hath a mighty force and influence upon men but it is onely upon carnal worldlings that it hath this influence and the love of this world is generally so far from advancing piety that it obstructs it and is the root of all evil The Jew obeyed the law of Moses for the sake of worldly prosperity and when he had obtained it that would be a temptation and snare to him The very reward of obedience was a temptation to rebell And though plenty and prosperity be promised often in the law of Moses as a reward yet it is often mentioned as a snare too The Jews are often cautioned against Sinning against God when they are blessed with worldly prosperity Such promises might have some influence in inclining men to obey the letter of the law they did not move men powerfully to obey the inward and spiritual meaning of it 3. Another great defect in the law of Moses was that it did not furnish the Jews to whom it was given with power and ability to obey It did rigorously command obedience but did not help men to obey They had not that power assured to them from God's promise by which they might be enabled to obey the Moral precepts which they had received The plentifull effusion of the Holy Ghost was a blessing reserved for the times of the Messias or the latter days and is therefore promised as a future blessing by the Prophets themselves The law was written which Moses gave it was not kept from the Jews but the writing it upon their Hearts was promised as a part of the new covenant which God would make with them The Letter of the Law was that which the Jews regarded they did not give obedience to the inward and spiritual meaning of it The law of Moses made nothing perfect it did not reform as well as teach They who were exercised in the precepts of Moses were not renewed by them The law was weak and ineffectual and that which did not give life and power to obey Hence it is that it is called flesh in the New Testament to intimate the weakness of that law It was a shadow of good things to come and consequently was not attended with the power which accompanyed those better things when they were exhibited v. Isa 35.7 with ch 44.3 Joel 2.28 with Act. 2.17 Jer. 31.33 with Heb. 8.10 Heb. 7.11 18 19. Gal. 3.21 Rom. 7.8 ch 8.3 Gal. 4.9 Heb. 10.1 4. The law of Moses was defective compared with the Gospel in that it gave not the assurance of pardon nor laid that foundation for the easing and quieting the consciences of men which the Gospel of Christ is attended withall The law of Moses was a yoke which the Jews were never able to bear They were subjected to the curse of that law who confirmed not all the words of it to doe them It consisted of very many precepts and they were very nice and operose such as required great attention and heed cost and great labour very uneasie to be observed and yet the neglect of any of them exposed the neglecters to the curse of that law Hence it is that the law is called by the Apostle the ministration of death and of condemnation And that State in which the Jews were under the law of Moses is represented not onely as a State of minority but as a State of bondage and Slavery also Act. 15.10 Deut. 27.26 with Gal. 3.10.2 Cor. 3.7 9. Gal. 4.3 24. And indeed it must needs be such a condition that the Jews were under and it will be evident that such it was when it is considered that they were greatly straitned between the great difficulty in keeping and the great danger of breaking those laws They must be uneasie in their own minds who are perpetually in danger of offending and of being punished There was no way left for them for perfect ease and quiet to their conscience if the law were considered as a covenant of works There was not that provision made then for peace of mind which was made afterwards in the time of the Messias It is true there were Sacrifices allowed and prescribed in that law for the atonement expiation of the offender but there are many things to be considered which do speak the defectiveness of Sacrifices under the law and shewing the need of some better provision And to that purpose I desire the following particulars may be duly considered First that for some sins there was no expiatory Sacrifice allowed in the law of Moses and consequently the offender was left without hope of pardon notwithstanding the provision made under the law by Sacrifices for the obtaining of it In many cases the Sinner was to bear his own iniquity and could hope for no pardon from any Sacrifice whatsoever And there are very many sins of this sort Such were wilfull murther and blasphemy and many other sins of which we may see Levit. 20. And indeed all those sins which were committed with an high hand were of this sort And whatever hope there might be for the sinner who was surprized and sinned ignorantly yet if he did it presumptuously and were guilty of those sins which admitted no atonement he was left without hope from the law of Moses and was to dye the death And if the Supreme Magistrate did not condemn him God declared that he would set his face against him and cut him off But of this I have before discoursed p. 27.28 Ps 51.16 Levit. 24.17 and v. 13. Numb 35.31 32. Levit. 20.5 Secondly that where Sacrifices were not onely allowed but prescribed by God himself yet they were not things of their own nature pleasing unto God And God did to the Jews frequently declare this and did it after such a manner as might well beat them off from relying upon the Sacrifices which they brought to procure their pardon and atonement I might heap up Scriptures to this purpose I shall content my self with these that follow I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings to have been continually before me I will take no Bullock out of thine house nor He-goats out of thy folds Again I desired mercy and not Sacrifice And I spake not unto your Fathers nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt-offerings or Sacrifices But this thing commanded I them saying obey my voice c. Again To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of the burnt-offerings of Rams and the fat of fed Beasts And I delight not in the bloud of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-goats bring no more vain oblations c. Again He that killeth an Oxe is as if he slew a man He that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he out off a Dogs neck He that offereth an oblation as if he offered Swines bloud He that burneth incense as if he blessed an Idol Ps 50.8 9. Hos 6.6 Jer.
example the several specialties contained under the general prohibition of theft where Abravenel reckons up no less than ten are called Judgments and so are those precepts called which we find in Exod. ch 21. c. and that whole Section of the law is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Judgments containing several Judicial laws or laws which respected the Hebrews as they were a Commonwealth or civil Society These statutes and judgments contain the Laws of their Church and State And Judaism as considered in Contradistinction to Christianity consisted in the solemn profession of and obedience to these Laws which God had given to the Jewish Nation I shall now proceed to what I mainly intended to speak to viz. to shew First the defects of that Law which was given by Moses Secondly that these defects are made up and supplied by the Gospel of Jesus Christ Thirdly the use and application of this Doctrine The defects of that Law which was given by Moses For it will appear that it is defective if compared with the Gospel The Divine Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews argues very strongly to this purpose For if that first Covenant bad been faultless then should no place have been sought for the second For finding fault with them he saith Behold the days come saith the Lord c. This he infers from the very words in the Prophet where God declares himself in this matter and it is very evident that the words of the Prophet are by this Divine Authour truely applied to the times of the Messias whose miraculous birth is predicted in the very same Chapter in those words a Woman shall compass a Man For it is evident that those words do refer to the stupendious manner of the birth of the Messias Vid. Dr. Pocock Not. Miscel in Portam Mosis pag. 348. I shall therefore proceed to shew the defects of the Law of Moses as compared with the Gospel and that in the following particulars Heb. 8.7 8. with Jer. 31.31 and with v. 22. 1. In its Precepts and Commands as it was a rule of life These Precepts are not such as perfect humane nature and as make men better who obey them and obedience to them was necessary because it was commanded But they were not such things as tend immediately to make men better in their tempers and inclinations They were good because they were commanded they were not therefore commanded because they were antecedently good We doubt not but that God commanded them for wise ends during the Minority of his Church but as they were not to endure for ever of which I may have occasion elsewhere to speak more largely so are they far from being of equal moment and value with the Laws of Jesus These Laws of Moses were given to the Jews Cosri par 1. and not intended to oblige mankind The Jews themselves frankly confess this And several of them were of that nature that they could not be supposed to concern any of the rest of mankind Such were all those Laws which were founded upon something which had happened to that People and of which the observances required were but Memorials or Testimonies Thus the Passover being appointed in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt was a peculiar Law to that People who were delivered thence The other Nations were not under the same obligation nor do we find that the Jews went about to impose their Law upon the Neigh bouring Countries The world had continued considerably above two thousand Years before the Law of Moses and there were in the World very considerable examples of Piety in that time when the Law was given it was given to the Jews indeed but they admitted of Proselytes to live among them who did not undertake an obedience to the Laws of Moses The things themselves which Moses requires are not things in which all men are concerned Indeed generally speaking they are of that nature that they cannot belong to any but to them onely to whom they were revealed All men are bound to be just and to speak the truth to worship God and to be chast and the like But for wearing fringes on Garments or frontlets between the Eyes