they might with the Apostle amidst all the oppositions of the World stand firm with a Nevertheless I am not ashamed for I 2 Tim. 1. 12. know whom I have believed And that Mankind might have rational and satisfactory grounds for Faith in Jesus The Divine Spirit which ever gave Testimony to him exerted it self both as a Spirit of Omnipotency in Miracles and of Omniscience in Prophecy to the end Men might believe the great concerns of Revelation upon the demonstrative grounds of Divine perfection This I take to be St. Paul's meaning when he says My preaching was not with enticing words of man's 1 Cor 2. v. 4 wisdom but in Demonstration of the Spirit and of power i. e. of Miracles wrought by the Spirit of Omnipotency and of Demonstrative conviction out of the Prophets who appear to have been acted by the Spirit of Omniscience and Truth itself by the Events answering their Predictions That your Faith saies he should Verse 5. not stand in the wisdom of men either the Authority of the Civil State with the Leviathan or strong Probability with Others but in the Power of God i. e. in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 4. the Divinity itself which when it gives Testimony Natural light unquestionably concludes it true And if it be demanded which way the Apostle made his Demonstrations in the Spirit I suppose he tells us v. 13. We speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth i. e. according to the studied Rules of Arts now in Greece but which the Holy Ghost teacheth Comparing spiritual things with spiritual i. e. comparing the Doctrine and Transactions of the New Testament with the Prophecies of the Old and hereby the Faith of Jesus is Demonstrated to be Divine because attested by the Spirit of Prophecy for in the 9th verse he had quoted the Prophet Isaiah and so in all his preaching as Acts 17. 2 3. and for studying this Demonstration or comparing the New Testament with the Old the Bereans are so much commended v. 11. and nothing is plainer than that all the Evangelists and Apostles and even Christ himself did thus argue or convince out of the Old Testament Prophets The force therefore of the Testimony depends solely upon the Spirit of Prophecy or that 't is the Testimony of the Prime and Omniscient Verity I must not stay to clear my hand of the Tractatus Theologico-politicus who has resolv'd the Spirit of Prophecy not as St. Peter did into being Moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet 1. 21. but into the Crasis of the Imaginative faculty that so you may know him the First-born of the Leviathan and by their Hypotheses whose Scholars Tract p. 7 c. both were even his who resolv'd the Creation of the Universe into the fortuitous concurs of Atoms Neither may I reflect upon that Moral Probability which some seem to think a sufficient foundation for Faith further than to say That matters reveal'd and confirm'd by the Spirit of Prophecy are and ought to be so far as reveal'd as certain Truths as any Demonstrations in the World besides I fear not after St. Paul to say that matters of a Moral and Spiritual nature may be demonstrated taking Demonstration not in the confin'd signification which the School of Heathen Philosophy affixt to it but in the reality of the thing and with respect to the end for which Demonstration serves viz. a Proof that creates a knowledge certain and indubitable and this the Spirit of Prophecy not as revealing but as confirming Revelation by Prediction doth Which brings me to the Third and chief design'd Particular Thirdly That of all other Testimonies of Jesus the Spirit of Prophecy is The Testimony My meaning is There is no such standing satisfactory and demonstrative proof of the Divinity of JESVS's Transactions Faith and Doctrine as the Spirit of Prophecy is There are indeed many other Testimonies of Jesus better than most or any other cause beside his can produce First The Testimony of Angels both good and bad the good in obsequious attendancies upon his Birth his Luke 2. 13. 22. 43 c. Agonies his Resurrection and Ascension The bad in flying Fears concluding at least strongly suspecting by Luke 8. 28. Mark 1. 24. the Predictions of the Old Prophets who it was they now had to deal with in Humane Nature even the Holy One of God or the Seed promised to break the Serpent's head Secondly The Testimony of Men both his Friends and Enemies His Friends extol adore him die for him his Enemies of all sorts confess him an extraordinary Person though a deceiver as Celsus Jalian Mahomed the Jew the Philosopher the Apostate the Impostor the Infidel Mahomed is kindest of all the rest for he will allow him to be his Pew-fellow in Prophecy upon condition he may but sit above him Nay Thirdly There are more venerable Witnesses than either Angels or Men I mean those Three in Heaven 1 Joh. 5. 