a fourth for Christ in opposition to Paul Apollos and Cephas all Teachers and all Ordinances And indeed though difference in judgment about smaller matters ought not to produce distance in Affections and standing aloof from Unity and Association yet we find by dayly experience that it doth bring forth these Apples of Sodom Amos 3.9 Can two walk together except they be agreed Yea it hath occasioned many to become indifferent others Scepticks in matters of Religion And all these things have conspired to produce another effect of dangerous consequence even the putting of a stumbling block in the way to turn them aside from Religion which else might have come to the embracing of it The best and most proper Expedient to help us against these growing mischiefs is to get our souls well ballasted with substantial Knowledge of the Fundamentals of our Faith that an over-large sail of Affections may not betray us to those prejudices that are prepared against us by the various Winds of strange Doctrine that are abroad That we may be like the Mountains fixed and unmoveable and not like Chaff and other leight and loose matter easily carried away and driven to and fro with these blasts 1 Cor. 3.11 Now it is certain that Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ. And therefore as they are to be esteemed Houses built without a Foundation that are not bottomed upon him so it will greatly concern all of us to endeavour to be rooted and built up in him Col. 2.7 which will be our best safegard in these perilous times wherein there are so many Seducers that watch for our souls divers of whom do bring in damnable Heresies 2 Pet. 2.1 even denying the Lord that bought them CHAP. II. A right understanding of the Holy Scriptures is our best security against Errors We need not sail to Rome to fetch it thence Two extreams in the Interpreting of Scripture both which do dangerously tend to induce us to Error THe Papists do both injuriously and absurdly alledge to the undervaluing of the Authority of the Holy Scriptures and setting the Authority of their Church above it that all sorts of Hereticks have pretended the Scriptures to favour and father even their most deformed and monstrous Conceits In this Allegation they do not onely wrong the Word of God in attempting to detract from its Authority but also prejudice their own cause by giving us just occasion to suspect either the Judgment or Designe of those that would impose upon us by such a Non-concluding Argument For this very thing doth argue what great respect men are naturally enclined to shew to the Word of God seeing though many men hold that which is really contrary to it yet they would make it seem as near as they can to be agreeable to it And it hence appears that they account an Argument drawn from the Scriptures to be very firm and powerful seeing they take such pains to wrest the Scriptures to make them speak that which they never intended on their side It is then very evident and may be spoken for the honour of this sure word of Prophesie that men of all Professions and Perswasions 2 Pet. 1.19 do appeal to it as the last Judge in all Controversies appertaining to our Christian Faith But the great thing controverted is What is the best way for Interpreting the Scriptures The Papists if either Self-interest or the just Judgment of God upon them did not quite put out their eyes could not possibly give up themselves to going round in these mills which grind for their advantage In treating of the Authority of the Scriptures they first will have the Scriptures to obtain Authority from the Testimony of the Church and then the Authority of the Church shall be established from the Testimony of the Scriptures So that the Church before its Authority be proved must give Authority to the Scriptures and then the Scriptures which they suppose to have received their Authority from the Church must give Authority to the Church And in like manner they deal about the Interpretation of the Scriptures For if we ask Who must have Authority so to Interpret the Scriptures that we must rest in that Interpretation They will tell you The Church And who is that Church but he whom they suppose the Head of the Church The Pope So that first that Interpretation which the Pope gives of the Scriptures must establish his Authority to interpret them and then by vertue of Authority with which he conceives himself to be invested by the Scriptures he takes Authority over the Scriptures But we may well reckon it a considerable part of our happiness in matters of our Faith that as we do upon good grounds believe the Authority of the Scriptures to be such as needs not to be supported by the Pope but to which indeed he ought to submit himself and by which he must be judged So we believe upon sufficient grounds that for the Interpretation of Scripture in matters necessary to our salvation we need not send to Rome to be informed We should esteem it an unpardonable injury both to the Wisdom and Goodness of our Heavenly Father if we should suppose that he had left his Will in order to our salvation involved in such intricacies as should not be obvious to be apprehended by those that with an honest heart set themselves to search the