by some as expiatory I shall not here enquire into the first Ground and Original of those Sacrifices among them only shall leave it to Consideration how far these tho' Wicked and Barbarous in them yet might in the Methods of Divine Providence be suffered among the Gentiles thereby to prepare their minds facilitate their Conceptions and in due time to convince them of the unreasonableness of Christ's Crucifixion for the Expiation of Sin But more particularly It doth not become a Christian whilest he is answering the Scandals cast upon his Religion unjustly to recriminate and load his Adversaries with false Imputations the generous and vertuous Temper of Christianity as it needs not so it scorns to build its Reputation upon the Ruine of other Mens Therefore I do not here go about to charge the Heathens in general with that stupid and grossest sort of Idolatry which some are too apt to do as if they own'd no higherObject of their Adoration then that of the Sun or the Soul of the World and that all their Worship did not suppose the belief of any higher Deity I humbly conceive we have neither Reason nor Scripture in favour of this Assertion but much of both to the contrary But tho'I go not thus far in my Charge against the Gentiles in general yet this I may truly say That their Notions of God and of the Divine Nature come very much short of those which Christianity affords us both in respect of truth and certainty But however true in some respects their Notions of God might be in the Theory yet their Religion as a Doctrine of Worship was very false and Idolatrous and tho' they did know God yet they did not Worship him as God Thus all or most of their Religious Rites of Worship were but so many various Modes of Idolatry and sometimes they became wicked in Imitation even of those Gods whom they worshipp'd and upon this account others sometimes as they thought out of a Principle of Devotion and Religion became Atheists choosing rather to believe there were no Gods at all rather then think them such as some Men had represented them But now Christianity corrects the falseness of these mistakes and teaches us to Worship the true God in a true manner God did not require the Blood of Bulls and Goats in the Jewish Sacrifices for their own sakes nor did he at all require the bloody and wicked Sacrifices of the Gentiles the Gospel teacheth us that a broken and contrite Spirit is the true Christian Sacrifice that we must offer our Souls and Bodies an Holy living Sacrifice acceptable unto God not by any Barbarous Cruelties exercis'd upon either but they are to be offered unto God in a way of Purity and Holyness Secondly Christianity doth not only correct the salse but also improves those better and truer Notions which the Gentiles had to higher Degrees of Perfection and Clearness then they were ever able to do 1. The Greeks had some Notions of the being ofGod and the Immortality of the Soul but then they were very much mistaken in the Nature of the Deity and their belief of a future State was joyn'd with a great deal of doubt and uncertainty it was only the Gospel that perfectly acquainted us with the one and fully assur'd us of the other They had indeed sufficient Grounds to believe both but yet they came as far short of the Strength and Evidence of those Arguments which the Gospel affords us as reason comes short of Revelation Not but that Christians may also make a very good use of those Arguments which Reason and Philosophy afford us for it much strengthens our Faith in the belief of those things declar'd in Scripture when we find the same also confirmed by reason tho' Reason alone had been herein but a weak and insufficient Ground of Faith Socrates who yet died as it were a Martyr to his Natural Religion argued very well when he came to die of a future State yet it was with such a Degree of uncertainty as Christianity would have quite removed in the like Circumstances 2. The Greeks had some Notions of the thing tho' not of the Name and Nature of Original Sin that is they did acknowledg an Universal depravation of Nature but then as to the cause and head of it that was as unknown to them as that of Nilus they thought it rather from the beginning essential to our Natures rather then any ways afterwards contracted they looked upon it indeed as their Misery but not their fault And being thus Ignorant of the Cause they were as far to seek for the Remedy the best and highest means that they ever used in order thereunto being only the imperfect Rules of Art and Philosophy But now Christianity as it shows us the true Cause of it in Adam so doth it provide a sufficient means for the removal of it viz. the blood of Christ and the Grace of the Gospel 3. The Greeks were conscious to themselves of the necessity of a Divine Revelation as may appear from that high esteem and constant recourse they had to the Oracles their pretended Deities But then they were so far from being bettered by these that this seemed the very Master-piece of the Devils malice and subtlety thus to enact Wickedness by a Law and to give it the Stamp of Divine Revelation But now God in these last days hath spoken to us by his Son by whom he hath fully and clearly revealed his Will to Mankind thus have we the true Oracles of God committed to us not with an intent to deceive us but to guide us in the undoubted