7 8. and those Three on Earth where though the Divine Spirit make One in either Three yet which I wonder is no more observed and insisted on the Spirit as 't is in this sence explain'd The Spirit of Prophecy is however to my apprehension The Testimony Not in preference to the Others consider'd in themselves but consider'd with reference to Mankind who are to be Judges of their Evidence and whose Judging faculties are more susceptive of satisfaction from the Spirit as a Spirit of Prophecy or infinite Science in truth than from the same Spirit in any other way of Evidence the reason of which I conceive to be this That the convictions of the Spirit in the way of Prophecy or in the display of Omniscience is more directly accommodate to humane Intellect our faculty of Science than any other operation of the Spirit is For the strongest tendencies of Intellect are to the Science of Truth and therefore acts of Omniscient Truth are more accommodate to Humane understanding than acts of Power Wisdom being that it is more delighted in than Strength If any Revelation be from God by the foresaid Rule of Natural knowledge it ought to be accepted and submitted to But whether that which pretends Revelation be from God or no is the only Question Now the Argument from Miracles is prest by all this of Prediction by few or none but without depreciating the former I must confess ever since I consider'd it the latter is weightier and more convictive with me for I am more fully satisfied That the whole Series of Scriptural Revelation is Divine because I find all along the Spirit of Prediction interwoven than because I read such and such Miracles done For I find the Alcharon pretending Miracles but not daring to pretend Prediction So that of all the innate Characters of Divinity pretended to in any written Law this of Prediction is peculiar to the Scriptures This
WARD Mayor Martis XXV to die Januarii 1680. Annoque Regni Regis CAROLI Secundi Angl ' c. xxxii do UPon the motion of Sir John Lawrence Kt. and Alderman This Court doth desire Mr. Turner to print his Sermon sometime since Preached at the Guildhall-Chappel before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen Wagstaffe TESTIMONIVM JESV Or THE Demonstration of the Spirit FOR The Confirmation of Christian Faith and Conviction of all Infidelity A SERMON Preached before the Right Honourable THE LORD MAYOR and ALDERMEN OF THE City of LONDON AT THE GUILDHALL-CHAPPEL By BRYAN TVRNER B. D. Rector of Solderne Oxon and Chaplain to the Right Honourable CHARLES Earl of Carlisle LONDON Printed by S. Roycroft for Walter Kettleby at the Bishops-Head in St. Paul's Church-yard 1681. REVEL XIX 10. And I fell at his feet to worship him and he said unto me See thou do it not I am thy fellow Servant and of thy Brethren that have the Testimony of Jesus Worship God For the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy WHether St. John here was through Joy transported into too submiss a Reverence or he mistook the Person for Christ as the Angels telling him who he was seems rather to insinuate is not needful to determine If transported into too submiss a Reverence such as was usually appropriate to Divine Worship then it reads us this Lecture That on the one hand Bodily Adoration is within the list of Divine Worship and necessarily due by the Commandment Worship God and on the other hand to transfer it to Saints or Angels is Sacrilegious and Idolatrous See thou do it not Now what bodily gestures are appropriate to Divine Worship must not be measured from the gestures themselves for one may fall at the feet of their Superiour without a crime as Abigail did to David but from the circumstances of Customary 1 Sam 25. 24. time place and matter in hand as when they are tendred upon an Holy-day in a Temple or Oratory and when Religion Prayer and Devotion is the matter pretended But if the Crime the Apostle was here incurring was through mistake of the person thinking him to be Christ Then it us reads this Lecture That bodily adoration intended Right but mistaken in the object is yet peccant against the Commandment of Worship And both these would affright a considerative mind at the peril of Idolatry in the Church of Rome where if the Host be not mistaken the Sense of Mankind must and if all the Canoniz'd Saints be truly what they are esteemed yet doubtless no better than the Angel in the Text. Neither will the distinction of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 salve the Crime objected in this latter case seeing there was no room for it in this of the Apostle and the Angel here For why could not this Angel have applied the distinction to salve the breach of the Commandment as well as the Angelical Doctor can But that when the Circumstances