That is he could have written his Law in their hearts and in their inward parts Jer. 31.33 If he had not reflected on himself in saying so upon the Covenant of the Law made thus and of that nature by their own agreement So I conclude That the Jews of whom I am as concerning the flesh have been from the beginning a stubborn people conceited of their own righteousness and so minding no spiritual help nor willing to receive Christ and to believe in him in the day of his appearance in the flesh and for that utterly rejected from God and dispersed thorow all the World having no certain mansion but the whole world for their Fathers Land So then having well considered that the chiefest good of a man is God and that none could attain to the enjoyment of him but by the King Messiah which is Christ it was high time for me to look after my salvation and to search well what the Messiah should be if he was come and for what he should come and if Christ in whom Christians believed was the true Messiah Therefore many a time did I enter into my self as one that was abstracted from all opinions and having rejected the vail of Moses did consider by what way I might obtain the salvation of my soul and body and so take hold of that good which exceeds all things of the world And indeed by many weighty Scriptures and by the fulfilling of them I was sufficiently perswaded that the promised Messiah was come and that Jesus was the same who is the Son of God and the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person upholding all things by the word of his power who when he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right-hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1.3 Therefore my only desire was to joyn with them that professed him and believed in his name and albeit I saw many different opinions amongst Christians yet considering that amongst the Jews where the Church hath been formerly were many Sects and amongst all of them one must be true viz. which believed according to the promise and did according to the Law I was stedfast in my first resolution and my only desire was to be a living member of Christ as of a Saviour and a Prince of the world And seeing those Churches which are called Protestants did exactly believe according to the rule of Scriptures I resolved to adjoyn my self to them and to partake of the same benefits as they But because I could not make a publick profession of my Fairh in Poland where I was born where they are almost all Papists and hate the Protestants above the Jews yea above the Heathens themselves I stayed until I had a convenient occasion to embrace Jesus publickly and to make my brethren partakers of my joy in Christ And it happened so that being here in London my eyes were opened dayly more and more and I thought my self bound not to defer any longer but to obey the calling of my God as soon as ever possible Because it is a work of that great salvation Heb. 2.3 unto the performance of which every one is to hasten without delay To day if ye will hear his Gods voice harden not your hearts as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness Psal 95.7 Therefore I rejected the Jewish superstitions and Rabbinical dreams and entred my self into the Church of Christ being baptized by the name of John Jacob In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost God one in essence and three in persons to whom be Glory and Honour for ever Amen But now it will be my duty to shew by what means I was perswaded to Christianity and that as short as ever I can First then I was convinced that the true Messiah was come by these Arguments 1. We read Gen. 49.10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be This was the Prophecy of Jacob concerning the Messiah according to the confession of the Jews themselves Now the Scepter is departed from Juda for the Jews have no King and so consequently no Government in Canaan their Law-givers are destroyed being that great Sanhedrim is no more in esse and so it must needs follow that the true Messiah is come But the Jews use here to except 1. That by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original is not to be understood a Scepter but a rod as in Psal 2.9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is the Jews must be in great persecutions and chastisements under the Government of Heathens until Shiloh come and deliver them out of their hands and therefore they say this Argument is of no value 2. They say suppose it should be expounded by the word Scepter that nevertheless it could not pass upon Christ being the Scepter of Juda was taken away before ever Christ came whereas the Text saith The Scepter shall not depart from Juda until Shiloh come But as for the first exception I answer 1. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is indifferently taken for a Rod and for a Scepter because a Rod or a Staff is as well a token of Supremacy and Government as a Scepter is 2. That in this place it cannot be taken thus as they say for a Rod of anger and chastisement but it must be taken for a Scepter or Rod of Superiority by reason the next words viz. nor a law-giver from between his feet doth determine the first being it is proper to a Lawgiver to have a Scepter as a sign of his power over others And 3. The word in the second Psalm may be expounded likewise by a Scepter by reason God promiseth unto his Son the Heathens for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession and then he endueth him with an Iron Scepter to signifie his dominion over them and an administration of his soveraignty not only in mercy and meekness but also in justice As for the second exception I answer 1. Although Christ came into the World at that time when the Romans had their Deputies at Jerusalem and when the Jews were subject to the Emperour yet still the Jews had their own King and were ruled by their own Laws Sanhedrim not being abolished nor any of their priviledges disannulled or diminished till after their great Rebellion when Titus Vespasian and his Son having besieged Jerusalem took the holy place destroyed the City dispersed the people and made their Law void and of none effect and from that time till this day the Jews could not recover the Throne of their own King for to be ruled by him or the Law of their Nation nor had any Vision Revelation or Prophet but are quite rejected as an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. Now