for eating or forbearing such or such meats and drinks c. no man could be obliged to these Laws but those persons who had received them from Heaven For the Jews do confess that the reason of their Laws is not always to be found out and consequently the Laws themselves cannot be supposed to oblige mankind For though the Will of God be reason enough for our obedience yet it is so onely to them to whom it is made known And therefore those Laws of Moses which were not founded in any other reason than the Will of God could never be designed to oblige all the World Cicero de Leg. l. 2. Cicero affirms it to be the opinion of the wisest men that a Law is something eternal wisely governing the whole World by its affirmative and negative Precepts and that the prime and ultimate Law Mentem esse omnia ratione aut cogentis aut vetantis Dei i. e. is the Divine mind governing all things with reason We do not question the wisedom of God who by Moses gave Laws to the Jews we onely say that they were not intended for the whole world which would have been concerned in them if they had been agreeable to the needs and the best improved reason of all mankind and had been written in the heart of all men And as these Laws were onely given to the Jews so many of these Laws did not oblige them in any place besides their onw Land to which they were annexed which they would have done if they had been Laws good antecedently and such as had been founded upon the eternal reason of things The Jews do allow that so it was and do frequently in their Writings distinguish between those Laws which obliged them within the Land and those which obliged them without the Land of Israel And a very great number of Precepts they are which were annexed to that very Land in which they lived and to which they were not obliged any longer than they kept the possession of that Land So that what was their duty while they lived together in Canaan ceased so to be when they were dispossessed of it and were scattered abroad in other Countries I shall not goe about to number up the Precepts which were annexed to that Land I should too much enlarge if I should give in the full number of those Precepts I shall however name some of them The Jews acknowledge that the sheaf that was first reaped must be of the gowth of Canaan and so must also the first-fruits be which are elsewhere mentioned in their Law and the Loaves of Shew-bread must be made of the Corn of that Countrey The Laws which concerned Tithes the Sabbatical year their year of Jubilee their Festival rites their Cities of Refuge their
Expiation of an uncertain Murther and very many others did onely oblige them in their own Land And there were many other Laws which were restrained to the place which God should chuse and to the Sanctuary and those Precepts were determined to that very place If the same thing were done elsewhere it was an abomination The difference of place made a great difference in the same action That would pass for an act of obedience in one place which in another would be an act of Rebellion The very many laws concerning Sacrifices and the rites of offering them up did all belong to the Sanctuary the precepts concerning the shew-bread the offering incense the dressing the Candles the Vestments of the Priests the Sota or Woman suspected of adultery and very many others were peculiarly annexed to the Sanctuary or Temple And when that was destroyed and out of the Jews possession they were discharged from all those precepts And then for the City of Jerusalem after God had made choice of that place there were a very great number of the precepts of Moses which were to be performed there and obliged them no where else Thither they were to go three times a year to appear before God and to worship him at their solemn times appointed They might not keep their festivals in another place There they must eat their peace-offerings their first-fruits and the greater part at least of their second tithes and there they must keep their passover Deut. 16.2 so that upon the whole matter these laws and they are not a few in number cannot be kept any longer than they kept in the possession of their land And God by his providence hath rendred these precepts unpracticable Besides as the laws about Sacrifices were annexed to a certain place so the offering them up belonged onely to one family viz. the Sons of Aaron No man else might sprinkle the bloud nor might any of that family do it who had a blemish which rendered him uncapable and it might be that he would be rendered so by some natural and not culpable infirmity So that a great part of the law of Moses the Jews are not now able to practise Euseb Demonstr l. 1. c. 6 7. Their Temple is destroyed and their Sacrifices fall with it Their City is taken from them and they are now discharged from their festival appearances They are not obliged to pay tithe of that land which they do not possess nor to build Cities of refuge where they have no inheritance It will be hard to find the Genuine Priests and Levites after so long a dispersion And if the Priesthood be changed there must of necessity be a change also of the law Heb. 7.12 There can be no Sacrifice without a Priest without a Temple or an altar Many were the laws which were Political and concerned them as they were a Community or body Politick which could last no longer than they continued in that condition When the frame of their Government was dissolved as it was when they were dispersed into several Countries those laws were rendred unpracticable and consequently were never intended to continue for ever All those laws concerning setting a King over them Origen contra Celsum l. 7. and about capital punishments in criminal cases conâ—erning the dividing their land and preserving their land-marks about destroying the Idolatrous Cities and their making of War those concerning Servants and buying and selling and damages and succession unto the estates of the deceased c. are not now to be practised by the Jews who live in strange Countries and must not pretend to any Jurisdiction or liberty inconsistent with the laws of those Countries in which they live Of such a sort were many I may say most of the laws of Moses They were very minute things which were prescribed and the observation of so many things was very difficult and uneasie to the Jews as well as very costly when they were in their own land but now are impossible to be observed They were never easie under the yoke but now by the providence of God they are released from bearing it It is true there was no evil thing required by their law but yet for their hardness of heart and stubbornness somethings were suffered and permitted which were at least imperfections and defects Such were Polygamie and divorces and the liberty of exacting a strict reparation for all the wrong or damage which was received 2. I consider the reward which was added to the law of Moses to encourage the obedience of the Jews It will appear that the reward was proportionate to the precepts They were temporary and topical they were minute and imperfect and the reward annexed was of the same nature and kind that was temporal and of this lower world Such as long life victory over enemies plenty and prosperity Things very fit to work upon carnal minds and to invite a people of a worldly temper to obey those precepts which Moses laid before the Jews There is no express promise of eternal life to be found in the law of Moses This is no where inserted into the pact or covenant which God made with that people I grant that holy men under the law of Moses and before that law was given also had the expectation of a future state of bliss But this was not expressly promised in that law nor as a reward of their obedience to it There were a sect of the Jews called the Sadducees who allowed that the law of Moses was from Heaven and yet denied a future State This they would scarcely have done had eternal life been expressly promised in that law I do not question but that the hope of eternal life was to be found among the more pious and devout Jews I grant that it was insinuated under temporal promises and especially under that of a land flowing with milk and honey But then the earthly Canaan lay so fair and open to their prospect as an excellent Person expresses it well as easily intercepted the view of the Heavenly and their faith must remove at least overlook that mountain before it could come to any sight of the Horizon and extended Sky If any of the Jews had any sight of Heaven it was such a sight as Moses had of the land of Canaan he saw it at a distance from the top of Pisgah but did not see it as Jesus the Son of Nun saw it who went over Jordan and took possession of it according to the express promise he had before received to that purpose Now then it cannot be supposed that there should be many men of eminent vertue under that Religion the precepts whereof were temporary and the promises but temporal And those that were arrived to an high pitch of Sanctity under that dispensation attained to that degree from an higher principle than the Letter of the Law of Moses would have raised them to It must be granted that the hope of riches and plenty