speak Religion there is indeed no distinction at all But 't is the importance of the last words I design to consider For the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy Which words are a reason why the Angel was the Apostles fellow Servant c. For whosoever by the Spirit of Prophecy revealed the Divine will was concerned in the common Testimony of Jesus because all Prophecy truly so called had Jesus and his Interests for its grand Subject therefore whosoever was employed therein whether Angel to Man or one Man to another whether before or after the exhibition of Jesus were as to that employment fellow Servants and had the Testimony of Jesus though subpaena'd to it as Balaam was by that Power that could give the man the Spirit of Prophecy as well as his Ass the Gift of Speaking And so Numb 24. 2. c. much may serve to account for the words as they are a reason why the Angel was the Apostle's fellow Servant and of Brethren I shall now consider them as a distinct proposition The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy which in logical order is to be placed thus The Spirit of Prophecy is the Testimony of Jesus Not discussing the variety either the word Prophecy After Christ's Exhibition the Prophetical light shone clearer even to discover the obscurity of its own former shades so that in this illustration of the former ancient Prophets did the latter Spirit of Prophecy very much consist and hence in Apostolical days to Prophecy is to explain the intended or Evangelical meaning of the Old Testament 1 Cor. 14. 1 2 3 4 5 13 19 c. hence the phrase Liberty of Prophecying c. or Testimony may admit in their significations elsewhere I shall take them here as I judge they ought to be in their most obvious and primary sense A Testimony is a declarative proof to make good his cause for whom it is produc'd Prophecy most properly implies two things First Revelation of the Divine will or mind and Secondly Prediction which latter is annex'd to the former as a sign or rational evidence of the Truth and Divinity of the Revelation For God offers no Revelation to Mankind but upon grounds of rational satisfaction that it is from himself i. e. under some convictive Characters of Divinity and Truth Now Prediction is this Character annex'd to the Revelation as a Seal for humane Satisfaction that 't is Divine or from God himself This being a presumptive Rule with Humane Nature That what Gody saies is indubitably true and what he commands ought instantly to be obeyed And 't is upon these grounds of Natures allowance that all divine Revelation is founded But that which convictively proves the Word or Revelation to be Divine is the determinate prediction of things future not necessary in their causes Thus that Pharaoh should let Israel go was the Revelation Exod. 7. 16 17 18 c. and that Moses would at such a time work such a Wonder was the Prediction i. e. the Sign given to prove the Revelation from God Therefore his Wonders 1 Kin. 22. 25 28. 1 Sam. 10. 2 3 4 5 7. are called Signs not only because Wonders or Miracles for all Prophetical Signs were not so but because presignified and therein when fulfilled Significators of Divinity in the Revelation Seeing then that the Revelation which I conceive is alwaies a Precept or Prohibition with Promises or Threatnings annext in its acceptance with men depends upon Prediction as the Commission doth upon the Seal The Spirit of Prophecy is most properly the Spirit of Prediction or that Spirit which can confirm the Revelation by foretelling Futurities of a contingent nature i. e. things only within the sphere of Omniscience For I judge the weight of this Text lies here and not in the abstract notion of Revelation as the late Tract upon it seems to apprehend And this being premised for the sense I take the words in every word in the
Eutychianus Whether it was Oraculum daemonum aut figmentum hominum he assures us not To me it seems grounded on some Opinions of the Primitive Christians concerning Antichrist's appearance but how miserably it fail'd St. Austin observes that in the very year Gaudentius and Jovius overthrew the Temples of the Heathen gods in Cartage Et plurimi Christiani facti qui tanquam verâ illâ Divinatione revocabantur à fide postquam eam completo eodem annorum numero inanem irridendamque viderunt De Civit lib. 18. cap. 54. the Papal or Mahometan under the Character of a divine Institution For certainly this he would have done had not the ability of his own Spirit fail'd him both as to the certainty and distance of such a contingency because nothing imaginable could have bruised the heel of the Womans Seed so dangerously confirmed Gentile Idolatry and staggar'd the Faith of Mankind so effectually as this by confronting a testimony for Antichrist out of the