ways to Happiness 4. The Gentiles had some Notions of the pacability of the Deity this all their Sacrifices did necessarily imply and indeed Mercy and Goodness seems in the first place to offer it self in that Notion of a Deity which is Naturally Imprinted on the Minds of Men. Quamvis Meritis venia est indebita Nostris Magna tamen Spes est in bonitate Dei Ovid. But then Sin and Guilt being naturally full of Fears and Jealousies tho' perhaps we might have some glimmering hopes of Pardon which yet could not be fixt upon any good Ground or firm Foundation yet we could never have arriv'd at that full assurance which the Gospel hath now given us God having thus provided sufficient Answers to all those doubts and fears with either the Malice of the Devil or our own guilty Consciences can possibly suggest So that we have now all the assurance of Gods being reconcil'd with us upon the Terms propounded in the Gospel that either God can give or Man reasonably require But further suppose that it had been knowable by the Light of Nature that God upon our begging Mercy would have pardoned our Sins Yet we could never have any Reason to believe that he would conter on us such high Degrees of Happiness as now we are assur'd of without a particular Revelation And thus much for the
had to be offended at Christ or his Religion in General 2. I shall shew the particular Grounds and reasons upon which they were offended and also the weakness and unreasonableness of them 1. The Jews had little reason to be offended at Christ or his Religion in general if we consider 1. The great correspondency that is betwixt the Prophecies of the Law and the History of the Gospel how exactly the Gospel is the fulfilling of those Prophesies of the Messias which we meet withall in the Old Testament So that if the Jews had not given themselves up to an obstinate perverseness Moses himself would have lead them to Christ for how exactly do we find him described by the Prophets both as to the manner time and place of his Birth and the most remarkable Circumstances of his Life and Death these I shall not particularly insist upon as supposing them sufficiently known and manifest So that if it be possible to know a Person by any precedent Marks and Characters that may be given of him then we may be fully assured that Christ was that Messias which was Prophefied of in the Old Testament especially if we consider that there were some Marks and Characters which did and only could belong to himself as his being born of a Virgin and the manner and time of his Resurrection To these we may add the Consideration of those hard shifts and frivolous Evasions and forced Interpretations that the Jews make use of to evade the force of this Argument which tho' singly in their own Nature are no Proofs either of the truth of the Christian or falseness of the Jewish Doctrine in this particular yet to an Ingenuous and impartial Considerer they are additional confirmations of that truth which before we had more positive Grounds and Reasons to believe 2. The Jews had little reason to be offended at our Saviour if we consider the concurrence of those Qualifications which they themselves required in a true Prophet or at least in order to his tryal whether he was so or no Now the generally receiv'd Qualifications of this Nature were these 1. An eminent degree of Wisdome and Prudence 2. Of Courage and magnanimity 3. Of Vertue and Piety All which were so remarkable in our Saviour that the malice of Men and Devils was either forced to acknowledge them or not able to say any thing material against them To which if we add his Power of Working Miracles nothing further could be required in order to his being receiv'd as a true Prophet so that if the Jews would but either have admitted our Saviour to his tryal in this particular before they had condemn'd him or in judging made use of their own Rules in other ca'es of the like Nature they must have acknowledged Christ to have been a true Prophet So that he had both the Prophesies of the Law and the Principles and Practices of the Jews themselves in the like Cases in favour of him if any thing could have prevailed against Prejudice and Interest but they reject him by a Law which they themselves never acted by before and which they according to their own Principles must resolve shall never after be drawn into a precedent 3. The Jews had no reason to be offended at Christ or his Doctrine if we consider those many excellencies and advantages the Gospel had above the Law so that whatever it was the Jewish boasted it self above other Nations of the Gentile World even in those very things did the Gospel much outdo them As 1. We have under the Gospel a clearer Manifestation of those fundamental Truths which were but obscurely shadowed out under the Law Now are shadows turned into Substances and Types into Realities the Law came by Moses but Grace and Truth by Jesus Christ. I doubt not but the more divinely Instructed among the Jews did rightly understand and piously expect a future state of Immortality Yet 't is probable that the Common sort amongst them look'd no further then the Letter of the Law expecting no other reward of their Obedience then the enjoyment of a Land flowing with Milk and Honey it being the great Prerogative of the Gospel that it brought Life and Immortality to Light