thence conclude that if Providence hath a respect to any one part of the world it cannot be imagined but it should have an Influence over all for else it must either be Finite or Partial which is absurd So in the asserting of Scriptures begin with that which they all point at and which if one place be questioned thousands of the same kind will evince viz. That the Messiah was to come which is the great design of the Old Testament That the Messiah is come which is the sum of the New and then all the other parts of Scripture will be owned as suited to the Divine and Heavenly Nature of our Messiah who took a body not only that he might dye our Price but that he might live our Pattern And almost each Line of Scripture especially in the New Testament describes either his Life or his Language 2. Here the Doubter must begin because this is the readiest way to ascertain himself whether he be guided by the Spirit of God or not So the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 12.3 None can call Jesus the Lord but by the Holy Spirit and John 1 Joh. 4.2 Every Spirit that confesseth Jesus the Messiah to be come in the flesh is of God They do not mean that saying this in words is a sign of the Spirit for what is more easie but the owning it in heart this whoever doth may be sure he hath the Spirit And the reason is plain because where the Object proposed doth exceed any natural power there must be a new power given by which that Object is to be received Thus the Apostle John argues concerning future glory Hereafter 1 Joh. 3.3 saith he we shall be like him i. e. Christ because we shall see him as he is There will be a proportion and similitude between Christs body and ours because our visive Faculty shall be so exceedingly advanced as that we shall be able to perceive him in his utmost radiance of Glory So in belief since the soul when it doth it is heightned beyond any native Virtue of its own it is a sign that Gods Spirit hath illuminated and enlarged its Capacity Thus the Apostle We are saved by Grace through Faith Eph. 2.8 and that not of our selves it is the gift of God i. e. that very Faith by which we apprehend Christ is as much the gift of God as Christ himself that is apprehended by it I know very well this seems harsh to many who are willing to boast in themselves but if ever you come to believe indeed you will find the Difficulties your Natural Reason doth urge and vex you with to be insuperable untill the Spirit of God by infusing new light doth explain and solve them Lastly Begin with enquiring whether Jesus be the Christ because upon this depends the whole course of your future Obedience Our Saviour required no more of any that came unto him but to believe that he was the Son of God not that he did exclude good works but he knew that this was the only way to facilitate and expedite them All the while we are either uncertain that our past sins are pardoned or our present services accepted how lamely how untowardly do we set about our duty But when once we believe on Christ all that care is over and the firmer our Faith is the higher and more ardent will our Love be which like a flame shoots through the soul and carries it out with an heavenly quickness and ardency Therefore saith the Apostle Rom. 10.9 10. If thou confess with thy mouth that Jesus is the Lord i.e. If thou obeyest him and believest in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead i.e. that he is the true Messiah of which his Resurrection is an infallible proof thou shalt be saved For with the heart men believe unto righteousness i.e. unto the justification of their Persons and with the mouth is confession made unto Salvation But to think of making confession or doing any act of Religion without Faith desire at least and the desire of Faith is Faith this is only to mock God and to undo our selves by our foolish and hypocritical presumptions in presenting unto him a Sacrifice which he abhors For without Faith i. e. reliance upon him for mercy and out of Christ God is nothing else but Justice it is impossible to please him When the Doubter hath gone thus far as to find that if he will be satisfied here he must begin his next course will be to run over in his mind those Arguments which our Saviour useth to evince his being the Messiah such are the heavenliness of his Language Joh. 8.43 Why do you not saith our Saviour know my speech i.e. Why do you not perceive even by my manner of discourse that I am come from heaven full of that God in whose Name I speak Joh. 10.21 For as some of the Jews said these are not the words of him that hath a devil These are not the words of one that came to deceive the world and to boast of himself to be that which he was not Another Argument our Saviour urges is the holiness of his Life Joh 8.46 Joh. 10.32 Which of you saith he doth convince me of sin and many good works have I done amongst you for which of them do you stone me An holy humble self-denying man who forbad even his Miracles to be published cannot without intolerable malice be supposed to assume a title which did not belong to him Add to this the God-like Patience and Resolution of his Death dying in defence of this very Tenet unprovoked with injuries breathing out his soul in charity to men Father forgive them Luk. 23.34 for they know not what they do at the same time both praying and pleading for his bitterest Enemies and then giving up himself unto his Father with perfect Affiance Father Ibid. v. 46. into thy hands do I commend my Spirit Add yet farther the Testimony of his Followers who saw him after he was risen the success of his Doctrine in spite of Persecution and above all the fulfilling of Prophesies as I have already mentioned Truly then if he that doubted be not satisfied if he that was almost doth not become altogether a Christian he is strangely wanting to himself for God is not wanting to assist those who do but begin to enquire after him every doubt that ariseth being nothing else but a Motion of Gods Spirit whereby he would draw us unto himself Having thus cleared that to believe is not unreasonable as the Unbeliever supposeth the next thing I shall propose is this That 2. To obey is not dangerous for though we may lose our Lives yet sure we shall be sufficient gainers if we save our souls And therefore let the Doubter strengthen himself with representing Heaven in its fulness of Joy alwaies before his eyes That Doctrine which teacheth that we are not to have an eye to the