Heathen Oracles as good as that for Christ out of the Old Testament Prophecies And therefore all that the Serpent can do in this matter is to play the after-game as subtilly as may be and inspire Mahomet when he finds him Enthusiastick and amongst a People fit for delusion and so to club to perfect the Imposture or else to transform himself into an Angel of Light the only way to mischief the Christian Church as the Bishop of Rome doth himself into the Catholick or a Jesuit himself into a Christian or a Quaker himself into a man of Perfection And because I may not scan every objected Instance in Heathen Divination I shall in general only say that who so affirms any other than the Divine can be the Spirit of Prophecy seems to suffrage with them that blasphemed against him in leaving no distinctive Character to discern the Holy Spirit by and so may ascribe to Beelzebub what is the Divine Spirit 's prerogative And I call this of Prediction the Divine Spirit 's prerogative because God in the Prophet puts all other Diviners upon this Test Isa 41. 21 c. Produce your cause saith the Lord Bring forth your strong reasons saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and shew us See Isa 47. 3 4 5 6 7. what shall happen let them shew the former things what they be that we may consider 'em and know the latter end of them or declare us things for to come Shew the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are gods Allowing then that the sphere of Jesus's Interests is as large as the concerns of his Churches in all Ages the Prophecies of Enoch Noah Jacob and Others before his Incarnation or of Agabus St. John and Others after it make no Objection against this Truth That the Spirit of Prophecy is the Testimony of Jesus and nones else so that no cause distinct or opposite to his can produce it all divine Revelation centring in him to which give all the Act. 10. 43. Prophets witness 't is theresore called the Spirit of Christ in the Prophets 1 Pet. 1. 11. and 't is observable when this Divine Spirit was to convince the World of Sin for not believing it silenc'd all the Oracles in the World both true and false I mean both Jewish and Heathen Act 16. 16 17. 19. 16 19. which might be made use of in opposition to the Gospel And that 's my first Observation 'T is the Testimony of Jesus i. e. peculiarly and nones else Secondly 'T is not the Person employed Man or Angel on whom the validity of this Testimony depends but 't is The Spirit of Prophecy not only as revealing God's mind but as predicting to confirm the Revelation i. e. 't is the Testimony of Omniscient Veracity or of the prime Verity for nothing can furnish out the Spirit of Prophecy but a Science and Truth that is indefectible and infinite For the account of certainty in the Divine Prescience as to Contingencies and the products of Liberty must not be resolv'd into the Decree as if God certainly foreknew this would be the product of Liberty therefore because he decreed it for the Decree makes all Contingencies equally possible unless we introduce Fatality But the certainty of Prescience must be resolved solely into the Infinity of Science There is no searching of his understanding Isa 40. 28. So then whether it be Man or Angel that 's acted by the Spirit of Prophecy whether Moses or Balaam Simeon or Caiphas it matters not contrary to Maimonides's Rules about Qualifications the Testimony is the Spirits of Prophecy the attestation to the Revelation is made by the Prime Verity and the force lies in the presumptive truth of Nature's concession What God says is true or as St. John expresses it If we receive the witness of men the witness of God is greater 1 Joh. 5. 9. For all things in the World are true or false as they have or want the Testimony of the * Thus the Sun evidenceth it self by its own light and all other things visible by that illustration of Light it lends them either transiently as to the Air or permanently as to some Precious Stones c. Prime Verity whether that Verity record its Testimony in the settled Laws and Volumes of Nature upon which the study of Philosophy and all Secular knowledge depends or in the prescripts of Revelation called for distinctions sake Supernatural knowledge i. e. therefore this or that Knowledge is true in the nature of things because their causes and effects are apprehended as the first Cause and the Divine Truth did constitute them And so in Revelation this or that created Knowledge and Judgment is true or false which apprehends it according to the word and meaning of the first Revealer or otherwise We see this in Humane affairs where the grand decision of Truth depends entirely upon an Oath and therefore upon an Oath because an Oath is the attestation or appeal to the Prime Verity which Testimony upon Oath