that is made a more full and clear discovery of it 2. We have a more plentiful effusion of the Spirit and divine assistance now under the Gospel then ever was known under the Law this was the time of which it was Prophefied that God would power out his Spirit upon all Flesh and that all from the highest to the lowest should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taught of God But this is not so to be understood as some of our late Enthusiasts do interpret it as if we should now expect any new Revelations either above or besides the Will of God made known to us in Scripture But this Prophesie was then fignally fulfilled when God powr'd out his Spirit upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost thereby furnishing them with Gifts and Graces for the planting of his Church and promulging the Gospel And it is also this day fulfilled in the Hearts of all good Christians as God by his preventing and assisting Grace doth accompany particular Persons and assists them to Work out their own Salvation with Fear and Trembling And thus much for the first particular to show in general that the Jews had no just reason to be offended at Christ and his Doctrine and that it was rather Malice and Envy against his Religion that it had so much of Truth and Reason on its side rather than Contempt for the want of either that moved them to a dislike of it 2. I shall show the particular Grounds and Reasons upon which the Jews were offened at the Gospel which more especially were these two 1. They thought the Christian Religion not sufficiently confirmed with Signs and Wonders 2. They were offended at the meanness of Christs Life and the dishonour of his Death 1. They were affended at the Christian Religion as supposing it not sufficiently confirm'd by Miracles Verse 22. The Jews require a Sign But in Answer to this it will be sufficient only to remind you that Christ did Confirm his Doctrine and the truth of his mission with sufficient Signs and Miracles beyond the possibility of any reasonable Exception if we consider either the number or quality or manner of Performance or the end and design of them which was always either for the necessary Confirmation of his Doctrine or in Compassion to the Souls and Bodies of Men never to gratifie Curiosity in others or vain Glory or Ostentation in himself so that the manner of their performance sometimes only by a word together with the end and design of them the promoting the great Designs of Truth and Charity those seem still to add more Divinity to his Miracles And farther our Saviour at his having the World did invest his Apostles with the same Power of Working Miracles so far and so
2. Christ thus showed himself to be the power of God because he hath done that which nothing but the Power of God could do As. 1. He hath destroyed the Kingdome of Satan without us 2. He has subdued our wicked Lusts and Corruptions within us 1. He has destroyed the Kingdome of Satan without us this the Pharisyes themselves acknowledge that he cast out Devils but then they say it was by Belzebub the Prince of the Devils But Christ did very solidly and rationally confute the Weakness and Silliness of this surmize A Kingdome says he divided against it self is brought to Desolation and an house or City divided against it self cannot stand and if Satan be divided against himself how shall his Kingdome stand For he that can believe that the Devil should assist him whose great end and design was no other but only to destroy Sin and Wickedness and to encourage and promote Vertue and Piety in the World such an one may by the same Reason believe and assert any thing Christ came into the World to dissolve the Works of the Devil and to restore things to the State wherein they were before for God might have seem'd frustrated in his End and Design in creating Man if that Method of his Providence first instituted for Mans Salvation if it had been so utterly broken beyond the possibility of all recovery but now Christ hath given the Devil and all the Powers of Darkness to understand that he is able to produce Light out of Darkness and Order out of Confusion thus hath God restored man again to a possibility of Salvation notwithstanding all the former attempts and present endeavours of the Devil to the contrary 2. Christ by the Gospel has subdued our wicked Lusts and Affections within us and this was more then either the Jewish Sacrifices of themselves or the imperfect Rules of the Gentile Philosophy was ever able to perform He has not only himself overcome the Devil but also enables every true Christian to do the same this he doth by the assistance of his Holy Spirit whereby we become more then Conquerors over all Temptations Thus Christ doth at once instruct and strengthen us he teaches us what to do and enables us to do what he teaches precepts tho' never so excellent yet if they be unpracticable are altogether void and to no purpose but this is thepeculiar Priviledge of the Gospel that it enables us to perform that Obedience which it requires of us Thus is it the Power of God unto Salvation that is a Method every way sufficient in its own Nature for that purpose but then this is not so to be understood as if there was nothing left to be done by us for Christ has not so effected Mans Salvation that nothing now remains for us to do but idely to