Several Discourses Viz. Proving Jesus to be the Messias The Prejudices against Jesus and his Religion consider'd Jesus the Son of God proved by his Resurrection The Danger of Apostacy from Christianity Christ the Author Obedience the Condition of Salvation The Possibility and Necessity of Gospel Obedience and its consistence with free Grace The Authority of Jesus Christ with the Commission and Promise which he gave to his Apostles The Difficulties of a Christian Life consider'd The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Children of this World wiser than the Children of Light By the Most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON Late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Being The FIFTH VOLUME Published from the Originals By Ralph Barker D. D. Chaplain to his Grace The Second Edition Corrected LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. THE CONTENTS Of the Fifth Volume SERM. I. Proving Jesus to be the Messias MATTH XI 2 3 4 5 6. NOW when John had heard in Prison the works of Christ he sent two of his Disciples and said unto him Art thou he that should come or do we look for another Jesus answered and said unto them Go and shew John again these things which ye do hear and see The Blind receive their sight and the Lame walk the Lepers are cleansed and the Deaf hear the Dead are raised up and the Poor have the Gospel preached unto them And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me Page 1. SERM. II III. The Prejudices against Christianity consider'd MATTH XI 6 And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me p. 47 91. SERM. 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 p. 127. SERM. V. The danger of Apostacy from Christianity HEB. VI. 4 5 6. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame p. 155. SERM. VI. Christ the Author and Obedience the Condition of Salvation HEB. V. 9 And being made perfect he became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him p. 197. SERM. VII The Possibility and Necessity of Gospel-Obedience and its consistence with free Grace HEB. V. 9 And being made perfect he became the Author of eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him p. 231. SERM. VIII The Authority of Jesus Christ with the Commission and Promise which he gave to his Apostles MAT. XXVIII 18 19 20. And Jesus came and spake unto them saying All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the World p. 265. SERM. IX The Difficulties of a Christian Life consider'd LUKE XIII 24 Strive to enter in at the strait Gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able p. 301. SERM. X XI The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus LUKE XVI 19 20. There was a certain Rich Man which was cloathed in Purple and fine Linen and fared sumptuously every day And there was a certain Beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his Gate full of Sores p. 343 379. SERM. XII The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus LUKE XVI 31 If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead p. 417. SERM. XIII The Children of this World wiser than the Children of Light LUKE XVI 8 For the Children of this World are in their Generation wiser than the Children of Light p. 447. SERMON I. Proving Jesus to be the Messias MATTH XI 2 3 4 5 6. Now when John had heard in Prison the works of Christ he sent two of his Disciples and said unto him Art thou he that should come or do we look for another Jesus answered and said unto them Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see The Blind receive their sight and the Lame walk the Lepers are cleansed and the Deaf hear the Dead are raised up and the Poor have the Gospel preached unto them And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me ABOUT the time of our Saviour's appearing in the World there was a general expectation of a Great Prince that should come out of Judea and govern all Nations This the Gentiles had from the Prophecies of the Sybils Vol. V. which spake of a great King that was to appear in the World about that time So Virgil tells us that the time of Augustus was the utmost date of that Prophecy Vltima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas And Suetonius tells us that all over the Eastern Countries there was an ancient and constant Tradition that such a Prince should spring out of Judea And for this Reason it is that our Saviour is call'd by the Prophet the Expectation of the Nations But more especially among the Jews there was at that time a more lively and particular expectation grounded upon the Predictions of their Prophets of a Prince whom they call'd the Messias or the Anointed and those who were more devout among them did at that time wait for his appearance as it is said of Simeon that he waited for the consolation of Israel Hence it was that when John the Baptist appeared in the quality of an extraordinary Prophet they sent from Jerusalem to enquire whether he were the Messias John 1.19 The Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him Ser. 1. Who art thou And he confessed and denied not but confessed I am not the Christ The Sanhedrim to whom it belonged to judge who were true Prophets sent to know whether he was the Messias or not He would not take this honour to himself but told them the Messias was just at hand and the next day when Jesus came to be baptized of him he bare record that he was the Son of God and that he saw the Spirit descending and abiding upon him So that it is plain that he knew him and bare witness of him which makes it the more strange that here in the Text he should send two of his Disciples to enquire whether he were the Messias or not Art thou he that should come or do we look for another That is art thou the Messias or not for so he is call'd in the ancient Prophecies of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that should come Gen. 49.10
purum desuper se lumen infundit Light is infused from above into the purified Soul And that this Expression is so to be understood here in the Text as also Chap. 10.32 the Syriac and Ethiopic give us good ground to believe for they render the Text thus It is impossible for those who have been once baptized and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift And at the 10 th Chap. v. 32. which we translate But call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a great fight of afflictions that is call to mind the former days in which after by Baptism ye had publickly embraced the Profession of Christianity ye were upon that account exposed to many grievous Sufferings and Persecutions So that I think there can be no great doubt but by those that were once enlightned the Apostle means those that were baptized To proceed then For it is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost these two Expressions seem to denote the Spiritual Benefits and Graces of the Holy Ghost conferred upon Christians by Baptism particularly Regeneration which is the proper work of the Holy Ghost and Justification and Remission of Sins So we find Faith whereby we are justified called the Gift of God Eph. 2.8 Faith is the gift of God and our Justification is called a Gift and a free Gift five several times in one Chapter Rom. 5.15 16 17 18. But not as the offence so also is the free gift for if through the offence of one many be dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many and what this free Gift is he tells us in the next words viz. Justification or Remission of Sins v. 16. And not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift for the judgment was by one to Condemnation but the free gift is of many offences unto justification For if by one man's offence death reigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life So that by the Heavenly Gift I understand remission of Sins and by being made partakers of the Holy Ghost the Sanctifying Power and Efficacy of God's Spirit And have tasted the good Word of God that is entertained the Gospel which is here called the good Word of God by reason of the gracious promises contained in it particularly the Promises of Eternal Life and Happiness And the powers of the World to come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Powers of the Gospel Age that is the miraculous Powers of the Holy Ghost which were bestowed upon Men in order to the propagation of the Gospel And that this is the true meaning of this Phrase will I think be very plain to any one who shall but consider that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is generally in Scripture used for miraculous Powers and Operations and particularly to express the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost which were bestowed upon the Apostles and first Christians I need not cite the particular Texts for the proof of this they are so many and so well known And then if we consider farther that the times of the Gospel the days of the Messias are frequently called by the Jews Seculum futurum The Age to come And indeed this is the very Phrase used by the LXX concerning our Saviour Isa 9.6 where he is called according to our Translation The Everlasting Father but according to that of the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Farher of the future Age. And this very Phrase is used once more in this Epistle to the Heb. ch 2.5 For unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the World to come whereof we now speak He had said before that the Law was given by Angels v. 2. If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast but the dispensation of the Gospel which he calls The World to come or the future Age was not committed to them this was administred by the Son of God Vnto the Angels hath he not put into subjection the World to come And 't is observable that this Phrase is only used in this Epistle to the Hebrews because the Jews very well understood the meaning of it being that whereby they commonly exprest the times of the Gospel according to that ancient Tradition of the House of Elias which distributed the duration of the World into three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ages the Age before the Law the Age under the Law and the Age of the Messias which they called the Seculum futurum or the Age to come and which is likewise in Scripture called The last days or times and the conclusion of the Ages Concerning which it was particularly prophesied that the Holy Ghost should be poured forth upon Men in miraculous Gifts and Powers And to this very purpose the Prophet Joel is cited by St. Peter Acts 2.16 17. This is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel And it shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie c. From all which it is very evident that by tasting the powers of the World to come is meant being partakers of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost which were poured forth in the Gospel Age by the Jews commonly called The World to come If they shall fall away that is if after all this they shall apostatize from this Profession out of love to this present World or from the fear of Persecutions and Sufferings It is impossible to renew them again to Repentance that is it is a thing very difficult hardly to be hoped for that such wilful and notorious Apostates should be restored again by Repentance For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate Impossible is not always to be taken in the strictest sense for that which absolutely cannot be but many times for that which is so very difficult that it seems next to an impossibility So our Saviour that which in one place he calls exceeding hard viz. for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven he afterwards calls impossible with Men and so here I understand the Apostle that those who apostatize from Christianity after Baptism and the benefits of it 'T is exceeding hard to recover them again to Repentance This Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to renew them again to Repentance some understand of restoring them again to the Peace and Communion of the Church by a course of Penance such as was prescribed in the ancient Church to great Offenders and then they understand
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
our Saviour John 10.36 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 And when he was arraigned before the Chief Priests they accused him of this and he owning this Charge that he call'd himself the Son of God upon this they judge him guilty of Death Matth. 26.65 66. Then the High-Priest rent his Cloaths and said He hath spoken Blasphemy what further need have we of witness Behold now ye have heard his Blasphemy What think ye They answered He is guilty of Death And when Pilate told them that he found no Fault in him they still instance in this as his Crime John 19.7 We have a Law and by our Law he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God Now this being the Crime which was charged upon him and for which he was crucified and put to Death God by raising him up from the dead and taking him up into Heaven gave Testimony to him that he was no Impostor and that he did not vainly arrogate to himself to be the Messias and the Son of God God by raising him from the dead by the Power of the Holy Ghost gave a mighty Demonstration to him that he was the Son of God For which Reason he is said by the Apostle 1 Tim. 3.16 to be justified by the Spirit The Spirit gave Testimony to him at his Baptism and by the mighty Works that appeared in him in his Life-time but he was most eminently and remarkably justified by the Holy Ghost by his Resurrection from the Dead God hereby bearing him Witness that he was unjustly condemned and that he assumed nothing to himself but what of right did belong to him when he said he was the Messias and the Son of God For how could a Man that was condemned to dye for calling himself the Son of God be more remarkably vindicated and more clearly proved to be so than by being raised from the dead by the Power of God And 2 dly God did consequently hereby give Testimony to the Truth and Divinity of our Saviour's Doctrine Being proved by his Resurrection to be the Son of God this proved him to be a Teacher sent by him and that what he declared to the World was the Mind and Will of God For this none was more likely to know and to report truly to Mankind than the Son of God who came from the Bosom of his Father And because the Resurrection of Christ is so great a Testimony to the Truth of his Doctrine hence it is that St. Paul tells us that the belief of this one Article of Christ's Resurrection is sufficient to a Man's Salvation Rom. 10.9 If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy Heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved The Reason is plain because the Resurrection of Christ confirmed the Truth and Divinity of his Doctrine so that the belief of our Saviour's Resurrection does by necessary Consequence infer the belief of his whole Doctrine That God raised him from the dead after he was condemned and put to Death for calling himself the Son of God is a demonstration that he really was the Son of God and if he was the Son of God the Doctrine which he taught was true and from God And thus I have shewn you how the Resurrection of Christ from the dead is a powerful Demonstration that he was the Son of God All that remains is briefly to draw some practical Inferences from the Consideration of our Saviour's Resurrection 1 st To confirm and establish our Minds in the belief of the Christian Religion of which the Resurrection of Christ from the dead is so great a Confirmation And therefore I told you that this one Article is mentioned by St. Paul as the Sum and Abridgment of the Christian Faith If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved The belief of our Saviour's Resurrection doth by necessary consequence infer the belief of his whole Doctrine for he who believes that God raised him from the dead after he was put to death for calling himself the Son of God cannot but believe him to be the Son of God and consequently that the Doctrine which he delivered was from God 2 dly The Resurrection of Christ from the dead assures us of a future Judgment and of the Recompences and Rewards of another World That Christ was raised from the dead is a demonstration of another Life after this and no man that believes the immortality of our Souls and another Life after this ever doubted of a future Judgment so that by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead God hath given assurance unto all men of a future Judgment and consequently of the Recompences and Rewards of another World The consideration whereof ought to have a mighty influence upon us more especially to these three purposes 1 st To raise our minds above the present Enjoyments of this Life Were but men convinced of this great and obvious Truth that there is an infinite difference between Time and Eternity between a few days and everlasting Ages would we but sometimes represent to our selves what thoughts and apprehensions dying Men have of this World how vain and empty a thing it appears to them how like a Pageant and Shadow it looks as it passeth away from them methinks none of these things could be a sufficient temptation to any Man to forget God and his Soul but notwithstanding all the present delights and allurements of Sense we should be strongly intent upon the concernments of another World and almost wholly taken up with the thoughts of the vast Eternity which we are ready to enter into For what is there in this World this vast and howling Wilderness this rude and barbarous Country which we are but to pass through which should detain and entangle our Affections and take off our Thoughts from our Everlasting Habitation from that better and that heavenly Country where we hope to live and to be happy for ever 2 dly The Consideration of the Rewards of another World should comfort and support us under the troubles and afflictions of this World The hopes of a blessed Resurrection are a very proper Consideration to bear us up under the evils and pressures of this Life If we hope for so great a Happiness hereafter we may be contented to bear some Afflictions in this World because the Blessedness which we expect will so abundantly recompence and outweigh our present Sufferings So the Apostle assures us Rom. 8.18 We know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in us The consideration whereof was that which made the Primitive Christians to triumph in their Sufferings and in the midst of all their Tribulations
by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not a Natural but a Moral Impossibility that which cannot be done according to the Orders and Constitutions of the Church that is the Church did refuse to admit Apostates and some other great Offenders as Murderers and Adulterers to a course of Penance in order to their Reconciliation with the Church This Tertullian tells us was the strictness of the Church in his time Neque Idololatriae neque Sanguini pax ab Ecclesiâ redditur they admitted neither Idolaters nor Murderers to the reconciliation of the Church Though they were never so penitent and shed never so many tears yet he says they were jejunae pacis lacrimae their tears were in vain to reconcile them to the Peace and Communion of the Church He says indeed they did not absolutely pronounce their case desperate in respect of God's Pardon and Forgiveness sed de veniâ Deo reservamus for that they referr'd them to God but they were never to be admitted again into the Church so strict were many Churches and that upon the Authority of this Text though the Church of Rome was more moderate in this matter and for that Reason call'd the Authority of this Book into question But I see no reason why these Words should primarily be understood of restoring Men to the Communion of the Church by Penance but they seem to be meant of restoring Men to the Favour of God by Repentance of which indeed their being restored to the Communion of the Church was a good sign This the Apostle says was very difficult for those who after Baptism and the several benefits of it did apostatize from Christianity to be recover'd again to Repentance Seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame This is spoken by way of Aggravation of the crime of Apostacy that they who fall off from Christianity in effect and by interpretation do crucifie the Son of God over again and expose him to shame and reproach as the Jews did for by denying and renouncing of him they declare him to be an Impostor and consequently worthy of that death which he suffered and that Ignominy which he was exposed to and therefore in account of God they are said to do that which by their actions they do approve so that it is made a Crime of the highest Nature as if they should crucifie the Son of God and use him in the most ignominious manner even tread under foot the Son of God as the expression is to the same purpose Ch. 10.29 Thus I have endeavour'd as briefly and clearly as I could to explain to you the true meaning and importance of the several Phrases and Expressions in the Text the sense whereof amounts to this That if those who are baptized and by Baptism have received Remission of Sins and do believe the Doctrine of the Gospel and the Promises of it and are endow'd with the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost if such persons as these shall after all this apostatize from Christianity it is very hard and next to an impossibility to imagine how such Persons should recover again by Repentance seeing they are guilty of as great a Crime as if in their own Persons they had put to Death and ignominously used the Son of God because by rejecting of him they declare to the World that he suffered deservedly Having thus explained the words in order to the further vindication of them from the mistakes and misapprehensions which have been about them I shall endeavour to make out these five things 1 st That the Sin here mention'd is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost 2 dly That the Apostle does not declare it to be absolutely impossible but only that those who are guilty of it are recover'd to Repentance with great difficulty 3 dly That it is not a partial Apostacy from the Christian Religion by any particular vicious Practice 4 thly That it is a total Apostacy from the Christian Religion and more especially to the Heathen Idolatry which the Apostle here speaks of 5 thly The Reason of the difficulty of the recovery of those who fall into this Sin 1 st That the Sin here mention'd is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost which I have heretofore discoursed of and shewn wherein the particular Nature of it does consist There are three things which do remarkably distingush the Sin here spoken of in the Text from the Sin against the Holy Ghost described by our Saviour 1 st The Persons that are guilty of this Sin here in the Text are evidently such as had embraced Christianity and had taken upon them the Profession of it whereas those whom our Saviour chargeth with the Sin against the Holy Ghost are such as constantly opposed his Doctrine and resisted the Evidence he offer'd for it 2 dly The particular nature of the Sin against the Holy Ghost consisted in blaspheming the Spirit whereby our Saviour wrought his Miracles and saying he did not do those things by the Spirit of God but by the assistance of the Devil in that malicious and unreasonable imputing of the plain Effects of the Holy Ghost to the Power of the Devil and consequently in an obstinate refusal to be convinced by the Miracles that he wrought but here is nothing of all this so much as intimated by the Apostle in this place 3 dly The Sin against the Holy Ghost is declared to be absolutely unpardonable both in this World and in that which is to come But this is not declared to be absolutely unpardonable which brings me to the 2 d Thing namely That this Sin here spoken of by the Apostle is not said to be absolutely unpardonable It is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost and whatever else it be it is not out of the compass of God's Pardon and Forgiveness So our Saviour hath told us that all manner of Sin whatsoever that men have committed is capable of pardon excepting only the Sin against the Holy Ghost And though the Apostle here uses a very severe Expression that if such persons fall away it is impossible to renew them again to Repentance yet I have shewn that there is no necessity of understanding this Phrase in the strictest sense of the word impossible but as it is elsewhere used for that which is extreamly difficult Nor indeed will our Saviour's Dclaration which I mention'd before that all Sins whatsoever are pardonable except the Sin against the Holy Ghost suffer us to understand these words in the most rigorous Sense 3 dly The Sin here spoken of is not a partial Apostacy from the Christian Religion by any particular vicious Practice Whosoever lives in the habitual practice of any Sin plainly forbidden by the Christian Law may be said so far to have apostatized from Christianity but this is not the falling away which the Apostle here speaks of This may be bad enough and the greater Sins any Man who professeth himself a Christian lives
will grant us whatever is good and necessary by which is certainly intended in the first place Spiritual good Things because these are the best and most necessary and to satisfy us that our Saviour did in the first place and more especially mean these St. Luke does particularly instance in the Grace and Assistance of God's Holy Spirit Luke 11.13 How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him The holy Spirit that is the continual Presence and Influence of it to all the purposes of Guidance and Direction of Grace and Assistance of Comfort and Support in our Christian Course And what else is the meaning of that Parable of our Saviour's concerning the Talents entrusted with every Man according to his Capacity and Opportunities Matth. 25. I say what else can be the meaning of it but this That God is before-hand with every Man by affording the Advantages and Opportunities of being happy and such a measure of Grace and Assistance to that end which if he faithfully improve he shall be admitted into the Joy of his Lord. And upon this Consideration of the gracious Promises of the Gospel to this purpose it is that the Apostle St. Paul doth so earnestly exhort Christians to endeavour after the highest Degree of universal Holiness and Purity that we are capable of in this Life 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these Promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God And so likewise Phil. 2.12 13. Wherefore my beloved work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling that is with great Care and Concernment lest you should fall short of it for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure The Consideration of God's readiness to assist us and of his Grace which is always at hand to stir up our Wills to that which is good and to strengthen us in the doing of it ought to be a great Argument and Encouragement to us to put forth our utmost Endeavours and so co-operate with the Grace of God toward our own Salvation And the Apostle St. Peter useth the same Argument to press Men to use their utmost Diligence to make their calling and election sure by abounding in all the Virtues of a good Life 2 Pet. 1.3 4. According as his Divine Power hath given us all things which pertain to Life and Godliness that is hath so plentifully furnisht us with all the requisites to a godly Life through the knowledge of him that hath called us to Glory and Virtue that is by knowledge of the Gospel and the Grace therein offered to us whereby he hath given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these ye might be Partakers of a Divine Nature having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust And then from the consideration of this Divine Power conveyed to us by the Gospel and the Promises of it he exhorts Men to give all diligence to add to their Faith Virtue and Knowledge and Temperance and Patience and Godliness and brotherly Love and Charity And indeed the Scripture every where ascribes our Regeneration and Sanctification the Beginning and Progress and Perseverance of our Obedience to the powerful Grace and Assistance of God's holy Spirit we are said to be regenerate and born again of the Spirit to be renewed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost to be led by the Spirit and by the Spirit to mortifie the deeds of the Flesh and in a word to be kept by the mighty Power of God through Faith unto Salvation 3. What the Grace of God is ready to enable us to do if we be not wanting to our Selves may properly be said to be possible to us and in some sense in our Power That may be said to be possible to us which tho' we cannot do of our selves as of our selves that is by our own Natural Power yet we can do by the Help and Assistance of another if that Assistance be ready to be afforded to us as we are sure the Grace of God's Holy Spirit is because he hath promised it to them that seek it and he is faithful who hath promised That cannot be said to be wholly out of a Man's Power which he may have for asking that which we are able to do by the Strength and Assistance of another is not impossible to us Surely St. Paul did no ways derogate from the Grace of God when he said I am able to do all things thro' Christ strengthening me he reckons himself able to do all that which by the strength of Christ he was enabled to do And this is the true Ground of all the Perswasions and Exhortations which we meet with in Scripture to Holiness and Obedience which would all be not only to no purpose but very unreasonable if we were wholly destitute of Power to do what God commands but if he be always ready at hand to assist us by a Grace sufficient for us if he co-operate with us in the Work of our Salvation then is there abundant ground of Encouragement to our Endeavours and if we fall short of eternal Salvation it is wholly our own fault it is not because God is wanting to us in those Aids and Assistances of his Grace which are necessary but because we are wanting to our selves in not seeking God's Grace more earnestly or by neglecting to make use of it when it is afforded to us For it is really all one both to the encouragement of our Endeavours and to the rendring of our Disobedience inexcusable whether we be able of our selves to perform the Condition of the Gospel or God be ready to assist us by his Grace and Holy Spirit to that purpose Wherefore as the Apostle exhorts Heb. 12.12 13 14 15. Lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make strait paths for your feet lest that which is Lame be turned out of the way but let it rather be healed Follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently lest any man fail of the Grace of God intimating that it is want of care and diligence on our part if the Grace of God fail of its end and be not effectual to all the purposes of Faith and Repentance and Obedience God does not with-hold his Grace from us but Men may receive it in vain if they do not make use of it And thus I have done with the third thing I proposed to consider from these words I proceed to the Fourth viz. To consider the Necessity of this Obedience in order to our obtaining of Eternal Life and Happiness Christ is the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him that is to such and only to such as live in Obedience to the Precepts of his holy Gospel to them who frame the general course of their lives according to his Laws Some Men seem to be
wrought in the Manners of Men we have clear and full Testimony from what the Apostles wrote concerning the several Churches which they planted in several Parts of the World What hearty Unity und Affection there was among Christians even to that Degree as to make Men bring in their private Estates and Possessions for the common Support of their Brethren we may read in the History of the Acts of the Apostles The City of Corinth by the Account which Strabo gives of it was a very vicious and luxurious place as most in the World and yet we see by St. Paul what a strange Reformation the Christian Religion made in the Lives and Manners of many of them 1 Cor 6.9 10 11. Be not deceived neither fornicators nor adulterers nor idolaters nor effeminate nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And such were some of you But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God And surely it is no small matter to reclaim Men from such a profligate course of Life The Apostle instanceth in Crimes and Vices of the first Rate from which yet he tells us many were cleansed and purified by the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God that is by the Power and Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine together with the Co-operation of God's Holy Spirit After the Apostles the Ancient Fathers in their Apologies for Christianity give us a large Account of the great Power and Efficacy of the Christian Doctrine upon the Lives and Manners of Men. Tertullian tells the Roman Governors that their Prisons were full of Malefactors committed for several Crimes but they were all Heathens De vestris semper aestuat carcer Their Prisons were thronged with Criminals of their own Religion But there were no Christians to be found committed there for such Crimes Nemo illic Christianus nisi hoc tantùm c. There were no Christians in their Prisons but only upon account of their Religion Or if there were any Malefactors that had been Christians they left their Religion when they fell into those Enormities And afterwards he adds that if Christians were irregular in their Lives they were no longer accounted Christians but were banish'd from their Communion as unworthy of it And they appealed to the Heathens what a sudden and strange change Christianity had made in several of the most lewd and vicious and debauched Persons and what a visible Reformation there presently appeared in the Lives of the worst Men after they had once entertained the Christian Doctrine And these Testimonies are so much the stronger because they are Publick Appeals to our Adversaries which it is not likely they who were so persecuted and hated as the Christians were would have had the Confidence to have made if they had not been notoriously true even their Enemies themselves being Judges And that they were so we have the Confession of the Heathen themselves I shall produce two remarkable Testimonies to this Purpose and one of them from the Pen of one of the bitterest Enemies that the Christian Religion ever had Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan the Emperor gives him an Account That having examined the Christians setting aside the Superstition of their way he could find no Fault and that this was the Sum of their Error That they were wont to meet before Day and sing a Hymn to Christ and to bind themselves by Solemn Oath or Sacrament not to any wicked Purpose but not to steal nor rob nor commit Adultery nor break their Faith nor detain the Pledge So that it seems the Sum of their Error was to oblige themselves in the strictest manner against the greatest Vices and Crimes Which methinks is a great Testimony from an Enemy and a Judge one who would have been ready to discover their Faults and had Opportunity of enquiring into them My other Witness is Julian the Emperor and Apostate who in one of his Epistles tells us The Christians did severely punish Sedition and Impiety And afterwards exhorting the Heathen Priests to all Offices of Humanity and especially Alms towards the Poor he tells them they ought to be more careful in this particular and to mend this Fault Because says he the Galileans taking advantage of our Neglect in this kind have very much strengthned their Impiety for so he calls their Religion by being very intent upon these Offices and exemplary in their Charity to the Poor whereby they gained many over to them And in his 49th Epist to Arsacius the High-Priest of Galatia he recommends to him among other Means for the Advancement of Paganism the building of Hospitals and great Liberality to the Poor not only of their own Religion but others For says he it is a Shame that the impious Galileans should not only maintain their own poor but ours also wherefore let us not suffer them to outdo us in this Virtue Nothing but the force of Truth could have extorted so full an Acknowledgment of the great Humanity and Charity of the Christians from so bitter an Enemy of our Religion as Julian was If he owned it we may be sure it was very great and exemplary So that you see that the Christian Religion had a very great Power and Efficacy upon the Lives and Manners of Men when it first appeared in the World And the true Spirit and Genius of any Religion the Force of any Institution is best seen in the primitive Effects of it before it be weakned and dispirited by those Corruptions which in time are apt to insinuate themselves into the best things For all Laws and Institutions are commonly more vigorous and have greater Effects at first than afterwards and the best things are apt in time to degenerate and to contract Soil and Rust And it cannot in Reason be expected otherwise So that though it be a thing to be bewailed and by the greatest Care and Diligence to be resisted yet it is not so extremely to be wonder'd at if Christianity in the space of Sixteen Hundred Years hath abated much of its first Strength and Vigor Especially considering that there were several Circumstances that gave Christianity mighty Advantages at first especially the miraculous Powers which did accompany the first Publication of the Gospel which must needs be full of Conviction to those who saw the wonderful Effects of it The extraordinary Operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men to dispose them to the receiving of it The persecuted and suffering State that Christians were generally in which made those who embraced the Profession to be generally serious and in good earnest in it and kept up a continual Heat and Zeal in the Minds of Men for that Religion which cost them so dear and for which they suffer'd so much And the fury of their Enemies against it did naturally inflame their Love and Kindness to one
them Not those who are raised to a perpetual Death and the Resurrection of Condemnation These are not the Children of God but the Children of Wrath and the Children of Perdition But the Resurrection of the Just is the full and final Declaration that we are the Children of God not only because we are restored to a new Life but because at the Resurrection we are admitted to the full Possession of that blessed Inheritance which is purchased for us and promised to us And the Spirit of God which is conferred upon Believers in their Regeneration and afterwards dwells and resides in them is the Pledge and earnest of our final Adoption by our Resurrection to Eternal Life and upon this account and no other is said to be the Earnest of our future Inheritance and the Seal and Confirmation of it Eph. 1.13 In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed by that Holy Spirit of Promise which is the earnest of our Inheritance until the redemption of the purchased Possession that is the Holy Spirit of God which Christians were made Partakers of upon their sincere Belief of the Christian Religion is the Seal and Earnest of our Resurrection to Eternal Life as the Apostle plainly tells us in that remarkable Text Rom. 8.11 If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you I have been the longer upon this because it serves fully to explain to us those obscure Phrases of the Seal and Earnest and first Fruits of the Spirit which many have mistaken to import some particular and spiritual Revelation or Impression upon the Minds of good Men assuring them of their Salvation Whereas the Apostle intended no more by them but that the Spirit of God which dwells in Believers enabling them to mortifie the deeds of the Flesh and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit is a Pledge and Earnest to us of a blessed Resurrection to eternal Life by the Power of the Spirit of God which now dwells in us and is the same Spirit which raised up Jesus from the dead And in this Chapter the Spirit of God is said v. 16. To bear witness to our Spirits that is to assure our Minds that we are the Children of God that is that we are his Children now and consequently Heirs of a glorious Resurrection to Eternal Life For so it follows in the next Words and if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and joint Heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together And this being glorified together with Christ at the Resurrection he calls v. 19. the manifestation of the Sons of God Thus you see how in Conformity to the Son of God our elder Brother we are said to be the Sons of God because we are now regenerated and shall at the last day be raised up to Eternal Life by the Power of the Spirit of God I proceed to the Second Thing I propounded to speak to for the clearing of these words namely in what Sense Christ is said to be declared or Demonstrated to be the Son of God by his Resurrection from the dead By which the Apostle means these two things 1. That by his Resurrection from the dead he was approved by God to be the true Messias and vindicated to the World from all Suspicion of being a Deceiver and Impostor And consequently in the 2. Place That hereby God gave Testimony to the Truth and Divinity of his Doctrine 1. By his Resurrection from the dead he was approved by God to be the True Messias foretold by the Prophets and expected at that time by the Jews and sufficiently vindicated to the World to be no Deceiver and Impostor And for our fuller Understanding of this we are to consider these two Things 1. What the Apprehensions and Expectations of the Jews were concerning the Messias And 2. What the many Crimes were which they laid to our Saviour's charge and for which they condemned him 1. What the Apprehensions and Expectations of the Jews were concerning the Messias And it is very plain from the Evangelical History that they generally apprehended these two things of him That the Messias was to be the Son of God and the King of Israel and therefore that our Saviour by affirming himself to be the Messias did call himself the Son of God and the King of Israel John 1.41 Andrew tells his Brother Simon We have found the Messias V. 45. Philip tells Nathanael We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write that is the Messias V. 49. Nathanael upon Discourse with our Saviour being convinced that he was the Messias owns him in these Terms Rabbi thou art the Son of God thou art the King of Israel John 6.69 Peter declares his Belief that he was the Christ or the Messias in these Words We believe and are sure that thou art the Son of the living God This appears likewise from the High-Priest's Question to him Matth. 26.63 Art thou the Christ that is the Messias the Son of the living God or as it is in St. Mark the Son of the Blessed compared with Pilate's Question Art thou the King of the Jews And when he was upon the Cross some reviled him under the Notion of the Son of God Matth. 27.40 If thou be the Son of God come down from the Cross Others under the Notion of the King of Israel v. 42. If he be the King of Israel let him come down from the Cross From all which it is plain that the Jews expected and believed that the true Messias was to be the Son of God and the King of Israel and whoever was not so was a Deceiver and Impostor But our Saviour affirmed himself to be true Messias and the Son of God Now God by raising him from the dead did abundantly vindicate him to the World from all suspicion of Imposture and gave Testimony to him that he was all that he said of himself viz. the true Messias and the Son of God Which will further appear if we consider 2 dly What were the Crimes which the Jews laid to our Saviour's Charge and for which they condemned him and they were mainly these two That by giving himself out to be the Messias he made himself King of Israel and the Son of God Of the first of these they accused him to Pilate hoping by this Accusation to make him guilty of Sedition against the Roman Government for saying that he was the King of Israel Of the other they accused him to the Chief Priests as being guilty of Blasphemy in that not being the Messias he call'd himself the Son of God And upon this they laid the main stress as being a thing that would condemn him by their Law They charged him with this in his life-time as appears by those Words of
World and to withstand its Temptations to be harmless and blameless in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation not to be infected with the eminent and frequent Examples of Vice and carryed down with the stream of a corrupt and degenerate Age. So that tho' our Difficulties be not always the same and equal to those which the Primitive Christians encountred yet there is enough to exercise our best Resolution and Care tho' the main Body of the Enemies of Christianity be broken and the Sons of Anak be destroyed out of the Land yet some of the old Inhabitants are still left to be Thorns in our Sides and Pricks in our Eyes that true Religion may always have something to exercise its Force and Vigour upon I have done with the first Point the Difficulties of a Christian Course I proceed to the Second The earnest Endeavour that is to be used on our Part for the conquering of these Difficulties And to the business of Religion if we will set upon it in good earnest these three things are required 1 st A mighty Resolution to engage us in a Holy and Christian Course 2 dly Great Dilligence and Industry to carry us on in it 3 dly An invincible Constancy to carry us through it and make us persevere in it to the end 1 st A mighty Resolution to engage us in a Holy and Good Course For want of this most Men miscarry and stumble at the very Threshold and never get through the strait Gate never master the Difficulties of the first Entrance Many are well disposed toward Religion and have fits of good Inclination that way especially in their young and tender Years but they want firmness of Resolution to conquer the Difficulties of the first entrance upon a religi-and virtuous Life like the young Man that came to our Saviour well inclined to do some good thing that he might inherit eternal Life but when it came to the point he gave back he was divided betwixt Christ and the World and had not resolution enough to part with all for him Many Men I doubt not have frequent Thoughts and Deliberations about a better Course of Life and are in a good Mind to take up and break off that lewd and riotous Course they are in but they cannot bring themselves to a fixt Purpose and Resolution and yet without this nothing is to be done the double minded Man is unstable in all his ways There must be no Indifferency and Irresoluteness in our Minds if we will be Christians we must not stop at the Gate but resolve to press in We see that Men can take up peremptory Resolutions in other matters to be rich and great in the World and they can be true and stedfast to these Resolutions and why should not Men resolve to be Wise and Happy and stand to these Resolutions and make them good God is more ready to assist and strengthen these kind of resolutions than any other and I am sure no man hath so much reason to resolve upon any thing as to live a Holy and Virtuous Life no other resolution can do a man that good and bring him that comfort and happiness that this will 2 dly The business of Religion as it requires a mighty Resolution to engage us in a holy and good course so likewise a great Diligence to carry us on in it When we are got through the strait gate we must account to meet with many difficulties in our way there are in the course of a Christian's Life many Duties to be performed which require great pains and care many Temptations to be resisted which will keep us continually upon our guard a great part of the Way is up Hill and not to be climb'd without Labour and the Scripture frequently calls upon us to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling that is with great Care and Industry to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure to follow Holiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to pursue it with great earnestness Nothing of this World that is of value is to be had upon other terms and we have low thoughts of Heaven if we think any pains too much to get thither 3 dly The business of Religion requires an invincible Constancy to carry us through it and to make us persevere in it to the End Resolution may make a good entrance but it requires great Constancy and Firmness of Mind to hold out in a good Course A good Resolution may be taken up upon a present heat and may cool again but nothing but a constant and steady temper of Mind will make a man persevere and yet without this no Man shall ever reach Heaven He that continueth to the end shall be saved but if any Man draw back God's Soul will have no pleasure in him God puts this Case by the Prophet and determines it Ezekiel 18.24 When the righteous Man turneth away from his Righteousness shall he live all his Righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his Trespass that he hath trespassed and in his Sin that he hath sinned in them he shall die nay so far will his Righteousness be from availing him if he do not persevere in it that it will render his Condition much worse to have gone so far towards Heaven and at last to turn his Back upon it So St. Peter tells us 2 Pet. 2.20 21. For if after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again entangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning for it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them I proceed to the Third Point namely That the Difficulties of a Holy and a Christian Life are not so great and insuperable as to be a just ground of discouragement to our Endeavours All that I have said concerning the Difficulties of Religion was with no design to damp but rather to quicken our Industry for upon the whole matter when all things are duly considered it will appear that Christ's yoke is easy and his burthen light that the Commandments of God are not grievous no not this Commandment of striving to enter in at the strait gate which I shall endeavour to make manifest by taking these Four things into consideration 1. The Assistance which the Gospel offers to us God hath there promised to give his holy Spirit to them that ask him and by the assistance of God's Holy Spirit we may be able to conquer all those difficulties Indeed if we were left to our selves to the impotency and weakness of our own Nature we should never be able to cope with these Difficulties every Temptation would be too hard for us every little Opposition would discourage us but God is with us and there is nothing too hard for him If
the mediation of Angels seems not to be true for St. Stephen tells us that the Law was given by the disposition of Angels Acts 7.53 And St. Paul that it was ordained by the Angels in the hand of a Mediator that is Moses Gal. 3.19 But that the Revelation which was made to him had some singular Prerogatives above those of other Prophets is plain from Scripture Numb 12.5 6 7 8 when Aaron and Miriam contended with Moses as being equal to him God tells them that there was a vast difference between him and other Prophets Hear now my Words if there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known unto him in a Vision and will speak unto him in a Dream My Servant Moses is not so With him will I speak Mouth to Mouth even apparently and not in dark Speeches c. Ex. 33.11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a Man speaketh unto his Friend Deut. 34.10 And there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face All which signify at least this that God made the clearest and most familiar and most perfect Discoveries to Moses of any of the Prophets only our Lord Jesus Christ by whom God hath discovered his Will to us under the New Testament did excel Moses Moses being but a faithful Servant that is humilis amicus a meaner sort of Friend but the Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God who came from the bosom of his Father and was intimately acquainted with the secrets of his Will and had not the Spirit given him by measure but the most plentiful Effusion of it being anointed above his Fellows Now these being the several sorts and degrees of Revelation which God hath made of himself to the World the Holy Scriptures are a System or Collection of these the authentick Instrument or Record by which the things revealed any of these ways are transmitted to us and is therefore call'd the Word of God as containing those things which God in several Ages hath spoken to the World that is matters of Divine Revelation which are necessary to be known by Men in order to their Eternal Happiness And this being now the great and standing Revelation of God which is to continue to the end of the World I intend to limit my Discourse solely to this as being the only Revelation which we are concern'd to enquire after And therefore in the 3 d Place to shew you what Advantages this standing Revelation of the Scriptures hath above private Revelations made to particular Persons and frequently repeated and renewed in several Ages that so it may appear both agreeable to the Wisdom of God to settle Revelations in this way as being more commodious and likewise to his Goodness it being a real Priviledge which these later Ages of the World enjoy that they have a more fixt and certain way of being acquainted with the Will of God than those Ages had which were govern'd by such private Revelations as were now and then made to particular Persons And the Advantages are these 1. It is a more certain way of conveyance of things and more secure and free from Imposture Suppose a Revelation made to a particular Person which is of general Concernment that this may have a general and lasting effect he must impart it to others as many as he can and give them the best Assurance he can of it and these must relate it to others and so it must pass from hand to hand to be delivered from Parents to their Children Now this way of conveying a Revelation by Oral Report must needs be liable to many Uncertainties both by involuntary Mistakes through Weakness of Memory or Understanding and wilful Falsifications and Impostures out of Malice and Design So that the effect of an unrecorded Revelation can neither be large nor lasting it can but reach a few Persons and continue a little while in its full Credibility and the further it goes the weaker like Circles made in Water which the more they inlarge themselves and the longer they continue the less discernable they are 'till at length they quite disappear Whereas being once recorded by Persons secured from Error by Supernatural and Divine Assistance they are not liable to those easie Falsifications or Mistakes which traditional Reports and Relations are necessarily through human Malice or Weakness liable to 2. It is a more general and universal way of Conveyance Which is evident from the common Experience of the World who have pitched upon this way of writing things in Books as that which doth most easily convey the knowledge and notice of things to the generality of Men. 3. It is a more uniform way of Conveyance that is things that are once written and propagated that way lye equally open to all and come in a manner with equal Credit to all it being not morally possible that a common Book that passeth through all hands and which is of vast Importance and Concernment should be liable to any material Corruption without a general Conspiracy and Agreement which cannot be but that it must be generally known So that considering the commonness and universal Concernment of this Book of the Scriptures all Men are in a manner equally that is every Man is sufficiently and competently assur'd of the credit of it that is that we are not in any material thing imposed upon by false Copies But in traditional Revelation it is quite otherwise Traditional being a very unequal and ununiform way of Conveyance For seeing it may be of general Concernment and all cannot have it at the first hand that is immediately from him to whom it was made but some at the second others at the third fourth or fifth hand or much further off the Credit of it will be necessarily weakned by every Remove A Report that comes through many Hands being like the Argument we call Induction and as the Strength and Goodness of that depends upon the Truth of every one of those Instances that make it up so that if any of them fail the whole Argument is naught so the credit of a Report that passeth through twenty hands depends upon the Integrity and Sufficiency of all the Relators and whatever there is either of Falshood and Malice or of Incapacity of Understanding or Frailty of Memory in any of the Relators so much Weakness is derived into the Report or Testimony and consequently the assurance which we can have of a private Revelation which is deliver'd traditionally through a great many Persons must needs be very unequal 4. It is a more lasting way of Conveyance Which likewise appears by Experience we having now nothing at all of the History of ancient times but what is conveyed down to us in Writing 5. It is a more human way of Conveyance which requires less of Miracle and supernatural Interposition for the Preservation of it This Book of the Scriptures may with ordinary