Earth The third day on which Jesus rose considered as the first day of the Week pag. 264 265. CHAP. IX Of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven That the Messias was to ascend thither This proved from Psalm 68.18 which is justly applied to this matter by St. Paul Eph. 4.8 Psalm 110.1 considered The Jews grant that Psalm to belong to the Messias An eminent type of Christ's ascension That Jesus did ascend into Heaven There were eye-witnesses of it Of the distance of forty days between his Resurrection and Ascension That Christ is not a Metaphorical Priest shewed against the followers of Socinus That this ascension into Heaven was typified by the High Priest's entring into the Holy of Holies That the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews does ch 9.24 and elsewhere infer this from the avowed principles of the Jewish Writers That the High Priest was an eminent type of the divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is acknowledged by Philo. Three remarkable places of that Authour to this purpose That the Sanctuary was a representation of the Vniverse and the Holy of Holies of the highest Heavens proved at large from the Modern Jewish Writers and from the more Ancient Of the Veil of the Temple which rent when our Saviour suffered Mat. 27.51 What Veil that was and what was imported by the renting of it Of the effects which followed upon the exaltation of Jesus Of the mirculous gift of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost That that gift was an argument that Jesus was a true Prophet and that he had that power which he had professed to be given to him Of the success of the Religion of Jesus in the world Success barely considered is no good argument of a good Cause and truth of a Religion yet the success of the Christian Doctrine is a good argument of it's truth if it be considered what the Authour and first Preachers of this doctrine were and what is the nature of the Doctrine it self and after what manner it did prevail pag. 305 306 307. CHAP. X. What was predicted of the Messias was fulfilled in our Jesus This appeared in the birth of Jesus in his Office and Character in his Works in his Sufferings and Resurrection and the spreading of his doctrine The adoreable providence of God in bringing Events to pass This shewed in very many particulars This is a farther proof that Jesus is the Christ pag. 376. CHAP. XI The Christian Religion more Excellent than that given by Moses and consequently the best in the World The Pagan Religion not worthy of regard The wiser Heathens guilty of great inconsistencies and evil Principles The Stoicks upon sundry accounts very blameable The Law given by Moses came from God in what sense it was a perfect Law It was not unalterable A general distribution of the Precepts of that Law The defects of it I As a rule of life Many of its Precepts not good in their own Nature They obliged the Jews onely and were annexed to their Land or some part of it Many of them Political II The reward annexed to the Obedience of that Law was but Temporal III It was not attended with the promise of Divine assistance IV Nor was there that hope of pardon which was afterward given in the Gospel The Sacrifices allowed to that purpose very defective This shewed at large For some sins no Sacrifice was allowed Sacrifices were not pleasing to God of their own Nature The Expiation did not depend upon the value of the oblation He that brought an Expiatory sacrifice was not allowed to eat any part of it The repetition of the Sacrifices another Argument of their weakness In some cases the Sacrifice was but one of those things required in order to pardon The Legal Sacrifices were not designed to continue for ever That the defects of the Law of Moses are supplied in the Christian Religion Of the excellent Precepts of the Christian Religion Of the promise of Eternal life therein clearly revealed and of the great moment of it Of the Divine assistance attending this Religion Of the assurance of pardon from the Christian Religion and the sure foundation which it lays for the quieting the Consciences of Men. The usefulness of the foregoing discourse A more particular inquiry into the great Ends or Causes for which the Law of Moses was given The Conclusion of this Discourse pag. 394 395. THE INTRODUCTION I Do intend with God's assistance in the ensuing Discourse to prove that our Jesus is the Christ And shall by way of introduction to this weighty Argument reflect something upon the words of St. Peter to the Jews Act. 2.36 And for the better understanding those words it is to be remembred that our Jesus before he left his Disciples promised them the presence and the aid of the Holy Ghost and a little before his Ascension into Heaven he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me Act. 2.4 Nor did our Saviour fail to make good his promise but when the day of Pentecost was fully come they are filled with the Holy Ghost and spake with divers tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance This happened at Jerusalem at a great solemnity and at a time when the devout and religious of several Nations were together in the City who heard the Apostles speak in the language of their several Countries the wonderfull works of God And they were all amazed and were in a doubt saying one to another what meaneth this v. 12. And there were among the rest very evil men that were so malicious as to mock and say these men are full of new wine v. 13. This calumny St. Peter disproves and lets them know that they spake by the power of the Holy Ghost And then he preaches to them the resurrection and ascension of Jesus who was approved of God by miracles and wonders and signs And he gives them to understand that as this Jesus had received of the father the promise of the Holy Ghost so he had also now bestowed this Holy Ghost upon them the effect of which gift they saw and heard And thereupon concludes as well he might that he is the Messias that was promised Therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ Act. 11.36 Before I proceed I shall take notice of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God hath made that same Jesus That is says Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath ordained or appointed Jesus to be Lord and Christ And the Greek word will well bear this sense as well as the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus it is said of our Saviour Mar. 3.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. he made twelve or ordained twelve as we translate it well He chose twelve says the Syriac version Again Gen. 41.34 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
But if you say where are these Conquests of our Lord 's to be seen shew us the men that are thus redeemed from their crimes and follies I answer that there are and ever were such men in the World since the Gospel appeared But that their number is small is not from the Religion they profess but because it is not entertained It is because they are false Christians not because the Religion is not able to make them such If we would receive our Lord's precepts and beg his aids and use his assistances and helps we should find a mighty change in the minds of men Lactant. Institut l. 3. c. 26. One of the Ancients tells us that there were daily experiments in his time how far the Precepts of Religion did prevail upon the minds of men And I cannot but take notice of his words to this purpose Da mihi virum qui sit iracundus c. Give me a man says he that is given to wrath to evil speaking and who is unruly With a very few words of God I will render him tame as a sheep Give me one that is craving covetous tenacious I will render him liberal and bountifull Give me one that is fearfull of grief and death He shall soon despise crosses and flames and the torments of a Tyrant Give me one that is lustfull adulterous and gluttonous and you shall soon see him sober chast and continent Give me one that is cruel and bloud-thirsty and that fury shall soon be changed into an unfeigned Clemency Give me one that is unjust foolish and sinfull and he shall presently become just and prudent and inoffensive Thus did Religion doe in those times when it was considered and entertained Those deliverances under the law of Moses were more particular and restrained to the people of the Jews but our Jesus is the Saviour of Mankind He is the authour of eternal salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 And he that saves the World is preferrible to him that delivered the Israelites onely The time was when Religion and all the more eminent dignations and favours of God seemed to be inclosed and confined within the narrow compass of the land and people of the Jews There had God his Temple and dwelt among them to them he gave his responses from heaven There were his Prophets and they had his Law amongst them He had not dealt so with any nation and for his judgments they had not known them Psal 147.20 In Judah was God known His Name was great in Israel in Salem was his Tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion There brake he the arrows and the bow the shield and the sword and the battel Psal 76.1 And What one nation in the Earth was there like that people 2 Sam. 7.23 Among them he wrought his Wonders and the Gentiles were so far from being bettered by those Wonders that they were to their loss They were strangers to the Commonwealth and to the mercies of Israel Their land was the glorious land and the Valley of Vision when others sate in darkness Nay which is more still the Messiah was promised to them and to be of their seed The Apostle in sew but very comprehensive words reckons up their Prerogatives To whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises Whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.4 The deliverances that were wrought by Moses and Joshua c. were for the sake of them and they were but the Saviours of the Israelites But our Lord is the Saviour of Mankind of the Gentile as well as Jew He is that light which lighteth every man that comes into the world That Sun of righteousness whose light and influence is not confined to any one nation or kindred but displays it self upon all the nations of the Earth The partition wall is taken down and the difference between man and man is taken away And whoever comes to our Jesus shall in no-wise be cast out Now all the faithfull are the children of Abraham And God is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him Acts 10.34 Upon the birth of Jesus the Angel tells the shepherds Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people Luke 2.10 And the heavenly Host praised God and said Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men v. 14. Our Lord came not to save the Jews onely but all that believe And 't is worth our observing after what manner the love of God in sending his Son is expressed Not as confined to the Jews any longer but as reaching to the race of Mankind God so loved the world not the Jewish people onely that he gave his onely begotten Son c. John 3.16 After the same manner the Apostle speaks of this love of God After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared Tit. 3.4 Our Saviour is a light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the glory of the people of Israel Luke 2.32 Our Lord hath delivered Mankind Moses and Joshua delivered the Israelites onely Sampson dyed and by his death destroyed the enemies of the Hebrews Our Lord by his death destroyed the enemies of Mankind The Sacrifices of the Law at the most attoned for the whole Congregation of Israel But Christ gave himself a ransome for all 1 Tim. 2.6 He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours onely but also for the sins of the whole World 1 John 2.2 Our Lord tasted of death for every man Heb. 2.9 And would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2.4 And what the men of Dan said to Micha's Levite that it was better for him to be a Priest to a tribe than to be a Priest to one man is accommodable to my present purpose He is the great deliverer that rescues Mankind rather than one people And such an one is our Jesus the Saviour of the World By the Religion of Christ Jesus we may be justified and acquitted from that guilt which admitted no attonement from the law of Moses Though in the law of Moses several oblations were prescribed and allowed to expiate for sins of Ignorance yet there was no expiation allowed for him that sinned presumptuously but such a sinner was to be cut off from among God's people Numb 15.30 31. There were many sins of this high nature that the law was not furnished with an attonement for as may be seen Levit. 20. Among these wilfull murther was to be reckoned as a sin that admitted no sacrifice of attonement And to this sense are the words of the Psalmist understood when he prays to be delivered from bloud-guiltiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