of the Holy Spirit which was to be upon the Messiah for that of him and not of Solomon that Psalm was written is clear from the foregoing Verse where speaking of the same Person he saith Ver. 6. Heb. 1.8 9. Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever And therefore by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is rightly applied unto our Saviour Joh. 3.34 of whom John Baptist gives this Testimony That God gave unto him the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. not in that stinted and limited measure wherein formerly it was dispensed but suited to the Largeness of an Immence Donor and to the Capacity of an Infinite Receiver who was God as well as Man and by that neer Union did infuse into his Manhood whatever is conceiveable of Power Purity or Perfection And that this is the meaning of Jesus being the Christ i.e. anointed with the Spirit two places amongst many other will clear one is that of our Saviour in his Sermon Luk. 4.18 wherein he applies unto himself that passage in the Prophet Isay The Spirit of the Lord is upon me wherefore he hath anointed me i. e. By putting his Spirit upon me he hath abundantly fitted me for my employment Another place is that of the Disciples in their Prayer to God Act. 4.27 where applying Davids words in the second Psalm unto our Saviour Herod say they and Pilate together with the people of Israel were gathered against thy holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed i. e. as Peter explains it in another place Whom thou hast anointed with the Holy Spirit and with Power Act. 10.38 thereby enabling and qualifying him for so great and weighty an undertaking And so much for the first Observation Doctrine 2 The second Observation is this That the way infallibly to prove that our Saviour is the true Messiah is impartially to weigh the truth of his Predictions Before I address my self to the proof of this I must answer an Objection which many may be ready to make viz. That this is a thing sufficiently believed already and therefore it will be only lost labour to go about to prove it To which I answer 1. That the greatest part of those who call themselves Christians are not so indeed For as the Apostle saies of his Thessalonians so may we say of most in our respective Auditories 1 Thes 3.2 All have not Faith There being in all places many too many whose Conversation should the Apostle have seen he would have told them as he did the Philippians weeping That they were enemies of the Cross of Christ for their belly was their God and they gloried in their shame Phil. 3.18 19. For let us not deceive our selves as if Viciousness and Pravity of Life could be reconciled with Sincerity and Truth of Faith but rather let us argue with David The wickedness saith he Psal 36.1 of the wicked saith in my heart there is no fear of God before his eyes i.e. when I see the Actions of wicked men I do as evidently perceive that inwardly they fear not God as if they did in express terms proclaim and avouch it So may we without any uncharitableness conclude from the Lives of most Christians that their hearts are full of Unbelief For there is so necessary so inseparable a Connexion between Faith and Obedience that they can no more be severed than Fire and Heat And therefore since the fruits of Unbelief are so apparent every where it is our duty not only to Preach but to Prove Jesus to be Christ that so we may root out those innate and soul-destroying Seeds 2. My second Answer to that Objection is That the firmest and best rooted Faith is yet capable of an Encrease and Progress He that believeth a little ought to believe much and he that believeth much may believe more and therefore Arguments which do enforce grounds of Faith can never be unseasonable for which reason it is that though these Disciples did believe on our Saviour had confessed him and in token of firm affiance did promise to dye with him rather than to forsake him yet our Saviour thought fit to fortifie and strengthen them by yet more urging this new Motive Sc. the event of his Predictions Having thus cleared my way to the Doctrine and shewed the necessity of preaching it I affirm That the way to be infallibly assured that our Saviour is the Messiah is to observe the Event of his Precitions Because First Reason 1 This is the way which our Saviour laies most stress upon both here and in other places here it was the very scope and design of his foretelling the Treachery of Judas I tell you saith he before it comes to pass that when it doth come to pass you may believe that I am And again when he had told them of his own departure Joh. 14.29 and that he would send the Comforter that is the Holy Spirit to supply his room and to make up their Joyes he adds And now I tell you before it come to pass Joh. 16.4 that when it doth come to pass ye might believe Again