Scriptures And whereas in matters of less moment there are some dark places of Scripture which the Lord hath thought meet to leave for the exercise of our Industry and trial of our Humility As to these we say that as a man may be saved without a distinct understanding them so the Pope not onely may erre but hath fouly erred in attempting the Interpretation of them And I may reasonably add before I leave this that the Papists in pleading for a necessity of appealing to the Pope as the last Judge of the Interpretation of Scripture do quite shake the foundation of his power by overloading it with a too-high structure For if we must needs believe our selves to be at a loss as to the meaning of the Scriptures unless we have the gracious Nod of his pretended Holiness to confirm it then why may we not as well suspect our selves not rightly to understand those Scriptures that are alleadged for the Popes Authority to interpret Scripture unless his Authority do confirm us in this meaning of them And if so then the Popes Authority to interpret the Scriptures is wholly founded as I intimated before upon his own Magisterial deciding the meaning of Scriptures And if even our Saviour saith If I bear witness of my self John 5.31 my witness is not true then why may we not suspect the Popes Authority which is wholly built upon his own Testimony And if the Popes authority in this case be not reasonably confirmed then are we as far to seek for the
subverting mens Souls So it should teach us cautiousness that we endeavour to equal the vigilancy of our enemies that lye in wait to deceive by being as vigilant to prevent their deceits Quae omnia excitare acuere studium nostrum debent c. saith Calvin upon this occasion All this should stir up and whet our industry and watchfulness lest by neglecting to study the Word of God and to stand fast in the Truths thereof we be circumvented by our enemies and suffer the sad punishment of our sloth and security And whereas one great help against stratagems is a suspicious minde and diligent inquiring where and how they are laid for such designes when discovered are in a fair way to be disappointed It may therefore be a great help to us against the subtilty of these men that lie in wait to deceive us not to be over credulous or prone to believe every man that comes unto us with fair pretences Beloved believe not every spirit 1 Joh. 4.1 nor every one that pretends to the spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God because 't is too evident that there are many false Prophets gone out into the world And that we may the better be acquainted with their subtilties and deceits I shall lay before you some characters that will shew men not to be sent from God whatsoever they pretend but that they lie in wait meerly to deceive us That so on whomsoever we see these Marks we may know them so as to avoid them and their delusions 1. Those that apply themselves rather to perswade the Affections then to convince the Judgement The Understanding was by God appointed to be the leader of the other faculties of the soul whereas we ordinarily say that Love is blind and the same we may say of Hatred and all the rest of the Affections and consequently the Understanding ought first to be informed of the goodness or evil of any thing before the Affections be set on either to love or abhor it And therefore we may well conclude that they who attempt to win mens affections by perswasions before they have convinced the judgment by weighty and cogent reasons doe take a very indirect course to come in at the window and not at the door of the soul And that either they are blind leaders of these blind affections or else that having more knowledge then honesty themselves their designe is to impose upon the simple honesty of well-meaning people A way of popular oratory mixed with plausible and earnest exclamations and pathetical obtestations is indeed very apt to prevail with men of lively affections and dull understandings But they that take such courses may be suspected as those that intend to draw men into their net by low-belling 2. If men wholly decry the judgment of Reason in matters of Religion they afford us very strong grounds to suspect them It is true that many points of our Faith are so high that they transcend the reach of Reason onely we can see it reasonable to receive those points upon the authority of the God of Truth though our understandings come short of fathoming the depth of them But we may speak it for the honour of our Christian Religion that it presents nothing to our Faith to be received which is contrary to the principles of well-improved Reason And therefore those that have the face to tell us that we must receive things from them and from I know not what light within and if reason contradict it we must lay it aside as an humane and carnal business yea if a plain and rational interpretation of Scripture oppose them we must reject that also as the Letter and not the Spirit What is this but in plain terms to tell us that they come on purpose to blindfold us that they may lead us whither they list and that it is but fit we should subject our eyes to that cover they offer to put upon them 3. If men pretend to be