both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth But see the strange power of Prejudice to blind the Eyes even of good Men in the plainest matters The Disciples of our Saviour for all they had entertained a new Religion yet they retained the old Pride and Prejudice of their Nation against the rest of the World as if none but themselves had any share in the favour of God or were to have any part in the Salvation of the Messias Our Saviour did so far consider this Prejudice of theirs that he never in his life time acquainted them with this matter so as to make them fully to understand it because they were not able to bear it And it is very probable that this is one of those things which our Saviour meant John 16.12 13. I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth That is he should lead them into the knowledge of those Truths of which they were not then capable And tho' our Saviour after his Resurrection seems to have declared this sufficiently to them yet by their practice after his Ascension it appears that they understood all this only of the Jews namely that they were to preach the Gospel first to the Jews that were at Jerusalem and in Judea and then to those that were dispersed in other Nations for 't is clear from the History of their first Preaching recorded in the Acts that they preached to none but to the Jews and the Proselytes of the Jewish Religion So strong was their Prejudice that they had not the least suspicion that this Blessing of the Gospel was intended for the Heathen World nor were they convinced to the contray 'till St. Peter had a special Vision and Revelation to this purpose and the Holy Ghost came upon the Gentiles in miraculous gifts as he had done before upon the Jews that were converted to Christianity And thus the Spirit of God led them into this Truth and then they understood this Command of our Saviour's in a larger Sense And to this St. Peter plainly refers Acts 10.42 where he tells us how that Christ after his Resurrection appeared to them and commanded them to preach unto the People So likewise do Paul and Barnabas Acts 13.46 where they speak thus to the Jews It was necessary that the word should first be preached to you but seeing you put it from you lo we turn to the Gentiles for so hath the Lord commanded us Now he no where commanded this but in this Commission which he gave them before his Ascension Secondly You have here a particular declaration how they were to manage this work of making Disciples to the Christian Religion 1. By baptizing them into the Chrstian Faith 2. By instructing them in the Precepts and Practices of a Christian Life 1. By baptizing them into the Christian Faith which is here call'd baptizing them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Baptism is a solemn Rite appointed by our Saviour for the initiating of Persons into the Christian Religion But it was a Ceremony in use before both among the Jews and Gentiles The Heathen observed it at the initiating Persons into their Religious Mysteries and the Jews when they admitted Proselytes to their Religion at which time the Males as Maimonides tells us were both circumcised and baptized the Women were only baptized One Circumstance of the Baptism of grown Persons was that standing in the Water up to the Neck they recited several Precepts of the Law And as the Jewish Writers further tell us this Ceremony did not only belong to them that were of grown Years but to the Children of Proselytes if it were desired upon condition that when they came to Years they should continue in that Religion Now tho' this was a religious Ceremony used both by Jews and Gentiles and without any Divine Institution that we know of our blessed Saviour who in none of his Institutions seems to have favour'd unnecessary Innovations was so far from the superstition of declining it upon this account that it had been in religious use both among Jews and Gentiles that he seems the rather to have chosen it for that very reason For seeing it was a common Rite of all Religions and in it self very significant of that Purity which is the great design of all Religion it was the more likely to find the easier Acceptance and to be most suitable to that which he intended to be the universal Religion of the World As for the form of Baptism into the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost it plainly refers to that short Creed or Profession of Faith which was required of those that were to be baptized answerable to the reciting of the Precepts of the Law at the baptizing of Proselytes among the Jews now the Articles of this Creed were reduced to these three Heads of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and contains what was necessary to be believed concerning each of these And this probably is that which the Apostle calls the Doctrine of Baptism Heb. 6.2 viz. a short Summary of the Christian Faith the Profession whereof was to be made at Baptism of which the most ancient Fathers make so frequent mention calling it the rule of Faith It was a great while indeed before Christians tied themselves strictly to that very form of Words which we now call the