doubt with God's assistance not onely to shew that these things were fulfilled in Jesus but that they were also fulfilled by a most stupendious providence of God that we must be forced to say This was the Lord's doing and it may well be wonderfull in our eyes CHAP. III. The CONTENTS Of the birth of Jesus Of his lineage and kindred Of the place of his birth The seeming difference in the account of Bethlehem by the Prophet Micah and St. Matthew reconciled Of his being born of a Virgin A particular explication of 1 Tim. 2.15 She shall be saved in Child-bearing The time of his birth agreed with the predictions and general expectation of some great Person Several testimonies to this purpose The miserable shifts and evasions of the Jews I Shall first of all consider the birth of Jesus and see whether in that particular the predictions of old concerning the Messias were fulfilled in him or not And under this head I shall consider the following particulars First The Targum on Isa 11.10 Jer. 23 â— his lineage and kindred or the family of which he was born The Messias was to be of the house and family of David Mic. 5.2 understands those places of the Messias and of him doth Kimchi expound Ezek. 34.23 Thus he is called a root of Jesse Isa 11.10 A righteous branch raised up to David Jer. 23.5 And David also Ezek. 34.23 And no wonder then that he should be said to be of the tribe of Judah Mic. 5.2 God had made a solemn and unalterable promise of the Messias unto David and that he should be of his seed I have made a covenant with my chosen I have sworn unto David my servant Thy seed will I establish for ever and build up thy throne to all generations Psal 89.3 4. These words are too great to have their completion in Solomon and the succeeding Kings of Judah who were of David's family and lineage And it is not hard to discern what a learned man hath observed that the Psalmist does distinguish between David's seed and David's sons By his seed the Messias is to be meant and what is said of his seed is to be understood of Christ having a precise reference to him but what is said of his sons and children hath a reference to his descendants and his successours and the promises made to them are conditional that of the Messias who was to be of his family was absolute Thus 't is said His seed also will I make to endure for ever and his throne as the days of heaven v. 29. The kingdom of the Messias shall never fail and nothing shall hinder his being exhibited to the world But then for David's sons viz. Solomon and his other off-spring it follows If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments then will I visit their transgression with a rod and their iniquity with stripes v. 30 31 32. This will God doe with the Sons of David to whom his promises which referred to them were but conditional but then it follows Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips Once have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the Sun before me It shall be established for ever as the Moon and as a faithfull witness in heaven v. 33. 37. Now for our Jesus it is evident and not denied by the Jews that he was of the seed of David When Gabriel went to the blessed Virgin it is said that he went to a Virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David Luk. 1.27 And Zacharias does bless God for raising up an horn of salvation in the house of his servant David v. 69. The Gospel begins The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the Son of David Matt. 1.1 By this name Jesus was called frequently Thou son of David have mercy upon us say the blind men Matt. 9.27 And the people said of him Is not this the son of David Matt. 12.23 The multitude cried out Hosanna to the son of David Mat. 21.9 See also c. 15. v. 20. c. 20. v. 30 31. The Jews knew very well that the Messias was to be the Son of David and the Priests and Scribes were displeased when they heard Jesus called the son of David Matt. 21.15 When Jesus asked the Pharisees whose Son Christ is they say unto him the son of David Matt. 22.42 And when there arose a question about Jesus the Jews said Hath not the Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David Joh. 7.42 And our Saviour therefore might well be called the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David Rev. 5.5 and the off-spring of David c. 22. v. 16. And the authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews even in that Epistle which he writes to the Jews says it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah Heb. 7.14 I grant that there is some difficulty in the account we have of the genealogy of Jesus as it is delivered to us by St. Matthew and St. Luke But those are very unreasonable men that will upon that score now reject Christianity For we do not find that the Jews of old denied our Jesus to be of the family of David or that they accused the Christians for affirming him to be of the tribe of Judah And yet it is not to be imagined that they would have omitted to have charged the first Christians of forgery had there been any ground for such a charge And sure I am if the Jews could not charge the Christians upon this score and that they did not is an argument that they could not doe it they are very unreasonable that now make the objection Secondly I consider the place of his birth Of the Messias it is foretold that he should be born not onely of the family but in the city or town of David also Thus the Prophet tells us that out of Bethlehem he should come forth that was to be ruler in Israel Mic. 5.2 Now certain it is that the ancient Jews understood that Prophecy of the Messias whatever artifices the later Jews have used to evade the force of that divine testimony of which we have very good evidence to this day And the Chaldee Paraphrast on the place speaks plain enough in this argument when he paraphraseth upon those words Out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel thus Out of thee before me shall come Messias or Christ that he may rule c. and to the same purpose doth Jonathan the Targumist speak on Gen. 35.21 where 't is said that Israel journied and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar To which he adds these
glory and honour that should be done to Galilee by the general name of Galilee of the Gentiles but he is more particular in naming the places of Galilee L'Empereur annotat in Grammat Mos Kimchi p. 148. which should be thus dignified the land of Zabulon which is first named our Saviour having his first abode in Nazareth which belonged to that tribe and the land of Naphthali for there our Saviour lived afterwards in Capernaum a great City in that tribe where our Saviour dwelt after he left Nazareth that this prophecy might be fulfilled says St. Matthew chap. 4. ver 13 14. Now this Capernaum was situated upon the coast of the Sea of Galilee or Tiberias and on the borders of Zabulon and both It and Nazareth were beyond Jordan And now this agrees exactly with what the Prophet expresses by Zabulon and Naphthali the way of the Sea beyond Jordan Thus was Capernaum exalted unto Heaven Luk. 10.15 And this Prophecy was fulfilled in our blessed Saviour Thirdly It is foretold of the Messias Mal. 3.1 that after the appearance of his forerunner he shall suddenly come into his temple And the appearance of the Messias in that temple was to be the glory of it The desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory Haggai 2.7 9. It is very evident as I have proved before that the glory of the second House above the first which is promised by God in this Prophet can be understood of nothing less than of the glory which that House should receive from the presence of the Messias who was not onely to come during the standing of that Temple but was also to be present in it I shall therefore at this time onely shew that this was fulfilled in our Jesus As this was predicted so was it understood by the Jews The wise and the devout among them waited for the Messias there Simeon the Son of Hillel and the Father of Gamaliel is an instance of this He came by the spirit into the temple with this expectation Luk. 2.27 And Anna the Prophetess was another who departed not from the Temple ver 36 37. And as this was foretold and expected so it was fulfilled in our Jesus He was presented at the Temple forty days after his birth Luk. 2.22 And from the infancy of Jesus till he was about thirty years old we read nothing of him onely this that at twelve years of age he was found in the Temple discoursing with the Doctours v. 46. and when he was questioned for it by his Parents who sought him sorrowing He said unto them how is it that ye sought me wist ye not that I must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we render it about my father's business but it is by the Syriack truly rendred in my father's house q. d. Do ye not consider that according to the predictions of the Prophets I was to have been in the Temple In the Temple we find Jesus driving out the sellers and money-changers Joh. 2.14 He taught in the Temple and for that end came again into the Temple Joh. 7.14 with chap. 8.2 In the day-time he was teaching in the Temple and in the morning all the people came to hear him in the Temple Luk. 21.37 38. Jesus tells the Jews that he was daily with them in the Temple Lu. 22.53 And when the High Priest asked him of his Disciples and Doctrine he said I ever taught in the Synagogue and in the Temple whither the Jews alway resort and in secret have I said nothing Joh. 18.20 Fourthly we have in the old Testament several characters of the Messias that do exactly agree with our Jesus We find the Messias described of old as to his temper and the manner of his conversation with men and we find that our Jesus was such a person There never appeared in the world any person to whom those characters did so peculiarly and manifestly belong as they did to our blessed Saviour As for example whoever remembers the peaceable conversation of our blessed Saviour his great innocence and inoffensiveness and the great blessing which he pronounceth upon them that make peace Matt. 5.9 will find that he is as the Prophet calls the Messias the Prince of peace Isa 9.6 The great holiness and righteousness of his life agreed well with the Prophet's character of the Messias Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reins Isa 11.5 He that considers the great calmness of our Saviour's temper and how he avoided popular fame and breath will apply that to him which is said of the Messias He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets Isa 42.2 with Matt. 12.18 When we remember the great meekness of Jesus we find it agree with the Prophet's character of lowly which he gave of the Messias Matt. 11.29 with Zechar. 