infallible and make it their common course in cool blood if ever they be so to brazen it out and make the world to believe that whosoever opposeth them must needs be in an error they give us just occasion to suspect their designe We have a great deal of talk in the world concerning Antichrist and what a dangerous Body he is and as to the person or people that deserve this name we may say as Christ did of the true Christ they shall say Mat. 24.23 loe here is Christ and loe there many say lo this is Antichrist and others cry loe that is Antichrist till the vainest sort of them have come to that pass as to believe whatsoever is contrary to their own Way and Sect to be Antichristian Now if we condemn this as one of the most unreasonable and dangerous Tenets that are professed by the Roman Antichrist then why should we not reckon them to be of Antichristian spirits that will not believe that it is possible they should be deceived 4. If men will usurp the office of publick Teachers and will not submit themselves to an orderly tryal by them that have judgment and authority to take an account of them they give us just ground to suspect them as deceivers instead of instructers of the ignorant The Apostle tells us that the spirits of the Prophets 1 Cor. 14.32 are subject to the Prophets And that the publick Teachers should first be proved before they be admitted to take upon them to teach 1 Tim. 3.10 And therefore as this surly Tenet of refusing to be subject to the trial and approbation of others doth at the first view discover it self to be the product of pride and height of stomach so it is a signe that these persons have a designe to put off very bad wares to the people seeing they will not suffer them to be brought to the light to be examined 5. Those that spend more time and diligence in pressing men to embrace their Tenets and opinions then in exhorting them to the duties of holiness towards God and righteousness towards men are very suspicious in their proceedings As Christ bids all of us to Seek first his Kingdom Mat. 6.33 and the righteousness thereof so every profitable Teacher should make it his first and chiefest design to perswade men to become Subjects of this Kingdom and to lead lives answerable to their profession And therefore those that spend their pains chiefly in teaching men to renounce their Teachers and to separate themselves from the society of the Church to follow their new-fangle ways give us just ground to suspect that they defire to baptize men into their own name 1 Cor. 1.15 that they are self-seekers such as are setting up for themselves to establish a Sect of their own and that they have rather a design to draw men to themselves then to God preferring their own credit or something else that is worse before the glory of God
Elect Angels to procure the confirmation of them in their estate of holiness and happiness But in this I determine nothing because the holy Scriptures are so sparing in speaking of it The usual acception of this word Mediator is to signifie him that reconciles parties that be at difference and in this sense Jesus Christ the word made flesh is truely and properly called a Mediator to reconcile God and man because he interposeth himself between God and us in this difference that sin hath made to reconcile Gods justice to us by making satisfaction for our sin and to reconcile us to God by sanctifying our natures and making us conformable to his will in this life inchoatly and at death perfectly CHAP. V. The holy Scriptures being owned at least in outward profession by men of all professions that lay claim to the common name of Christianity we may therefore take it for granted that Arguments drawn from them should put an end to all strife amongst us The design and method of the four following Chapters proposed THe Reverence we owe to the authority of the holy Scriptures doth oblige every good Christian not onely to account it a necessary piece of humility to subscribe to the doctrine thereof as the will and pleasure of him that made us and to whom we owe all obedience but also to esteem it the safest and most prudential course to entertain and embrace the truths thereof as the Word of him who is Wisdom it self and therefore cannot err or be deceived and Goodness it self and therefore we may be sure he will not endeavour to seduce or delude us So that though there be divers things contained in this Sacred Volume which our shallow capacities cannot reach to comprehend yet we finde reason enough to impute it to the defects of our Nature and not to any over-sight in those Sacred Writings that we cannot always see a reason of every thing therein delivered And the Soveraign Authority and infinite Wisdom of him that inspired those holy men that wrote these Books is a sufficient argument to move us to a reverent submission to those matters of Faith which surpass the reach of our reason and therefore as every sober Professor of Christianity makes the Word of God the foundation of his Faith so the best Arguments that can be produced for the confirming of our Belief in that Faith which hath been delivered unto us will be such as are fetched from this Sacred Promptuary of holy Writ And as I was mentioning it