when he had told his Disciples of that violent and inhumane Usage they should meet with These things saith he have I told you that when the time shall come ye may remember that I told you of them i. e. And from thence gather a full and peremptory assurance of my Truth and Veracity So in those many Predictions which we have in Mat. 24. our Saviour subjoyns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mar. 13.23 but you look to it behold I have foretold you all things So that our Saviour so often urging and insisting upon his Prophesies seems to intimate that he was not unwilling to venture his whole Cause upon the force of that single Argument Secondly Reason 2 This is the way which God himself did long before point to and warrant us in the Use of For he foretels by Moses I will raise them up a Prophet from among their Brethren Deut. 18.18 like unto thee and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him This Prophesie our Saviour hath a peculiar respect to throughout all this Gospel of John as Ch. 5.46 Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me And Chap. 6.38 I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me And Chap. 7.16 My Doctrine is not mine but his that sent me which he oftentimes repeats from whence many of the people Ver 40. who heard him conclude This is of a truth the Prophet i. e. That Prophet whose coming Moses had foretold So in that last Prayer which our Saviour made on earth in behalf of his Disciples Joh. 17.6.8 he useth these words I have manifested thy Name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the World For I have given unto
immediately he adds And many false Prophets shall arise and shall deceive many As when the Banks and Bounds are broken down the River presently doth overflow the Valleys so when the Apostles were gone who were to stand in the Breach and to resist the Torrent Corruption and Will-worship did like a deluge over-run the World as Hegesippus Eusebius and other Ecclesiastical Writers do both mention and sadly complain of 2. Because I take the Spirit of Antichrist as I find it discovered in Scripture to consist in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. An ambitious affectation of Soveraignty or Dominion or in a word A Love of Primacy This the Apostle censures in Diotrephes that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. He loved to be first or chief and took upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. the sole power to excommunicate Now while Jerusalem was standing in its glory no Church could vye with that for superiority as being undoubtedly the Mother Church from whence all the rest did proceed But as soon as ever the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. the Jewish state was removed then the biggest City laid claim to be the best Church and never rested till it had fixed in it self a spiritual as before it had done a temporal and earthly Dominion I know very well that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. He which withholdeth or bindeth i.e. Keepeth Antichrist from appearing is commonly understood of the Civill Empire of Rome Apol. c. 32. ad Scap. c. 2. Pâ—aeâ—cr adv Haeâ—c 27. so Tertullian in his Apology and other of the Ancients but for the former Reasons I think it is rather to be meant of the Jewish State as likewise because the Apostle in the same place saith that the Mystery of Iniquity was then working and John saies 2 Joh. 2. c 4. that Antichrist was then come whereas there was no considerable change in the Empire of Rome for some hundreds of years after But Jerusalem was destroyed within few years after the Apostle Pauls Dearn and he seems to intimate that he saw some evident Sympromes of and Preparations o it even in his own name in those words of his 1 Thes 2. The wrath i. e. threatned by our Saviour is come upon them to the uttermost But John did survive the ruine of that City whereupon he â—â—ies that Antichrist was then come the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned by the Apostle Paul being in his time removed Having thus fixed the Rise of Antichrist upon the destruction of Jerusalem we must take notice that there is a threefold Epoche or account of time from whence we may date the ruine of that City The first was in the time of Vespatian about forty years after our Saviour and then Antichrist was working being then in his seeds and beginnings The second was under Adrian about 150 years after our Saviour and then Antichrist was come to some consistence and maturity for to pass by the False and Unsound Doctrines and corrupt Practices of that Age as their enveighing against the Marriages especially the second marriages of Ministers their Use of the Cross and counting it a kind of Charm their voluntary Fasting and Penance and placing some kind of holiness in the unmarried state as may be seen at large in Tertullian Cyprian and others But to pass by these about Adrians time it was Euseb l. 4. c. 24. that Victor the Bishop of Rome did take upon him to excommunicate all the Eastern Bishops that did not solemnize Easter at the same time with him by which Irregular and Presumptuous Decree he did not only take that for granted which I think is very questionable viz. the keeping of Easter I mean upon a Religious account but likewise he assumed a power which did not belong to him and sufficiently shews that that Church was then aiming at Empire and Rule rather than Religion The third and last date of Jerusalems Ruine was in Julian's time when the Temple was torne up by an Earthquake and that Prophecy of our Saviour literally fulfilled that there should not be left there one stone upon another And about this time it would be endless to recount the infinite abuses and errours which were not only crept into but had credit and countenance in the Church The Doctrine of Merit and Justification by Works the Worship of Angels the forbidding of Marriage and Abstaining from Meats being publikely owned and this last so rigorously pressed that Socrates a learned and moderate Historian observes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socr. l. 5. c. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They count saith he Fornication and all uncleanness an indifferent and dispensable fault but about their Feast and Fast daies they contend as for their lives he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quite perverting the Commands of God and giving Laws unto themselves At the same time likewise were appeals made unto Rome Socr. l. 2. c. 8. c. 17. to Julius the Bishop there as the Judge of Civil Controversies and a Decree either made or tacitly assented to that no Act of a Council should be valid at which the Bishop of Rome was not present which shews that Antichrist i.e. that proud aspiring overweening Spirit was well grown and arrived almost to its full stature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith my Author i.e. Socr. l. 7.11 now of a long time had the Bishoprick of Rome advanced it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beyond the Sacerdotal unto a Tyrannical Power and therefore would not permit those who were of the same Orthodox Faith with them to meet and assemble quietly in their Jurisdiction And this was written by Socrates before the stile of Universal Bishop was yet thought of which within a hundred years after was challenged and then was the Mystery of Iniquity compleat and perfect 4. The fourth and last thing in our Saviours Prediction is the way how Antichrist should rise together with the Progress he should make They shall shew saith our Saviour great signs and wonders to deceive if it were possible even the Elect. And this note either of pretending to or really effecting of Miracles is mentioned both by the Apostle Paul and John in his Revelation 2 Thes 2 9. Paul saith of him that his working is according to Satan in all power and signs and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not lying wonders in this sense as if their Miracles were all forged and false but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wonders done in defence and maintenance of a lye i. e. His Doctrine should be so false that it should have nothing to uphold it but meerly the Reputation of Miracles whether true or false So the Apostle John saith that the Beast who had horns like a Lambe Rev. 13.13 doth great miracles so that he makes even fire to descend from Heaven what he there cals a Beast in another place he calls the false Prophet who does signs and wonders
Therefore instead of such dismal contrivances let Heresies be suppressed by the same way by which they were raised and that is by Preaching and in the mean while let not the Believer be troubled that many Errours are commonly vented now for he understood not the Nature of his Religion nor the vain-glorious and yet foolish Pride of man if he did not expect them For the Scripture is difficult exceeding difficult and hard to be understood and man is foolish and so apt to mistake Proud and so apt to presume Vain-glorious and so apt to publish his Conceits which in the end prove Heresies But convince men once that it is their duty to be Humble then they will cease to vent that they are to be charitable and they will forbear to contend for their singular Fancies and unto this Posture of mind nothing but the blessing of God upon Preaching can bring them 2. This likewise will comfort Believers in respect of Persecutions which may come That the Church of Christ is a Ship which doth best in a Storm and that Faith must like Gold be tried in the Fire is so known a thing that I need not insist upon it All that I infer is that the having Afflictions foretold should keep us from grieving at them when they do come They Joh. 16.1 saith our Saviour to his Disciples shall put you out of the Synagogues and when they kill you think they do God good service And I tell you these things that you might not be offended but remember that I told you of them Thus the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians 1 Thes 3.3 4. Let no man be moved by his Afflictions for ye know that we are appointed unto this And even when we were with you we told you before that we should be afflicted even as also it is come to pass Those who are forewarned of approaching Evils are usually armed against them And therefore I have often wondred at that timid and abject Spirit which is in many under their Afflictions which is a certain sign that their Fear is above their Faith and that they inwardly distrust their Cause or doubt of their Reward If ye are reproached saith the Apostle Peter for the sake of Christ 2 Pet. 4.14 2 Tim. 1.7 8. happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon you And Paul to Timothy We have not received the spirit of Fear but the spirit of Power therefore be not ashamed of the Testimony of Christ So that I conceive no condition is more joyous to a true Christian than to be endued with courage to suffer for as in Winter the Fire doth redouble its hear so God at that time of trial doth poure into the soul a more abundant supply of Comfort However he that suffers is on the surer side For though one may suffer and yet not be in the Right yet he that persecutes is certainly in the wrong as doing a thing which he hath no warrant for So that as the Apostle