9.9 What was there ever said of the Messias of old which was not fulfilled in our Jesus Well might Philip say to Nathanael of Jesus We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the Prophets did write Joh. 1.45 Fifthly It was foretold of the Messias that he should doe many great and wonderfull works The works which he should doe are set down and our Jesus did those very works and this is another argument that he is that Christ who was promised Of the Messias it was foretold that he should open the blind eyes Isa 42.7 unstop the ears of the deaf and untie the tongue of the dumb Isa 35.5 6. That he should preach good things unto the meek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LXXII or which seems to be all one preach the Gospel to the poor and give liberty to the captives and restore joy to the mourners givirg the garment of praise for the spirit of heaveness and that he should proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord Isa 61.2 3. Our Jesus did these things and by doing these works he made it appear that he was the Christ the Son of God And we find him often referring the Jews to the works which he did When the Jews would know of him whether he were the Christ or not he tells them The works that I doe in my father's name they bear witness of me Joh. 10.24 25. Again If I doe not the works of my father believe me not But if I do though ye believe not me believe the works ver 37 38. Again Believe me for the very works sake Joh. 14.11 His works proclaimed him to be the Christ the Son of God Joh. 3.2.7.31 When John Baptist sent some of his Disciples to Jesus to know whether or not he were the Messias that was to come we find he returned this answer Go says Jesus and shew John those things which ye do hear and see the blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel
should get that name into his possession and be skilled in it would be able to doe what he pleased That their Wise-men fearing lest any of the israelitese should get that name and destroy the world made two Dogs of brass and placed them at the door of the Sanctuary That whenever any had gone in and learnt that name these Dogs were wont at their coming out to bark so terribly that they forgat the name and the letters which they had newly learnt But say they Jesus of Nazareth went in and did not onely learn the letters of this name but wrote them in a Parchment which he hid as be came out in an incision which he had made in his flesh And though through the barking of the Dogs he had forgot the name yet he learnt it afterwards from his Parchment By virtue of this name say they Jesus restored the lame healed the leprous raised the dead walked himself upon the Sea By this account it appears that the Jews did not deny the matter of fact for that Jesus did the works is confessed on all hands and so much we may gain from this fabulous narration There is nothing else in it worthy the notice of a wise man But still there is another opinion to be found among the Jews of after-times and it was this That the Messias when he came was not to work miracles and that therefore the working miracles was not to be any mark and character of the true Messiah Nor is it strange that when the Jews were not able to deny the matter of fact that they should betake themselves to these fond opinions Maimon H. Melac Milch c. 11. Maimonides tells us that we must not think that the Messiah shall work signs and miracles that he shall innovate in the things of this world or raise the dead But that the law of Moses should endure for ever and that the Messiah shall meditate in that law and compell the Israelites to observe it and that he shall manage the Lord's battels and overcome the people that are round about him The truth of this doctrine of his shall be considered in its due place I onely produce this to shew how unwilling the Jews are to allow of this argument which we draw from the works which Jesus did and how unable they are in the mean time to deny the matter of fact Besides these fond and evil opinions there is still another advanced by a late Authour and directly levelled against the force of our Saviour's argument and 't is this Tractat. Theolog. Politic. c. 6. That nothing happens in nature that is repugnant to its universal laws nor any thing which doth not agree with them or follow from them He hath also the confidence to affirm That the name of a miracle can onely be understood with respect to mens opinions and that it signifies nothing more than a work the natural cause of which we are not able to explain exemplo alterius rei solitae or at least he is not able to explain it that writes or reports the miracle And that therefore a miracle is a mere absurdity And that those things which the Scriptures truly report to have happened fell out according to the laws of nature and if any thing else evidently repugnant to the laws of nature be reported or which cannot follow from them that it is to be believed that these things were added to the Scripture by sacrilegious men This wicked principle is sufficiently refuted by our Saviour's words who makes the works which he did an argument of the truth of what he said And sure if he did no work but what other men did or might doe and what agreed with the laws of nature his works would have been a very mean proof of his coming from God He that believes God to be cannot think him confined by the laws of nature However these laws conclude the creature they do not bind the hands of the great Creatour of the Universe No man can affirm what the above-named Authour does unless he be an Atheist or an Apostate He must be a man forsaken by his reason that discourses at this rate or given over for his wickedness to believe a lie What do such abhorred principles aim at but at the subversion of Christianity And if they were guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost who affirmed our Saviour's miracles to have been wrought by the power of the Devil what shall we think of them who dare affirm that he wrought none at all Having premised these things I shall now proceed to shew that our Saviour's miracles were a good proof of his doctrine and that he was the Messias who was to come into the world And for my better proceeding First I shall shew what I mean by Miracles Secondly I shall prove that the Messias was to doe Miracles Thirdly That they are a good argument of the truth of a Doctrine Fourthly That our Saviour's were true and unexceptionable Miracles Fifthly I shall consider what may be objected against what I shall offer upon this weighty argument I shall shew what I mean by Miracles For there are cheats and impostures and every thing is not a miracle that passeth for such We may be imposed upon by our ignorance and credulity and by the craft of others There are many things which are admired and are very strange and infrequent which are not miracles Our admiration many times speaks onely our own ignorance And many things there are which are but the effects of natural causes which we have been apt to think the effect of a supernatural one It does by no means hence follow that a miracle is a mere absurdity and that there can be no such thing We are obliged to take care that we be not imposed upon and well to consider what is required to a miracle and to convince us of it For unless we know it so to be it cannot be expected that it should ever convince us And in this case not to appear is the same thing as not to be at all To this purpose it is necessary to a miracle 1. That it be a work above the power of nature and above the reach of any creature whatsoever It must be supernatural or else it cannot be strictly a miracle This power must come from God he being able onely to alter the course of nature who is the great authour of it But then whether this effect be brought to pass by the immediate power of God without the intervening of any natural cause or by making use of some instrument 't is one and the same thing It is an omnipotent arm that brings the effect to pass Matt. 11.20 21. Luk. 4.36.5.17.9.1 Mat. 7.22 Luk. 10.13 Rom. 1.4 And a miracles is a work that none but God can doe This is of the essence of a miracle and it cannot be truly called one unless it be such a work as is above the force of