Apostles Creed but the Sense was the same tho every one exprest it in his own Words nay the same Father reciting it upon several Occasions does not confine himself to the very same Expressions A plain indication that they were not then strictly bound up to any form of Words but retaining the sense and substance of the Articles every one exprest them as he pleased So that to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is to perform this Rite or Sacrament by the Authority of and with special Relation to the three Persons of the blessed Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost as the chief Objects of the Christian Faith whereof solemn Profession was then made So that upon this form in Baptism appointed by our Saviour compared with what is elsewhere said in Scripture concerning the Divinity of the Son and the Holy Ghost is principally founded the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity I mean in that simplicity in which the Scripture hath delivered it and not as it hath been since confounded and entangled in the Cobwebs and Niceties of the Schools The Scripture indeed no where calls them Persons but speaks of them as we do of several Persons and therefore that word is not unfitly used to express the difference between them or at least we do not know a fitter word for that purpose By baptizing then in the name of the
suffer nothing but Truth and Reason to weigh with them We generally pretend to be Pilgrims and Strangers in the World and to be all travelling towards Heaven but few of us have the Indifferency of Travellers who are not concern'd to find out the fairest and the easiest Way but to know which is the right Way and to go in it Thus it should be with us our End should always be in our Eye and we should chuse our way only with Respect to that not considering our Inclination so much as our Design nor chusing those Principles for the Government of our Lives which are most agreeable to our present Desires but those which will most certainly bring us to Happiness at the last and that I am sure the Principles of the Christian Religion firmly believed and practised by us will do Let us then be persuaded by all that hath been said upon this Argument to a firm Belief of the Christian Doctrine I hope you are in some Measure satisfied that the Objections against it are not such as ought much to move a wise and considerate Man If we believe that God hath taken so much care of Mankind as to make any certain Revelation of his Will to them and of the way to Eternal Happiness let us next consider whether any Religion in the World can come in Competition with the Christian and with half that Reason pretend to be from God that Christianity is able to produce for it self whether we consider the Things to be believed or the Duties to be practised or the Motives and Arguments to the Practice of those Duties or the Divine Confirmation that is given to the whole And if we be thus persuaded concerning it let us resolve to live up to the Laws and Rules of this Holy Religion Our belief of it signifies nothing without the Fruits and Effects of a Good Life And if this were once resolved upon the Difficulty of believing would cease for the true Reason why Men are unwilling to believe the Truths of the Gospel is because they are loth to put them in Practice Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light The true Ground of most Mens Prejudice against the Christian Doctrine is because they have no mind to obey it and when all is done the great Objection that lies at the bottom of Mens Minds against it is that it is an Enemy to their Lusts and they cannot profess to believe it without condemning themselves for not complying with it in their Lives and Practice SERMON IV. Jesus the Son of God prov'd by his Resurrection ROM I. 4 And declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead ST Paul in the beginning of this Epistle according to his Custom in the rest stiles himself an Apostle particularly call'd and set apart by God for the preaching of the Gospel the main Subject whereof was Jesus Christ our Lord Who as he was according to his Divine Nature Vol. V. the eternal Son of God so according to his Human Nature he was not only the Son of Man but also the Son of God According to the Flesh that is the Weakness and Frailty and Mortality of his Human Nature he was the Son of David that is of his Posterity by his Mother who was of that House and Line Made of the seed of David according to the Flesh v. 3. But according to the Spirit of Holiness that is in regard of that Divine Power of the Holy Ghost which was manifested in him especially in his Resurrection from the Dead he was demonstrated to be the Son of God even according to his Human Nature Declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead All the Difficulty in the Words is concerning the meaning of this Phrase of Christ's being declared to be the Son of God The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which most frequently in Scripture does signify predestinated decreed determined but it likewise signifies that which is defined declared demonstrated Ser. 4. put out of all