before Chap. 2. for the honour of the Word of God that men of all Sects and perswasions who center in the common Profession of the Christian Religion do at least pretend great reverence to these Writings and whether in good earnest or in design to put off their opinions the more plausibly in the world do endeavour to represent even their most heterodox and incredible Notions as the Doctrine of the Spirit of God in the Scripture we may therefore very reasonably expect that Arguments drawn from the Scriptures should be convineing to them and an end of all strife And further that the fair and plain meaning of the words of Scripture which is most obvious to every man of understanding and which hath been received by the Church of God in all ages should be embraced by them as well as by us as the ground upon which all Arguments are to be built It being as absurd in matters of Reason and Faith for one or a few men to expect that his or their single Vote for some singular meaning of a plain Text of Scripture should be heard in opposition to the judgement of the Church of God in all ages as in matters of sense it would be for one man confidently and contentiously to pronounce that colour to be white or red which all his Neighbours and people of all Ages before him have received under the notion of black We may therefore take it for granted that Arguments drawn from the plain and obvious sense of the Scripture such as hath been received by the Church in all Ages should be accounted sufficient both to confirm the faith of those that are serious in Christianity and also to convince or at least put to silence those that are dissenting from us In order therefore to the confirming of us in the belief of this Truth which is the substance of the whole Doctrine of the Gospel that The Word made flesh or God the Son manifest in the flesh hath truely and really undertaken and performed the Office of a Mediator to reconcile God and man I shall propound these four general Heads to be considered and confirmed First That the Lord did promise to Adam after his fall and to all the Fathers and Prophets of the Old Testament his own Son to become man and in the Union of these two Natures to perform all those Offices which were necessary in order to our Redemption and Salvation Secondly That the Time which was appointed for the accomplishing of these promises and Prophesies and for the sending of the Son of God into the World is long since expired and consequently that we ought stedfastly to believe that our Saviour is already come in the flesh Thirdly That we have full and sufficient grounds to believe that the same Jesus whom the New Testament holds forth unto us and in whom we and all the Churches of God in all Ages have believed is that very Person who was promised to the Fathers to come as the Messiah or Saviour of the World Fourthly That the Apostles and Evangelists in the New Testament do hold forth unto us such a Christ as was really and truly God and Man Hypostatically united in one Person and who did in a real and proper sense satisfie Gods Justice for our sins and purchase eternal Salvation for us by his Merits On this Rock is the Church of God built Matt. 16.18 On this have every one of us built our particular Faith and in this we had need to be fully and persectly setled And he that is confirmed in the truth of these four Positions is confirmed in the whole Doctrine of the Gospel Let us then proceed by the assistance of the good Spirit of God to the opening and confirming of them in order CHAP. VI. The first Proposition confirmed in its two Branches viz. First That God did promise to the Fathers of the Old Testament to send his Son into the World to take our Nature upon him Secondly That he promised that in the Vnion of these two Natures he should perform all those Offices which were necessary in order to our Redemption and Salvation ALL the Promises of God are Yea 2 Cor. 1.20 and Amen Faithfulness and Truth as being the Words of the God of Truth Tit. 1.2 who cannot lye Hath he spoken it and shall it not stand Hath he promised and shall he not make it good Mat. 5.18 Behold Heaven and Earth shall pass
imagine that the sins of the Children should hinder the fulfilling of them at the time appointed Secondly the promises concerning the Messiah were absolutely expressed without any respect to the worthiness or unworthiness of the people Jacob doth not say Gen. 49.10 If the people be obedient Shiloh shall come when the Scepter departs but speaks it absolutely The seventy weeks are said to be determined Dan. 9. not conditionally if the people did please God but absolutely And if the sins of the people did not hinder the fulfilling of other Prophesies of this Nature why should they be thought to have hindred this Doubtless this is but a Cavil invented by the Jews of latter ages for their fathers that lived about the time of Christs Birth did look upon them as absolute and did expect the Messiah about that time as I shewed before and this cavil is only invented to defend the obstinacy of this Nation at this day Nay let us hear what a promise the Psalmist mentioneth If the children of David do break my laws and keep not my commandments Psal 89.30 31 32. c. then