a doctrine which Christ never taught and which contradicts our sense and our reason at the same time And the stories which they tell of the sweating and motion of their Images serve to advance the worshipping of Images In a word their works are trifling and vain and their doctrine is impious and false and to say the least of it not revealed by God 3. The miracles which Christ did were seasonable and necessary at that time to confirm his doctrine whether we consider the obstinacy of the Jews or the Idolatry of the Gentiles Upon both accounts it was needfull that the Christian doctrine should be confirmed with miracles and so it was But the Popish miracles are out of time there is no need of them to confirm the Christian doctrine where it is already planted Miracles are for the sake of unbelievers and as the world grew Christian they ceased nor is it to be imagined that God will work them without any cause at all In the old Testament we shall find that the greatest number of miracles were wrought by Moses their Law-giver in Egypt and in the wilderness before and upon the giving the Law no man wrought so many miracles nay not all the succeeding Prophets together as he wrought Thus was the Law confirmed And when this was done you rarely read of miracles wrought afterward when the Jews had received and continued in the profession of the Law of Moses The greatest number that were wrought afterward was when there was the greatest reason for them and that was after Jeroboam had revolted from the worship of God and set up his Calves in Dan and Bethel and no less than ten Tribes revolted with him Then indeed there were some number of miracles wrought to convince them of their sin and reduce them from their Schism Then was the Altar at Bethel cleft in pieces Jeroboam's hand withered and restored as miraculously upon the prayer of the Man of God And these miracles were wrought in Bethel among the Schismaticks which were to be convinced and reduced Then Elijah shut up the Heavens is miraculously fed by the Ravens multiplies the meal and raises to life the Widow's Son he calls for fire from Heaven and fasts forty days and destroys the Captains and their fifties by fire which he called from Heaven He divides Jordan with his Garment and is miraculously taken up into Heaven And Elishah during this time did many wonderfull works also He divides the river heals the water encreases the Widow's oil foretells that the Shunamite should have a Child and raised it from the dead He removes the death that was in the pot miraculously feeds the people heals Naaman of his Leprosie He causeth Iron to swim strikes Gehazi with a leprosie and the enemies of Israel with blindness and his dry bones after all these things which he did in his life restored one that was dead to life again Thus in a little time many miracles were wrought more than had been wrought before and after for some hundreds of years So that the great number of miracles were wrought upon the giving the Law and upon the greatest defection from it and that to confirm the truth and convince gain-sayers But what means the Church of Rome to boast of miracles If they be wrought in her own Communion they serve no purpose There 's no need of a miracle where men believe without it Their miracles are done at a great distance from us who are to be convinced and such they are which we cannot see at all or else we may easily see through them Of one thing we are sure viz. that their doctrine is false and then we shall have no cause to be drawn aside with lying miracles The Israelites had warning in this case and so have we Christians also not to believe against our rule any pretence whatsoever Deut. 13.1 Gal. 1.8 9. And we are forewarned of false people who should pretend to miracles Matt. 24.24 2 Thessal 2.9 Rev. 13.13 I shall proceed to consider the miracles which are storied of the Heathens I will not descend to all the stories that may be found upon record to this purpose because besides that we want sufficient Evidence of the truth of those matters of fact so they are not worthy of consideration being things of trifling regard and such as import no advantage to mankind Origen contra Cels l. 3. Such is that which Celsus mentions of Abaris who could fly into the air and keep pace with an Arrow in that flight And that of the speaking of an Image in Valerius Maximus Valerius Maxim l. 1. c. 8. Augustin de civitat Dei l. 10. c. 16. The cutting a Whet-stone in two with a Rasour by Attius Navius The sweating of an Image of Apollo at Cumae and of that of Victory at Capua and that of the Shields which were gnawed by the mice the extraordinary swelling of the Lacus Albanus That of the Serpent which followed Aesculapius when he sailed to Rome and of the Vestal Virgin which took up water out of Tiber and kept it in a Sieve These things are trifling and mean and they who report them do it not with sufficient assurance but upon traditions and common fame and not upon their certain and personal knowledge For what is storied of Vespasian and Adrian's curing the blind I shall not need to say any more than this That if those reports be true they are far short of what our Saviour did nor do we read of any who laid down their lives in testimony thereof And as I do not deny that there have been providential miracles out of the Church of God so it is not to be wondred at that the Devil should exert his utmost power to keep men in errour and as much as may be endeavour to imitate God And more particularly still to consider what is storied of Vespasian and of Adrian I shall desire it may be considered That what is reported of Vespasian to this purpose cannot fairly be denied Tacit. Histor l. 4. it being affirmed by very good Authours And therefore I admit that he did such miraculous cures as are told of him Sueton. Vespasian But then it is to be considered that he was not onely an excellent Prince but that very person who was to execute God's displeasure against the Jews for rejecting and crucifying Jesus And no wonder that God should honour him with an extraordinary power whom he employed in so great a work especially if it be considered that upon his coming to the Empire at first as Suetonius tells us he wanted majesty and authority which was supplied by this means Nor is there any thing in this that does at all derogate from the works of Jesus But then what is storied of Adrian to the same purpose we have not the same cause to believe Aelius Spartianus Adrian and the very Historian which reports it gives us at the same time ground to believe that what is
foretold of the Messias If we now proceed to the consideration of the Resurrection of Jesus we must be forced to acknowledge the overruling hand of God That he who dyed rose from the dead was an argument beyond exception of a Divine power man could contribute nothing toward so stupendious a work Nay there was all done that could be done by men both to hinder his Resurrection which Jesus had foretold and to hinder the spreading of it and the belief thereof in the world His enemies were prepared to do all they could and they did it by making his Sepulchre sure by sealing the stone and by setting a watch Mat. 27.66 This they did to prevent the Resurrection of Jesus But all this would not do They who had power to put Jesus to death have no power to hinder his Resurrection When this succeeded not the next course they had to take was to hinder the belief of the Resurrection of Jesus Though they could not hinder him from rising again yet they apply themselves vigorously to stifle the truth This was their next care To this purpose they give large money to the Souldiers that they might give out that his Disciples came and stole him away by night Mat. 28.13 But they labour in vain Jesus was risen there were so many witnesses of this truth that there is no stifling of it And after all this Jesus having sufficiently convinced that Generation of the truth of his Resurrection ascends up into Heaven and his Holy Religion is preached in the world It prevailed in spight of all the opposition it met withall It was embraced by men who were curious and inquisitive It approved it self to the consciences of all the lovers of truth And though it were opposed by power and craft and the combined force and malice of Jew and Gentile it prevailed against all by patience and meekness and the Divine blessing which did attend it These things duly considered do abundantly prove that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God Who would not says an excellent Person acknowledge the Divinity of this Person and the excellency of this institution that should see infants to weary the hands of hangmen for the Testimony of Jesus And wise men preach this Doctrine for no other visible reward but shame and death poverty and banishment And Hangmen converted by the bloud of Martyrs springing upon their faces which their impious hands and cords have strained through their flesh Who would not have confessed the honour of Jesus when he should see miracles done at the Tombs of Martyrs and Devils tremble at the mention of the name of Jesus And the World running to the honour of the Poor Nazaren and Kings and Queens kissing the feet of the Poor servants of Jesus could a Jew Fisher-man and a Publican effect all this for the Son of a poor Maiden of Judaea Can we suppose all the world or so great a part of mankind can consent by chance or suffer such changes for nothing Or for any thing less than this The Son of the poor Maiden was the Son of God and the Fishermen spake by a Divine spirit and they catched the World with holiness and miracles with wisedom and power bigger than the strength of all the Roman Legions In a word the things foretold of the Messias and fulfilled in Jesus were so many and so strangely fulfilled so much without any humane assistance and so centrary to all expectation and all the endeavours used to hinder the foretold event that he who considers these things with care must believe that Jesus is the Christ and that his Religion is true CHAP. XI The CONTENTS The Christian Religion more Excellent than that given by Moses and consequently the best in the World The Pagan Religion not worthy of regard The wiser Heathens guilty of great inconsistencies and evil Principles The Stoicks upon sundry accounts very blameable The Law given by Moses came from God in what sense it was a perfect Law It was not unalterable A general distribution of the Precepts of that Law The defects of it I As a rule of life Many of its Precepts not good in their own Nature They obliged the Jews onely and were annexed to their Land or some part of it Many of them Political II The reward annexed to the Obedience of that Law was but Temporal III It was not attended with the promise of Divine assistance IV Nor was there that hope of pardon which was afterward given in the Gospel The Sacrifices allowed to that purpose very defective This shewed at large For some sins no Sacrifice was allowed Sacrifices were not pleasing to God of their own Nature The Expiation did not depend upon the value of the oblation He that brought an Expiatory sacrifice was not allowed to eat any part of it The repetition of the Sacrifices another Argument of their weakness In some cases the Sacrifice was but one of those things required in order to pardon The Legal Sacrifices were not designed to continue for ever That the defects of the Law of Moses are supplied in the Christian Religion Of the excellent Precepts of the Christian