to be truly and only agreeable to this Prophecy That this Prophecy sounds of a true Messiah who was to be a true Mediator of the World and of no temporal Saviour is clear Because 1. The six intents here mentioned in the 24 are impossible to any meer man 2. The title of Honour Prince is added for a distinction from other Saviours as also for a distinction from other inferior Angels in vers 20 21 and also added for a distinction from other Lords in Chap. 8.25 Because therefore it sounds of the true Messiah and the time of his coming is past as likewise all those things which were predicted are brought to an effect I safely conclude the true Messiah is come Moreover one of their Rabbies Rabbi Eliah saith The World should stand 6000 years according to the number of days of the Creation 2000 should be of Vanity 2000 of the Law and 2000 of the Messiah Now those 4000 first years are long since past and we are very near the end of the 2000 of the Messiah These exceptions they make That namely God hath not as yet sent the King Messiah for their sins sake are of no value because they have never been in such a long exile as now and they think themselves more just than their Fathers in the Egyptian and Babylonian captivity by reason of keeping the Sabbath neither can their sins change the decrees of God so often manifested in Scriptures These were the Arguments which sufficiently did perswade me the true Messiah was come But because the Jews dream only things corporal about the Messiah and about the end of his coming as likewise about his person I resolved to enquire further into these points A. 1. Touching his person I found out that he should not only be a man but likewise the true God not only because the nature of the offenders and the party offended did require but likewise because the reason of his coming into the world was to make reconciliation for iniquity and because many Scripture-places did affirm the same That he should be a true man was plain because he was to satisfie for that nature which did trespass in and by Adam He is call'd the seed of the Woman Gen. 3 which being material doth infer that Messiah should be a man like unto us yet without sin He is call'd the seed of Abraham and was promised to him Gen. 17. It is observable That God having an intention to confirm his Covenant of Grace and to shew the certainty of it doth promise the blessed seed not only to a woman Gen. 3 but likewise to a man which was Abraham Gen. 17 for to make them both sure of those spiritual benefits which were to be acquired by him and to make both the Sexes partakers of that glory viz. that the Messiah should come out of their Limbs Hence it proceeds That when God had promised the blessed seed unto the woman Adam call'd her Eve because she was the Mother of all living Gen. 3.20 Before the fall Adam call'd her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Woman but after the transgression and the promise of a Messiah unto her he called her Eve because out of her should proceed him that should give life unto all them that require him and so in and by Christ she was the Mother of all living who otherwise could bring nothing into the World but sinners and so dead in their trespasses And as Eve was call'd the Mother of all living so Abram was call'd Abraham after the promise of the blessed seed that is the Father of many Nations because in him by reason of the seed all Nations should be blessed Gen. 17. And there God was pleased to confirm his Covenant and the promise of the Messiah belonging to it by adding to his name the Letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which was taken out of the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and making out of Abram Abraham and to shew that promised seed belonged as well to the woman as the man the Lord added the same Letter to the name of Sarai and maketh it Sarah When God sent Moses to the Children of Israel into Egypt for to bring them out of the House of bondage and to bring them to the Land of Canaan according to the promise he uses this expression And I appeared unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty but my name JEHOVAH was not known to them Exod. 6.3 Surely they knew that God was call'd Jehovah because they call'd him so themselves therefore this is not to be understood of the name as it is in its sound but as it is in its power they knew him by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that he was able or sufficient to perform what he had promised but not by the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jehovah That is they had not seen the being of those promises because the name Jehovah signifieth as much as an Essentiator who giveth a being to those things which he hath formerly promised to do So God in that case reflects upon himself and upon the Covenant made with Abraham which at present he was to execute And this is the reason why God changed the name of Abram in adding to it one Letter out of his name Jehovah that he might assure him and his Wife that he would for certain give an esse to his promise and so make himself known by the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jehovah and this was the surety and underpand of his promise So then because the Messiah proceeds from both the seeds of a man and of a woman according to the promise it must needs follow that he is a true man himself Besides he is call'd a Son a Child born of a Virgin and so-forth That he should be a true God doth shew not only the infinite Object that was offended and the infinite guilt of Adams sins which a meer man could not take away from us and reconcile us to the offended party but also those expressions in Scripture sounding of the Messiah which cannot be attributed to any meer man He is then call'd Emmanuel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa 7.14 Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel that is God with us which is to shew that God should take on him the seed of Abraham Heb. 2.16 and so be God and man Then Isa 9.6 it is said of the Messiah Vnto us a child is born unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and he shall be call'd Wonderful Counseller the Mighty God The Everlasting Father and The Prince of Peace Where one may plainly see that the Messiah should be a God because he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The mighty God and everlasting Father whose goings forth have been from old from everlasting Micah 5.2 which attributes can belong to none else but to him who is the true and