being ever esteemed most Sacred till the Licentious and Atheistical prophaneness of our Swearing Age essayed to unhallow and make it common Therefore it must follow That whatever is attested by the Prime Verity itself is true without any other or against any other contrary Evidence and 't is this that renders the Faith of Christian Mysteries reasonable Now the Declarations or Revelations of the Spirit of Prophecy Self-evidently appear to proceed from the Prime Verity because no knowledge but the Divine and Infinite can reach the Spirit of Prophecy i. e. can confirm Revelation by certain Prediction And if I mistake not this wounds the Leviathan who has taken his pastime in these waters of the Sanctuary and may shew him that Divine Faith may and ought to be resolved into Divine Truth that so its certainty might be stedfast as any knowledge in the World for whosoever may minister to this Faith its relyance must be upon Divinity itself and happy were it would men consider the grounds of their Faith that
therefore is the Proposition I shall insist upon That the Spirit of Prophecy not as revealing God's mind only for that 's the Question but as predicting to confirm what is revealed is primarily The Testimony The Reasons I shall at present offer are these Two First Because this Spirit of Prophecy is that Tally cannot be counterfeited but may easily be discovered by certain Rules of tryal Secondly Because all Ages are equally under its conviction which they are not as to any other Testimony abstracting from this nay succeeding Ages have the advantage in this and may rely upon it as that which gives credit to all the rest First Because the Spirit of Prophecy is that Tally cannot be counterfeited but may easily be discovered and therefore God gave it to the World to prevent delusion in matters of Revelation The intentions of his Mercy to recover Mankind from the Fall God held forth the faith and hope of to Adam and all his Posterity in the Promise of a Seed that should break the Serpent's head i. e. in the Gospel style should Gen. 3. 15. 1 Joh. 3. 8. destroy the works of the Devil But lest the subtil Serpent should set up one of his own party under the specious pretences of redeeming Mankind when the conceal'd intention was to enslave them more God did by the Spirit of Prophecy in several Ages so individualize that Redeemer so precisely foretel his Time so notifie all his Transactions that in common reason he might be known from all others and this want of reason is that our Saviour wonders at in the Pharisees who sought a Sign of him Ye can discern the Matt. 16. 1. face of the sky but can ye not discern the signs of the times i. e. that these are the Times of your expected Messiah presignified by the Spirit of Prophecy in the Old Testament and that ye need no Sign from me to prove it but the correspondency of my time and actions to their Predictions That the Spirit of Prophecy had thus characteriz'd the Person the Time the Actions and Sufferings of the Messiah that this Jesus of Nazareth must needs be him of whom Moses and the Prophets did write Joh. 1. 45. I shall not go about to clear In this I refer to the Evangelists especially St. Matthew who still appeals * As Matt. 18. 17. and elsewhere even in Christ's Miracles to what was written in the Prophets Taking then this for granted I say that this Spirit of Prophecy was that Tally could not be counterfeited given therefore by God to prevent delusion in matters pretending to Revelation and so 't is emphatically The Testimony Not that a lying Spirit could not pretend a Divination as well as a Revelation but that it could not predict a future contingent Event especially remote so as to adventure on the tryal of Prophecy and all Heathen Divination boggled here For 't is as infallible a Rule That none but the Divine Spirit can be the Spirit of Prophecy as 't is That remote future contingencies can be clearly foreseen and certainly foretold by none but Omniscient Veracity And therefore setting aside the Works of Creation which found Natural Religion there 's no effect that argues an immediate Divinity for its cause so clearly as the Prophetical Predictions do because there are more easie and certain Rules of Tryal to discern which is the true Spirit of Prophecy than any Divine operation after the creation of things For wonderful Works may be said to be the products of that energy which the Creator at first enricht Nature with and so a * Quare absolutè concludimus omnia quae in Scripturis Verè narrantur contigisse ea secundum leges Naturae ut omnia necessario contigisse Et si quid reperiatur legibus Naturae repugnare aut ex iis consequi non potuisse planè credendum id à Sacrilegis hominibus sacris Literis adjectum esse Tract Theo. pol. c. 6. p 71. late Off-spring of the Leviathan affirms But Prediction is Self-evidently an immediate issue from the Divinity de novo which if so and prest home upon the Leviathan and his First-born now mentioned will shew them other grounds for Christian Faith and Scriptures than only the Authority of God's †Leviath cap. 36 37. Lieutenants Now the Rules to try the Spirit of Prophecy by as I take it are but these Two First That the thing pretended to be a Revelation from God which was alwaies an Injuction or Prohibition with their annexes had no intrinsecal Evil in it or necessarily derivative from it peccant against the Laws of Morality settled in the first Creation i. e. against Natural Religion or a former Law reveal'd and on good grounds accepted as Divine for God's Laws never contradict one another neither is his Wisdom so short-sighted as to set up contrary Institutions of life and therefore the Christian Law destroys not the Mosaical but compleats its imperfections I came not to destroy but to fulfil i. e. to fill up This is the primary and grand Rule of Tryal To which mens non-attendance has at last debaucht all Religion made it a wild and unaccountable thing and let in that Spirit of Giddiness that exposes men to every wind of Doctrine The Second Rule of Tryal is this That the Revelation pretending from God and not peccant as aforesaid should be confirm'd with a Sign i. e. Prediction fulfill'd These two Rules brought the whole Spirit of Prophecy under trial let the Rabbies and they that in this admire them multiply never so many I apprehend not that the Scriptures have given us any more or that reason requires them Only Two things are here to be observ'd First That in whatever matter it consisted whether Miracle or not yet being a contingency the formality of a Sign consisted in Prediction fulfill'd Secondly That the Rule of Tryal by Signs was but Secondary and subordinate to that of tryal by Natural Religion i. e. a former Law whether that of Creation or Revelation after confirmed and accepted And all this is plain from Deut. 18. and the 13th Chapters First When a Prophet speaketh in the Name of the Chap. 18. 22. Lord i. e. pretends a Revelation if the thing follow not nor come to pass that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken The defect of Prediction fulfill'd overthrows the pretences of Inspiration or Revelation which necessarily argues whatever the materiality of a Sign be its * Jer. 28. 9. Ezek. 33. 33. formality consists in Prediction fulfill'd Though I allow 't was often but not alwaies in a matter or work miraculous that what Omniscience had said Omnipotence might back and awaken the Understanding by the impressions on sense Secondly If a Sign or Prediction should be fulfill'd to promote Idolatry or any thing destructive to Natural Religion or a former Divine Law reveal'd Thou shalt not hearken to the voice of that Prophet for the Lord Deut. 13. 3
of Jesus was to restore it effectually which he did by Supernatural helps whereas others essay'd it by the strength of Nature alone which after the Fall was impossible so that though Jesus in this surpast all Mankind yet some Rivals have been set up against him as Apollonius by Hierocles 2. To be a Martyr for a Lie when a man believes it as the Apostle tells us some shall is neither unusual nor 2 Thess 2. 11. unreasonable 3. The Age of Miracles excepting the wisdom and conduct of Providence which is not regarded is worn out for all the Legendary Impostures of that Church that still pretends them But that which strengthens all the rest by its connexion with them The Testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy stands like a fixed Star to give light to every hour of time call'd therefore The more sure Word and the 2 Pet. 1. 19. 1 Pet. 1. 25. Not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Word of God which abideth for ever to which we do well if we give heed My meaning is The Old and New Testaments are standing Witnesses to our Faith in Jesus all Ages may consult these Records and find the Testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy so interwoven in every part that it certainly evidenceth their Divinity and Truth Can any other Writing be produc'd that durst attempt to foretel such things and at such a distance to confirm any other pretended Revelation or Institution contradictory to this or doth not every Event in these answer its prediction Ex. gr Is not the disperst condition of the Jewish Nation a * On those words Psal 59. 