Religion Of the promise of Eternal life therein clearly revealed and of the great moment of it Of the Divine assistance attending this Religion Of the assurance of pardon from the Christian Religion and the sure foundation which it lays for the quieting the Consciences of Men. The usefulness of the foregoing discourse A more particular inquiry into the great Ends or Causes for which the Law of Moses was given The Conclusion of this Discourse THAT Jesus is the Christ and consequently that the Religion which Jesus and his followers taught came from Heaven hath been in great measure demonstrated already For the farther proof of this truth I shall consider the Religion it self which Jesus and his followers taught and prove that it is a more excellent and perfect Religion than that which was delivered to the Jews by the hands of Moses and consequently imcomparably the best Religion in the World I say the best in the World for so it must be if it once appear that it is more perfect than that which was taught the Jews by Moses For though the Religion of Moses were defective when compared with that of Jesus yet it was true however and came from God But for the Pagan Religion how ancient soever it were it was false and impious not revealed by God nor worthy of him inconstant and various trifling and silly It carried men away from God to the Creature It taught men to worship not onely the Host of Heaven but stocks and stones and dumb Idols the very Creatures which they did eat the Evils which they feared the very Devils themselves whom they did not love It prescribed impure Rites and Ceremonies put men upon cruelties to their own flesh and to their Children It was so gross and so silly that the wiser sort of Heathens though they complied
and Governours even then when we suffer wrong It teaches us the most exact justice and the greatest humanity and mercy to one another It obligeth us to pray for our greatest enemies and to forgive them who do us the greatest wrong It allows us to do no wrong to another and to return none which is done to us It is so far from allowing us to kill those who are of another Religion that it permits us not to hate them There is no friendship so inviolable and sacred no Justice so impartial no charity so unfained and extended and so fervent no gentleness so exemplary as that which obtains among the genuine followers of Jesus They who are such live at perfect peace with one another they think no evil so far they are from doing it They love one another with a pure heart fervently As to our selves our holy Religion recommends to us the profoundest humility the greatest meekness under calumnies patience under sufferings contentedness in every condition it teaches the most unbroken fortitude the most unspotted chastity the most unshaken constancy it teacheth us strict temperance in eating and drinking great moderation in the use of bodily exercises painfull diligence in our several callings a singular modesty and gravity it puts us upon the greatest simplicity and candour the greatest contempt of worldly things and the greatest hunger and thirst after Spiritual This holy Religion commends to our care and to our thoughts whatsoever things are true honest or venerable just and pure lovely and of good report that have any thing of vertue and any just title to praise Phil. 4.8 There is nothing commanded that is mean and low and unbecoming the greatest rank of men the highest birth or the most refined wits Here 's nothing required of us that is unreasonable and unaccountable We must be very humble but here 's room too for the greatest fortitude and courage We must be modest but may not be sneaking and cowardly and afraid to appear for the truth We must be grave but need not be morose just but not inclement long-suffering but not stupid courteous but free from foolish affectation here we are taught true greatness of mind but not insolence poverty of Spirit without dejectedness and a contempt of the world without haughtiness fortitude is commended but not audacity constancy but not contumacy diligence but not anxious carefulness This Religion teaches us to prefer the publick good before our private to prefer what is just to what we judge commodious to abridge our selves of our own liberties for the good of others What Celsus objected of old against the Christians v. Orig. contra Celsum l. 8. that they shunned the dedication of Altars of Statues and of Temples did but import that their Religion was spiritual and so indeed it is and 't is a great perfection which belongs to it It is not charged and burthened with ceremonies 2 Col. 20. and ordinances and rudiments of the world as the law of Moses was But what was aenigmatically and symbolically taught in the law of Moses is plainly delivered in the Christian Religion We are taught to offer up fervent Prayers instead of incense to pare away all superfluity of naughtiness instead of circumcising the foreskin we have our Sacrifices of praise instead of the bloudy Sacrifices and are taught to offer up to God our souls and bodies instead of the Holocausts prescribed in that law We are required to pay a reasonable service instead of that bodily one which God required of the Jews by Moses Those things which our Religion requires are good in themselves and the practice of them makes us better and are therefore of general and universal good to mankind and the whole race of mankind is concerned in them They are not municipal or topical laws which oblige onely in one place or Countrey but they oblige every where in all times and all Persons whatsoever Origen contra Cels l. 7. The Christian says Origen looks upon every place as a part of the Vniverse and upon the Vniverse as the Temple of God and therefore prays in every place We are all united by the Religion of Jesus into one body and are all concerned in his holy Laws The difference between the Jew and Gentile is quite taken away and we are all one in Christ Jesus This difference was once very great The Jews were tyed to certain ordinances and observations which rendred them very different from the Gentile world and they thought they could not converse with them by their Religion and did despise them greatly hence it was that there was a great Enmity between the one and the other and thus things stood till Jesus came and till he suffered Eph. 2.14 15. But by cancelling those distinguishing Laws and Ordinances which he did by his Cross he abolished the Enmity and made peace He did thereby reconcile both to God having slain the Enmity 1 Cor. 12.13 Gal. 3.28 Ephes 3.6 There were some things allowed in the Law of Moses upon the account of the hardness of the Jews hearts and for the time of the Mosaical dispensation which are now by the better Law of Jesus superseded such were Polygamy and Divorces And many other things were required during that Minority of the Church which we are in no wise obliged to Our Religion is full of the most weighty principles and commends to us those things which are of the greatest and highest importance whatsoever I proceed to consider 2. The Reward annexed to our obedience of these holy Precepts and that is Eternal life The Jews were engaged to obey their Law by promise of Temporal rewards Those rewards were very suitable to that Carnal people and very proportionate to those rudiments of the World Thus we doe with Children when they goe to School to learn their first Elements we allure them with knacks and toys that we may engage them to lay the foundation of more manly wisedom pueris dant Crustula blandi Doctores elementa velint ut discere prima God did thus by the Israelites He invited them to obey those ordinances by the promise of victory and plenty and long life He designed all this while greater things and though he did not clearly promise yet he did intend to bestow the Blessing of Eternal life to his sincere and faithfull Servants But the clear promise of Eternal life was a blessing which God reserved for the times of the Gospel The good men under the Law obtained indeed a good report by faith And by the great things they did and suffered they gave proof that their faith was sincere and accompanied with an hope that extended beyond this present state But still the express promise of Eternal life was reserved for the days of the Messias And this is the clear meaning of the words of the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews Heb. 11.39 40. Where speaking of the holy men of old time he adds And
these all having obtained a good report by faith received not the promise God having provided some better thing for us This is the great perfection of the Christian institution that it gives the clear promise and sure hopes of Eternal life And 't is mentioned as doing so when it is compared with the Mosaical institution Heb. 7.19 For the Law made nothing perfect i. e. it did not perfect those very men who lived under it and submitted to it For it not giving a full pardon for offences and not affording express assurance of Eternal life it was not powerfull enough to perfect those who were under it But then follows what the Gospel doeth But the bringing in of a better hope did by the which we draw nigh unto God Where we find the Gospel called the bringing in of a better hope and that must be the hope of Eternal life for the hope of temporal good things was brought in by the Law of Moses Agreeably hereunto it is also said of Jesus that he was made a surety of a better Testament Heb. 7.22 And a Mediatour of a better Covenant which was established upon better promises Heb. 8.6 And it is elsewhere said of Jesus that he hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 2.10 And the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks to the same purpose elsewhere Heb. 9.6 7 8. He tells there were two parts of the Sanctuary which he calls two Tabernacles and that the Priests went always i. e. constantly twice every day into the first Tabernacle accomplishing the service of God viz. to offer incense and to take care of the Lamps But into the second went the high Priest alone once every year not without bloud which he offered for himself and the errours of the people Thus the High Priest at the day of expiation onely was admitted into the Holy of Holies The meaning of this is expressed in the following words The holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing The meaning of which words is plainly this That the holy Spirit by this appointment in the Mosaical institution Pag. 332. 