Doubt and Controversy And in this Sense our Translation renders it As if the Apostle had said that our Lord Jesus Christ though according to the Frailty and Weakness of his Human Nature he was of the Seed of David yet in respect of that Divine Power of the Holy Ghost which manifested it self in him especially in his Resurrection from the Dead he was declared to be the Son of God with Power that is mightily powerfully demonstrated to be so so as to put the matter out of all Dispute and Controversy And therefore following our own Translation I shall handle the Words in this Sense as containing this Proposition in them That the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Dead by the Holy Ghost is a powerful demonstration that he was the Son of God And it will conduce very much to the clearing of this Proposition to consider these Two things First Upon what Account Christ as Man is said to be the Son of God Secondly In what Sense he is said to be declared to be the Son of God by his Resurrection from the Dead The Consideration of these Two Particulars will fully clear this Proposition and the Apostles Meaning in it First Upon what Account Christ as Man is said to be the Son of God And for our right Apprehension of this Matter it is very well worthy our Observation that Christ as Man is no where in Scripture said to be the Son of God but with relation to the Divine Power of the Holy Ghost some way or other eminently manifested in him I say the Divine Power of the Holy Ghost as the Lord and Giver of Life as he is call'd in the Ancient Creeds of the Christian Church For as Men are naturally said to be the Children of those from whom they receive their Life and Being so Christ as Man is said to be the Son of God because he had Life communicated to him from the Father by an immediate Power of the Spirit of God or the Holy Ghost First at his Conception which was by the Holy Ghost The Conception of our Blessed Saviour was an immediate Act of the Power of the Holy Ghost overshadowing as the Scripture expresseth it the blessed Mother of our Lord And then at his Resurrection when after his Death he was by the Operation of the Holy Ghost raised to Life again Now upon these two Accounts only Christ as Man is said in Scripture to be the Son of God He was really so upon Account of his Conception but this was secret and invisible but most eminently and remarkably so upon account of his Resurrection which was open and visible to all 1. Upon Account of his Conception by the Power of the Holy Ghost That upon this Account he was called the Son of God St. Luke most expresly tells us Luke 1.35 where the
Angel tells the Virgin Mary that the Holy Ghost should come upon her and the Power of the Highest should overshadow her and therefore that Holy Thing which should be born of her should be call'd the Son of God And this our Saviour means by the Father's sanctifying him and sending him into the World For which Reason he says he might justly call himself the Son of God John 10.35 36. If he call them Gods unto whom the word of God came and the Scripture cannot be broken Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the World Thou blasphemest because I said I am the Son of God If there had been no other Reason this had been sufficient to have given him the Title of the Son of God that he was brought into the World by the Sanctification or Divine Power of the Holy Ghost 2. Christ is also said in Scripture to be the Son of God and to be declared to be so upon Account of his Resurrection from the Dead by the Power of the Holy Ghost His Resurrection from the Dead is here in the Text ascribed to the Spirit of Holiness or the Holy Ghost And so in other places of Scripture Rom. 8.11 If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you And 1 Pet. 3.18 Being put to Death in the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit that is he suffer'd in that frail mortal Nature which he assumed but was raised again by the Power of the Holy Ghost of the Spirit of God which resided in him And upon this Account he is expresly said in Scripture to be the Son of God Psal 2.7 I will declare the decree The Lord hath said unto me Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee to which perhaps the Apostle alludes here in the Text when he says that Christ was decreed to be the Son of God by his Resurrection from the Dead To be sure these Words This day have I begotten thee St. Paul expresly tells us were accomplish'd in the Resurrection of Christ as if God by raising him from the Dead had begotten him and decreed him to be his Son Acts 13.32 33. And we declare unto you glad Tidings how that the Promise which was made unto the Fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto their Children in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee He was the Son of God before as he was conceived by the Holy Ghost but this was secret and invisible and known only to the Mother of our Lord And therefore God thought fit to give a publick and visible demonstration of it so as to put the matter out of all question he declared him in a powerful manner to be his Son by giving him a new Life after