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE JEVV TURNED CHRISTIAN OR THE Corner-Stone WHEREIN IS An assertion of Christ being the true MESSIAH By JOHN JACOB formerly a Jew but now turned a Christian LONDON Printed by A. M. and R. R. for Tho. Cockerill at the Three Legs in the Poultry over against the Stocks-Market 1678 9◠Imprimatur Ex aedibus Lambethanis Nov. 16 1678. Geo. Thorp R mo in C. P. D. D no. Gulielmo Archiep. Cant. a sacris domesticis To His most Excellent and Sacred Majesty CHARLES the second by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith To the Most Reverend Father in God William Lord Archbishop of Canterbury his Grace Primate and Metropolitan of all England And to the Right Reverend Fathers in God the Bishops the Reverend the Deans and Doctors in Divinity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IN all humility I present this Book to your Majesty and to you Most Reverend Right Reverend Archbishop Bishops Deans and Doctors of the Church of England 'T is no wonder I joyn your Illustrious Majesty with persons spiritual because as well the Head must not be separated from the Members as the Nourishers of the Church from them who are the Light of the World and the builders of Jerusalem I beseech therefore your Most Sacred Majesty to accept of this present as Cyrus did of a little cold water from his Subject And you spiritual Lords as a testimony of my true Conversion Your Most Illustrious Majesty and of the rest Most Humble Client and Servant John Jacob a converted Jew A Polander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE JEVV TURNED CHRISTIAN OR THE Corner-Stone LET Epicure exalt his sensuality and others set up as an Idol some kind of vain and perishing felicity for their chiefest good yet mans principal good is God not only because he is the only good yea goodness it self but because the Soul can have no full satisfaction in any thing besides Him who is the end of all things For of him and through him and to him are all things Rom. 11.36 The Lord hath made all things for himself yea even the wicked for the day of evil saith Solomon Prov. 16.4 If all things then especially Man into whom he implanted his own image if the wicked then to be sure him that hath put on the new man which is renewed in knowledg after the image of him that created him Col. 3.10 if for himself then one may safely conclude there can be no quietness in the Soul which naturally aimeth after its good until it cometh to rest in Him who is the chiefest portion of David So that all the pleasure of this world yea of all other things besides God are contained in that short but weighty periphrase of Solomon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vanity of vanities Eccl. 1.1 and are to be compared to the Mule of Absolom who after he had carried his Master a long time up and down the world in pleasure and riches goeth under the thick Oak-boughs of everlasting peril and having hanged him goeth his ways 2 Sam. 18.9 Whatsoever is created must either vanish or be polished and brought to a better perfection by an outward cause and for that reason it cannot satisfie the desires of the Soul which is one of the most perfect creatures that God ever formed and so a co-heir of that same felicity with Angels yea the Soul being immortal cannot hint at any thing which is subject to mortality or at least cannot be brought to that same nothing from whence it had its off-spring but by the power of the Everlasting Let then this be a true and un-overthrown principle That God is the chiefest good of a man and that for this reason it is the duty of every one to acquaint himself with God and to be at peace that thereby good may come unto him Job 22.21 But as in all other things so likewise in coming near unto God and to the enjoyment of those riches which are in him there is some means for which every one ought to search Before Adam had fallen and brought all his Children into a praemunire and the guilt of that same transgression he committed he needed no other but his own righteousness to get by that the enjoyment of his Maker being it is sin only that makes a separation betwixt us and God and brings upon us its reward which is death according to Gods proclamation In the day thou eatest thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou shalt dye with death Gen. 2.17 But after his fall and the entrance into a Covenant it was and it is impossible for any one to arrive to the enjoyment of the Almighty by his own righteousness being we are by nature viz. corrupted enemies of God and turn our back to his Commandments and callings upon us So that here instead of natural and concreated perfection must succeed Grace attended by the promise grounded upon the blessed seed of which the Almighty speaks Gen. 3.15 I will put enmity between thee and the woman between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel The Almighty God having from eternity foreseen the fall of Adam decreed out of his infinite mercy to succour him and his posterity by the death and satisfaction of his own Son whom he hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood c. Rom. 3.25 26. And for that same reason immediately after the fall of Adam he doth not only promise him a Saviour but likewise declareth by an institution of a sacrifice and by the words of Gen. 3.8 22 And the Lord God said behold the man is become as one of us to know good and evil The first offering we read of in the Scriptures is the offering of Abel Gen. 4.4 Who offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by Faith Heb. 11.4 Now Faith presupposeth a promise and a commandment because it cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God Rom. 10.17 But we find no express commandment given to Abel for to offer Sacrifices therefore we must either yield to the Papists a free service to be admitted of or else make the aforesaid words of the Apostle to be true and find out an institution of sacrificing before ever Abel had offered made by God himself whose doings are a rule of our faith and obedience So then methinks I may find the first institution of it Gen. 1.21 Vnto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them Those skins could not be of any torn Sheep by the cruelty of the wild Beasts by reason vanity had not yet over-swayed the World nor skins of Cattel kill'd for the use of Adam because he was bound to eat only of the Herbs Gen. 1.29 So that I may probably conclude they were the skins of such Cattel as were kill'd by the Commandment of God for sacrificing that so the