333. did intimate that the way to Heaven was not laid open during that dispensation And this will evidently appear from what hath been said before to this purpose 2 Pet. 1.3 4. St. Peter blesseth the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope Or an hope of life as it is in another Greek Copy and that of Eternal life also as appears from the following words by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you Here we have an encouragement incomparably great and such as will sufficiently move us to obedience The hope of eternal life is enough to engage us to obey the precepts of Jesus and to reconcile us to all the labour and difficulty which may at any time attend upon our obedience Eternal life imports more than we can express or comprehend something more excellent than what our eye hath seen our ear hath heard or our shallow mind is able to conceive Crowns and Scepters Feasts and Triumphs worldly Success and prosperity are but little and faint resemblances of the eternal unspeakable and inconceivable happiness This it clearly revealed the promise is often repeated the thing promised is expressed by words of the highest import and in such a manner as speaks the thing it self too big to be expressed and too glorious to be comprehended by men who dwell in the body It is a reward stupendiously great and therefore very powerfull it is spiritual and therefore engageth us to be so too it is conditional and therefore is fitted to secure our duty The faint hope of riches of honour of temporal good things hath a mighty force The hope of Heaven where it is well grounded where believed and considered with due application will be of great force to render us patient and diligent and fervent in our obedience I proceed to consider The help and power to obey this Religion which the Religion of Jesus is attended with The laws of our Saviour have the promise of Divine assistance annexed to them The effusion of the Holy Ghost was a blessing reserved for the days of the Messias Our Saviour promised this Divine aid and made good his word as hath been shewn before Joel 2.28 Isa 35.7.44.3 Joh. 14. The Prophets of old did foretell what our Jesus made good And when Jesus did promise the Holy Spirit to his followers he did promise him as a Comforter who should abide with them for ever Indeed the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were not designed to continue in the Church any longer than the reason and the necessity of them continued When the Christian Doctrine was planted and Vniversally received Miracles ceased But the Holy Spirit continues still in the Church of Christ and does renew and purifie the hearts of the sincere believers We have the utmost assurance that we shall receive this Holy Spirit who helps our infirmities Lu. 11.13 Rom. 8.26 1 Joh. 44. and is greater in us than he who is in the World The Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit and of such a spirit as does not kill as the letter of the law did but giveth life 2 Cor. 3.6 8. Gal. 2.3 5 14. 'T is by faith and not by the law that we have the promise and the assistance of the Spirit Gal. 4.6 Rom. 8.3 The Gospel is a state of liberty of ingenuity and freedom We are by this Spirit freed from the greatest slavery and bondage from the Dominion of our lusts and the dread and horrors of our conscience We are enabled to obey and endued with power to doe what our Religion does command Hence it is that the Gospel Rom. 5.21 Gal. 5.4 Tit. 2.11 as it is considered in opposition to the law is called grace or the grace of God in the new Testament because it is accompanied with power or grace enableing us to yield obedience to the precepts of Jesus Christ And our obligation to conquer our sins under the Gospel is now inferred from our having embraced it Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have Dominion over you For ye are not under the law but under grace i. e. Sin shall no longer over-power you now for ye are not under the law which did indeed rigourously require obedience but not help you to obey but ye are under grace that is ye are now admitted to a covenant of grace where you have not onely assurance of pardon upon your sincere repentance but are encouraged also by the promise of eternal life and offered assistance to enable you to obey On the other hand the law
was weak and had not this promise of the Spirit annexed unto it Rom. 7.5 Gal 4.9 Phil. 3.3 with Rom. 8.3 Gal. 3.3 Heb. 7.16 And upon the account of its weakness it is very frequently called flesh in the new Testament as the Gospel is called the ministration of the Spirit upon the account of that power enabling us to obey with which it is attended And the legal ordiances are called weak and beggarly elements or rudiments And indeed the law of Moses might be justly called weak as compared with the Doctrine of the Gospel for the law was not able to effect what the Gospel hath done it gave not life Gal. 3.21 Rom. 7.5 8. Act. 15.10 it did not furnish men with power to yield an inward and spiritual obedience Sin was forbid indeed by the law but not kept under and restrained It directed mens obedience but did not powerfully assist them It was a yoke but not an easie one as that which Jesus puts upon us but such as the Jews knew neither how to bear or to break Gal. 4.3.24 And hence it is that they who were under the law are represented as in a State of Slavery and Servility Whereas the law of Moses was weak and they to whom it was given did transgress it and were obnoxious to a curse God does promise to the Jews to enter into a new and better convenant with them Jer. 31.33 after those days saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people I shall in the next place take into consideration The assurance of pardon of sin which the Gospel gives and consequently the foundation it layes for the quieting our consciences far beyond what was done by the law of Moses I have before shewed the defectiveness of that provision by Sacrifices which was made in the law of Moses I shall shew that this is supplied in the covenant of grace made by Christ And this was foretold very particularly as a special and peculiar grace belonging to this new covenant as it is distinguished from that between God and Israel by the mediation of Moses which God had promised to make God promises not onely to write the law upon their hearts and consequently to work in them the saving knowledge of himself but more especially assures them of their pardon and remission Jer. 31.34 For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more There is nothing bears so hard upon a man as his guilt does And in many things we offend all We are all guilty more or less and consequently obnoxious to the horrors of our conscience and the wrath of God This is the great torment of life and there is no trouble like it A guilty mind bears harder upon us than any outward trouble And then he that hath sinned is anxious and suspicious he is not easily assured of his pardon he that broke the Law of Moses was liable to the Curse of it And though Sacrifices were allowed I have shewed the defects of that provision But the Gospel gives us the utmost assurance of our pardon upon terms that are gentle and reasonable and by no means to be refused What-ever our sins have been yet upon our repentance and sincere obedience for the future we are sure of God's favour and of his being reconciled to us He beseecheth us now to be reconciled to him upon these gentle and easie terms This is the Tenor of this new covenant or covenant of grace of which Jesus is the Mediator He hath procured this for us he hath purchased this by his merits sealed it by his own precious bloud assured it to us by his Resurrection and powerfull intercession he confirmed it by stupendious Miracles proclaimed it to all the world by his messengers and given us the signs and evidences of it by his holy Sacraments and solemn institutions There is nothing wanting to ensure this our pardon unto us Here 's no shadow left for our doubt or anxious fears we have all the possible assurance which we can desire Rom. 5.8 9 10. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more then being now justified by his bloud we shall be saved from wrath through him For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life These last words contain an argument invincible and altogether unanswerable and such as affords the strongest consolation If God looked after us when we were his avowed enemies if even then he gave up his most dear Son to death and at so great an expence restored us to favour surely he will now not abandon us to destruction He that was so kind to his enemies will not now forsake his friends So great and dear a love will not be extinguished It was a great price and an instance of the greatest love by which we were reconciled when we were enemies 't was by the death of the Son of God We had little reason to expect this favour and this expence But now we may be saved without his giving up his Son again to death and need not therefore doubt that we shall be saved by his life The Jew under the law of Moses had great cause to fear for when he transgressed and that he did when-ever he continued not obedient to all the words of that law he put himself under the rigour and curse of the law But God hath now made a better covenant with us and given us the greatest hopes of pardon upon our repentance and sincere though it be not sin-less obedience to the laws of Christ Here is pardon to be had for all manner of sin There were many sins under the law of Moses as hath been observed for which no remission was to be had from any Sacrifice allowed by that law He that was guilty was liable either to death or to excision Mat. 12.31 We are better provided for by this covenant of grace All manner of sin and blasphemy says Christ shall be forgiven unto men Blasphemy as hath been observed before was one of those sins for which there was no expiation allowed under the law of Moses But even for this sin there is pardon in this covenant of grace For our Soviours words do not speak of the event of things but of the provision which is now made Blasphemy shall be forgiven 1 Tim. 1.13 16. i. e. there is pardon to be had for it And he who was himself a Blasphemer tells us that he obtained mercy nor does he onely tell us that but also that he therefore obtained mercy for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe Our Saviour goes on whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him Matt. 12.32 There were those who spake against Christ The Person