Death by raising him from the Dead and by this new and eminent Testimony given to him declared him again to be his Son and confirmed the Title which was given him before upon a true but more secret Account of his being conceived by the Holy Ghost And as our Saviour is said to be the Son of God upon this twofold Account of his Conception by the Holy Ghost and his Resurrection to Life by the Spirit of God So the Scripture which does solicitously pursue a Resemblance and Conformity between Christ and Christians does likewise upon a twofold Account answerable to our Saviour's Birth and Resurrection call true Believers and Christians the Children of God viz. Upon Account of their Regeneration or new Birth by the Operation of the Spirit of God and upon Account of their Resurrection to Eternal Life by the Power of the same Spirit Upon account of our Regeneration and becoming Christians by the Power and Operation of the Holy Spirit of God upon our Minds we are said to be the Children of God as being regenerated and born again by the Holy Spirit of God And this is our first Adoption And for this Reason the Spirit of God conferred upon Christians at their Baptism and dwelling and residing in them afterwards is call'd the Spirit of Adoption Rom. 8.15 Ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby you cry Abba Father And Gal. 4.5 6. Believers are said to receive the Adoption of Sons God having sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their Hearts crying Abba Father That is all Christians for as much as they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God and have the Spirit of God dwelling in them may with Confidence call God Father and look upon themselves as his Children So the Apostle tells us Rom. 8.14 That as many as are led or acted by the Spirit of God are the sons of God But though we are said to be Children of God upon account of our Regeneration and the Holy Spirit of God dwelling and residing in Christians yet we are eminently so upon account of our Resurrection to Eternal Life by the mighty Power of God's Spirit This is our final Adoption and the Consummation of it and therefore Rom. 8.21 this is called the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God because by this we are for ever deliver'd from the Bondage of Corruption and by way of Eminency the Adoption viz. the Redemption of our Bodies We are indeed the Sons of God before upon account of the regenerating and sanctifying Virtue of the Holy Ghost but finally and chiefly upon account of our Resurrection by the power of the Divine Spirit So St. John tells us that then we shall be declared to be the Sons of God after another manner than we are now 1 Jo. 3.1 Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God Now we are the Sons of God that is our Adoption is begun in our Regeneration and Sanctification but it doth not yet appear what we shall be we shall be much more eminently so at the Resurrection We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him But the most express and remarkable Text to this Purpose is Luke 20.36 where good Men after the Resurrection are for this Reason said to be the Children of God because they are the Children of the Resurrection But they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection from the Dead neither marry nor are given in Marriage neither can they die any more for they are equal to the Angels and are the Children of God being the Children of the Resurrection For this Reason they are said to be the Children of God because they are raised by him to a new Life and to be made Partakers of that which is promised to them and reserved for them For all that are raised by the Power of God out of the Dust of the Earth are not therefore the Children of God but only they that have part in the blessed Resurrection to Eternal Life and do inherit the Kingdom prepared for
if it be according to a Man's Estate and Quality and without intemperance is so far from being a fault that it is a commendable virtue But here was his Fault that he made all to serve his own Sensuality and Luxury without any consideration of the Wants and Necessities of others Whereas one of the great Uses of the plentiful Tables of Rich Men is from the superfluity of them to feed the Poor and the hungry Ver. 20. And there was a certain Beggar named Lazarus as if our Saviour had said for instance poor Lazarus whom ye all knew And here I cannot but take notice of the Decorum which our Saviour uses He would not name any Rich Man because that was invidious and apt to provoke He endeavours to make all Men sensible of their Duty but he would provoke none of them by any peevish Reflection for nothing is more improper than to provoke those whom we intend to perswade While a Man's Reason is calm and undisturbed it is capable of Truth fairly propounded but if we once stir up Men's Passions it is like muddying of the Waters they can discern nothing clearly afterwards But to proceed in the Parable There was a certain Beggar named Lazarus which was laid at the Rich Man's gate full of Sores and was desirous to be fed with the crumbs which fell from his Table moreover the Dogs came