expect it the Grace of God indeed has brought Salvation but then it is by teaching us to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts which supposes our willingness and our endeavours too to learn Thus the manner of Christs appearance in the World could give no just Occasion of Offence to the Jews it being the most proper means to effect those great and worthy ends of his coming and to prove himself to be the power of God And as for Christs Death if it was no dishonour for him to be born neither was it any to die for the one seems naturally to follow from the other And supposing the Person suffering to be Innocent as Christ certainly was the manner of his Death cannot reflect any thing of real dishonour upon him so that all that can be gathered from Christs Crucifixion is only this his greater love to us and the Jews their greater malice and cruelty to him And further the Circumstances that attended his Death spoke him to be more then a common and ordinary Person then was the Sun darkened the Graves open'd the Vail of the Temple Rent and such general Convulsions of Nature every where appear'd that it caused a Philosopher thus to argue either that Nature it felf was dissolv'd or that the God of Nature suffer'd 2. The Death of Christ could give no just Occasion of Offence to the Jews if we consider the honorary consequences of it for by this was afforded the greatest matter of Triumph to the Christian cause imaginable for if Christ had not dyed he could not have risen again and it was a greater Argument of his Power to raise himself from Death then it would have been to have kept himself from dying Thus the Resurrection of Christ was the greatest Evidence of the Divinity of his Person and the Truth of his Doctrine And thus much as to the first general part of my Text in Answer to those Offences which the Jews took at Christ and his Religion 2. The second Scandal here cast upon the Gospel by the Greeks was the Imputation of folly And to the Greeks Foolishness HereI shall likewise vindicate theGospel from this Aspersion by speaking to these two particulars 1. I shall show what little Reason the Greeks had to impute Foolishness to the Christian Doctrine seeing this doth infinitely transcend the Religion of the Gentiles in the truth and certainly of its Principles 2. I shall show the Wisdome and Prudence of the Christian Practise The first of these shows the Improperness of the Objection as made by them the other the falseness of it in it self The first shows how unfit it was to be objected by the Greeks the other how impossible it is to be defended by any and both together I hope will sufficiently vindicate the Gospel from the least Imputation of folly 1. I shall show the reasonableness of the Christian Doctrine in Comparison of that of the Gentiles 1. As it is a practical Institution or a Doctrine of Morality so the very Heathens could not but testifie their profound Veneration for it all that their wit and malice could object against it in this particular being only that which was indeed a tacit acknowledgment of its Excellence viz. that it requir'd greater degrees of Holiness then was consistent with Humane nature and that it put its Professors upon endeavours after unattainable Measures of Purity and Piety And as to the Mystical part of our Religion what is there in it that doth not become the solemn and venerable Nature of a divinely reveal'd Religion Indeed if we must reject every thing as false and foolish because inexplicable and incomprehensible as to the modes then must we bid adieu to our Natural as well as our Christian Religion But the great matter of offence to the Greeks was Christ Crucified God and Man joyned in one Person and suffering for the Expiation ofSin God manifested in the Flesh is certainly a great Mystery so also is the Union of the Soul and Body a thing altogether Inexplicable As for his dying as a Sacrifice for Sin 't is certain that Humane Sacrifices were frequently practis'd among the Heathens and look'd upon
first thing to show what little Reason the Greeks had to impute Foolishness to the Gospel as to its Principles 2. I shall now show the Wisdome and Prudence of the Christian Practice and that upon these two Accounts 1. As the Christian Practice doth the best secure our Temporal Happiness here 2. Our Eternal Happiness hereafter 1 As it best secures our Temporal Happiness here and that in general by teaching us to act according to those two grand Principles of a Christian Life Prudence and Innocence The one teacheth us to do no hurt our selves the other as far as lawfully we can to avoid the receiving it from others however if our Prudence cannot secure us from Injuries abroad yet our innocence will give us the satisfaction of a quiet mind at home so that whatever Miseries befall us whilst we thus act we have this comfort within our selves that as far as Humane Frailty would permit we neither by our unadvis'd Folly nor wilful Wickedness incurr'd the Misery Thus are we taught by the Gospel to be Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves not to suffer as Fools nor live Apostates not wholly to neglect our own self-Preservation yet not so to regard it as to forfeit our Religion It teaches us in all Emergencies of Life to act so as becomes Men and as becomes Christians and so to avoid the Imputation both of Wicked and unreasonable Men. But more particularly Whatever is truly desirable here in this World may be reduc'd to some of these four Heads Health Riches Honour or Pleasure Now all these are ascrib'd to Wisdome that is Religion 3 Prov. 16. 