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A47328
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A demonstration of the Messias. Part I in which the truth of the Christian religion is proved, especially against the Jews / by Richard Kidder.
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Kidder, Richard, 1633-1703.
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1684
(1684)
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Wing K402; ESTC R19346
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212,427
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527
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by Our Lord used no Arts to deceive the people He does his works in an open and clear light And when it so happened that he did them more privately he forbids the divulging what he had done that there might be no shadow of any artifice or secret contrivance For our Lord did all things with a great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and though he desired not the praise of his works yet he did them at least so openly that there could be no suspicion of fraud and imposture This was an argument of our Lord's sincerity He wrought miracles that men might believe and therefore he did that which did most of all tend to beget this belief in them For Miracles are for the sake of unbelievers and therefore had need be wrought and that openly also among them Thus Moses wrought his miracles among the unbelieving Egyptians The Prophet goes to Bethel and shews his sign in the sight of Jeroboam Elijah works a miracle in the sight of the Priests of Baal and our Lord does his before the multitude The Church of Rome talks much of miracles wrought within the verge of her own Communion She maintains doctrines that need confirmation And if she work miracles she should send some of her Children hither to work them among us that we might be convinced or left without a plea. They of her own Communion who believe her doctrines do not need her miracles If there be any need of them at all it is among us who cannot believe her Tenents till we see them better confirmed than yet they are It is to be suspected that they want that power which they are not able to make appear For it is but reasonable they should be done where there is need of them 5. Our Lord's works were perfect and complete It appeared by the effects that the work was completely done Matt. 8. chap. 9. When the Paralytick was restored it did appear to be a perfect cure by his taking his bed and walking It is said that the dumb spake who was restored by our Lord. Mar. 5.42 When he restored the Damosel to life Luk. 7.15 she arose and walked And of the Widow's Son of Naim it is said Joh. 11.44 chap. 9.7 Joh. 2. Luk. 8.35 Joh. 5. Mat. 14.20 that he that was dead sate up and began to speak And of Lazarus it is said that he came forth with his grave cloaths about him When he cured the man that was born blind he came seeing from the pool of Siloam And when he turned the water into wine the effect was discerned by the company Of the Demoniack that was dispossest it is said that he was found sitting at the feet of Jesus cloathed and in his right mind And the poor man that lay helpless at the pool of Bethesda takes up his bed and walks When Jesus fed the multitude he did not delude them with shadows and phantastick food and with the bare accidents of bread and fish but they did all eat and were filled The effect was very discernible they were not imposed upon by Spectrums and Collusions and pious frauds CHAP. VI. The CONTENTS The Miracles which Jesus did compared with those which were really wrought by the hands of Moses with the pretended ones of the Church of Rome and with those storied of Apollonius Tyanaeus and some other Heathens Of the sufficient assurance which we have that Jesus did those works which are reported of him BEfore I proceed to consider what may be objected against what hath been said before I shall for the farther confirmation thereof shew that the works which Jesus did were greater works than ever were done by any other person whatsoever And to that purpose I shall compare our Saviour's Miracles with those true and divine Miracles which Moses wrought with the pretended Miracles of the Church of Rome and those which are storied in the writings of the Heathens and more especially such as are told of Apollonius Tyanaeus I shall consider the Miracles which were wrought by the hands of Moses There arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face Deut. 34.10 11 12. In all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to doe in the Land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his Servants and to all his land and in all that mighty hand and in all that great terrour which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel Upon the account of the Miracles which Moses did he was mightily famed among the Heathens as among his own Countrey men the Jews The Jews magnifie Moses above the rest of their Prophets Menasseh B. Israel Conciliat And one of their late Writers summs up the Miracles of Moses and those of the other Prophets from the beginning to the destruction of their first Temple and does affirm that the Miracles wrought by Moses or upon his account exceed the number of those which were wrought by all the Prophets together For whereas as all the Prophets for the space of above three thousand years wrought but 74 Miracles the Miracles of Moses alone were 76. I shall not examine his account let it be as it will but I shall shew that his works are not to be compared with those which our Jesus did I shall especially consider the Miracles which were wrought in Egypt these miracles which were then done in order to the bringing out the Israelites from the bondage in which they were And I must needs confess they were mighty works and such as did plainly speak a supernatural and Divine power And I ought not by any means to disparage those mighty works I shall before I proceed any farther shew you that those miracles were such as did indeed give sufficient credit to the mission of Moses and abundantly confirm the truth of his words And that will appear if we consider seriously these three things First the plagues themselves which were miraculously inflicted These were such works as were above the power of any Creature The works themselves declare a divine power It is true they were not all alike and the Magicians did the same works which Moses did for a while Exod. 7.12 22. ch 8. v. 7. They turned their rods into Serpents and water into bloud and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt as well as Moses These Magicians went as far as they could And it amounts to no more than this that they were able to inflict some evils upon their Countrey but not able to remove them For though it be said that the Magicians brought the Frogs upon the land of Egypt yet it is also said that when Pharaoh would have them taken away he applied himself to Moses and Aaron Exod. 8.7 8. which he would never have done if the Magicians could have done it for him nay more than this these Magicians were out-done by Moses after this They attempted to follow him but could not doe it they were
express promise of eternal life in the law of Moses Temporal blessings were promised to the obedient but they had no assurances given them of a glorious immortality The way to this our Lord hath revealed plainly 2. He procured this for us also he bought it with no less price than his pretious bloud And now we stand reconciled to God by the death of his Son and then we may justly expect to be saved by his life Rom. 5.10 3. He confers this Salvation upon us He is set down at God's right hand and hath received all power in Heaven and Earth God hath exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of Sins Act. 5.31 We receive from him the power of his grace here and justly expect from him the glorifying of our souls and bodies hereafter And it will well be worth our while to enter into a meditation of this Salvation and deliverance which our Lord hath wrought for us And to that purpose let us compare it with those deliverances which were wrought of old for the people of the Jews For those deliverances may well be called Salvations and those men that were the instruments of them may be called Saviours for so they are called in the Holy Scripture 2 King 13.5 Nehem. 9.27 with the LXXII Judg. 3.9.15 Among those Saviours there was one who was not onely an eminent type of our blessed Saviour but who had the same name that was given our Saviour at his Circumcision And that was Joshua the Son of Nun For Joshua and Jesus are the same name and Joshua is called Jesus Heb. 4.8 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neh. 8.17 'T is true indeed his name was Hoshea and so he is called but upon his being chosen to spy out or search the Land of Canaan Moses changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua Num. 23.16 i. e. he made an honourable alteration of his name as Philo observes when he added to the name he had the first letter of the Tetragrammation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo Judae de mutat Nominum And he made this addition to his name by putting to it the first letter of the name of God when he sent him to search the Land of Canaan so that for the future he is a Saviour and by God's appointment was set apart to introduce the Israelites into the Land of Promise Moses the Lawgiver did not bring the Israelites into the promised Land This was left for Joshua to doe Now that Land was a type of heaven And Joshua of our Jesus And what the Law did not that the Gospel does It hath brought life and immortality to light And though Moses who brought the Israelites out of Egypt and Joshua who introduced them into the good Land and others who afterward fought their battels were great deliverers of their people yet all these deliverances put together come greatly short of that which our Lord hath wrought For these deliverances were but temporal our Saviour's is eternal Those Worthies fell asleep and then the Israelites fell under the malice and power of their enemies and ill neighbours then were they liable to the impressions of their enemies who did inslave their people and sack their City and burn their Temple and carry them away to a strange Land Their enemies were not dismayed with the great names of Moses and Joshua Gideon and Sampson These great men were dead and could yield no succours to the oppressed Israelites And what ever terrours these men impressed upon their enemies while they lived their names will strike none now The Chaldeans are not over-awed by the rod of Moses or the strength of Sampson these deliverers can afford no relief or help 't is otherwise with us Our Lord is the Authour of Eternal Salvation Heb. 5.9 And hath obtained an Eternal Redemption for us Heb. 9.12 Those Saviours died and left their enemies behind them But Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7.25 Our Lord arose from the dead and is gone before us into Heaven and is there concerned on our behalf And this is unspeakably to our comfort and advantage Old Jacob in his last words to his Sons tells them what shall befall them in the last days Of Dan he foretells that he shall be a Serpent in the way an Adder in the path that biteth the Horse heels so that his Rider shall fall backward Gen. 49.17 These words seem to refer to Sampson who delivered his people from the Philistines But then 't is worth our observing what follows where the good man's Soul sallies out into another and greater contemplation I have waited for thy Salvation O Lord V. Targum Hierosol Jonath in locum v. 18. That is as the Jews expound it as if he had said I do not expect the deliverance of Gideon and Sampson which will be but a temporal deliverance but thy Salvation O Lord is that which I expect for thine is an eternal Salvation These words seem to refer to the salvation of the Messias and do very well deserve to be considered farther V. Hieronym adversus Jovinianum l. 1. 'T is agreed that in the foregoing words Jacob speaks of Sampson He was a Nazarite and a great deliverer of his people And besides what he did for his people in their life-time he destroyed their enemies at his death In several respects we may suppose him a type of our blessed Saviour And we may very well suppose him so to be even as he is considered here as a Serpent by the way Phil. Jud. de Agricultura For Philo the Jew hath directed us to understand that expression of a Serpent not with reference to the Serpent which beguiled Eve or Voluptuousness but with respect to the Brazen Serpent of Moses a symbol of Temperance and Fortitude and as I shall shew afterwards a very remarkable type of the Messias And Jacob looks farther than Sampson he looks off from that Nazarite to our Nazaren from that temporal deliverer to our Jesus who is the Author of eternal Salvation I shall give you the sense of these words in the words of one of the Ancients who brings in Jacob speaking thus Hieronym Quaest Hebr. in Genes Nunc videns in Spiritu comam c. i. e. I foreseeing in the Spirit Sampson the Nazarite nourishing his hair and triumphing over his slaughtered enemies that like a Serpent and Adder in the way he suffered none to pass through the land of Israel and if any were so hardy confiding in the swiftness of an Horse as to adventure like a Robber to spoil it he should not be able to escape I foreseeing this Nazarite so valiant and that he dyed for the sake of an Harlot and dying destroyed our enemies I thought O God that he was the Christ thy son But because he dyed and rose not again and Israel was afterward carried away captive I must expect