will I visit their transgressions with a rod and their sins with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness will I not take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail my Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gon out of my lips And this must needs be understood of the Covenant concerning the sending of the Messiah so that their sins could not hinder the fulfilling of it in due time Thirdly the Messiah was promised to be a blessing to all Nations Gen. 21.16 and therefore the sins of one Nation could not hinder the sending of him in due time God promised Abraham that in his seed all the Nations of the earth should be blessed and Isaiah speaking from the Lord unto Christ Isa 49.6 saith It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the Tribes of Judah I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation to the ends of the earth The Gentiles were to receive benefit by his coming into the world as well as the Jews as I have before shewed and therefore it would be unreasonable to imagine that the sins of that one Nation should hinder the coming of Him who was to be a blessing to all Nations Ezek. 18.20 God saith The soul that sinneth shall dye the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him Now if God will not punish the sins of the father on the son who is not accessary to his father's faults much less will he punish the sins of the Jews upon all the whole world who were not accessary to their sins Fourthly Dan. 9.24 The Messiah was promised to come for this end that he might take away sin to finish Transgression and to make an end of sin and to bring in everlasting Righteousness Isa 53.5 and to be wounded for our Transgressions c. as I have said before And therefore why should we think that the abounding of sin should hinder his coming Doth the sickness of the Patient hinder the Physitian from coming whose office is to cure Diseases and there would be no need of him if men were not sick Yea some of the Learned do tell us that the Jewish Rabbies that lived before Christ did foretel that when the Messiah should come there would be a great abounding of Iniquity in the world and therefore we may conclude this to be onely a Cavil of the later Jews to excuse their obstinate slighting of the true Christ whom their Fathers crucified As for that fond conceit of some of the Jews who say that the Messiah is indeed come but is hidden at the gates of Rome and that it shall be some time before he be discovered This is so far lighter than vanity that I shall take no further notice of it then to put you in mind thereby of that heavy curse of God that lies upon them That though the Prophet Malachi Mal. 3.1 for about two thousand years ago did tell them that the Lord should suddenly come into his Temple yet they will believe that he is still to come Yea though they have felt the heavy wrath of God lying upon them to the utmost for so many Ages yea though their condition be so sad that they have no Prophets to tell them how long it shall last yet still they perfist in denying and opposing the true Christ Let us pray for their Conversion and endeavour to be setled our selves in this Article of the Christian Faith that the Messiah who was promised to the Fathers is long since come in the flesh CHAP. VIII The third Proposition viz. That we have full and sufficient Grounds to believe that the same Jesus which is held forth unto us in the New Testament and in whom we and all the Churches of God in all Ages have believed is that very Person who was promised to the Fathers to come as the Messiah or Saviour of the World Confirmed by the Miracles which he wrought to confirm this Truth and by the fulfilling of all Prophesies in him THat a Saviour was promised to the Fathers of Old and that these promises are long since out of date you have seen confirmed so that consequently we must look backward with the Eye of our Faith to a Christ already exhibited and not forward to one yet to come The next thing in which it will be necessary to have our Faith setled is that we are not deceived as to that particular Person upon whom we and all the Churches of God for this sixteen hundred years and upward have pitched as our Messiah or Saviour And though the consent of the Church in all Ages be a very good Argument to satisfie us in this point yet it may be necessary in these fickle times to look for a firmer Ground to build our Faith upon in this which is a matter of so great moment First then 1 Argument I argue from the many Miracles which Jesus wrought when he was upon the Earth for the confirmation of this Truth that he was indeed the Messiah that was promised A Miracle is a work that exceeds the power of any created cause to produce by his own strength and therefore whosoever can do miracles is either God or hath received power from God in a special and supernatural manner And as Gods giving power to any person to work Miracles for the confirming of any point that he teacheth is to be accounted as Gods setting his Seal to the truth thereof So it would be unreasonable as well as impious to imagin that the God of Truth should set his Seal to a ly and consequently whatever Doctrine hath been confirmed by