Peter adviseth 1 Pet. 4.19 Let them who suffer according unto the Will of God not be solicitous about the Event but go on in their Duty though the World frown and commit their souls unto him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator 3. Lastly The reflecting upon our Saviours Predictions and the fulfilling of them will be a great Comfort unto Believers in respect of Future Glory which is yet delayed but will certainly come I make no doubt but every serious resolved Christian doth often wish with the Apostle Paul To be dissolved Phil. 2. and to be with Christ which certainly is a condition much better than to struggle with the difficulties and uncertainties of Life or to be clogged with a decaying sinful and enticing body of Flesh We that are in this Tabernacle 2 Cor. 5. saith the Apostle do groan being burdened we would fain be stripped and disrobed of this Cleg of Flesh and be put into present possession of our Inheritance But as Heirs must wait patiently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 untill the time appointed by their Father so must we Let us hold fast saith the Apostle Heb. 10.23 the Profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that hath promised i.e. God will be as good as his word and he hath shewn it by fulfilling so many things already So that Ib. v. 36 37. as he adds Ye have need of Patience that when we have finished the will of God we may receive the Promise For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Life it self is but of a very short date stretched out to its utmost span but what a nothing is it if compared to Eternity And cannot we wait some few years to do our Masters business on Earth but we must cry out for our wages before we have done our work And because Unbelief is ready to creep in and to make that Objection which some in Peter do 2 Pet. 3. Where is the Promise of his coming Why doth Christ seem to neglect his Church as if he had no regard unto his Vineyard If these thoughts arise as do what we can come they will 2 Pet. 39. silence them with that of Peter God is not slack concerning his Promise as some men count slackness but he is long-suffering towards us not willing that any should perish but that all should come unto the knowledge of the truth God hath yet some Jewels to gather out of the Worlds Rubbish and it is for their sakes that the present frame of things is so long continued for when their Number is accomplished the Heaven shall be wrapped up as a Scroull and the Earth shall be removed as an useless Scene Wherefore that I may conclude in the Apostle Peters words Ibid. v. 18. Believers Ye knowing these things before beware that ye be not led away by the seduction of ungodly men and so fall from your own stedfastness but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ To whom be glory now and for ever AMEN The Resurrection of the Body Asserted and Cleared ACT. 26.8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the Dead THese are the words of the Apostle Paul spoken by way of Apology in defence of himself and of that most questioned and contradicted part of his Doctrine viz. the Resurrection of the Dead This being in it self so accounted by him the chief Foundation of a Christians Hope where ever that great Apostle came he first laies and then builds upon it At Athens among the learned Greeks Act. 17.18 we find him by their own confession preaching but two things Jesus and the Resurrection Afterwards when he was empleaded by the Jews he doth openly avow his Faith I am saith he a Pharisee i. e. Act. 23.6 I do with them hold and maintain the Resurrection of
our Saviour doth often appeal to their Testimony as where he saies I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me And again If I had not done among them the works which no other man did Joh. 15.24 they had not had sin But that which our Saviour most insisted upon was the Scriptures to them he refers the Jews out of these do the Apostles altogether argue and to the search of these are all conjoyn'd and still we can ground our belief upon their Testimony whatever we boast of is not Faith but Fancy and will not hold out in a time of Triall Then the soul can only sit down satisfied when by comparing the Predictions of the Old Testament with the fulfillings of the New it can subscribe probatumest I have examined and find it true Now because this is a matter of very great importance and yet too much neglected therefore I shall press it upon these Considerations 1. This will sweeten our Obedience Till we are satisfied as Men we can never obey as Christians For Faith is nothing else but another kind of Reason whose Basis and Foundation is laid in humility Therefore the Apostle calls that great Action of a Christian when he doth not as in the Old Law sacrifice an Oxe but himself up to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a service suiting us as reasonable Creatures In things of Art the hands will not do what the head doth not direct so in spiritual things we quite mistake our way if we think of going blindfold and hood-winck'd to Duty Ignorance and Implicite Obedience is a fit Sacrifice for the devil whose kingdom is founded in darkness when as Regeneration is nothing else but renewed Light And the clearer Discoveries are made to the Understanding the more pliant and obedient is the Will 1 Cor. 14. and the more easie doth it find the Yoke For this end is Preaching and Prophesying in a known Tongue commanded that there might be a Race of knowing Christians And Paul would not so much as Sing or Pray or do any other Act of Religious Worship with his Spirit only but with his Understanding also There cannot be a greater brand cast upon any ones devotion than to worship they know not what Joh. 4.22 for that is that which our Saviour doth especially blame the Samaritans for 2. This is the best way to win upon others And this principally concerns Ministers of the Gospel whom I may ask in the Apostles words Thou that teachest another Rom. 2.20 wilt thou not teach thy self Thou who commandest another to believe wilt thou not give him a Reason why he should believe and so leave him without excuse 1 Tim. 4.12 Thus the Apostle bids Timothy be an example to the Faithful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. in reasoning and gives this general charge that a man of God must be apt to teach in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves There are indeed some men of diseased minds who have quenched in themselves all Principles by which they may recover and be enlightened But there are in the World many sober Dissenters who stand off from embracing Christianity meerly from the apprehensions they have that the Tenets of it are Absurd and Unreasonable Act. 17.20 such as these must be won by Argument Thus Paul dealt with the Athenians who when they desired to be better informed of his Doctrine he makes a most excellent discourse to them concerning Providence and clears by unanswerable Reason that their way of Worship was false because it begot in mens minds low and mean opinions of the Deity as if he were confined to Place or did take delight in outward Representations Thus did our Saviour deal with Nicodemus In short Ignorance in a Gospel-Teacher is a capital crime for our Saviour when ever he preached he did it with this Preface Hear and Understand and when his Disciples were somewhat dull of Apprehension he sharply reproves them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What are you whom I design to be Lights and Guides of the World without Understanding 3. The want of this is the cause why Christians stand so much at a stay and make no better Progress Total Ignorance is a certain sign of Perdition â— Cor. 4.3 If our Gospel saith the Apostle be hid it is hid to them that are lost Partial Ignorance is a sign of weakness for there is that Light that Evidence in our Religion that if it be followed it will alwaies fill the mind with fresh Discoveries They who first read the Scriptures are like such that see a glorious Palace at a distance it is wrapped up in a Mist and the Beauty of it lies concealed but the nearer we approach the more intently we view it the more is the Lustre of it manifested The World i.e. Carnal men do count the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Idoll and a Foolish thing but Paul tells us and all true Believers find it to be the Wisdome of God a Plot laid from all Eternity for the effecting of which the World was made and when the Mystery of Salvation there declared is perfected the World shall be laid aside as an useless Scene Christ to invite our Study doth stile himself the Light of the World and who doth not see that all who are not enlightned by him are covered with Darkness Uncertainty and doubting But John calls our Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. in the proper signification of the word Reason he being that Eternal Fountain from whom true Reason sprung and by whom our lost and ruin'd Reason is repaired 1 Cor. 2. The Spirit saith the Apostle searcheth the depths of God i.e. the Spirit of God in man makes him unquiet and restless in his search till he hath sounded those depths which the Ignorant and Lazy World pass hastily over How easily by this light would those Mists about Incarnation Providence Resurrection c. which to this day perplex the disputing world be all dispersed and scattered As to this last the Apostle here is very Positive that he would venture all upon a Dispute and that the best reason should carry it Use 2 The second Use is to shew the Necessity of Christian Life and this is so clear from the Premises that it need not be long insisted on For If the Dead rise not 1 Cor. 15.32 the consequence which Paul brings in wicked men making is very Natural Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye But if the dead rise then Peter hath made a Rational Inference 1 Pet. 4.7 The end of all things is at hand let us be sober and watch unto Prayer For the time is coming when the hidden things of our shame shall be brought to light 1 Cor. 4.5 this certainly if once believed would keep us honest in the dark one Sermon about it made Felix tremble though being a Roman his Unbelief made him careless and his calling valiant Did but men once give themselves leave to think of it they would not so spend their daies as if they had nothing but this Inch of time to provide for For as our souls are alwaies on the wing so our bodies are not entirely our own but hereafter to be resumed again and made either Cages for Unclean or Mansions for Clorified Spirits And therefore that unchangeable state into which they shall once pass is by all wise and knowing men most to be secured So that I shall conclude in the words of the Prophet Hosea Who is wise Hos 14.9 and he shall understand these things Prudent and he shall know them For the waies of the Lord are right and the Just shall walk in them but the Transgressour shall fall therein FINIS Errata PAge 16. Line 2. by yet more r. yet more by p. 13. l. 24. doctrine dangerous r. doctrine is dangerous Ib. l. 26. have r. leave p. 18. l. 7. Regimenâ— r. Regâ—men p. 24. l. 34. destroyed r. descryed p. 25. l. 13 Bounds r. Mounds p. 27 l. ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 32. l. 19. desire r. desired p. 56. l. 28. still r. till