11. Slay them not lest my People forget Scatter them by thy power St. Austin applying Them to the Jews has this excellent remark Ne obliti legem Dei ad hoc de quo agimus testimonium nihil valerent quoniam si cum testimonio scripturarum in suâ tantummodo terrâ non ubique essent profecto Ecclesia quae ubique est eos Prophetiarum quae de Christo pramissae sunt testes in omnibus gentibus non haberet De Civit. lib. 18. cap. 46. And then concludes Ideo nihil est firmius ad convincendos quoslibet alienos si de hac re contenderint nostrosque fulciendos si rectè sapuerint quam ut Divina praedicla de Christo ea proferantur quae in Judaeorum scripta sunt Codicibus Quibus avulsis de sedibus proptils propter hoc Testimonium toto Orbe dispersis Christi usquequaque crevit Ecclesia Ibid. cap. 47. standing Sign to all Ages of the World since the Gospels promulgation and a permanent Rule of Tryal laid before all considerative men that both Testaments which foretold it proceeded from the unerring Spirit of Omniscience Or was there ever any parallel Case to theirs to continue so many hundred years without any Ty of National Government and yet not to be lost in the crowd of the Nations where so many mutations have happen'd nor at all like the Ten Tribes swallow'd up in their Dispersions as wide as the Universe I must not insist upon other permanent Signs confirming the Scriptural Revelation as the Case of the Four Monarchies the Conversion of the Gentiles and many more foretold in the Old and New Testament which our Age and others may see fulfilled and therefore are under the conviction of this Testimony equally I mean We of this and every Age are under the Convictions of that Revelation which the Spirit of Prophecy has attested in the Scriptures and therefore because it has so attested as much as those who liv'd in the daies of the Prophets or in the Age of Miracles for else I see not how Abraham's answer to Dives is good nay certainly Posterity is better enabled to judge of Prophecy than the Age in which it first appear'd And this after the Canon of Scripture shut up and universally receiv'd renders all New light and extraordinary Inspiration not only suspected but perfectly needless The design of my Discourse is chiefly this to shew That the Spirit of Prophecy thus explain'd which so apparently runs parallel to the whole lines of Scriptural Revelation doth most rationally convince us and all Ages of the Divine Truth of that Revelation And if so we gain two Points not only of great advantage alwaies but most needful at this day when Christian Religion is either look'd out of countenance by Atheism and Scepticism or looks itself we know not whither by the distortions of Popery and Phanaticism The First Point we gain is To confirm our Christian Faith in general upon most rational and accountable grounds that it may endure the concussions and mutations of the World The Second is To confirm the Divine Authority of the Scriptures in particular as our Sure Rule both of Faith and Duty for if we confess as cannot be deny'd till some other be produc'd as able that the Divine Spirit was Author of the Predictions in Scripture what reason can we have against the Institution of life Reveal'd It being in all mens allowance unreasonably unjust To allow the Testimony of the Record in one part that it declares and not in another unless we can better than by bold affirming prove it in that part corrupted To draw these Points out to the greater advantages let me reflect upon this Discourse and infer Three things First That the great design of our Merciful Creator in giving this Testimony is mens conviction in order to the Faith i. e. the Obedience of Jesus For in its most plentiful effusion and powerful operation this was its first grand end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It shall convince the World John 16. 18. which when it has done the Revelation itself becomes the undoubted Rule as to Believers but they who disbelieve the whole Revelation are principally to be convinc'd by this Testimony which I have asserted to be most demonstrative and satisfactory and such surely our Saviour thought it himself I have told you before that when it s come to pass ye may believe Joh. 13. 19. and 16. 4. Whether then the Unbelievers who pretend to a Primogeniture in Wit and Reason having this conviction offer'd them under all the advantages of Predictions fulfill'd more than the Scribes and Pharisees had as the Atheists and Scepticks of our Age may not by ascribing all to a cheat sin against the Holy Ghost as well as they in Matt. 12. is a question I will not absolutely determine in the affirmative but ought not methinks to be carried in the negative so dogmatically as by the Authors of our Age it has who led I believe Hales c. by their own native tenderness and benignity have concluded there 's no Meridian for that Sin to appear in now the Age of Miracles is past To confirm the Faith of Jesus the Spirit both of Power and Prophecy was given Believers as the Prophets and Jesus foretold and the manifest effects of this remain unto