and licked his sores Here are three great Aggravations of the Rich Man's uncharitableness 1 st That here was an Object presented it self to him 2 dly Such an Object as would move any ones Pity a Man reduced to extream Misery and Necessity 3 dly A little Relief would have contented him 1 st Here was an Object presented it self to him Lazarus laid at the Rich man's Gate so that so often as he went out of his own House and came in he could not but take notice of him Good Men that are charitably disposed will enquire out Objects for their Charity and not always stay 'till they thrust themselves upon them But he is a very bad Man who when an Object of great Pity and Charity is presented is so far from relenting towards him that he stops his Ear to his Cry and turns away his Face from him He is an uncharitable Man who being Rich and hearing of the Miseries of others does not take them into Consideration But what we see with our Eyes is much more apt to affect us So that this was an Argument of a very cruel disposition in the Rich Man that having so many Occasions of seeing Lazarus he should never be moved to commiserate him 2 dly Here was such an Object presented to him as would move any ones Pity a Man reduced to extream Misery and Necessity Here was no common Object of Charity a Man not only in extream Want but in great Pain and Anguish and so helpless that he was unable to keep off the Dogs from being troublesome to him And yet this did not move him 3 dly A very little Relief would have contented this Poor Man and have been a great Kindness to him that which the Rich Man might have spared without the least Prejudice to himself He would have been glad to have been fed with the crumbs which fell from the Rich Man's table and yet the Parable intimates that the Rich Man was so hard-hearted as not to afford him these Ver. 23. And it came to pass that the Beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom Here was a great and sudden Change He who when he was alive was neglected by Men and contumeliously exposed like a dead Carcass to the Dogs when he dies is attended on by the Angels and by them safely conveyed into a state of unspeakable Happiness He who lay at the Rich Man's Gate and could find no entrance there is admitted into Heaven The Beggar died and was carried into Abraham's bosom 'T is very observable that our Saviour in this Parable represents Men as passing immediately out of this Life into a state of Hppiness or Torment And as in no other place of Scripture so neither in this where it had been so proper does our Saviour give the least Intimation of the state of Purgatory which the Church of Rome hath devised and makes so much Profit and Advantage of which because it is so visible and apparent we may without Uncharitableness suppose to be the reason why they keep such a stir about it And was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom It was an ancient Tradition among the Jews that the Angels did attend good Men at their Death and carry their Souls into Paradice which is here call'd Abraham's bosom And this was a proper place for Lazarus who had been neglected by the Rich Man to be conveyed into Abraham's Bosom who was of a quite contrary temper and loved to entertain and relieve Strangers And Paradice is fitly call'd Abraham's bosom because the Jews had so great a Veneration for Abraham and that deservedly for his eminent Faith and Obedience that they gave him the first place among the blessed Hence is the Expression Matth. 8.11 of sitting down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God Now this Expression of being in Abraham's bosom is an Allusion to the Custom of Feasts among the Jews where the most esteemed and beloved Guest sat next him that was chief at the Feast and leaned on his Bosom Hence St. John is call'd the Disciple whom Jesus loved because when he sat at Meat he leaned on his Bosom John 13.23 Hence likewise is the Expression of our Saviour's being in the Bosom of his Father to signifie his dearness to him John 1.18 No Man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him I proceed The Rich Man also died and was buried The Rich Man also died this is very elegant and emphatical insinuating to us what the Scripture so often takes notice of that Riches for all Men's confidence in them will not deliver from Death This Rich Man indeed was out of Danger of being starved and famisht as poor Lazarus was But Death had other ways to come at him It is probable enough that he might be surfeited by faring sumptuously every day The Rich Man also died And was buried And here again we may observe the strict Decorum which our Saviour uses in this Parable It is not said of Lazarus that he was buried but only that he died it is probable that he was flung out of the way into some Pit or other But of the Rich Man it is said he was buried And this is all the advantage which a Rich Man hath by a great Estate after he is dead to have a pompous and solemn Funeral which yet signifies nothing to him after Death because he is insensible of it Ver. 23. And in Hell he lift up his Eyes being in Torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus