45.6 Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever c. Wherefore God even thy God hath annoynted thee with the oyl of gladness above thy fellows Which cannot be applyed to Solomon but as a type of the Messiah Howsoever the name JEHOVAH which is of such reverence among the Jewes that they dare not pronounce it but in place thereof read Adonai that I am sure they will never grant to belong to any creature Then what say they to that of Jer. 23.6 where the Messiah is called in plain terms Jehovah And this is the name whereby they shal cal him Jehovah our righteousnesse So likewise Chap. 33.16 over again is he called by the same name Jehovah our rightousness And so do the ancient Jews themselves expound this place namely Rabbi Abba who asketh the question what the Messiah shal be called and answereth out of this place he shall be called the Eternal Jehovah The like doth Misdrasch upon the first verse of the 20. Psalm And Rabbi Moyses Hadersan upon Gen. 41 expounding that of Zephany 3 9. concludeth thus In this place Jehovah signifieth nothing else but the Messiah And so did one of the Jews at unawares acknowledge to me alledging that place out of the Psalmes The Lord doth build up Jerusalem c. that their Messiah at his comming should build a new City and Sanctuary much more glorious then the former So did he also interpret that place of Hag. 2.10 of a third Temple Whereupon I inferred seeing in those words he alledged The Lord doth build up Jerusalem the Hebrew word is Jehovah therefore by his own intepretation the Messiah must be Jehovah which he could not well shift off but said that Adonai for Jehovah they dare not name must there be understood which point of the Godhead of the Messiah the most ancient Jews did ever acknowledge proving by sundry places of Scripture not onely that he should be the Son of God but also the word of God incarnate First that he should be the Son of God they prove out of Gen. 49.10 The Scepter shal not depart c. til Shiloh come Which Rabbi Kimhi proveth to signifie his Son that is the Son of God Oat of Isaiah where he is called ' The bud of the Lord Out of the Psalms where it is said Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And a little after ' Kiss the Son least he be angry and ye perish blessed are all they that trust in him Which last words cannot be understood of the Son of any man for it is written Cursed be the man that trusteth in man Jer. 17.5 Secondly that he shall be the Word of God they prove out of Isaiah as also out of Hosea where it is said I will save them by the Lord their God Ionathan translateth it thus I will save them by the Word of their God So where it is sayd The Lord sayd to my Lord sit at my right hand c. The Lord said to his Word sit at my right hand Also where it is sayd He sent his Word and healed them Rabbi Isaack Arama upon Gen. 47. expoundeth it to be meant of the Messiah that shall be Gods Word So likewise that of Iob I shall see God in my flesh c. Rabbi Simeon upon Gen. 10. gathereth thereupon that the Word of God shall take flesh womans womb Another out of these words Jehovah our God is one Jehovah proveth the blessed Trinity saying by the first Iehovah is signified God the Father by the next which is Elohim God the Son and by the other Johovah God the Holy Ghost proceeeding of them both to all which is added the word one to signifie that these three are indivisible but this secret saith he shall not be revealed until the coming of the Messiah These are the words of Rabbi Ibda reported by Rabbi Simeon in a Treatise called Zoar of great authority among the Jews where also they said Rabbi Simeon interpreteth those words of Isaiah Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts in this manner Isaiah by repeating three times Holy saith he doth signifie as much as if he had said Holy Father Holy Son and Holy Spirit which three Holies do make but one Lord God of Hosts which mystery of the blessed Trinity Rabbi Hacadosch gathereth out of the very letters of JEHOVAH upon those words of Jeremy before recited the two natures of the Messiah both Divine and Humane his two filiations the one whereby he must be the Son of God the other whereby he must be the Son of Man concluding thereupon that in him there shall be two Distinct Natures and yet shall they make but one Christ which is the same that we Christians hold Philo that learned Jew shall end this first consideration touching the Nature and Person of the Messiah as himself writeth in his Book De Exulibus By tradition we have it saith he that we must expect the death of an high Priest which Priest shall be the very Word of God void of all sin whose Father shall be God and this Word shal be the Fathers wisdom by which all things in this world were created c. Therefore the Messiah must be both God and Man both by the Scriptures as also by their own Writers they cannot deny it That the Messiah must change the Law of Moses AS the Messiah must be both God and Man even the natural and onely begotten Son of God and the very Word of God incarnate void of all sin able to satisfie the wrath of his Father and to fulfil the Law of Moses for us which Moses himself could not do nor any other after him It was a burthensome law to the Children of Israel A yoak which neither they nor their forefathers were able to bear so having once in his own person most exactly accomplished the same here on earth together with all Rites Ceremonies Prophesies Types Figures and Circumstances of his comming clearly fulfilled in him and by him It was necessary I say the substance being once come those shadows and ceremonies should cease and be abolished I mean the ceremonial Law totally for as touching the moral Law or the Commendments he saith I came not to destroy the Law or the Prophets but to fulfil them only thus far hath he abolished that too he hath taken away the curse of it hanging it on his Crosse even the hand writing that was against us together with himselfe crucified This ceremonial Law of Moses I say consisting of such a multitude of Ceremonies Figures Types Sacrifices c. all of them for the most part pointing at the Messiah to come for by those outward signs and services appointed by God to his people they were still put in mind of his Covenant and assured of his promise that the Messiah should come Moreover it being proper and peculiar to one only Nation in all the world namely Jury the exercise thereof permitted but in
blindness in this point and in them the whole Nation of the Jews to this day Ye perceive nothing at all nor yet do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man die for the people and that the whole Nation perish not c. But he that will read the whole story of Christ crucified with the particulars described many hundred yeers before the same fell out let him turn to Isaiah and acknowledge him for an Evangelist who to signifie the strangeness of the case beginneth first with a preface Who will believe our report c. All which narration Rabbi Jonathan the author of the Chaldy Paraphrase applyeth to the murder of the Messiah by the Jews whereunto agree Rabbi Simeon Rabbi Hadersan and others proving further out of Dan. 9.27 That after the Messiah shall have preached half seven yeers he shall be slain which disagreeth little or nothing from the account of us Christians Also in their Thalmud it is set down for a principle and the sentence pronounced beforehand peremptorily and in plain terms that the Messiah at his coming shall be put to death So then I may conclude upon all these particulars of Christ his Death Passion foretold by the Prophets prefigured in the Law and so expounded and acknowledged by the Jews themselves the ancient Rabbins before mentioned and finally so exactly fulfilled in our Lord and Saviour as by the quotations in the margent may appear together with the mild manner of his death praying for his enemies Father forgive them and meekly recommending his soul into the hands of God Father into thy hands I commend my spirit with other strange accidents and circumstances that miraculous eclipse of the Sun at that very instant from the sixt to the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land the vail of the Temple rent in twain from the top to the bottome and the earth did quake and the stones were cloven and the graves did open themselves and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose c. I say upon all these particularities and circumstances I hope I may conclude as it is in that place with the Centurion and those that were with him watching Jesus who when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done they feared greatly saying Truly this was the Son of God And all the people that came together to that sight beholding the things which were done smote their breasts and returned So may I conclude Truly this was the Son of God truly this is the Messiah and let all the people of the Jews come together again to this sight and behold him whom they have pierced and smite their breasts pricked in their hearts like those Jews in the Acts and cry out Men and Brethren what shall we do and return to the Lord and be baptised every one in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins which God grant And the Lord pour upon them the spirit of grace and of compassion that in soul and spirit they may look upon him whom they have pierced and lament for him as it is in the Prophet every Tribe and Family apart His Resurrection FOr his Resurrection it was also foretold by the Prophets and prefigured in Jonas David saith in the person of the Messiah of whom he prophesied in divers places and was a type I have set the Lord always before me c. Wherefore mine heart is glad and my tongue rejoyceth my flesh also doth rest in hope for thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave nor suffer thine holy One to see corruption Also Hosea saith After two days will he revive us and in the third day he will raise us up Us in the plural number pointing as it should seem both at the Resurrection of our Saviour the third day as also the raising of a number of the Saints together with him at the same time prefigured in Jonas together with the time of his abode in the Sepulcher and foreshewed many times by our Saviour himself to his Disciples such and such things shall be done to the Son of man He shall be apprehended evil entreated mocked scourged put to death but the third day he shall rise again Also to the Jews demanding a sign he answered Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again And at another time An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign but no signe shall be given them save the signe of the prophet Jonas for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the Whales belly so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth Which Prophesie of his they full wel remembring and fearing the event immediately upon his burial they went to Pilate saying Sir we remember that Deceiver said while he was living within three days I will rise again Command therefore the Sepulcher to be made sure till the third day lest hit Disciples steal him away by night and say unto the people he is risen from the dead and so the last error be worse then the first All which was done according to their desire a strong watch appointed the Sepulcher sealed up all things made so sure by the Jews as might be for they had gotten from Pilate a special commission for that purpose to whom he was as forward to grant it as they to ask it and that in as large and ample manner as themselves knew or could devise All which notwithstanding after a most miraculous manner The Angel of the Lord descending from heaven with an earthquake and rolling back the stone from the Door of the Sepulcher the Keepers astonied and become as dead men Jesus our Saviour according to the former prophesies is risen again and hath appeared to his Apostles and Disciples his faithful witnesses a number of them at divers several times to whom he presented himself alive as S. Luke writeth by many infallible tokens being seen of them by the space of forty days and speaking of those things which appertain to the Kingdom of God howsoever the Jews suborned the Soldiers giving them largely to say His Disciples came by night and stole him away while they slept which saying is noised among the Jews to this day How probably the former circumstances considered let the world judge Therefore I will conclude this point also with that of Paul touching the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour He hath declared himself mightily to be the Son of God by the Resurrection from the dead and consequently that Messiah promised before by the Prophets in the holy Scriptures as the same Apostle urgeth His Ascention FOr his Ascension it was also foretold by the Prophets and necessarily followeth upon his Resurrection to be believed to wit that having finished the work of our Redemption here one earth he ascended up into heaven and there sitteth at the
knew no surer way of publishing their Laws and procuring authority to the same then to write them with their own hands and in their life time to establish their promulgation So Lycurgus Solon and others among the Grecians Numa to the Romans Mahomet to the Sarasins But Jesus to shew his Divine power in directing the Pen and Stile of the Evangelists would not leave any thing written by himself but passed from this world in simplicity and silence without any other shew or ostenâ—ation of his own doings Meaning notwithstanding afterwards to his glory and the edification of his Church here on earth by four irrefragable witnesses or remembrancers the four Evangelists every word should be established and recorded as may appear by that place where he saith These things have I spoken unto you being present with you but the Comforter which is the holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall bring all things to your remembrance which I have told you Whereupon I infer that the Evangelists and Apostolical writers were all of them guided and directed by one and the same spirit even the spirit of God for the registring of all things either said or done by our Saviour so far forth as seemed best to his Divine will and pleasure to be registred and recorded for the benefit and edification of his Church For there were many other things which Jesus did as John the Evangelist testifieth which are not written that is to say which the holy Spirit of God thought needless to faith and salvation but saith he These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that in believing ye might have life through his name Now for these Evangelists four in number which some have resembled to the four Beasts in Ezekiel the first and last are Apostles that wrote as they had seen the two middle are Disciples who registred things as they had understood by conference with the Apostles The first Gospel was written by an Apostle to give light to the rest and the last also by an Apostle to give authority and confirmation to the former The first was written in the Hebrew Tongue for that all those miracles which Jesus wrought were done in that Country He was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel to the end that either the whole Nation might believe them or the obstinate impugne them which yet never any of their Rabbins took in hand to do The other three were written in the most famous and populous language of all Nations at that time to wit the Greek Tongue They wrote their stories in divers Countries far distant one from another and yet agreed they all most exactly in one and the same narration as is to be seen though diversly related yet in truth and substance all one one sometimes supplying what another hath not according to the discretion of one and the same spirit wherewith they were all guided and directed like those four Beasts in Ezek. 1.12 Every one went streight forward whither their spirit led them they returned not They wrote in divers times one after another and yet the latter did neither correct nor reprehend any thing in the former as Heathen writers use to do They published their writings when infinite were alive that knew the facts and of them no small number who desired by all means to impugne them They set down in most of their narrations the time the day the hour the place the village the house the persons with all other circumstances which the mo they are in number the more easie to be refuted if they were not true Neither did they write of things done in far Countries or places remote but in the same Country where they were born in Towns and Cities that were publikely known in Jerusalem it self in Bethania and Bethsaida Vilages hard by Jerusalem in the Suburbs and Hills about the City in such a street at such a gate at such a porch of the Temple at such a Fish-pool publike places familiarly known to every one for these things were not done in a corner as saith the Apostle All which circumstances duly considered never yet impugned methinks should perswade any man of reason to become a Christian as Agrippa in that very place acknowledgeth to Paul saying almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian They published their writings in their life time They altered not their writings afterwards as other Authors are wont in their latter editions nor ever corrected they one jot of that which they had first set down And that which never hapned in any other writings in the world besides nor ever Monarch was able to bring to pass for credit of his Edicts they gave their lives for defence and justifying of that which they had written Their manner of writing is sincere and simple as becommeth so divine a History without all art or Rethorical amplifications as Historians use They flatter none no not Jesus himself whom they most adore nor in confessing him to be their God do they conceal his infirmities of flesh in that he was man as his hunger and thirst his being weary how he wept his passions of fear and the like Nay these Evangelists were so sincere and religious in their narrations as they noted especially the imperfections of themselves and of such others as they principally respected Matthew nameth himself Matthew the Publican Mark Peters Disciple recordeth how S. Peter thrise denyed his Lord and Master and so of the rest These mens writings were published for canonical and received for undoubted truth by all that lived in the very same age and were privie to every particular circumstance therein contained They were copied abroad into infinite mens hands and so conserved with all care and reverence as holy and divine Scripture They were read in Churches throughout all Countries and Nations expounded preached and taught by all Pastors and Commentaries made upon them by holy Fathers from time to time So that no doubt can be made at all either of the authority of them as originally and immediately proceeding from the holy Ghost or of the certainty but that we have the very same incorrupt as the Authors left them for that it was impossible for any enemy to corrupt so many Copies over the world without discovery and resistance And thus much for the credit and authority of our Evangelists The confession of Martyrs NOw for the Martyrs or witnesses appointed by God for the sealing and delivery of this Doctrine of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to all the world they were first and principally his own Apostles and Disciples Now ye are witnesses of these things who both heard his Doctrine and saw his Miracles as S. John testifieth That which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes c. That I say which we have seen and
over Jerusalem the second he denounceth as an angry Judge provoked at length to execute his fierce wrath upon them without any compassion at all His words are these Moreover those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me Which words of our Saviour although they will in no wise believe no more then they did the former yet shal they find his words one day as truly fulfilled to them in the one as they have done already in the other And howsoever hitherto they have esteemed of him as a false Prophet a Deceiver yet hath he been to them but too true a Prophet in all their calamities both first and last And so after this long digression I come to the next The Prophesie of Jeremy THe sixt which confirmeth the former is that of Jer. 23.5 Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will raise up unto David a righteous branch and a King shall reign c. And this is the name whereby they shall call him The Lord our righteousness This was spoken of Davids seed about 400. years after David was dead and buried which proveth manifest that the former promises were not made unto him for Solomon his Son or any other temporal King of his line but only for the Messiah who was called so peculiarly the Son and Seed of David The Prophesie of Ezekiel THe seventh which also confirmeth the other is that of Ezek. 34.23 I will set up a Shepherd over them he shall feed them even my servant David c. In which words the Jews themselves do confesse in their Talmud that their Messiah is called by the name of David for that he shall descend of the seed of David and so it must needs be for that King David being dead so long before could not now come again in his own person to feed them himselfe The Prophesie of Isaiah THe eighth is the Prophesie of Isaiah 2.2 It shall be in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all Nations shall flow unto it c. For the Law shall go forth of Sion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem He shall judge among the Nations Which very words Michah repeateth Chap. 4.1 and are applied there as also here unto the Messiah they can have no other meaning by the judgment of the Jews themselves In that day shall the Bud of the Lord be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent Unto us a Child is born and unto us a Son is given and the Government is upon his shoulders he shall call his name Wonderful Councellour the Mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace the increase of his Government shall have none end And in the 11. Chapter There shall come a rod forth of the stock of Ishai and a graff shall grow out of his root and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him Behold your God commeth c. Then shall the eyes of the blind be lightened and the ears of the deaf shall be opened then shall the same man leap like a Hart and the dumb mans tongue shall sing c. Chap. 35.4 ' And he said It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the desolations of Israel I will also give thee for a light of the Gentiles that thou maist be my salvation unto the ends of the earth Chap. 49.6 Out of all which places before aledged I conclude first the comming of a Messiah which the Jews will not deny secondly that he must be King as well of the Gentiles as of the Jews which they cannot deny thirdly that he must be a spiritual a temporal King as they imagin It followeth next to be proved that he must be both God and man even the Son of God the second person in Trinity to be blessed for evermore which also they shall not deny That the Messiah must be both God and Man THe Jews at the first agreed with us in all or most points as touching the Messiah for to come denying only the fulfilling or application thereof in our Saviour but since the latter Jews finding themselves not able to stand in that issue against us they have devised a new plea saying that we attribute many things unto Jesus that were not foretold of the Messiah to come namely that he should be God and the Son of God the second person in Trinity which we will prove both by Scriptures as also by the writings of their own forefathers For Scriptures it is evident by all or the most alledged before that the Messiah must be God even the Son of God indued with mans nature that is both God and man Genesis where he is called the seed of the woman it is apparent he must be man and in the same place where it is said he shall break the Serpents head who can do this but only God So in Isaiah where he is called the bud of the Lord his Godhead is signified and when he is called the fruit of the earth his Manhood And so in another place Behold a Virgin shal conceive and bare a Son and thou shalt call his name Immanuel that is to say God with us which name can agree to none but to him that is both God and man And who can interpret these speeches That his Kingdom shall be everlasting Isa. 9. That his name shall be for ever it shall endure as long as the Sun and the Moon That all Kings shall worship him all Nations serve him Psa. 72 worship him all ye Gods Ps. 97. That no man can tell his age Isa. 53 That he must sit at the right hand of God Ps. 110. Who I say can understand or interpret them but of God seeing in man they cannot be verified with which place of Scripture the Evangelists do report that Jesus did put to silence divers of the learned Pharisees for saith he If the Messiah be Davids Son how did David call him Lord signifying thereby that albeit he was to be Davids Son as he was man yet was he to be Davids Lord as he was God and so do both Rab. Jonathan and their own publick Commentaries interpret this place Michah is plain His going forth is from the beginning and from everlasting And Isaiah is bold to proclaim him by his own name even God and to give him his right stile with all additions as Herolds to great Kings and Princes use to do He shall call his name Wonderful Councellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of peace c. In vaine therefore is that objection of the Jewes that El or Elohim signifying God is sometimes a plyed to a creature here it cannot be so nor in the next place following Ps.
saying Behold the time shall come that these tokens which I have told thee shal come to pass c. for my son Jesus shal appear c. and after these same years shal my son Christ dye Here is both his birth and passion both his names Jesus Christ plainly expressed Which book though it be not canonical yet was it extant in the world before ever Christ was born Also Rabbi Haccadosch proveth by art Cabalist out of many places of Scripture that the name of the Messiah at his comming shall be Jesus and among other he addeth this reason that as the name of him who first brought the Jews out of bondage into the Land of promise was Jesus or Josua which is all one so must his name be Jesus that shal the second time deliver them Secondly the Angels appearing to the Shepherds in the night of the Nativity with this joyful message from Heaven Behold I bring you tidings of great joy that shal be to all people that unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord And this is shall be a sign unto you ye shal find the child swad'led and laid in a cratch Thirdly the star that appeared notifying his comming into the world whereof not onely the wise men before mentioned but also generally all the Astronomers and Soothsayers of that age took special notice adjudging it to portend universal good to the earth some gathering thereupon that some God descended from heaven to the benefit of mankind and for that cause had that star an image erected to it in Rome and as Plinies words are Is Cometa unus toto orbe colitur That onely Comet in all the world is adored Fourthly his presentation in the Temple according to the Law of Moses where openly came old Simeon by the motion of the spirit for he had a revelation from God that he should not see death till he had seen the Lords Christ took the child in his arms acknowledged him for the Messiah prophesied that he should be a light to be revealed unto the Gentiles appointed for the fall and rising again o many in Israel with other events which afterwards came to pass So did likewise Anne the Prophetess as it is in the same Chapter Fiftly that most pitiful murder of all the Infants in and about Bethlehem upon this occasion as was prophesied by Jeremy saying A voice was heard on high mourning and bitter weeping Rachel weeping for her children and refused to be comforted because they were not Rachel was buried in the way to Ephrath which is Bethlehem and for that cause those infants were called her children albeit she were dead above two thousand years before they were slain and above one thousand and five hundred before Jeremy wrote this prophecy Among which Infants Herod also for more assurance slew an infant of his own for that he was descended by the Mothers side of the line of Judah Which cruelty comming to Augustus his ears he said he had rather be Herods swine then his son for that he being a Jew was prohibited by his religion to kill his swine though not ashamed to kill his Son Sixtly his flying into Egypt hereupon as also to fulfil that prophesie ' out of Egypt have I called my Son which Isaiah enlargeth further saying Behold the Lord rideth upon a light cloud which is his flesh or humanity and shal come into Egypt and all the Idols of Egypt shal tremble at his presence Which latter point Eusebius sheweth was fulfilled most evidently in the sight of all the world for that no nation came to Christian Religion with so great celerity and fervour as did the Egyptians who threw down their Idols before any other Nation And as they had been the first in Idolatry to other countries so were they the first by Christ his comming unto them that afterwards gave example of true return unto their Creator It followeth in Isaiah I wil deliver the Egyptians into the hands of cruel Lords these were the Roman Lords and Princes Pompey Caesar Antony c. ' And a migh-King shal reign over them c. this must needs be Augustus the Emperor who after the death of Cleopatra the last of the blood of the Ptolomies took possession of all Egypt and subjected it as a Province to the Roman Empire But after these temporal afflictions threatned against Egypt behold a most Evangelical promise of deliverance In that day shal five Cities of the Land of Egypt speak the Language of Canaan c. In that day shal the Altar of the Lord be in the midst of the Land of Egypt c. They shal cry unto the Lord because of their oppressors and he shall send them a Saviour and a great man and shal deliver them c. The Lord of Hosts shall bless them saying Blessed be my people of Egypt c. This blessing I say the Egyptians obtained by our Saviours being in Egypt whom here the Prophet calleth by his own name Jesus a Saviour a great man Finally the comming of John Baptist his forerunner or Messenger as was prophesied Behold I will send my Messenger and he shal prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shal speedily come to his Temple And again I will send you Eliah the Prophet that is to say John the Baptist in the spirit and power of Eliah as an Angel from Heaven expoundeth it appearing to Zacharias his Father in the Temple sent to foretel him both of his birth as also by what name he should call him even John saying Thou shalt call his name John he shal be great in the sight of the Lord he shall go before him in the power and spirit of Eliah And therefore out Saviour in plain terms he calleth him Eliah Mat. 11.14 And if you will receive it this is that Eliah which was to come he that hath ears to hear let him hear And as our Saviour gave him his due before a multitude then assembled calling him Eliah So did this Eliah also give our Saviour his due in acknowledging him for the Messiah not assuming unto himself that honour offered unto him by the Jews but refusing it absolutely and laying it upon Jesus our Saviour the true owner Then this is the record of John when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who art thou and he confessed and denyed not and said plainly I am not the Christ I am not the Messiah I Baptize you with water but there is one among you whom you know not he it is that cometh after me which is preferred before me whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan where John did Baptize The next day John seeth Jesus comming to him and saith behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world This is he whom I said
after me commeth a man that is preferred before me for he was before me and I knew him not but because he should be declared to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with water So John bare record saying I saw the spirit come down from Heaven like a Dove and abiding upon him And I knew him not but he that sent me to baptize with water he said unto me upon whom thou shalt see the spirit come down and stay stil upon him that is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God According as it is in the other three Evangelists more at large expressed how that Jesus when he was baptized came strait out of the water and lo the Heavens were opened unto him And John saw the spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him And loe a voice came from Heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am wel pleased The next day John stood again and two of his Disciples and he beheld Jesus walking by and said Behold the Lamb of God and the two Disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus All this was done at Bethabara beyond Jordan in the sight and hearing of a number of people there present as three of our Evangelists do report which they would never have presumed to have done had not the matter been most evident and without all compass of denial or contradiction And truely no one thing in all this story of Jesus life doth more establish certainty of his being the true Messiah then that John the Baptist whose wisdom learning vertue and rare sanctity is confessed and recorded by the writings of all our adversaries should refuse the honour of the Messiah offered unto himself and lay it upon Jesus and also should direct those Disciples that depended upon him to the onely following and imbracing of Jesus doctrine which is most evidently proved that he did for that so many followers and Disciples as himself had not one appeared ever after that was not a Christian These circumstances I say of the birth and comming of the Messiah into this world so long before foretold by the Prophets and fulfilled so exactly in the person of our blessed Lord and Saviour wel considered I may at length conclude Heaven and Earth concurring Men and Angels with all other Creatures applauding thereunto yea and God himself from Heaven pronouncing it This is my beloved Son in whom I am wel pleased That therefore as sure as God is God and cannot lye nor give Testimony to any untruth so sure is Jesus Christ the Son of God the true Messiah and Saviour of the world no other to be expected His preaching or doctrine THus having evicted by the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ together with the circumstances both before and after that he was by birthright the only legitimate as I may say and true born Messiah all others that were before him or since have sprung up or shal do hereafter to the worlds end but bastards and usurpers yea theeves and robbers and that in the highest degree of thee very that may be even robbing God of his honour which he wil not impart to any other it remaineth yet further to demonstrate the same by his life death resurrection and ascension with all other accidents and circumstances accordingly to be observed which may make this mystery more and more manifest or rather palpable as the Apostle witnesseth saying that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with these our eyes which we have looked upon and these hands of ours have handled c. that I say which we have seen and heard declare we unto you what can be more palpable After his baptisme he began to preach having before gotten his living as most conjecture with his own hands and eaten his bread with the sweat of his brows to shew himself true man and that he was made a curse for us as it is written In the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat thy bread and what was his doctrine of this world or worldly delights of pleasure or profit no no quite contrary to the humors of this wicked world and to the corruptions of flesh and blood which procured him the more hatred as in all the four Evangelists Matthew Mark Luke and John who recorded both his sayings and doings may appear wholly tending to the sincere service of God in spirit and truth to the exaltation of Gods glory the beating down of mans pride by discovering his misery to the contempt of this wicked world and vain pomp thereof to the mortification of all sins in us patience peace of conscience c. in a word all directed to the manifestation of his Fathers will and amendment of mans life tending wholly to this one ground or principle Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul which is the first and great commandment and thy Neighbour as thy self on which two hangeth the whole Law and the Prophets The manner of his Doctrine was simple plain and easie altogether according to the evidence of the Spirit not in the enticing words of mans wisdom like the Heathen Orators and Phylosophers nor like the Scribes and Pharisees but with power and authority without either fear or flattery of any mans person rebuking all mens sins even to their faces which I say procured him such a general hatred It took away no one spiritual point of Moses Law but the Ceremonial only and Provincial which by the coming of the Messiah was to be taken away yea rather revived interpreted and made perfect the same corrupted much by the Jews false interpretations and glosses That as they taught commanding external observance only this adding internal obedience also For whereas that enjoyned according to the letter and as they interpreted to love our neighbours and friends and no further this adjoyneth love also your enemies bless them that curse you Matth. 5.43 Where that prohibited actually to commit Adultry and no more as they imagined this forbiddeth the adultry of the eye and of the very heart And so of all the rest of the decalogue our Saviours doctrine is nothing else but a most exact and sincere exposition according to the true intent of the Law-giver God the Father Therefore I conclude this doctrine so quite contrary to the gross humors of this wicked world and so repugnant to flesh and blood so wholly devoted to Gods glory and the sincere observation of his Law is the doctrine proper to the Messiah which the Prophets of God foretold should be delivered by him at his coming into the world His life and conversation FOr his life and conversation the express Image of his Doctrine it was stainless and without reproof even by the testimony of his very enemies acknowledged also by the Divels themselves A man of such gravity as never in his life he was noted to
heard declare we unto you And S. Peter For we followed no deceivable Fables when we opened unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but with our eyes we saw his Majesty This Doctrine I say of the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Saviour whereof they were so fully perswaded they did not only profess it with their mouths yea even before Kings and were not ashamed as God saith to Paul as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem so must thou bear witness also at Rome thou must be brought before Caesar but in witness thereof they gave up their lives and by their deaths sealed and delivered to the world the truth of that which in their lives they professed they have sealed that God is true These are witnesses worthy to be believed these are Martyrs Next to these are all those holy Disciples of theirs all those holy Confessors of the Primitive Church put to death with most exquisite torments under those cruel Roman Tyrants during those ten famous persecutions upon record called the ten persecutions Catexochen in respect of the rage fury and cruelty thereof and all against poor harmless and innocent Christians daylie torn in pieces and butchered by those Wolves as Sheep appointed for the slaughter whereof our Saviour long before had forewarned his Disciples Behold I send you as Lambs among Wolves c. persecuted even to the death for the Word of God and for the testimony which they maintained In which extream and most incredible sufferings of Christians three points are worthy of great consideration The first what infinite multitudes of all estates conditions sexes qualities and age did suffer daylie for testimony of this truth The second what intolerable and unaccustomed torments not heard of in the world before were devised by Tyrants for afflicting this kind of people Thirdly and lastly What invincible courage and unspeakable alacrity these Christians shewed in bearing out these afflictions and torments which the enemies themselves could not attribute but to some Divine power and supernatural assistance The subjection of Spirits ANother consideration followeth of his Divine power and omnipotency declared and exercised upon the spirits infernal which in those days spake in the Oracles and till that time had possessed and deluded all Nations Hear the complaint of one of them Hei mihi cogemiscite hei mihi hei mihi Oraculorum defecit me clariâ—as Wo unto mes lament ye with me wo wo to me for that the honour of Oracles hath now forsaken me Which woful complaint is nothing else but a plain confession that Jesus was he of whom a Prophet said divers ages before He shall consume all the Gods of the earth and every man shall worship him from his place even all the Isles of the Heathen This confessed also the wicked spirits themselves when at Christs appearing in Jewry they came and did their homage to him and besought him not to afflict or torment them before the time nor command them presently to return to hell but rather to permit them some little time of entertainment in the Sea or Mountains or among herds of Swine or the like which confession they made openly before all men and declared the same afterwards by their deeds For presently upon Christ his death and upon the preaching of his Name and Gospel throughout the World the Oracles in all places ceased whereof the Poets themselves bear witness Cessant Oracula Dâ—lphis Whereupon Plutarch that lived within an hundred yeers after Christ made a special Treatise to sift out the causes why the Oracles of the Gods as they deemed them were ceased in his time And after much turning and winding many ways at length resolved upon two principal points or causes thereof The first for that in his time there was more store of wise men then before whose answers might stand insteed of Oracles and the other for that perhaps the Spirits accustomed to yeild Oracles were by length of time grown old and dead Both which reasons in the common sense of all men must needs be false and by Plutarch himself cannot stand with probability For first in his Books which he wrote of the Lives of Famous Men he confesseth that in such kind of wisdom as he most esteemed they had not their equals among their posterity Secondly in his Treatise of Phylosophy he passeth it for a ground that Spirits cannot die or wax old And therefore of necessity there must be some other cause yeilded of the ceasing of these Oracles which cannot be but the presence and commandment of some higher Power according to that saying of S. John for to this end and purpose appeared the Son of God to wit that he might destroy the works of the Divel Neither did Jesus this alone in his own person but gave also power and authority to his Disciples and Followers to do the like according to that their Commission in the Gospel Then called he the twelve Disciples together and gave them power over all Divels c. And not only to these twelve did he give this absolute power and authority over unclean Spirits but to the rest likewise as may appear in the next chapter following upon the return of their Commission And the seventy returned with joy saying Lord even the Divels are subdued to us through thy Name And he said unto them I saw Sathan like lightning fall down from heaven and so reneweth their Commission saying Behold I give you power to tread on Serpents and Scorpions and over all the power of the enemy that is to say the Divel Nevertheless saith he in this rejoyce not that the Spirits are subdued unto you but rather rejoyce because your Names are written in Heaven And this authority over the Spirits Infernal given by Jesus to his Disciples in the primitive Church extended it self so far that not only their words and commandments but even their very presence did shut the mouths and drive into fear the miserable Spirits as both Lactantius and others do witness whence it proceeded that in all Sacrifices Conjurations and other Mysteries of the Gentiles there was brought in that phrase recorded by scoffing Lucian exeant Christiani Let Christians depart for that while they were present nothing could be well accomplished And that professed enemy of Christianity Porphyry who of all other most earnestly endeavoured to impugne us Christians and to hold up the honour of his enfeebled Idols yet discoursing of the great plague that reigned most furiously in the City of Messiâ—a in Sicily where he dwelt yeildeth this reason why Aesculapius the god of Physick much adored in that place was not able to help them in that extremity It is no marvel saith he if this City so many yeers be vexed with the plague seeing that both Aesculapius and all other gods be now departed from it by the coming of Christians for since that men have begun to worship
to be expected The Messiah by Daniels Prophesie was to appear immediately upon the establishment of the Roman Empire for saith he In the days of these Kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom which shall not be destroyed Dan. 2.44 which must needs be understood of the Kingdom of Christ or the Messiah And in these days was our Saviour born even in the days of Augustus Caesar Therefore in him is the circumstance of time verified The Messiah by Jacobs Prophesie was to appear immediately when the Rod or â—cepter was departed from the house of Judah Then appeared that Star of Jacob our Lord and Saviour Ergo The Messiah by the Prophesie of Haggai as also by their own Thalmud was to come during the second Temple Then came our Lord and Saviour Ergo And consequently the Jews after this time to wit the destruction of the second Temple in vain expect another The Messiah by the true account and calculation of Daniel's Hebdomades or weeks of years was to come just according to the times before mentioned So did our Saviour as is aforesaid therefore to him doth this circumstance of time bear witness And consequently the Jews after these times by God himself appointed for the Messiah or rather one and the same time for there is no other difference but only in adjuncts and circumstances expecting yet for another besides their vain expectation make God himself a Lyar The Messiah by the Scriptures was to be born of the Tribe of Judah of the house of David So was our Saviour Therefore he alone the legitimate and true born Messiah by Birth-right as I may say as also by Prescription after so long time of peaceable possession no other to be expected The Messiah by the Scripture as also by their own Rabbins was to be born of a Virgin so was our Saviour Ergo All other particulars foretold of the Messiah see them fulfilled as followeth to wit Prophesies  fulfilled Mich. â— 2 That the place of his Birth should be Bethlehem Luke 2.4 Jer. 31.15 That at his Birth all the Infants thereabouts should be slain Mat. 2.16 Psal. 72.10 That Kings or great Personages should come and adore him and offer gold and other gifts unto him Mat. 2.1 Mal. 3.1 That he should be presented in the Temple of Jerusalem for the greater glory of that second Temple Luk. 2.22 Hos. 11.1 That he should flee into Egypt and be called thence again Mat. 2.13 Num. 24.17 That a Star should appear at his Birth to notifie his coming into the world Mat. 2.9 Mal. 3.1 4.5 Isa. 40.3 That John Baptist who came in the power and spirit of Eliah and therefore was called Eliah Luke 1.17 Matth. 11.10.14 should be the Messenger to go before him and to prepare the way and to cry in the Desert Mat. 3.1 Isa. 42.2 That he should begin his own Preaching with all humility quietness and clemency of Spirit Mat. 5.1 Isa. 53. That he should be poor abject and of no reputation in this world Luk. 2.7 Isa. 35.5 That he should do strange Miracles and heal all Diseases Mat. 4.23 Isa. 53.12 Dan. 9.26 That he should die and be slain for the sins of his people Mat. 27. Psal. 55.13 That he should be betrayed by one of his own Familiars Mat 26.47 Zac. 11.12 That he should be sold for thirty pieces of silver Mat. 26.15 Zac. 11.13 That with those thirty pieces there should be bought afterwards a field of Potsheards Mat. 27. â— Zac. 9.9 That he should ride into Jerusalem upon an Ass Mat. 27. Isa. 50.6 That the Jews should beat and buffet his face and defile the same with spitting Mat. 26.67 Isa. 53.5 That they should whip rend and tear his body before they put him to death Mat. 26.27 Isa. 53.12 That he should be put to death among Thieves and Malefactors Luk. 23.33 Isa. 53.7 That he should be silent before his enemies as a sheep before his shearer Mat. 27.14 Isa. 53.12 That he should pray for his enemies and persecutors Luk. 23.34 Psal. 22.18 69.21 That they should give him vinegar to drink divide his apparel and cast lots for his upper garment Mat. 27.34 Psal. 22.16 Zac. 12.10 That the manner of his death should be crucifying that is nayling of his hands and his feet to the Cross Joh. 19.18 Zac. 12.10 That his side should be pierced and that they should look upon him whom they had so pierced Joh. 19.34.37 Exo. 12.46 That not a Bone of him should be broken figured in the Passover by that spotless Lamb without blemish a type thereof and therefore is he called in the New Testament The Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world The Lamb slain from the beginning of the world Joh. 19.36 Psal. 16.9 Hos. 6.2 That he should rise again from death the third day Mat. 28.1 Psal 68.18 110.1 That he should ascend into heaven and there sit at the right hand of his Father tryumphantly for ever Luke 24.51 Act. 7.55 56. All these particulars foretold of the Messiah see I say and examine how exactly they were all fulfilled in our Saviour and therewithal consider those things which fell out afterwards as effects of his Divine power to wit the sending of the holy Ghost immediately after his Ascension with the miraculous encrease of his Church even in the midst of persecution The severe punishment of all his enemies especially that of the Jewish Nation The subjection of the Divel with all his Infernal power under his Apostles and Disciples feet together with the ceasing of Oracles And finally the fulfilling of all his Prophesies with those likewise of his Apostles and Disciples most exactly I say all these with the former put together and well considered may settle the heart of any Christian man against all Judaism Paganism yea and Atheism too in the most undoubted Truth of his profession to wit the Christian Religion with this full and final perswasion wherewith I will knit up all That there is no other Name under heaven given to the sons of men whereby to be saved but the name of Jesus Christ And therefore to Him be the honour of our Salvation ascribed and to no other To Him I say with the Father and the Spirit even that blessed Trinity Elohim be all Honour and glory now and evermore Amen Amen FINIS Table of the Contents of the several matters of this Book OF the Promises and Prophesies of old 1 Gods promise to Adam 3 Gods promise to Abraham 3 The Prophesie of Jacob 5 The Prophesie of Moses 6 The Prophesie of David 9 The Prophesie of Jeremy 15 The Prophesie of Ezekiel 15 The Prophesie of Isaiah 16 That the Messiah must be both God and man 18 That the Messiah must change the Law of Moses 26 The time of his Manifestation with all other circumstances 33 Of his Linage or Pedegree 56 Of his Birth with the Circumstances thereof 57 Of his Preaching and Doctrine 71 Of his