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A51302 An explanation of the grand mystery of godliness, or, A true and faithfull representation of the everlasting Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the onely begotten Son of God and sovereign over men and angels by H. More ... More, Henry, 1614-1687. 1660 (1660) Wing M2658; ESTC R17162 688,133 604

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our love and loyalty to him If you love me keep my commandements Of which a principal one is That as I have loved you ye love also one another So he gives his disciples an Example of being humble one to another in that he washed their feet If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye ought also to wash one anothers feet For I have given you an Example that you should doe as I have done to you John 13. And Matth. 11. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls 8. But I need not insist much upon this subject I having amply enough shewn in the Second part of my Discourse how the whole History of Christ all his actions and deportments of himself tend to the most effectual recommending of the Divine Life unto us We shall only take the opportunity here to wipe off such stains as the foul and unsound breath of some blasphemous mouths have of old or of late endeavoured to stain this bright Mirrour of Divine perfection withall Which will be not only a piece of indispensable duty and loyalty to the Person of our Saviour but also the better encouragement to his sincere followers especially when I have added the Parallel of such accusations and imputations as bear very close analogie with those of our Saviours himself For he has foretold of old what would come of it That the disciple should not be above his Master nor the servant above his Lord. And if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of the houshold But how just the calumnies are against the one and the other we shall now see CHAP. XIII 1. That Christ was no Blasphemer in declaring himself to be the Son of God 2. Nor Conjurer in casting out Devils 3. That he was unjustly accused of Prophaneness 4. That there was nothing detestable in his Neutrality toward Political Factions 5. Nor any Injustice nor Partiality found in him 6. Nor could his sharp Rebukes of the Pharisees be rightly termed Railing 7. Nor his whipping the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple tumultuary Zeal 8. Nor his crying out so dreadfully in his Passion be imputed to Impatience or Despair 9. The suspicion of Distractedness and Madness cleared 10. His vindication from their aspersions of Looseness and Prodigality 11. The crooked and perverse nature of the Pharisees noted with our Saviours own Apology for his frequenting all companies 12. That Christ was no Self-seeker in undergoing the Death of the Cross for that joy that was set before him 1. THE former part of which Task though it may seem needless if not ridiculous amongst Christians who cannot entertain any evil thoughts of that Person whom they deservedly worship yet because all that live in Christian Commonwealths are not cordially such in no manner at all for the convincing of them if it were possible of the Excellency of Christ or at least for the better stopping of vain mouths from rash and unskilfull censures I hold it not improper to recite to you a Charge or Bill of Inditement exhibited against that innocent and immaculate Lamb Christ Iesus by malicious and ignorant men to the intent that he whom they have so unworthily charged may be as honourably dismissed and acquitted That his righteousness may be brought forth as the morning and his judgement as the noon day And here that they may fly high enough at first and strike deep enough even to a deserved taking away of life Blasphemy must stand in the front to give countenance and strength to the rest of their following accusations 2. Then Conjuring and dealing with the Devil 3. Prophanation of the Sabbath 4. Neutrality or cold indifferency in publick Controversies 5. Injustice 6. Railings 7. Tumultuary and injurious Zeal 7. Impatience and Despair 9. Phrensy or Madness 10. Debauchery and Looseness of Life 11. Lavishment and Prodigality 12. And lastly Ambition and Self-interest These are the several dunghills from whence wicked and perverse men would industriously dig out dirt to cast in the face of him who was the perfect Pattern of divine Purity and Righteousness But let them ply themselves as fast as they can in these several foul pits it will not be hard to find wherewith to wipe it off as fast as their impious diligence shall be able to cast it on And first let us consider what work they make in the first place as concerning Blasphemy John 10. For declaring God his Father and that He and his Father was one he is there furiously accused of Blasphemy and ready to be stoned And John 8. They are also there ready to stone him for saying He was before Abraham And Matth. 9.3 He is there also accused of Blasphemy for saying Son be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven thee And here in this first accusation de facto constat Christ confesses That he is one with God That he is the Son of God and that he has power to forgive sins That he was before Abraham but it is utterly denied that in any of all this Christ did blaspheme For first consider the very words of Christ I and my Father are one How unreasonably and inconsequently did these dull and peevish Perverters of the words of him whom they so entirely hated for his good life and doctrine deduce from that saying I and my Father are one that he being a man made himself God For it is as childishly and ineptly inferred from thence by them That he made himself God as if they should conclude That the Body is the very Soul because the Body and the Soul are one that is one man And it is no more Falshood much lesse Blasphemy for the Humanity of Christ who was so really and lively actuated informed and united with God as the Body is with the Soul to pronounce of himself as if he were very God then it is for the Tongue to say I understand I believe I perceive when neither the Body nor it believes perceives or understands any thing but only the Soul with which it is so intimately united and of which that which the Tongue speaks in such cases is to be understood And if this be duely considered and taken in Christs saying also That he was before Abraham will not prove any Blasphemy For Christ by reason of his so near union and essential conjunction with God which Athanasius well resembles to that of the Body and Soul may as properly and naturally professe himself to be before Abraham yea to have been before the world was made as the Tongue of man may utter I shall survive after the death of this my body in which there is no ill sense nor incongruity in the judgement of most sober men But besides this that which the blinde Jews understood not being hoodwinked with the thicknesse of their own particular Religion
Gardening and the like if he out of a foolish conceit of Light and Reason being only ●●●hin one and not without as certainly neither Ink nor Paper nor both put together are any more partakers of the Light of Reason then of Sense and Life would make no use of the Writings of Euclid suppose for Mathematicks nor any other Authour that has writ of such matters and so of the rest of the Faculties I named nor converse with any man by word of mouth nor cast his eyes upon what they have done but only think with himself and sit still by the light of his own lamp within dores will be a very sorry Mathematician Architect Husbandman or Gardener So certainly for Moral and Divine Truth he that will be so taught by himself that he will not use outward advantages such as the Holy Scriptures especially afford will be found at last to have been the Scholar of a very foolish and imperfect Master 4. Besides that these men contradict themselves in their own practices For they vilifie that by which they have been taught and retain the very phrases of what they have learned out of Scripture and know not how to speak without Scripture-terms nor can make any show without Scriptural allusions and that grand Document of keeping to the Light within us they borrow out of S. Iohn's Gospel and yet they are so phrantick and peevish that they would fling away the staffe without which they are not able to make one step in Religion Moreover if this Light within us is so precisely within us that it wants no information from without us why do they themselves scribble such abundance of Pamphlets make Catechisms set out Prophecies why do they exhort rebuke nay reproach and raile against men to convert them if what is without cannot reach that which is within or why do they meet together to hear some one of their Assembly after he has fallen down as in a trance and got up again dictate Oracles out of his disturbed breast For his words which they hear are without and beat upon the Ear they are not the Light within Wherefore it is plain that the Light within may be informed by something which is without whether by voice or writings And if so there is an obligation upon this Light within to be so considerate as to seek the most punctual information it can from what is most likely to inform it from without 5. And therefore they are with all diligence to examine the most venerable Records of Religion and especially of that Religion under which they were not only born but which is absolutely of it self the most renowned Religion that ever was in the World Which therefore none but such as are utterly averse from all Religion as being wholy given up to lust and prophaneness can without examination dare to relinquish and if they will examine it I mean the Christian Religion as it referrs to the Person of Christ that died betwixt two thieves at Jerusalem but rose again the third day that ascended visibly into Heaven and shall again return in a visible manner to judge the quick and the dead I appeal to this Light within them to their Reason and Conscience and that of the most cunning Impostors amongst them all or of whoever will join with them if the evidence for this Religion from Prophecie History and from the Nature of the Religion it self is not such as that nothing but Ignorance of the true meaning thereof and of its right design can hinder it from being acknowledged as a most certain Truth by any but those that are afraid that any Religion that leads to Holiness or promises any thing after this Life should be found true 6. As for that Objection taken from the mighty Power of the Spirit of God as if that were so sufficient of it self that belief therein and assistance therefrom would anticipate the mention and use of any other power whatsoever that may seem to confer to the End of the Gospel the Sanctification of our Souls I answer to this That they that do after this manner argue do erre not knowing the Scriptures For this Power of the Spirit communicable to Believers is not an absolute and omnipotent Power not to be resisted not to be frustrated if there be not due means and wise accommodations concurring with its workings or attempts to work But I may in some manner illustrate the condition thereof from what is observable in the Spirit of Nature the Principle of all natural Generations Growths and Perfections in which there is a kind of Hypothetical Omnipotency as to the work of Nature that is That this Spirit will not fail to assist and complete provided that such and such circumstances in Corporeal Agents be not wanting So is it also in this Divine Spirit or the Holy Ghost as it is communicable to us it will certainly assist and finish its work if there be no impediment on our side which it behoves us to remove out of the way nor any thing wanting which we can applie our selves to for the advance of our Faith perfecting of the holy life such as Meditating on the Scriptures Conferring with Holy men experienced Christians Using with devotion and reverence all the Ordinances of Christ. For though this assistance of the Holy Spirit be unspeakably powerfull to the sincere and diligent yet in the negligent and perverse as I said his attempts are frustrated And therefore Steven expostulates with the Jews in this sense Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears ye do alwaies resist the Holy Ghost and elsewhere we are exhorted not to grieve the Spirit nor quench the Spirit Which expressions do plainly demonstrate that the Communication of the Spirit is not absolute and omnipotent but received according to certain laws and waies of God's own appointing who of his infinite wisdome has traced out such a method in Christian Religion as is most accommodate to gain Souls to himself of which we have heard part already and shall now proceed to the Four last Powers of the Gospel which are mainly instrumental to the work of the Spirit upon the Hearts of all true Believers 7. And the first of these is the Example of our ever-blessed Saviour who has given us no other Precepts then what himself was the exactest Pattern of and himself such a Pattern of Life that is of Faith in God of Humility Love and Purity that we cannot doubt in following his footsteps that we are in a wrong way he being by voices from heaven and by his miracles upon earth proved and declared to be the only-begotten Son of God Wherefore the nearer we keep to his path the surer we are that we walk upon sound ground Besides that he is our Lord and Soveraign and therefore natural Ingenuity will urge us forward to compose our lives so as is most agreeable to his fashion And he does expresly require this as a Testimonie of