17. Length of Days is in her Right-Hand and in her Left Riches and Honour Her ways are ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace 1. Health this is put in the first place as being the Foundation of all the rest It was Sin that first brought Death and Diseases into the World and it is that which still continues and promotes them thus the debauch'd and Luxurious Man does not only Sin against his Soul but his Body too and even those more retir'd and secret Sins of Envy Malice and Hatred these prey upon the vital Spirits and strangely discompose the Natural Temper and Disposition of Mens Bodies whereas on the contrary the calm even Christian Temper of Mind together with the Observance of those Evangelical Precepts of Moderation Temperance and Chastity do most naturally preserve Men in Health and either prevent or cure most Diseases So that our Saviour by his Sovereign Precepts did not only show himself a Physician of the Soul but Body too 2. Riches this perhaps may be counted a great Parodox by some to say that Justice and Honesty and an universall Practise of Christianity should tend to make Men Rich whereas 't is more generally believ'd that Hipocrisy and Dissimulation Violence and Oppression and an Universal neglect of Religion and Conscience that those are the more proper means to raise an Estate but when things are rightly consider'd we shall find that the Christian Practise doth really tend to make Men Rich and that both upon a Natural and a Moral Account 1. Upon a Natural Account both as it frees Men from those many Expensive Lusts and Vices as Pride Vain-Glory Ambition and the like which cannot be maintained but at a great Charge yea sometimes to the Ruine of that Estate that bred them and also as it engages Men to an Honest Industry in their several Places and Callings which is the most Proper and NaturalMeans of raising a great and good Estate 2. Upon a Moral or Divine Account as the Blessing of God doth Accompany Honesty and upright dealing 1 Tim. 4. 8. But Godliness is Profitable unto all things having the Promise of the Life that now is and that which is to come Thus tho' it be the future State wherein Godliness this Sun of Righteousness doth display its greatest Lustre yet doth it also vouchsafe to enlighten this lower World with its Golden Rays with the Promises of this Life as well as of another Life 3. Honour Romans 6. 21. What Profit had you of those things whereof you are now asham'd For Sin is both in its own Nature and in its Consequences Shamesul Whereas Vertue and true Goodness is always honour'd and esteemed even by those who otherwise have no great Love or Value for them and tho' there be a sort of Men in the World who look upon Religion as a Mean despicable thing not worthy of a Man of Honour as they call him Men who Glory in their Shame and count it a piece of Galantry of Spirit to Sin with an high hand in defiance of God and of their own Conscience yet thanks be to God these men tho' more in this Age then ever yet are but few in number in Comparison of those other more excellent Persons who both scorn and pitty such horrid folly And as for these Men who thus seem to pride themselves in their own debaucheries yet we have reason to suspect that they are not in Earnest when they thus speak that they do not really and indeed believe Sin to be so Honourable a thing as they pretend and that first because they then only Glory most in their Wickedness when they are in Company like themselves if there be any grave Religious Persons in presence they then commonly are more Modest and seem Naturally to show a kind of awful Veneration towards such Men. 2. When these Men would really and to purpose revile a Man they do not then reproach him with his Vertues but either with some real or pretended Vice and Wickedness thus the Devil himself could not cast cast any Reproach or Scandal upon upright Job as such but he must be first falsely represented and unjustly accused of Hypocrisie Doth Job serve God for nought before any thing of Reproach or Scandal could be fixt upon him 4. The Christian Practice doth the best secure our Pleasure and Satisfaction here in this World so that Religion is no such sower Melancholy disconsolate thing as some Men represent it God doth not envy Men the Enjoyment of just Pleasures and Recreations so far as they are Virtuous and Innocent and when they cease to be such they cease to be Pleasures truly so call'd but they are then only the Pleasures of mad Men consisting only in a fantastick Imagination or the Pleasures of Fools by which they purchase to themselves infinite and unspeakable Pains and Miseries And as for those Troubles of Conscience and Sorrows of Repentance which some Men are so much offended at in Religion these if rightly con sider'd are not truly chargeable upon Religion but upon the Violation of its Laws and breach of its Commands Nor are the Tears of Repentance so bitter as some imagine for the true Penitent weeps and at the same time rejoyces that he doth so his sorrow is kindly and Ingenuous and has always this Satisfaction going along with it that by