minds to the performance of their Duty X. But to prove that this Morality is not a meer Idea of Perfection God in is Wisdom was pleased not only to have it set down in the Book of the New Testament but also to have it lively Painted first in the Life of Christ and afterwards in the daily practice of the Primitive Christians These Men are not such Teachers as might deservedly be accused of speaking well but doing ill as it was objected formerly to Seneca who composed very excellent Discourses concerning Poverty and the contempt of the Goods of Fortune when he himself was richer than the wealthiest Citizen of Rome These on the contrary confirm'd by their practice what they taught And by extirpating their evil Desires form'd such a Society as is conformable to that we have had above but a faint Prospect of when we laid down the Idea of Man's Duty They utterly renounced those Passions which put a Distinction betwixt them and other Men. They forgot their Quality and Condition the better to use one another like Brethren The same Interests were common to them all They sold their Possessions to ease the Wants and Necessities of those that suffered Adversity They rejoyced for having been thought worthy to suffer for the Name of God Every thing conduced to their Happiness even Afflictions themselves They prayed for those that despitefully us'd them and as Charity and not Selflove was the Rule of their Affections so all the Motions of their Heart tended to one as to the same Center to the Glory of God and the good of their Neighbours which gave the Scripture occasion to say that they were but one Heart and one Soul I confess that State could not always continue in the Church but the Wisdom of God permitted it should last for some time to give us a lively Image and Idea of Heaven here on Earth and so to confirm by the excellence of such an Example a Morality already supported by so many great and powerful Motives VIII Portraiture of the Christian Religion as it is consider'd in its Mysteries THe Mysteries God has revealed unto us in his Word are like the cloudy Pillar which led the Children of Israel through the Wilderness For like that they are clear on one side but dark and obscure on the other If we contemplate
Hearts which can never be truly satisfied with any Object we see seek after God as a Supreme Good which contains in it all other Advantages It was a thing before unheard of that a Man must satisfy the Desires of his Heart by glorifying God To give our selves up to Godby renouncing our selves and to renounce our selves to dedicate our selves wholly to God are meer Paradoxes yet such the Christian Religion plainly demonstrates to be true by supplying the Defects of Mankind and restoring natural Religion And now reflect upon those Eleven different Portraitures or Characters which we have thus offered to your Consideration Observe that our own Imagination had no share in the Product of natural Religion of the Revelation of Moses of the Heart of Man of the Morality of Christ of its Doctrin its End and the Effects of it of the Testimonies given in favour of it of its relation to the great End of Man's Creation the Glory of God Consider that all those Representations depend not upon any of our foolish Fancies or fantastical Whimsies of the Incredulous and that altho we should not understand the Original of the Christian Religion yet we ought to refer it to a Celestial Principle since we have discovered that it is qualified and adorn'd with so many Characters of Divinity What then shall we say when we reflect that we have it by a voice from Heaven that an infinite number of Martyrs suffered Death to confirm it that the Events and Miracles performed in the World taught it us that many undeniable matters of Fact convince us of it that the Prophets declare it and the Devils themselves silently own it What can we say now that we are surrounded on all sides with Light with the Light of the Senses the Light of Reason the Light of Prophecy and the Evidence of their accomplishment the Light of Knowledge the Light of inward Sense the Light of Experience the Light of Testimony the Light of matter of Fact the Light of Doctrin the Light of the Heart and the Light of the Vnderstanding We shall certainly own that it is the Work of God and earnestly beseech him who granted us the Knowledge of his holy Religion that he would be pleased both to defend it against the false Subtilties of its secret and open Enemies and deeply imprint it in our Hearts for the sake of his Glory and the Salvation of our own Souls Amen FINIS ERRATA Occasioned by the Translator's Absence from the Press PAge 15. l. 36. r. Ministry p. 39. l. 6. r. not now p. 44. l. 23. r. Epistles p. 71. l. 6. r. of the p. 81. l. 32. r. throughout the p. 90. l. 3. r. series p. 93 l. 23. for the r. he p. 116. l. 28. r. any one p. 130. l. 14. for Writings r. Witnesses p. 139. l. 7. r. ascending p. 137. l. 6. r. contemned p. 162. l. 28. r. implied p. 202. l. 19. r. State p. 307. l. 22. for do r. to p. 312. l. 28. r. far from p 315. l. 9. r. even p. 339. l. 15. r. Mortal but p. 391. l. 31. for has r. was p. 405. l. 33. delâ— are Tertullian in his Apolog. Origen contra Cels lib. 16. Mat. 26. 39. Mat. 11. 19. Mark 13. 2. John 21. 22. Joseph de bello Judaico lib. 3. cap. 14. 7 12. Sueton. in vitâ— Claud. Tacit. lib. 5. Histor cap. 13. Plutarch in the life of Romulus Mâ—l 4. 2. Luke 1. 78. Gem. tract San. Cap. 11. Gem. tract San. Lib. 12. Gem. Tract San. Cap 11. Tertul. Apolog. 5. See a discourse concerning Universal History by the Bishop of Meaux See Minâ—t Feliâ— Juvenal 〈…〉 58. 5. â— Kings â—8 28.